Marco Rubio has earned his reputation as one of the most creative and innovative policy leaders in the Senate. The Florida Republican is not afraid to question his party’s policy orthodoxy, and is eager to find solutions to 21st-century problems grounded in conservative principles and dispositions.
Given that, I was surprised to read his recent essay in The Atlantic, which I respond to in my latest Bloomberg column:
Like others in the GOP, Rubio is trying to find a policy agenda and a public voice for the age of President Donald Trump. In doing so, he shows too much flexibility on policy and vision, and too much willingness to accept as new and enduring political constraints things which are likely to be passing fashions.
Rubio seems to accept the Trumpian narrative, shared by many on the Left, that America is in some state of decline — that U.S. society is no longer upwardly mobile, and that income is stagnant for wide swaths of American households. Rubio writes of “the absence of the American dream.”
In his essay, the senator’s posture towards the economic dynamism generated by globalization and automation might best be described as a combination of hostile and fearful. This posture forgets that, if anything, globalization has been a net positive for labor demand, and that automation increases productivity, which in turns drives increases in economic opportunity and living standards over the long term.
The essay becomes more familiar when Senator Rubio turns to higher education and tax policy, and he outlines reforms that have merit and should be debated.
But his warm words regarding labor unions strike a bad note to the conservative ear. Rubio writes that “the decline of unions, insofar as they represented important places for workers and their families to secure the conditions of the American dream, is not something to be celebrated.” Given that unions reduce employment opportunities (among other ills), I’m happy to celebrate their decline.
I conclude my column:
Rubio articulates “a desire for an old promise, that no matter what America looks like or how it has changed, a stable and prosperous life should be attainable for the many.” This is the right goal. Achieving it requires challenging the narratives of Trumpian populism, not conforming to them. It requires confidence that despite its disruptions, economic dynamism is, on the whole, a positive thing. And it requires the type of principled policy innovation to meet the challenges of the day that Rubio, at his best, can deliver.
I encourage you to read Senator Rubio’s full essay here, and you can find my full response to it here. As always, your comments are very welcome.