Let People Prosper

Thank you for watching this week's episode of the "Let People Prosper" podcast. Today, I'm honored to be joined by Leslie Ford, adjunct fellow at the American Enterprise Institute Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility and senior fellow with the Alliance for Opportunity. We discuss: 1) The history of the war on poverty, how safety net programs evolved, and where the war on pov...

Thank you for listening to the 12th episode of "This Week's Economy," where I briefly recap and share my insights every Friday morning on key economic and policy news at the national and state levels. Today, I cover: 1) National: What the new market data and latest jobs report indicate about the current economy, insights from the Establishment and Household Surveys, and my thoughts o...

Thank you for watching this week's episode of the "Let People Prosper" podcast. Today, I'm honored to be joined by Alex Nowrasteh, Director of Immigration Studies at Cato Institute's Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity. We discuss: 1) Immigration myths, including "immigrants steal jobs," and why that isn't true; 2) What data reveal about where today's i...

Thank you for listening to the 11th episode of "This Week's Economy," where I briefly recap and share my insights every Friday morning on key economic and policy news at the national and state levels. Today, I cover: 1) National: Why the debt ceiling deal that just passed through the House would be disastrous for the nation and a better path forward is to spend less to relieve econom...

Thank you for watching this week's episode of the "Let People Prosper" podcast. Today, I'm honored to be joined by Amity Shlaes, who has written four NYT bestsellers, chairs the board of the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation and the Manhattan Institute's Hayek Book Prize, and serves as a scholar at the King's College. We discuss: 1) How Calvin Coolidge blazed a trai...

Thank you for listening to the 10th episode of "This Week's Economy," where I briefly recap and share my insights every Friday morning on key economic and policy news at the national and state levels. Today I cover: 1) National: What's the latest on the debt ceiling deal, why I believe that the U.S. is in a recession based on the latest GDP report, and how inflation continues to...

Thank you for watching this week's episode of the "Let People Prosper" podcast. Today, I'm honored to be joined by economist and trusted public policy adviser Paul Winfree, who has served in top management and policy roles in the White House, U.S. Senate, and think tanks. We discuss: 1) Lessons learned from his experience working in the White House during the Trump administration...

Thank you for listening to the 9th episode of "This Week's Economy," where I briefly recap and share my insights every Friday morning on key economic and policy news at the national and state levels. Today I cover: 1) National: Breaking down the latest debt ceiling bill and the importance of restraining government spending for helping the economy to bounce back; 2) States: How states...

On today's episode of the "Let People Prosper" show, I'm thankful to be joined by Dr. Charles ("Chuck") Beauchamp, who is an assistant professor of finance at Mississippi College. We discuss: 1) The latest inflation numbers and how they're influencing Americans, including their spending on food, housing, and energy; 2) How higher interest rates are influencing the h...

Thank you for listening to the 8th episode of "This Week's Economy," where I briefly recap and share my insights every Friday morning on key economic and policy news at the national and state levels. Today I cover: 1) National: Breaking down the latest report on CPI inflation and how it relates to real average weekly earnings, what’s going on with the debt ceiling debate , and why th...

On today's episode of the "Let People Prosper" show, I'm thankful to be joined by Dr. Larry White , Professor of Theory and History of Banking and Money at George Mason University and author of the new book " Better Money: Gold, Fiat, or Bitcoin? " We discuss: 1) How money gets its value and where the value of the U.S. dollar stands; 2) Old and new forms of currency, in...

Thank you for listening to the 7th episode of "This Week's Economy," where I briefly recap and share my insights every Friday morning on key economic and policy news at the national and state levels. Today, I cover: 1) National: Breaking down today's new U.S. Jobs Report and what the findings actually reflect about the current economy, plus my thoughts on real weekly average earn...

On today's episode of the "Let People Prosper" show, which was recorded on April 20, 2023, I'm thankful to be joined by James Hohman, Director of Fiscal Policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and Host of “The Overton Window” Podcast. We discuss: 1) Right-to-work policies, workers' unions, and corporate welfare; 2) How shutdowns impacted the economy of his home state,...

Thank you for listening to the 6th episode of "This Week's Economy," where I briefly recap and share my insights every Friday morning on key economic and policy news at the national and state levels. Today, I cover: 1) National: Findings from the latest GDP report released yesterday (April 27th) and the debt ceiling bill passed by House Republicans; 2) States: Updates on Universal Sc...

On today's episode of the "Let People Prosper" show, which was recorded on March 24, 2023, I'm thankful to be joined by Dr. Dan Mitchell, President of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity and blogger at International Liberty . We discuss: 1) Lessons from history on government spending and why strong spending limits are needed at every level of government; 2) Issues with the Fed...

Thank you for listening to the 5th episode of "This Week's Economy," where I briefly recap and share my insights every Friday morning on key economic and policy news at the national and state levels. Today, I cover: 1) States: Findings from ALEC's New "Rich States, Poor States" report, why regulations and institutions matter, and Texas' HB 2127 provides regulatory c...

On today's episode of the "Let People Prosper" show, which was recorded on March 21, 2023, I'm thankful to be joined by Dr. Max Gulker, Senior Policy Analyst at Reason Foundation. We discuss: - The myth about "big tech" companies being a "monopoly," such as Amazon, Twitter, etc.; - The antitrust and regulatory threats by Federal Trade Commission’s Chair Lina Khan (here’s her foundational article);...

Thank you for listening to the fourth episode of "This Week's Economy," where I briefly recap and share my insights every Friday morning on key economic and policy news at the national and state levels. Today, I cover: - The latest inflation rate report, its significance, and contributing factors like the Federal Reserve's balance sheet, and influence on the housing market; - Tex...

On today's episode of the "Let People Prosper" show, which was recorded on March 31, 2023, I'm thankful to be joined by Daniel Erspamer, CEO of the Pelican Institute for Public Policy in Louisiana. We discuss the Pelican Institute’s “ Louisiana’s Comeback Agenda ” which includes: What are the biggest barriers impeding Louisiana's growth and fueling its net out-migration ; How...

Thank you for listening to the third episode of "This Week's Economy," a new series of the "Let People Prosper" podcast, where I quickly recap and share my insights every Friday morning on key economic news from the preceding week. Today, I cover: - What the newest jobs report tells us about the economy and what measures show that we're headed for a recession; - Why the...

On today's episode of the "Let People Prosper" show, which was recorded on March 31, 2023, I'm thankful to be joined by Annie Spilman , Texas State Director at the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) in Austin, Texas. We discuss: Which policies  help businesses to thrive  in Texas and beyond; Regulations that are  impeding businesses  from prospering more, and the ...

Thank you for listening to the second episode of "This Week's Economy," a new series of the "Let People Prosper" podcast, where I quickly recap and share my insights every Friday morning on key economic news from the preceding week. Today, I cover: What the latest economic indicators tell us about the economies of the U.S., Texas, and Louisiana, and where things are heading...

On today's episode of the "Let People Prosper" show, which was recorded on Feb. 24, 2023, I'm honored to be joined by Dr. Tyler Goodspeed, who is an economist, fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and was acting chairman of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2020 - 2021. We discuss: 1) His fascinating experience working inside the White House...

Thank you for listening to the first episode of "This Week's Economy," a new series of the "Let People Prosper" podcast, where I quickly recap and share my expertise on all the economic news from the preceding week every Friday morning. Today, I cover: 1) How much the Fed raised the federal funds rate, why, and what that means for the economy; 2) Current inflation numbers a...

In today's episode of the "Let People Prosper" podcast, I'm joined by Dr. Vincent Geloso, who shares his insights on: 1) The importance of economic freedom, especially as it relates to income mobility and inequality among countries and states; 2) The roles of societal, cultural, and economic institutions in unleashing poverty and promoting prosperity for people; and 3) The damage...