Along with conservatives' positions on other subjects, conservative economics has changed over time. The most important change during my four decades in Washington was probably the acceptance of supply-side economics, the idea that if we cut marginal tax rates, the economy will grow so much that government revenue will actually increase. While some enthusiasts overstate the case, I think that may broadly be true, so long as it is coupled with conservatives' traditional insistence on balanced budgets and firm controls on government spending. Certainly, all conservatives should favor lower taxes and specifically lower marginal income tax rates.

So where does conservative economics go from here? I think the next conservatism needs to start by putting economics itself in its proper place. Today, most people seem to accept the primacy of the economy: anything is good if it helps the economy, bad if it hurts it (or special interests say it will hurt it). That is not the traditional conservative view. Even less have conservatives made economic efficiency their highest virtue. If economic efficiency means, for example, that America should send all its manufacturing jobs overseas in the name of free trade, I think the next conservatism should oppose that. To conservatives, people should be more important than things. Life is not just about getting more stuff.