Harris is the freedom candidate

This message is welcome. It is time for American progressives to reclaim the freedom agenda from libertarians and the right, especially now that the right represents the exact opposite. While many on the right wrap themselves in the flag, progressives are, in truth, promoting an all-American freedom agenda.

The view of an economist clarifies the matter. Firstly, an essential part of freedom is the freedom to do and act – to develop one’s full potential. People who live hand to mouth or on the brink of hunger do not have true freedom; They do what they have to do to survive.

Second, in any society of interdependent individuals, the freedom of some may imply the loss of freedom of others. As Oxford philosopher Isaiah Berlin observed, freedom from wolves often involved the death of sheep (https://bit.ly/4e5TfFX). The financial liberalization of the 1990s and 2000s – the freedom of the bankers – would have meant the death of the economy if the government had not intervened; But because that intervention required billions of dollars of taxpayer money, the crisis reduced their freedom, as well as that of many workers and homeowners.

Third, a little coercion can significantly expand freedom for all. When we work together we can do things we cannot do alone, but some coercion may be necessary to avoid the problem of free-riding.

Fourth, while neoliberal economics expanded the freedom of corporations to exploit others, it did not lead to general prosperity, much less shared prosperity. Good economic theory had predicted this even before neoliberalism became fashionable in the era of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. On the other hand, neoliberalism is not even sustainable because it encourages individual traits and market behavior that undermine the functioning of the economy.

Economies run on trust. The winners (https://bit.ly/4fgzAnE) of this year’s Nobel Prize in Economics – Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson – have highlighted the importance of institutions; But even seemingly good institutions fail when selfish individuals like Donald Trump begin to blatantly violate norms and demonstrate extreme dishonesty.

Fifth, contrary to the arguments of conservatives and libertarians such as Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek, unfettered markets are not necessary for, or even conducive to, political freedom. The rise of authoritarian populism has been most pronounced in countries where governments have done too little (to address poverty, inequality, insecurity and so on), not where they have done too much.

The contrast between Harris and Trump on fundamental freedoms – such as a woman’s right to control her own body – is evident. On all the big issues of this election, Harris would expand Americans’ freedoms and Trump would cut them. At the center of Harris’ agenda is a commitment to helping ordinary Americans, rather than returning to discredited trickle-down economics (https://bit.ly/4eZkvqK) that Trump adopted during his presidency. His proposed tax cuts for billionaires and large corporations would add about $7.5 trillion (https://reut.rs/4eX4UIh) to the country’s debt in the coming years and that burden will make the children and grandchildren of Americans less free.

Although the post-pandemic spike in global inflation appears to have been brought under control, people are still rightly concerned about drug and housing prices. Harris has proposed measures to prevent price gouging (https://bbc.in/4eWanPR), but they have been widely (and deliberately) misunderstood. He does not advocate that the federal government set prices, and many states already have anti-profiteering laws to prevent companies from taking advantage of exceptional situations such as hurricanes and floods. In any case, the pandemic showed that these types of policies must be reinforced and applied.

Similarly, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) had provisions to lower the prices of pharmaceutical products such as insulin – a medicine (centennial https://bit.ly/3NI1TQ6) essential for those suffering from diabetes – of what were clearly exorbitant levels (https://mayocl.in/48sjCEL). However, the United States could do much more to bring drug prices closer to the levels found in Europe, where there are stricter laws against abuses of market power. Harris would try to do just that, while Trump promised to dismantle the IRA (https://bit.ly/3ZfBQXv) and thus increase prices for Americans.

Trump also promises to increase tariffs – at a rate of 100 percent (https://bit.ly/3ArfYOO) on products from China – which would do nothing more than raise the prices of clothing, appliances and many other items that ordinary people in this country buy. In fact, his entire economic agenda amounts to a gigantic regressive tax on low- and middle-income Americans. Their freedom as consumers will be reduced because they will have less money to spend as they please.

Furthermore, while Harris has released a comprehensive plan to expand housing supply and reduce its cost – and increase affordability for first-home buyers – Trump has remained silent on this critical issue.

Finally, to support the freedom of Americans to realize their full potential, Harris’s agenda includes a vision as well as some concrete initial steps to expand opportunity, especially entrepreneurship (https://bit.ly/3YENCtS). These measures would be as beneficial for those who want to start a business as they are for the economy in general.

Trump is living proof of the right’s repudiation of freedom. Fortunately, Harris is demonstrating what things are like when progressives embrace and promote this fundamental American value.

Joseph E. Stiglitz, former chief economist of the World Bank and former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President of the United States, is a university professor at Columbia University, Nobel Laureate in Economics, and author, most recently, of The Road to Freedom: economics and the good society (WW Norton & Company, Allen Lane, 2024).

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2024.

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