From Wisdom of the Crowds: Last Friday, Donald Trump announced his candidate for Secretary of Labor: Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a Teamsters-backed Republican who supports the union-strengthening Protecting the Right to Organize Act (or PRO Act).
While the nomination has alarmed many traditional Republicans, the move is in line with pro-labor rhetoric of many politicians, intellectuals and thought leaders on the Right who can be broadly categorized as Economic Populists.
- “Pro-Family, Pro-Worker Conservatism.” VP-elect J. D. Vance, doyen of the economic populists, defined their mission in a 2019 speech: “We’re for American workers who want to build a life in their homes with dignified jobs and raise the families supported by those dignified jobs.”
- Real Economy > Knowledge Economy. This interview with Oren Cass, chief economist at the American Compass, a conservative pro-labor think tank, highlights some of what economic populists stand for: a critique of free trade and support for tariffs as the “stick” in trade negotiations; valuing the industry and the “real economy” over tech and the “knowledge” economy; serving those regions negatively impacted by globalization.
- “The Dignity of Work.” Marco Rubio, tapped to be Trump’s Secretary of State, has delivered speeches that support economic populism — like this one from 2019: “Free enterprise made America the most prosperous nation in human history. But that prosperity wasn’t just about businesses making a profit; it was also about the creation and availability of dignified work.”
More here.
