In recent years, national conservatives (natcons) have complained that a blind adherence to free‐market philosophy has hollowed out the middle class and all but ruined America. To criticize financial markets, they adopted a term from decades past: financialization. According to proponents of financialization, many of whom are self‐declared socialists, financialization represents some kind of overreliance on financial markets, resulting in too many resources being diverted from investments in the “real” economy.
For the next few weeks, Cato’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives (CMFA) will post quotes from these critics—both old and new—on X and ask followers to vote whether they think the quote is from a natcon or a socialist. Twenty‐four hours after each poll question is posted, @CatoCMFA will respond to its own post with the answer of who said it and whether the quote was from a socialist or a natcon. We hope you play!