Ryan Bourne
Ryan Bourne
Inaugural addresses have historically been used by incoming or returning presidents to outline the broad principles by which they intend to govern.
With the exception of the federal budget and taxes, the limited reach of early US federal governments meant that, up until the progressive era of the late 19th century, these speeches contained little mention of economic policies. That, of course, all changed after FDR and the 1930s.
President-elect Donald Trump’s 2017 speech had a particularly ominous tone for free-marketeers when it came to international economics, claiming policy should “protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs.” President Joe Biden didn’t really address economics directly, but there was a distinctively collectivist tone to his remarks and lots of mentions of the need to solve various inequities.
Lest libertarians find these aspects of recent inaugurals depressing, below I’ve collated a selection of the greatest libertarian rhetorical hits on economics from all past inauguration speeches. Nobody is pretending the mouths they came from were themselves libertarians, nor did many of them live up to their libertarian words in office. But these speech extracts at least reflect well some of the principles and approaches to economics and the role of the state that we should aspire to, and some of the benefits of a liberated economy. What’s more, they highlight how libertarian instincts and principles on economics have long been a part of the American political firmament.
Principles
“Men and women of the world move toward free markets through the door to prosperity. The people of the world agitate for free expression and free thought through the door to the moral and intellectual satisfactions that only liberty allows. We know what works: Freedom works. We know what’s right: Freedom is right. » Read More
https://www.cato.org/blog/libertarian-economics-inaugural-addresses-0