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The Crisis of American Political Economy: On the New Conservative Policy Agenda with Chris Griswold

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Apr 22, 2026

Guest

Chris Griswold

Chris Griswold, Policy Director at American Compass and former senior adviser to Senator Marco Rubio, brings a center-right take on domestic, labor, and tech policy. He discusses trade with China, industrial and industrial finance policy, AI and automation’s impact on workers, restoring dignity to blue-collar work, and the case for balanced markets bounded by civic institutions and national purpose.

01:14:23

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ANECDOTE

From Seminary To Capitol Hill Shaped By Johannesburg

Chris Griswold shifted from seminary and nonprofit work in Johannesburg to Capitol Hill after seeing structural economic problems firsthand.
His South Africa youth-development experience taught him to treat people as assets, which shaped his critique of neoliberal economics in Rubio's office.

insights

INSIGHT

Free Market Orthodoxy Is A Historical Aberration

The post-1980s free-market orthodoxy is an historical aberration compared with America's earlier Hamiltonian tradition of industrial policy and protection.
Griswold argues reclaiming that older American system better explains how the U.S. actually became wealthy.

insights

INSIGHT

Interdependence With China Subverted Free Markets

Free markets and free trade can conflict when trading with state-directed economies like China because economic interdependence can be weaponized.
Griswold cites technology transfer, joint ventures, and IP theft as mechanisms that undermined U.S. industry.

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Griswold's path from seminary to policy

01:25 • 3min

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Early political instincts and theology's role

04:47 • 59sec

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South Africa experience shaping economic views

05:46 • 57sec

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Capitol Hill: institutions, disconnect, and populism

06:43 • 4min

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Reform conservatives and the need for a sharper break

10:14 • 3min

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History: American system vs. free-market era

13:21 • 2min

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Free trade, China, and limits of openness

15:19 • 2min

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When trade should be balanced, not neutral

17:20 • 2min

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From Cold War strategy to trade absolutism

19:39 • 5min

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Markets within rules: sports analogy for policy

24:11 • 3min

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Defining and reclaiming healthy capitalism

27:30 • 11min

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Human dignity as economic telos

38:40 • 6min

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Federal role, subsidiarity, and local revival

44:10 • 2min

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Industrial policy: CHIPS success and finance gaps

45:54 • 2min

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Stagnation debate and technological renewal

47:53 • 3min

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AI, automation, and worker voice

51:14 • 6min

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Dignity of blue-collar work and status

57:05 • 2min

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Policy coalitions and political prospects

59:05 • 6min

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Historical exemplars: Hamilton, Teddy, and FDR lessons

01:04:50 • 2min

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Why home, hope, and national self-respect matter

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In this sixth episode of Season 5, I interview Mr. Chris Griswold. An alum of Wheaton College and Princeton Theological Seminary, he was formerly a senior advisor to then Senator Marco Rubio, and is currently the Policy Director for American Compass—a leading center-right public policy think-tank.

Recently, he contributed to the book, The New Conservatives (2025), an anthology edited by his colleague, Oren Cass, that re-articulates a conservative economic vision for the country. Drawing on it, we discuss the crisis of America’s political economy, from questions surrounding current AI, automation, and the end of free trade; political instability and populism; how economic policy can best serve American workers and families; and what makes us hopeful for the country’s future during its 250th anniversary.

Hosted by Ryan Shinkel, Madison’s Notes is the podcast of Princeton University’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. The transcript for this interview is available on our new Substack page, “Madison’s Footnotes.”

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