“Their goal is a new progressive era that builds where the New Deal left off”

Do you know what this means in the real world? “Intellectuals” seek power and well paying jobs. The free market, however, is not kind to such individuals. That is the number one reason why they reject libertarian economics. Rational argumentation per se has virtually nothing to do with it. The New Deal did enormous damage and delayed economic recovery for a number of years. LBJ’s Great Society also caused a lot of destruction—but both programs allowed ego tripping lefties to run things into the ground.