Ohio Senator J.D. Vance just became Donald Trump’s running mate. If you care about free markets and freedom in general, of those who were seriously considered, he was just about the worst person the Republican Party could have chosen.
Since being elected to the Senate in 2022, Vance has become one of the leading proponents of Republican protectionism, economic regulation and planning through “industrial policy,” restrictions on foreign investment, and, of course, immigration restrictions. As Alex Norast and I explain in The Case Against Nationalism , these forms of right-wing central planning share most of the same weaknesses as forms of socialism. These policies create terrible incentives and predictably make countries poorer and less innovative.
Vance shares his enthusiasm for conspiracy theories with right-wing nationalists. For example, he supported false claims that the 2020 election was rigged and said that if he were then-Vice President Mike Pence, he would condone Trump’s plan to overturn the 2020 election (to his credit , Pence refused to do so).
Vance is also one of the leading Republican opponents of U.S. aid to Ukraine as it fights Vladimir Putin’s brutal war of aggression. He fought to block an April agreement between the White House and Republican Speaker Mike Johnson to aid Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. There are good reasons to aid Ukraine, both from a moral and strategic perspective. Letting Vladimir Putin have his way will not “make America great again.” It just makes us look weak and unprincipled. Vance supports the massive trade war Trump hopes to launch with our allies, who will make these problems worse—due to their shared commitment to massive protectionism.
If you want Trump to pick a vice president with at least some commitment to relatively free-market policies and some inclination to restrain Trump’s own worst impulses, Vance is one of the last people you’d want to see picked. .
Vance wasn’t always like this. I’m a fan of his 2016 book, Hillbilly Elegy, A memoir about growing up in a poor family in Appalachia. He warned in 2016 that Trump was “the opioid of the masses,” and in many ways he was right. He correctly predicted that Trump would not be able to solve the problem of declining communities through policies such as building a border wall and escalating the war on drugs.
In 2017, Vance and I spoke about his argument that talented people living in poor and declining communities should stay where they are rather than move to places with greater opportunity. I emphasize that giving people the ability to “vote with their feet” is one of the best ways to increase their opportunities and make our society more innovative and productive. I also pointed out that Vance’s own life was an example of this dynamic:
If you’ve read his moving book, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that his life was changed. [mobility]: Left home to join the Marine Corps, earn a college degree at Ohio State University, and eventually go to Yale, which provided him with opportunities he might never have had if he hadn’t left home. As a result, he is now a more productive member of society than he would have been otherwise.
Although Vance returned to his hometown, he did not move back to the depressed neighborhood where he grew up. Instead, he moved back to Columbus, a booming city that has performed extremely well economically in recent years. He may have concluded that he and his family would be happier, more productive, and better able to serve society there than in less successful parts of the state.
We continue to communicate on Twitter. But I can’t find that part now.
in my later books free movementI pointed out that Vance’s story of success through domestic voting was also similar to the stories of people whose lives were transformed through international immigration. Almost all the standard arguments against allowing the latter also apply to the former.
Over the past few years, Vance has undergone something of an ideological transformation, becoming a prominent advocate of the MAGA populism he previously opposed. Sadly, the policies Vance now advocates will destroy opportunities for immigrants and natives alike, and make America weaker and poorer in the process.
