{"id":17186,"date":"2025-08-14T21:18:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T21:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=17186"},"modified":"2025-08-14T22:06:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T22:06:53","slug":"economics-the-rodney-dangerfield-of-modern-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=17186","title":{"rendered":"Economics: The Rodney Dangerfield of modern politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/www.badgerinstitute.org\/economics-the-rodney-dangerfield-of-modern-politics\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Remember Rodney Dangerfield? The comic whose famous line was, \u201cI don\u2019t get no respect\u201d?<\/p>\n

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One of his classics:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy doctor told me I was overweight.
\u201cI said, \u2018I want a second opinion.\u2019
\u201cHe said, \u2018Okay. You\u2019re ugly too!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

These days, economics is the Rodney Dangerfield of public policy: It gets no respect. In both Washington and Madison, basic economic principles are routinely ignored, as if policymakers believe they can repeal the laws of supply and demand with campaign slogans.<\/p>\n

With no incumbent running<\/a> in 2026, Wisconsin\u2019s governor\u2019s race is likely to be one of the most competitive in the country. This creates a rare and meaningful opportunity for either party to restore a respect for economic sanity and make Wisconsin a model for the rest of the nation. We\u2019ve done it before \u2014 Wisconsin has long been a laboratory for both policy innovation and reform, and in recent decades Wisconsin has moved<\/a> from a \u201ctax hell\u201d to a more reasonable business climate while moving up the ranking of states by economic freedom.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise that Democrats have leaned into expansive spending<\/a> and regulatory policies. Under the Biden administration, trillions were added to the national debt: $1.9 trillion for the American Rescue Plan, $1 trillion for the infrastructure law, and another $430 billion in the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act \u2014 all while the regulatory burden grew for small businesses, including Wisconsin\u2019s family farms, manufacturers and community banks. Vice President Kamala Harris not only defended these policies as she ran for president, but called for federal price controls on groceries, insulin and rent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But price controls don\u2019t eliminate costs \u2014 they just hide them, distort the market, and eventually make shortages worse.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more surprising \u2014 and should be more troubling for many Wisconsin conservatives \u2014 is how far the Republican Party has moved from its free-market principles. Once the party of Reagan and Friedman, Republicans now praise tariffs, subsidies and industrial policy as if economic nationalism were a cure-all. Recently, President Trump called on companies to eat the costs of tariffs, told Coca-Cola which sweetener to use, and proposed price caps on credit card interest rates. That might win applause at a rally, but it\u2019s bad economics \u2014 and worse policy.<\/p>\n

Wisconsinites know what happens when price controls fail. We\u2019ve seen the consequences of government meddling with agricultural prices: surpluses, storage problems and taxpayer-funded bailouts. And we understand that inflation isn\u2019t just some abstract national number \u2014 you don\u2019t need a PhD to know something\u2019s wrong when your dollar doesn\u2019t stretch as far as it used to.<\/p>\n

The deeper issue is this: Both parties have grown increasingly comfortable ignoring what economists have long understood. Government doesn\u2019t create prosperity \u2014 it creates conditions in which prosperity can grow. Interfere too much, and the market breaks down.<\/p>\n

Support for agricultural subsidies and protectionist trade policies has become bipartisan. So has the willingness to rack up debt while promising endless tax carveouts and spending increases. Even trade, one of the clearest economic wins, has fallen out of favor.<\/p>\n

For over 250 years, economists have promoted free trade as a path to growth and innovation. Yet Democrats, under pressure from organized labor, resist new agreements, while Republicans now champion tariffs like 18th-century mercantilists. Wisconsin depends on trade \u2014 our dairy products, cranberries\u00a0 and machinery are sold around the world. Disrupting those markets doesn\u2019t protect Wisconsin jobs; it jeopardizes them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are, thankfully, some glimmers of hope. The courts are now reviewing whether presidents should have unchecked authority to impose tariffs \u2014 a power that was widely abused. Recent rulings have also reined in the regulatory overreach of agencies such as the EPA, which is welcome news for Wisconsin farmers and manufacturers who\u2019ve had to navigate ever-changing compliance rules. The Federal Reserve, while not perfect, has maintained enough independence to hold inflation in check. And advances in artificial intelligence could spark a wave of productivity \u2014 if we don\u2019t strangle it with premature regulation.<\/p>\n

Still, we can\u2019t rely on judges or technology to save us. The real challenge is restoring respect for economics itself \u2014 among voters, candidates and public officials.<\/p>\n

First, we must admit that the laws of economics cannot be repealed by popular demand. Tariffs, subsidies and distorted tax policies might sound appealing in a speech, but they inevitably backfire. If Republicans keep pushing for inflationary trade policies and gimmicky tax breaks, they may find themselves punished at the ballot box \u2014 especially in economically savvy swing-state Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

Second, economics education needs renewal. The introductory college course should be more than a gateway to the major \u2014 it should be the one class where students, regardless of their major, learn how markets work and why economic freedom matters. And because not every voter attends college, we need strong economics education in K\u201312 schools. Economic literacy should be as basic as math or reading.<\/p>\n

Third, we need to bring economic ideas to the public square. Programs like Economics for Opinion Leaders<\/a> can equip journalists, clergy, educators and civic leaders to recognize good policy \u2014 and call out bad policy when they see it.<\/p>\n

And we need more real-world examples. Wisconsin voters deserve to hear about the economic success stories \u2014 post-1980s China, Estonia, South Korea and now Argentina \u2014 as well as the failures: Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea and the old Soviet Union. These aren\u2019t abstract case studies. They are evidence of what works and what doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Economics may not get the laughs Rodney Dangerfield did \u2014 but it deserves our respect. If either party hopes to lead Wisconsin \u2014 and the country \u2014 toward greater prosperity, they must stop treating economics like a punchline and start taking it seriously. We\u2019ve been a national model before. With the right leadership in 2026, Wisconsin can be again.<\/p>\n

Scott Niederjohn<\/em><\/a>\u202fis a professor and the director of the Free Enterprise Center at Concordia University Wisconsin and dean of the Batterman School of Business, and he is a visiting fellow of the Badger Institute.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mark Schug is an emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.<\/em><\/p>\n

Any\u202fuse or reproduction of Badger Institute articles or photographs requires prior written\u202fpermission.\u202fTo request permission to post articles on a website or print copies for distribution, contact Badger Institute Marketing Director Matt Erdman at\u202f<\/em>matt@badgerinstitute.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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