The American Compass Podcast

On this episode of Policy in Brief, Oren Cass and Chris Griswold take a look at the damage done to workers and local communities when businesses go bankrupt. Jobs are destroyed, wages are reduced, and local tax bases are devastated. When financial markets push firms to assume excessive risk in pursuit of higher rewards, workers and communities are left holding the bag. Oren and Chris propose a ser...

In the spirit of the holidays, this episode of Policy in Brief focuses on the family and what public policy can do to support this vital institution. American Compass executive director Oren Cass and policy director Chris Griswold are joined by special guest and research director Wells King for this discussion of a monthly family benefit, as conceived in our Family Income Supplemental Credit (Fisc...

On this episode of Policy in Brief, Oren Cass and Chris Griswold discuss how we should finance higher education in the U.S. Instead of simply offering blanket student debt forgiveness, they explore how to rethink financing from the ground up. Their proposals include treating student debt like all other debt so it can be discharged in bankruptcy, and putting colleges and universities directly on th...

On this episode of Policy in Brief, Oren Cass is joined as always by American Compass policy director Chris Griswold to discuss a proposal to allow workers to administer their own employee benefits through organizations they control. This would be an American version of the Ghent system, a successful European model that improves benefit provision because it's more accountable than either gove...

On this episode of Policy in Brief, Oren Cass is joined by American Compass policy director Chris Griswold to discuss how U.S. trade fell so far out of balance—and some ideas for how to rebalance it. They explore three key ideas: the global tariff, the import certificate, and the market access charge. All three use market forces to bring trade into balance and help fix the decades-long erosion of...

On this episode of Policy in Brief, Oren Cass is joined by American Compass policy director Chris Griswold to discuss a proposal to create an online age-verification system to keep kids safe online. They discuss how the current system leaves children unprotected, potential privacy concerns, and why the public sector needs to step in to help parents protect their kids online. Further reading: Lost...

On the inaugural episode of Policy in Brief, American Compass executive director Oren Cass is joined by policy director Chris Griswold to discuss the Workforce Training Grant, a proposal to create a meaningful alternative pathway to college for the majority of young Americans who are being left behind by the current "college-for-all" model. They discuss the failings of our current system...

In this episode, Michael Strain joins Oren in the Critics Corner to discuss what he calls "grievance-onomics," the reasons we should or should not have confidence in corporations pursuing their own profits will act in ways that benefit the American people, and policy implications on issues ranging from trade and investment to education and immigration. Michael is the director of economic...

In this episode, Vinnie Vernuccio joins Oren in the Critics Corner to discuss issues with labor policy today, debating whether American workers would benefit more from collective action or individual flexibility. Vinnie is the president of the Institute for the American Worker and a senior fellow at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

On this episode of Critics Corner, Oren is joined by Jon Hartley, a visiting fellow at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity and a former senior policy advisor to the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee. They discuss the purpose of finance, the value it creates, the places it can go wrong, as well as the pros and cons of various policy responses—including some they actually agree on.

On this episode of Critics Corner, Oren is joined by Grover Norquist, founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform. They discuss the nature of the right-of-center political coalition, whether the average GOP voter simply wishes to be “left alone,” the state of the American economy, and how public policy can help the average household and worker. Spoiler: Oren is not convinced to sign the tax...

On this episode of Critics Corner, Oren is joined by one of our most active critics and open-letter writers, Donald Boudreaux of George Mason University. They discuss a wide swath of disagreements, including public choice and the knowledge problem, whether the SEC or public schools should exist, and what role industrial policy played in the development of Japan and China. Plus, Professor Boudreaux...

What happens to personal data as the digital age deepens their quality, widens their availability, and creates new uses for them? Alec Stapp (Progressive Policy Institute) and Wells King (American Compass) exchange over the implications of “All-Knowing Algorithms” with Oren Cass.

 What happens to media as the digital age enhances their ability to engage consumers? As a part of our "Lost in the Super Market: Navigating the Digital Age" collection, American Compass convened contributing writers Matthew Crawford (UVA’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture) and Peter Suderman ( Reason ) to discuss the ramifications of the "Attention Economy" with Wells...

What happens to markets as the digital age improves their efficiency and introduces them to new domains? As a part of our "Lost in the Super Market: Navigating the Digital Age" collection, American Compass convened contributing writers Wingham Rowan (Modern Markets for All) and Neil Chilson (Charles Koch Institute) to discuss the advent of frictionless exchanges with Wells King (American...

Leader McCarthy joins American Compass to discuss his efforts to reach out and grow the Republican coalition, what it takes to build a GOP that is better attuned to the concerns of working class Americans, and where he sees the party going in the coming years.

Fulfillment author Alec MacGillis joins American Compass research director Wells King for a conversation exploring what the growth of Amazon means for the future of inequality in the U.S., the pros and cons of “one-click America,” and how policymakers and consumers should respond.

On the first episode of Critics Corner, Oren is joined by Stephanie Slade, managing editor of Reason magazine. They discuss the importance of liberty to the common good, whether government should fund research or infrastructure, the meaning of free trade in the context of China, and quite a bit more.

Senator Mitt Romney joins us for a conversation about what draws him to family benefits, why he thinks conservatives should embrace the Family Security Act’s approach, how he sees this debate fitting into the broader one about the right-of-center’s future.

Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer joins American Compass executive director Oren Cass for a conversation about his work as the U.S. Trade Representative, the overhaul of America's economic relationship with China, successes achieved and lessons learned, and key challenges facing the Biden administration.

Senator Marco Rubio and Congressman Anthony Gonzalez join American Compass executive director Oren Cass for a conversation about how to build a conservative agenda that appeals to a multi-ethnic, working-class base.

In a new collection, What Happened: The Trump Presidency in Review , American Compass and The American Conservative convened leading conservative analysts to dissect the successes and failures of the Trump administration and consider what the conservative movement can learn from it going forward.  Ross Douthat of the New York Times , Rachel Bovard of the Conservative Partnership Institute, and Ore...

American Compass's Oren Cass interviews the authors of Dignity (Chris Arnade) and Hillbilly Elegy (J.D. Vance), discussing Ruy Teixeira and Henry Olsen's essays in our October collection, PARTY FOUL: How the Left and Right Fail American Voters. Our guests describe the dynamics that lead to a politics disconnected from the economic and cultural mainstream and identify possible glimmers of...

In this episode, Washington Free Beacon editor Aaron Sibarium and small business investor Sam Long discuss the financialization of American business culture and its impacts on our economy and society.

Senator Josh Hawley talks with American Compass executive director Oren Cass about the empty platitudes and hypocrisy of “woke capital” and why conservatives must work to prioritize the needs of workers and families in their economic policy agenda.