This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Monday, August 8th, 2022.

I'm Caleb Brown.

Modern conservatism is often confusing, and especially so with respect to the economy,

just what do the so-called new conservatives

consider to be the proper role of government in the economy?

Caters Scott Linsichem and Norver Michelle comment.

It is getting more and more difficult to tell what people who with a

straight face consider themselves conservatives. It's getting more and more difficult to tell what you can say with confidence about what conservatives believe.

So I've talked with my friend Stephanie Slade at Reason about this on multiple occasions about this sort of new conservatism.

I think it's been described as post-liberal conservatives.

So Scott, what do you know about, especially within your area of specialty trade, what

conservatives believe today?

It's a great question because it's difficult. If you listen to a lot of the

new conservatives, they'll start out by saying they still support free markets, they still

support free trade generally. But and then the but the laundry list after that keeps

getting longer. You know first it's but China then it's but the our communities but globalization

And then you throw in but semiconductors

There's so many exceptions to semiconductors.

There's so many exceptions to the general rules

that of course the exceptions kind of end up eating

the general rules.

And now it's very difficult to pin down where the line is.

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