July 9, 2013

Which GDP Metric Should Conservatives Use?

By Sierra Rayne
On May 11, 2013, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) delivered an outstanding commencement address at Hillsdale College. I cannot argue with Cruz's general remarks, which adhere to a solid commitment towards principled conservatism. However, one paragraph from this speech deserves some further discussion in terms of the narrative that the GOP wants to construct as it moves towards 2016 (which may include Cruz as a presidential candidate): "[T]he United States holds 4.5 percent of the world's population, and produces a staggering 22 percent of the world's output -- a fraction that has remained stable for two decades, despite growing competition from around the world." Which dataset you use for assessing the U.S. share of global GDP, and how you interpret it, is important from the conservative perspective. Cruz's politics are far closer to those of the Tea Party and Reaganesque conservatism than they are to the GOP establishment. Thus, those to the right of the Republican establishment should seek...(Read Full Article)