WSJ Opinion: Free Expression

Is the ESG craze over? On this episode of the Free Expression Podcast, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks with veteran investment manager Terrence Keeley about why environmental, social and governance-based investing is in retreat under pressure from investors, conservative critics and Republicans on Capitol Hill. They also discuss whether restoring investing for shareholder re...

On this episode of the Free Expression Podcast, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker and geopolitical analyst Ian Bremmer survey escalating crises around the world, including China’s deepening partnership with Russia, Ukraine's need for more military and financial assistance, how Joe Biden would defend Taiwan, the growing threat from Iran, and the U.S. Energy Department's conclusion tha...

On this episode of the Free Expression Podcast, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker and historian Robert Kagan take stock of the war between Russia and Ukraine on the first anniversary of the conflict. After Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv this week they discuss America's large and continuing commitment to Ukraine, Vladimir Putin's options as his military is depleted, China's role and why it...

On this episode of the Free Expression Podcast, president of the University of Chicago Paul Alivisatos talks with The Wall Street Journal's Editor at Large, Gerry Baker about improving the climate for free speech at American universities and colleges, creating more ideological and intellectual diversity in the faculty, and how American higher education can continue to be a force for socially and e...

On this episode of the Free Expression Podcast, economist Ken Rogoff talks to The Wall Street Journal's Editor at Large, Gerry Baker about why the U.S. faces a significant chance of recession, the risks of a new financial crisis, and how China is struggling to deal with the realities of its modern economy.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of the Free Expression Podcast, international relations expert and commentator John Chipman tells The Wall Street Journal's Editor-at-Large, Gerry Baker why Ukraine is in a must-win stage in its war with Russia as the one-year anniversary of the conflict nears, how seriously to take fears of escalation, and what the world makes of the Biden administration’s handling of challenges i...

On this episode of Free Expression, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers tells Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker how much further the Federal Reserve will need to go to contain inflation, whether it will cause a recession and weighs in on the threat to expression and intellectual diversity in universities.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of Free Expression, former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan sits down with Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The two discuss how the tumultuous vote to make Kevin McCarthy Speaker of the House could yield positive results for the Republican Party, the debate over raising the debt ceiling, and how the GOP needs to get pa...

On this episode of Free Expression, leading economist Jason Furman shares his outlook for the economy for the coming year with Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker. He explains why it’s unlikely the Federal Reserve can engineer a soft landing of low inflation without a recession, why so many experts got it wrong about the temporary nature of inflation in 2022, and how the labor market,...

As Congress ends another day without electing a Speaker of the House, outgoing Senator Ben Sasse talks to Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker about why the nation’s politics is overrun by zealots, how to heal the divisions in the GOP and restore the virtues of persuasion and pluralism to government, and why he is leaving Washington to become president of the University of Florida. Lear...

Free Expression's final episode of 2022 features some of Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker's best interviews of the year, including conversations with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, author Douglas Murray, economist Nicholas Eberstadt, author and activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, historian Niall Ferguson, and analyst Michael Shellenberger.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

With Congress calling for a ban on TikTok, the release of Elon Musk's 'Twitter Files' and the collapse of FTX, the technology sector faces the possibility of regulation now more than ever. On this episode of Free Expression, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) speaks to Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker about why tech companies need to be more transparent about their policies, and the dangers of b...

On the latest episode of Free Expression, incoming Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu tells Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker of his hopes for a deal to establish normal relationships with Saudi Arabia and a wider peace with the Arab world, how he plans to prevent Iran from going nuclear and what his relationships with Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden might mean for the conflict...

With the defeat of GOP candidate Herschel Walker by incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock in the Georgia Senate runoff election, the Democrats won a 51-49 majority despite Joe Biden's low approval ratings. So what happened and how can Republicans win the Senate back? On the latest episode of Free Expression, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) tells Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker about why candidate...

With the U.S. economy facing a highly uncertain 2023, what’s the bigger threat - inflation or recession? Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is signaling slowing in the pace of interest rate increases after its fierce tightening this year, but has the Fed already gone too far? On the latest episode of the Free Expression podcast, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerard Baker speaks to former Fe...

On the latest episode of Free Expression, Ways and Means Republican Leader Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) tells Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker the Republican Party needs to look forward not backward as it considers its future, has admiring words for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and explains how a Republican-controlled House of Representatives can block Joe Biden's agenda and build some leg...

On the latest episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker talks with conservative author and commentator Matthew Continetti about why an expected dominant victory for the GOP on Election Day never came to fruition, what the results mean for a potential 2024 matchup between Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump, and how Republicans can formulate a message on issues like abor...

On the latest episode of Free Expression, policy analyst Reuel Marc Gerecht tell Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker why Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his regime see the most recent protests in Iran as a dangerous threat to their power, why sanctions won't stop Iran's significant nuclear program, and why Iran is aligning with Russia and China in a new Cold War with the West...

On the latest episode of Free Expression, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) tells Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker about why he thinks the Russia/Ukraine conflict is an "unnecessary war," why the United States should send a strong message on defending Taiwan in the face of China, and how the left has sabotaged U.S. global power and made America look weak on the world stage. Learn more about yo...

Whose turn is it to run Britain? On the latest episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker explores the turmoil in what used to be called the world’s most successful political party - the U.K.’s Conservatives. Tim Montgomerie, a leading conservative thinker in Britain, explains how after 12 years of the Tories in office, the aftermath of Brexit and the challenge tha...

On the latest episode of Free Expression, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy tells Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker why there is a growing backlash to woke capitalism, why both sides of the cultural divide have embraced victimhood, and why there will be major hurdles on the road back to excellence.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On a new episode of Free Expression, energy expert Daniel Yergin explains to Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker the turbulence in global energy markets, how the Biden administration’s confused policies on energy are undermining America’s energy security and says a rational mix of natural gas, oil, nuclear and renewables offers solutions to our long-term energy needs.  Learn more about...

On the latest episode of Free Expression, professor Steven Pinker tells Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker whether humans are becoming more rational, why reason should be taught in schools like math and reading, and if society is seemingly becoming more susceptible to conspiracy theories and confirmation bias.      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Free Expression, epidemiology expert Jay Bhattacharya tells Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker about what the world learned from the mistakes made during the pandemic, and the economic damage done by lockdowns and how to avoid resorting to them again.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Free Expression, pollster Mark Penn talks to Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker about the messages both Democrats and Republicans need to convey to voters in November, why Joe Biden's anti-MAGA speech in Philadelphia may backfire on the President, and why the GOP is still in search of a national leader to unify the party.  Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...