Ian Fletcher

Ian Fletcher is one of America’s sharpest and most persistent critics of free trade ideology. A seasoned economist and the author of Free Trade Doesn’t Work (2011), The Conservative Case Against Free Trade (2012), and co-author of Industrial Policy for the United States (2025), Fletcher has spent over two decades arguing unapologetically for the return of strategic protectionism and national industrial policy in America.

His 2011 book, Free Trade Doesn’t Work, became an underground classic among those disillusioned with the mainstream economic consensus. With startling clarity, Fletcher walked readers through the real consequences of offshoring, trade deficits, and deindustrialisation—not just for GDP statistics, but for American workers, communities, and long-term national security. In The Conservative Case Against Free Trade, he addressed his ideological peers, reminding them that Alexander Hamilton laid the foundation for American economic strength and that economic nationalism was once a bipartisan tenet of US strategy.

Ian Fletcher’s latest co-authored work with Marc Fasteau offers a bold, evidence-based blueprint for revitalising America’s manufacturing base, arguing that industrial policy is not only economically sound but politically essential in an era of rising global competition.

Fletcher’s expertise spans theory, history, and practical policy. He was formerly Senior Economist at the Coalition for a Prosperous America, where he advised industry groups and lawmakers across the aisle on how to rethink trade, taxation, and competitiveness. He remains a member of its advisory board today. Beyond statistics and strategy, what animates Ian Fletcher’s work is a belief that economics should serve the national interest, not obscure it behind technocratic jargon or outdated dogma.

Educated at Columbia University and the University of Chicago, Ian Fletcher lives in San Francisco with his wife and daughter, and continues to speak at forums and advise policymakers on how to reclaim economic sovereignty in an era of geopolitical flux.