“JD Vance is wrong. The market is not a ‘tool'” Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2025, Matthew Hennessy, assistant editor of the Journal, took issue with Vice President Vance.
On a recent podcast, New York Times columnist Ross Doutatt asked Vance for examples of how his Catholicism could affect his politics. His first instinct was citing social issues that are usually related to conservative Catholic political concerns: fabrics, immigration, and sexual ethics, but related to launching missiles in the market. “Well, one of the criticisms I got from the right is that I’m insufficiently committed to the Capital M market,” he unsettled. “The market is a tool, but not the purpose of American politics.”
In his edit, Hennessy wrote:
The market for cheap consumer goods and government bonds is not bullied by the large agenda compliance. They are dominated by the philosophy and desires of men like Mr. Vance. They are governed by the laws of economics in a way that the physical world is governed by the laws of gravity. You can moan about them about everything you want, you can impose tradeoffs they demand and constraints they impose, but you either ignore it or want it. Political will and the amount of ink spilled cannot overturn them. Supply and demand are undefeated.
Note: Due to the contract with the Wall Street Journal, it is not permitted to quote more than one paragraph from an article in the journal after 30 days. However, here we can find a long segment from Hennessy’s editorial.
Vice President Vance wrote a response and I answered him. Here are two paragraphs of my 3 paragraph responsibility.
Vance wrote that President Trump is “utilising access to American markets” and has been getting “fair treatment from foreign partners” on trade, illegal immigration and illegal drugs. But it doesn’t use the market as a tool. It is mandatory to obtain the desired outcome of the President. Within parentheses, Trump and Vance truly believe that Canadian governments can significantly reduce the amount of fentanyl that passes through their boundaries with the US.
Vance said, “Do we need to allow a large amount of Mexican produce and Chinese cars to decipher productive American industries? Or do we need to use tools such as tariffs and trade relief to protect them?” Especially in the case of MR, Chinee electric vehicles will not design their arrival in the United States. Trump has managed to end the EV mandate and will produce gasoline powered vehicles and hybrids so that US companies can do what DOS is doing. Preventing people from buying cheaper foreigners will help them hurt poor families. The Vice President unconsciously offers the game. Tariffs, not the market, are the tool.
You can find my full response here.
