Free The Economy

This week we cover the debt load of state and local governments, advances in nuclear fuel storage, and hope for trade relations with Canada and Mexico. Our interview is with Casey Mattox, vice president for legal and judicial strategy at Americans for Prosperity. We’ll talk about recent lawsuits in Colorado and New Mexico, consumer protection, federalism, social media, the First Amendment, and whe...

This week we cover what’s making housing so expensive, the common good of the Constitution, and jawboning from the Federal Communications Commission. Our interview is with Akash Chougule, president of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP). We’ll talk about FREOPP’s recent publication Affording the American Dream and how to make a prosperous life more attainable for every Americ...

This week we cover global energy security, another tariff lawsuit, and new talent in the fight for a free economy. Our interview is with Chelsea Follett, research fellow at the Cato Institute and author of the new book The Grim Old Days: An Introduction to the Preindustrial Past . We’ll talk about tradition, history, nostalgia, prosperity, and the brutal realities of life in previous centuries. Ke...

This week we cover federal vs. state rules for prediction markets, the difference between Detroit and Pittsburgh, and a false solution for railway safety. Our interview is with Stephanie Slade, senior editor at Reason magazine and author of the new book Fusionism: Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of the American Right . We’ll talk about conservatives, liberals, big government, religious liberty, an...

This week we cover the case of Suncor v. Boulder County at the Supreme Court, the problems with the Los Angeles mansion tax, new polling on tariffs, and the latest job-creation numbers. Our interview is with Jack Nicastro, antitrust policy analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. We’ll talk about antitrust law, the consumer welfare standard, how to be an entrepreneur, and t...

This week we cover spiraling healthcare costs, reforming state-level regulations, and how to keep asset managers accountable to shareholders. Our interview is with Paul Mueller, senior research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. We talk about teaching economics, debunking myths, applying theory to the real world, and seeing virtue and liberty at work together. Keep up with new...

This week we cover how data centers power our lives, how modern technology is fueling family togetherness, and the origins of America’s rebellious spirit. Our interview is with Sam Raus, the David Boaz Resident Writing Fellow at Young Voices. We’ll talk about capitalism, big government, AI, cultural criticism, and how Gen Z thinks about fairness and opportunity. Keep up with new episodes by follow...

This week we cover Treasury yields, oil prices, U.S.-Taiwan security policy, and Trump’s $5,000 dividend checks. Our interview is with James Hohman, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and host of the Overton Window podcast. We’ll talk about political change, becoming a policy entrepreneur, networking with allies, and working for reform in your own backyard.  Keep up...

This week we cover the latest employment data, a new award for academic courage, free speech versus native land acknowledgements, and polling on data center popularity. Our interview is with Seaver Wang, Director of the Climate and Energy program at the Breakthrough Institute. We’ll talk about rare earth elements, China’s export controls, permitting reform, friendshoring, and where to find tomorro...

This week we cover climate collusion between California and Quebec, how luxurious college campuses are breeding socialists, and government regulation’s protection paradox. Our interview is with Daniel Golliher, Cities and AI Policy Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the founder of the civics academy Maximum New York. We’ll talk about civic engagement, knowing the rules of politics, becoming a g...

This week we cover the status of occupational licensing in the fifty states, the coming crack-up over entitlement spending, and how to bring supersonic flights back to the U.S. Our interview is with Thomas Hoenig, Federal Reserve alumnus and Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. We’ll talk about interest rates, big banks, the Securities and Exchange Commiss...

This week we cover the advantages of a strong U.S. dollar, a dashboard for extreme weather events, and how to get infrastructure permitting moving again. Our interview is with Luca Gattoni-Celli, Senior Fellow for Housing at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP). We’ll talk about affordability, zoning, fire codes, NIMBYism, discretionary review, and how to craft policy for hous...

This week we cover unemployment data, stadium subsidies, and how Americans feel about the U.S. economy right now. Our interview is with climate scientist and American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Roger Pielke, Jr. We talk about climate science, academic politics, fossil fuels vs. renewables, and the future of energy policy. Keep up with new episodes by following us on Twitter at @freethe_eco...

This week we cover auto tariffs, electricity supply and demand, and the future of the trucking workforce. Our interview is with Marc Wheat, General Counsel of Advancing American Freedom (AAF). We talk about the latest major publication from AAF, the Independence Index , for which Marc wrote the foreword and to which many of his colleagues contributed content. Keep up with new episodes by following...

This week we cover Social Security reform, what’s fueling state migration, and whether using prediction markets could impact your right to vote. This week Competitive Enterprise Institute Vice President Iain Murray interviews historian and author Arthur Herman about his most recent book, “Founder’s Fire: From 1776 to the Age of Trump.” Keep up with new episodes by following us on Twitter at @freet...

This week we cover making home appliances great again, fighting price controls on healthcare, research on AI-fueled entrepreneurship, and a big new event on administrative law and the federal bureaucracy. Sean Higgins, research fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute specializing in labor and employment issues. We talk about his latest study, “Don’t Panic: A Skeptic’s Guide to the AI Jobs D...

This week we cover the latest inflations numbers, reforming $1 trillion worth of federal grantmaking, and a new book on the Declaration of Independence. Our guest this week is Kimberlee Josephson, Associate Professor of Business Administration at Lebanon Valley College. We talk about fair trade coffee, carbon offsets, dolphin-safe tuna, and how retail businesses started selling virtue along with t...

Our guest this week is Richard Lorenc, formerly of the Foundation for Economic Education and Iron Light and now President & CEO of Lexandria, a digital education company focused on reigniting the American Spirit in the hearts of young people. We talk about the 250th anniversary of American independence, capitalism vs. socialism, the politics of Generation Z, and what comes next in the world of...

This week we cover terrible advice on poverty from the United Nations, reforming the way we regulate banks, and possible new policy directions at the Federal Reserve. Our guest this week is John Berlau, Director of Finance Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and author of George Washington: Entrepreneur: How Our Founding Father’s Private Business Pursuits Changed America and the World ....

This week we cover reforming the SEC’s stock trading database, banning AI exports, a climate lawsuit from Boulder, Colorado, and the latest episode of the American Institute for Economic Research’s The Economist Next Door podcast. Our guest this week is Peggy Little, Senior Litigation Counsel at the New Civil Liberties Alliance. We talk about how the Securities and Exchange Commission has been gag...

This week we cover U.S. companies getting hammered by tariffs, jobs that are surprisingly not getting replaced by AI, and some good news for people whose assets have been seized by the police. Our guest this week is Stephen Davies, historian and author of the new book The Great Realignment: Why the New Right is Here to Stay . In that book, Stephen synthesizes decades of research to explain a funda...

This week we cover America’s low-income churn, reforms to civil asset forfeiture, changes to vehicle emissions testing, a shout out to the new podcast Everyday Abundance . Our guest this week is Jared Walczak, Senior Fellow at the Tax Foundation and president of Walczak Policy Consulting. We’ll talk about the current vogue for raising taxes on millionaires and billionaires (and what to do when the...

This week we cover promising new classroom technology, increasing productivity (and avoiding layoffs) with AI, and the repeal of the SEC’s climate disclosure rule. Our guest this week is Thomas Savidge, research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. We’ll talk about state budgets, pensions, government employees, unions, and the possibility of a federal bailout. Keep up with new e...

This week we cover bank privacy, SNAP benefits, a new study on tariffs, and a great new podcast about ideas and innovation. Our guest this week is Kent Lassman, president and CEO of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. We’ll talk about what it takes to run a Washington, DC nonprofit and do aggressive policy advocacy in 2026. Keep up with new episodes by following us on Twitter at @freethe_economy...

This week we cover higher inflation numbers, a strike on the Long Island Railroad, and new disability tech from Meta. Our guest this week is Parker Thayer, investigative researcher at the Capital Research Center. We’ll talk about the Medicaid billing fraud that has been uncovered across the country, and in particular the on-the-ground investigation in Columbus, Ohio that Parker took on with Luke R...