{"id":192,"date":"2026-05-04T10:48:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/?p=192"},"modified":"2026-05-04T10:48:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:48:02","slug":"george-will-on-free-markets-and-government-overreach-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/george-will-on-free-markets-and-government-overreach-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","title":{"rendered":"George Will on Free Markets and Government Overreach\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">With more than 6,000 newspaper columns,\u00a0over a dozen books, and\u00a0thousands of\u00a0television appearances,\u00a0George Will has been a leading voice in American political commentary for over 50 years. So,\u00a0when we had the opportunity to take a group of students to hear the 84-year-old legend speak at the Indianapolis Economics Club in September, we jumped at the chance.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559731&quot;:720,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Will\u00a0can be\u00a0described\u00a0as a conservative with a strong streak of independent libertarianism.\u00a0However, his views resist easy labels: he\u2019s tough on crime\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/George_Will\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">but opposes the death penalty<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"none\">;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0he champions traditional values yet calls himself\u00a0an \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ballstate-my.sharepoint.com\/personal\/cbohanon_bsu_edu\/Documents\/Documents\/Bohanon-Horowitz\/realclearreligion.org\/articles\/2014\/09\/22\/george_will_the_realclearreligion_interview.html\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">amiable, low-voltage atheist<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"none\">.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559731&quot;:720,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Before the main event,\u00a0an interview with former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels,\u00a0we had the privilege of speaking with Will one-on-one.\u00a0We asked him about his views on\u00a0the future of free markets and the growing appetite in both parties for government control over business.\u00a0Will agreed that interventionism is bipartisan. He cited the \u201cgolden share\u201d provision that the Trump administration required in Nippon Steel\u2019s recent acquisition of US Steel.\u00a0That same\u00a0day,\u00a0the\u00a0White House\u00a0announced that<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/us-steel-trump-nippon-steel-granite-city-7d9acc7f1a1b08b971b374c40574beec\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0Nippon had reversed plans to close a Granite City, Illinois, plant, under pressure from the Secretary of Commerce.<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0Will\u00a0agreed\u00a0that this kind of direct influence over private business decisions is reminiscent of Soviet-style central planning.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559731&quot;:720,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">During the public interview, Will expanded on this theme: \u201cWhen a president chooses the CEO of Intel or dictates production locations for U.S. Steel, those companies become arms of the government.\u201d\u00a0Will stated that, \u201cTrump leads the most left-wing government we\u2019ve ever had.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559731&quot;:720,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Will remains a passionate advocate of free trade. He reminded the audience that since the end of the Cold War, globalization has lifted more people out of poverty than any government program in history.\u00a0He\u00a0also\u00a0expressed concern about the erosion of constitutional checks and balances. Congress, he argued, has abdicated its\u00a0constitutional\u00a0responsibilities by allowing presidents to impose tariffs unilaterally.<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0This\u00a0abdication\u00a0is because\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">elected officials\u00a0are fans of government spending\u00a0and tax breaks\u00a0that appeal to their constituents. This, of course, creates our trillion-dollar deficits, which\u00a0will eventually ruin our nation.\u00a0Unfortunately,\u00a0there\u00a0seems\u00a0a consensus among the political class that this can continue\u00a0indefinitely.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559731&quot;:720,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Despite concerns\u00a0about central planning,\u00a0constitutional imbalances,\u00a0and fiscal profligacy,\u00a0Will remains optimistic.\u00a0Government intervention,\u00a0a lack of fealty to the Constitution, and perpetual deficit spending will all ultimately\u00a0fail.\u00a0Americans\u00a0will eventually rediscover the enduring value of free markets,\u00a0constitutional government,\u00a0and\u00a0fiscal probity.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559731&quot;:720,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With more than 6,000 newspaper columns,\u00a0over a dozen books, and\u00a0thousands of\u00a0television appearances,\u00a0George Will has been a leading voice in American political commentary for over 50 years. So,\u00a0when we had the opportunity to take a group of students to hear the 84-year-old legend speak at the Indianapolis Economics Club in September, we jumped at the chance.\u00a0\u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[1707,1708,1187,1705,1061,1704,1217,1706,1288,1062],"class_list":["post-192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-central-planning","tag-constitutional-checks-and-balances","tag-fiscal-policy","tag-free-markets","tag-free-trade","tag-george-will","tag-globalization","tag-government-intervention","tag-political-economy","tag-tariffs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>George Will on Free Markets and Government Overreach\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/george-will-on-free-markets-and-government-overreach-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"George Will on Free Markets and Government Overreach\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With more than 6,000 newspaper columns,\u00a0over a dozen books, and\u00a0thousands of\u00a0television appearances,\u00a0George Will has been a leading voice in American political commentary for over 50 years. 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