“We’ve never been this mismanaged before in the history of economics. It’s all become political,” says Dave Brat, dean of the Liberty University School of Business. From 2014 to 2019, he served as a U.S. representative for the state of Virginia. Brat holds a Ph.D. in economics and an M.Div. in theological studies.
“Everything—the economy and politics—it’s all downstream from culture, and we’ve dumbed ourselves down. The kids these days, they don’t understand the Judeo-Christian tradition.
“They can’t name even a few significant philosophers or political philosophers or our founders or what’s in the Constitution.
“The logic of [James] Madison, who went to Princeton seminary and wrote our Constitution, is exactly the same as the logic of Adam Smith and economics. They both had atomized individuals, and you wanted to separate power in every way, shape, and form.
“And it’s ironic that the left, who [are] scared about tyrants and fascism, wants to have a big state. How in the world, if you’re scared about a fascist, do you want a big state?”
At CPAC 2022 in Dallas, Texas, Brat sat down with the host of NTD’s Fresh Look America, Paul Greaney. They discussed how culture impacts economic policy and how society’s abandonment of traditional principles has put the U.S. economy in a precarious position.