Common-Good Conservativism

If conservatives love the free market, they need to make sure it works for everyone.

As a creature of the center-right, I believe the free market can be harnessed to benefit society. I saw this in action in 1999 in the city of Kunming, China, a city in the Western part of the world’s most populated nation. I saw a city in the midst of rapid change. The streets are clogged with Western autos like Jeeps and Audis as well as homemade jalopies spewing out fumes. Skyscrapers are going up like crazy. Stores are filled with western items.

China had long been considered a poor nation, but it was developing rapidly. It was interesting to see how China, which was considered a poor country, was changing massively. I concluded, even though China was and is an authoritarian society, the free market was making a difference among millions those who moved from poverty into the middle class. China is now a rising economic power, bypassing Japan to become the world’s second-largest economy.

A market economy can make changes for the better in society. But the free market is not infallible. For many reasons, there are times when the benefits of the market only go to a few. Or market forces can cause havoc on a certain area or industry.