The 'Central Planning' Strawman

Sena tor Marco Rubio’s latest call for an American industrial policy to counter China suggests economic libertarianism, and the revisionist history it inspired, is finally losing its grip over the conservative imagination. Let’s hope so. As Rubio noted in his December speech at the National Defense University, “from World War II to the Space Race and beyond, a capitalist America has always relied on public-private collaboration to further our national security.” One would think this is a completely uncontroversial statement, and yet stupefied commentators of the libertarian persuasion responded on cue, complete with the usual hyperbolic clichés about “central planning” and “picking winners and losers.” Read Full Article »