OPINION:
In a recent interview, Vice President J.D. Vance raised some eyebrows by asserting that Milton Friedman’s “laissez-faire” economic ideas should give way to Andrew Hamilton’s vision of a powerful central government.
Read more McConnell says a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking weeks of silence about health condition
“American economic policy on the right is now more Alexander Hamilton than it is Milton Friedman,” he declared. “I think that’s obviously a good thing.”
Well, that is not so obvious to those who value limited government.
Ironically, here we are in 2026, arriving back full circle to the debate that has shaped our nation for 250 years: Jeffersonian Federalism or Hamiltonian federal activism.
We know full well where today’s Democrats stand on the issue. Since the New Deal’s unconstitutional expansion of the federal government in the 1930s, Democrats have favored ever more power centralized in Washington.
They treat the states as weak little sisters to the federal government. They want rules, regulations and tax policies to apply across the land, from California to Florida.
Jeffersonian Republicans have consistently believed that the 50 states should govern the kitchen-table economic policies regarding transportation, energy, schools, public assistance and so on.
The Bill of Rights in the Ninth and 10th amendments make crystal clear that, constitutionally, all rights not specifically delegated to the federal government reside with “the States and the people.” President Reagan certainly believed that and often referred to “these United States,” not “the United States.”
Hamilton was brilliant as our first Treasury secretary and argued for federal authority to enable interstate commerce to thrive and a sound monetary policy. We owe him a great debt of gratitude for installing an economic framework that turned America into an industrial might.
He has been made all the more famous by the Broadway musical sensation “Hamilton.”
Yet in the founding years of our nation, the federal government was a mere shadow of what it is today. Federal spending was about 6% of the nation’s output, except in times of war. Today, it is closer to 20% to 25%.
Does Mr. Vance believe that this is too little? Does he believe that America’s problems will be solved by more federal government spending, borrowing, regulating and making?
Thomas Jefferson’s alternative view was that most governing power should rest with the states. Let the states make their own rules — as long as they do not violate the constitutional liberties of American citizens and do not interfere with interstate commerce.
We call this federalism.
Let states learn from one another so they can serve as “laboratories of democracy.”
Read more U.S., Iran trade strikes as dispute over control of Strait of Hormuz escalates
The older I get and the more I observe American economic policy, the more impressed I am with the wisdom of the decentralized model of government established by our Founding Fathers.
We are now witnessing the brilliance of this governing philosophy. With a country that is clearly ideologically polarized thanks to federalism, Americans can and do choose the government that they want.
Do you want high taxes, generous welfare states, union control of the schools, urban transit systems, climate change policies, racial preferences, drug legalization and solar power? New York or Illinois may be the place for you. Live in a blue state.
Do you want lower taxes, fewer government rules, school choice and right-to-work laws? Check out Texas or the “Live Free or Die” state of New Hampshire.
This is the Jeffersonian design, and it gives everyone what they want.
What is so odd is that Mr. Vance wants more federal control at a time when the Republican model in red states is flourishing and blue states are melting down.
The only way the left can win with its set of invasive economic policies is to centralize the power structure and minimize the competition among states. The Vance model would enable that outcome.
Why not let millions of Americans have the right to choose? Does J.D. Vance really believe that the Milton Friedman theme is outdated?
When states compete and the citizens get to vote for the policies they want, the country flourishes. Voting with your feet is one of the most effective tools against tyranny.
Since 2012, blue states with high taxes and obese welfare states have lost $2 trillion of income to red states with low taxes. The blue states are drifting down a road to serfdom, or at least bankruptcy.
They will change, or they will wilt. That is Jeffersonianism. That is what Republicans should choose.
• Stephen Moore is a co-founder of Unleash Prosperity and co-author with Arthur Laffer of “The Trump Economic Miracle.”
Read more J.D. Vance gets it right: Christianity belongs in government
About the Author
