This week, the Conservative Political Action Coalition is hosting its annual meeting of leaders of the American right. Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to give a speech, but his last remaining Republican rival, Nikki Haley, is not.
The event often previews some of the narratives we will hear more about as the campaign progresses, including on the economy.
We already know some of the GOP's goals for the economy if the party retakes the White House.
“One of the things I think we will see is actually an end to many current proposals rather than a concrete step towards new initiatives,” said Iain Murray, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
One example is the Biden administration's rollback of efforts to transition to a greener economy. And Donald Trump has already said he wants another round of tariffs if he wins in November, which Murray said would hurt the economy.
“Tariffs are kind of a gimmick,” he said. “Ultimately, all they do is increase costs for the American consumer and only encourage political dysfunction and people’s strife over it.”
Tariffs are one of several areas of deep disagreement among conservatives.
“There is now a debate about fiscal responsibility that has really never been seen on the right in the last four decades,” said Michael Strain, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute. “And now, you know, President Trump is strongly opposed to reducing planned government spending, which is the main reason for the debt.”
The national debt is likely to be a major topic of discussion throughout the conference, particularly when it comes to who is to blame and who can – on Election Day – begin fixing the problem.
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