Nations, Markets, Families, and the Challenge of China

It has long been a conviction in America that economic freedom is important to human flourishing. As Russell Kirk once wrote, the free economy is primarily valuable “for the contribution it makes to our justice and order and freedom, our ability to live in dignity as truly human persons.”

Today, however, the American commitment to a free and humane economy faces new challenges. Many young people are abandoning free market solutions in favor of economic nationalism, industrial policy, and quasi-socialist approaches. New economic challenges are making our economy less competitive, dynamic, and humane. At home, we are confronted with the increased erosion of civil society, community, and family. Abroad, we face the rising challenge of China.

How we address these challenges will determine whether the American economy can remain free and humane for future generations. This will involve a clear recognition of the challenges we face, all while reinvigorating our commitment to the moral, social, and cultural basis of the free market.

The Kirk Center will explore these economic challenges in a thoughtful spirit in partnership with The Henry Institute at Calvin University, and Markets & Morality at Hope College on February 26 and 27, 2024. 

We look forward to hearing from Samuel Gregg, one of the most sought-after contemporary commentators on the state of, and prospects for, America’s commercial republic. Dr. Gregg is Distinguished Fellow in Political Economy at the American Institute for Economic Research and author of The Next American Economy (2022).