The Future of Fusionism: Liberty, Virtue, and Conservatism’s Path Forward

What’s driving the growing infighting on the political right? In this episode of The Economist Next Door, host Paul Mueller is joined by Nathan W. Schlueter and Nikolai Wenzel to […]

0:00

Participants

Paul Mueller

Paul Mueller

host

Nathan W. Schlueter

Nathan W. Schlueter

host

Nikolai Wenzel

Nikolai Wenzel

host

What’s driving the growing infighting on the political right?

In this episode of The Economist Next Door, host Paul Mueller is joined by Nathan W. Schlueter and Nikolai Wenzel to revisit fusionism—the postwar effort, associated with Frank Meyer, to reconcile liberty and virtue, free markets and moral order, drawing on a tradition that includes Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, and Alexis de Tocqueville.

They examine the Cold War roots of the libertarian–conservative alliance, the rise of post-liberalism, and current disputes over immigration, marriage, and the administrative state. Can liberty and virtue coexist? And does the American founding still offer common ground?

Share this Podcast

Save this Podcast