OPINION: A Young Economist’s Case for Stubborn Optimism
This article is adapted with permission from a Rockford Register Star article from Carlos Martinez, a PhD candidate from George Mason University. Thank him @cl7martinez on Twitter!
America feels gloomy. We’ve seen too much that doesn’t fit the American ideal — political violence, calls to censor, scorched-earth rhetoric, and a tug toward extremes. It’s a heavy moment.
I won’t speak for older generations. I’m young enough to have voted only in the last three presidential cycles. But after studying economics and watching the data, I’m convinced of a simple point: progress is real, prosperity is learnable, and the future can be brighter — if we keep the conditions that let ordinary people build.
Start with the baseline. Over the long run, human well-being improved dramatically. Life expectancy rose, child mortality fell, and extreme poverty shrank by historic margins. The pandemic and wars slowed some of that, but the direction over decades is still upward.
This isn’t a victory lap. It’s a reminder that when societies get the basics right — secure rights, open markets, sound money and competent public institutions — people lift themselves. The formula isn’t mysterious; it’s consistent rules that protect effort and allow ideas to scale.
Gen Z also starts with opportunities no prior cohort had. A library’s worth of courses and lectures sits in our pockets. You can learn statistics at lunch and watch a world-class seminar before bed. Lower skill-acquisition costs raise the odds that effort turns into mobility.
Technology helps in the labor market, too. Workers and employers find each other faster and across wider distances. That doesn’t guarantee success, but it raises the expected return to trying — especially early in a career.
So why the gloom? Because we’ve layered frictions where compounding begins. Housing near jobs is scarce. Energy projects and transmission lines linger for years in approvals. Permitting risk often exceeds commercial risk. Talent that wants to study, work, and build here gets stuck in slow lanes.
These are solvable problems. Allow more homes near work and transit so teachers, nurses, and young families can put down roots. Move approvals on reliable energy and connect it. Set clear, predictable timelines so capital isn’t punished for patience. Make it easier for students, researchers, entrepreneurs, and essential workers to come, contribute and stay.
Speech norms matter for the same reason. Complex societies learn through open criticism and replication. Censorship — whether legal or through online pile-ons — blinds us to error. I’ve changed my mind most when someone could publicly stress-test my claims. Better speech corrects bad speech; public debate filters out bad ideas.
None of this denies real pressures. Housing bites, insurance costs climb and public debts crowd out the future. Entrepreneurs see paperwork multiply while margins thin. But pessimism is not realism; it’s a habit. Realism says places that welcome builders, reward work and keep the public square open to argument grow richer, healthier, and more resilient.
You can see the same logic at home. When rules are clear and the basics work — courts that resolve disputes, infrastructure that functions, schools that teach, agencies that measure results — investment follows. When investment follows, new firms form, wages rise and pessimism gives way to plans.
The goal isn’t bigger government or smaller government. It’s focused, competent government doing a few essential things well so free people can do more. That balance — clarity and capacity from the public sector, creativity and drive from the private sector — has powered every durable burst of American prosperity.
Stubborn optimism is a discipline. Look squarely at what’s broken and fix it. Don’t confuse outrage with action. Defend the norms that make peaceful disagreement possible so we keep discovering what works.
My pitch, from one young American to readers across generations, is simple: make optimism actionable. Say yes to building. Cut the red tape that blocks the future. Defend free inquiry. Welcome talent. Reward work. Expect more where government must act—and insist it step aside where people can solve problems themselves.
America has always been a bet on the future. Let’s place that bet again — not by denying the darkness, but by lighting more rooms. If we do, the next generation won’t need to be told to feel optimistic. They’ll be too busy building to notice the gloom.
This piece solely expresses the opinions of the author, and not necessarily the Classical Liberal Caucus as a whole.
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