In a world drowning in talk about government aid, redistribution, and populist “solutions,” it’s refreshing to hear from someone who has actually seen what works.
This week on the Let People Prosper Show, I’m joined by Dr. Tom G. Palmer, one of the most respected and influential advocates for liberty around the globe. Tom serves as Executive Vice President for International Programs at Atlas Network, where he holds the George M. Yeager Chair for Advancing Liberty, and he’s a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute.
He’s helped freedom movements in more than 100 countries—from Poland to Peru—and his work has shown time and again that free people, not foreign aid, drive prosperity. He’s the author of Realizing Freedom and the editor of The Morality of Capitalism and Why Liberty. His latest book, co-authored with Matt Warner, Development with Dignity: Self-Determination, Localization, and the End to Poverty, offers a roadmap for true, bottom-up progress.
We talk about the moral foundations of capitalism, the failures of foreign aid, and how dignity and innovation—not dependency—lift people out of poverty. This conversation is a reminder that prosperity isn’t granted by governments—it’s earned by free individuals.
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Last week, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point, marking the second of what some expect to be a series of rate reductions in the coming months.
The move came after new data showed consumer inflation rose 3% over the past year—slightly less than expected but above the Fed’s 2% inflation target. Traders are already betting on more cuts ahead.
But the real question isn’t whether lower rates will boost the economy in the short term. It’s whether the Fed has learned from its mistakes—or is setting us up for yet another boom-and-bust cycle.
In this episode of This Week’s Economy, we’ll break down what the Fed’s decision means, why it matters, and what real reform should look like if we want lasting prosperity.
You can catch the full episode on YouTube, Apple Podcast, or Spotify.
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Artificial intelligence isn’t just transforming industries—it’s redefining freedom, opportunity, and the future of human work. This week on the Let People Prosper Show, I talk with Kevin Frazier, the inaugural AI Innovation and Law Fellow at the University of Texas School of Law, where he leads their groundbreaking new AI Innovation and Law Program.
Kevin’s at the center of the national conversation on how to balance innovation with accountability—and how to make sure regulation doesn’t crush the technological progress that drives prosperity. With degrees from UC Berkeley Law, Harvard Kennedy School, and the University of Oregon, Kevin brings both a legal and policy lens to today’s most pressing questions about AI, federalism, and the economy. Before joining UT, he served as an Assistant Professor at St. Thomas University College of Law and conducted research for the Institute for Law and AI. His scholarship has appeared in the Tennessee Law Review, MIT Technology Review, and Lawfare. He also co-hosts the Scaling Laws Podcast, bridging the gap between innovation and regulation.
This episode goes deep into how we can harness AI to promote human flourishing, not government dependency—how we can regulate based on reality, not fear—and how federalism can help America remain the global leader in technological innovation.
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We shouldn’t fear progress. It brings countless benefits. Just think about how much easier it is to make plans with a friend today than 30 years ago—you can send a quick text and meet up in minutes, instead of calling a landline and hoping they’re home to answer.
Yet in the headlines, progress is often framed as a threat—from manufacturing jobs moving overseas to warnings that AI will cause mass layoffs. What’s often forgotten is that new industries rise to take their place. New jobs emerge. Entrepreneurs adapt and create.
This continual cycle of innovation and renewal—what economist Joseph Schumpeter called creative destruction—was recently spotlighted by the Nobel Prize in Economics awarded to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt for their work on sustained growth through innovation. For great analyses of the prize, check out Brian Albrecht’s commentary and Justin Callais’s deep dive.
In today’s episode of This Week’s Economy, we’ll explore creative destruction, how governments often try to protect us from it, and why it’s best left to run its course.
You can catch the full episode on YouTube, Apple Podcast, or Spotify.
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Can a man find freedom inside a prison cell?
Today’s guest did—and he’s using that hard-won wisdom to help others do the same.
In this week’s Let People Prosper Show, I sit down with Michael Liebowitz, host of The Rational Egoist podcast, author, and prison reform advocate who spent 25 years behind bars before transforming his life through philosophy, reason, and purpose.
Michael’s story isn’t just one of redemption—it’s a case study in what happens when a man discovers the moral and economic power of rational self-interest. Drawing from Ayn Rand’s Objectivism, he argues that true morality isn’t about self-sacrifice—it’s about living productively, rationally, and responsibly.
We explore how his years in prison shaped his philosophy, why he believes America’s criminal justice system is broken, and how rational egoism directly connects to the free-market ideas that allow people to prosper.
For more insights, visit vanceginn.com. You can also get even greater value by subscribing to my Substack newsletter at vanceginn.substack.com. Please share with your friends, family, and broader social media network.
As of this recording, forecasts suggest this could become the longest federal government shutdown in modern American history. In Washington, tensions are high over mass layoffs and congressional gridlock.
Yet across much of the country, it’s business as usual—aside from the twenty-two states sliding toward recession and revising revenue forecasts amid tariff-driven uncertainty. Add in speculation about the Federal Reserve’s next rate cut, and the picture becomes even more unsettled.
In this episode of This Week’s Economy, I break down the latest developments—from the shutdown to potential interest rate cuts—and explore solutions rooted in sound, time-tested economic principles.
You can catch the full episode on YouTube, Apple Podcast, or Spotify.
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Is America’s debt crisis the biggest threat to prosperity—and can we fix it before it’s too late?
In this week’s Let People Prosper Show, I sit down with Romina Boccia, one of the nation’s top fiscal minds and a fearless reformer when it comes to Washington’s runaway spending. Romina is the Director of Budget and Entitlement Policy at the Cato Institute, where she leads research on federal spending, debt, and entitlement reform. She’s also the principal author of Debt Dispatch—the number-one fiscal newsletter read by members of Congress—and author of the new book Reimagining Social Security: Global Lessons for Retirement Policy Changes.
I first met Romina during my time at the White House Office of Management and Budget, and I’ve admired her work ever since. In this episode, we talk about her journey from Germany to D.C., how she became one of the fiercest advocates for limited government, and why entitlement reform isn’t just a numbers issue—it’s about moral responsibility to future generations.
We unpack why the national debt—now over $37 trillion and rising by about $2 trillion a year—is a bipartisan failure decades in the making. Romina explains how unchecked spending, not too little revenue, is driving the crisis—and why sustainable reform to Social Security and Medicare is critical to preserving both freedom and prosperity.
For more insights, visit vanceginn.com. You can also get even greater value by subscribing to my Substack newsletter at vanceginn.substack.com. Please share with your friends, family, and broader social media network.
As I record this, the federal government is in yet another shutdown. Sadly, this isn’t new. Washington has become addicted to chaos in budgeting, marked by shutdowns, continuing resolutions, and bloated omnibus bills. We must be clear that this shutdown is just a symptom. The disease is runaway government spending.The U.S. debt has soared past $37 trillion. We’re running nearly $2 trillion in annual deficits. And Congress hasn’t passed a full budget on time since 1997—that’s almost three decades of fiscal irresponsibility. Instead, lawmakers punt with short-term patches and massive, unread spending packages. That’s fiscal malpractice.
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In this episode of This Week’s Economy, I’ll be covering who needs to take responsibility and what steps must be taken to prevent future shutdowns, address our nation’s spending problems, and get America back on track.
You can catch the full episode on YouTube, Apple Podcast, or Spotify.
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What if our approach to vaccines—one of the greatest medical achievements in history—has lost sight of its most important principle: trust?
In this week’s Let People Prosper Show, I talk with Dr. Monique Yohanan, a physician, policy leader, and innovator who’s spent more than 20 years at the crossroads of medicine, technology, and public policy. She’s the Chief Medical Officer at Adia Health, where she leads work on AI-powered diagnostic tools, and a Senior Fellow at Independent Women’s Forum, where she’s shaking up the national conversation with her new paper, Rethinking Vaccine Policy: A Case for Humility, Precision, and Parental Partnership.
Dr. Yohanan trained at Dartmouth, Brown, Harvard, and Stanford, and has taught at UCSF and Stanford. She’s a nationally recognized voice on evidence-based medicine, having worked on issues from pain management and mental health parity to the opioid crisis and healthcare technology reform.
In this conversation, we delve into how public health can rebuild trust by respecting parents, embracing precision, and utilizing technology wisely.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, and visit VanceGinn.com and my handle on X for more pro-growth policy content that doesn’t pull punches.
Washington is once again at a standstill. The latest federal shutdown is more than a partisan clash—it’s a reminder of how badly America needs real fiscal discipline. Endless spending battles, continuing resolutions, and bloated budgets have left taxpayers footing the bill for a government that refuses to live within its means. President Trump has warned of “irreversible” changes to the federal workforce during this shutdown, but the deeper problem isn’t staffing levels—it’s a budgeting process that’s broken at its core.
Sound economics goes beyond fiscal responsibility. Free trade, open markets, and competition—not tariffs, subsidies, or mandates—are what drive prosperity. From tariffs on movies and medicine to micromanagement of banking and biotech, Washington has drifted far from the principles that once made America the world’s economic leader. It’s time to rein in unnecessary spending, reject protectionism, and return to policies that let people prosper!
In this episode of This Week’s Economy, I’ll break down the latest news—from the shutdown to new Trump administration tariffs—and share solutions that can move us forward.
In today’s episode of This Week’s Economy, join me for Econ 101 as we explore whether markets ever truly fail.
You can catch the full episode on YouTube, Apple Podcast, or Spotify.
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What really empowers women—bigger government programs, or the freedom to pursue opportunity on their own terms?
On this week’s Let People Prosper Show, I sit down with Patrice Onwuka, Director of the Center for Economic Opportunity at the Independent Women’s Forum. You may know her as a regular Friday co-host on WMAL’s O’Connor & Company, a fellow at The Steamboat Institute and The Philanthropy Roundtable, and a frequent guest on Fox News. Her work has also appeared in USA Today, The Washington Post, Barron’s, and many more.
Born in the Caribbean and raised in Boston, Patrice now lives in Maryland with her husband and three kids. With more than a decade of experience in D.C. policy and advocacy, she has made it her mission to combat identity politics and advocate for practical solutions—such as portable benefits, safety net reform, and dismantling barriers that hinder women’s ability to build wealth. Don’t miss our discussion and share it with your network.
For more insights, visit vanceginn.com. You can also get even greater value by subscribing to my Substack newsletter at vanceginn.substack.com. Please share with your friends, family, and broader social media network.
The conservative movement is growing. In the days since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, many have stepped forward to advance traditional values and conservative ideals. There is much to elevate in this renewed movement.
But it must remain anchored in the pro-growth principles that have fueled conservative victories throughout American history. Conservatives have long resisted government spending and control. Yet today, too many conservatives support tariffs, industrial policy, and special favors for select businesses. These are forms of economic socialism—central planning that shifts power from the people to politicians.
What we need instead is a principled, practical defense of free markets—and the courage to press leaders to embrace it, even when it’s politically inconvenient. That’s why I’ve put together a list of basic economic principles.
In today’s episode of This Week’s Economy, join me for Econ 101 as we explore whether markets ever truly fail.
You can catch the full episode on YouTube, Apple Podcast, or Spotify.
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Today’s guest is David Ditch, Senior Analyst in Fiscal Policy at the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC). With over a decade of experience examining the federal budget, David has worked at the Senate Budget Committee and at The Heritage Foundation, where he helped launch the Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget. His work has been published in outlets like FoxNews.com, the Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune.
David’s reputation is clear: he cuts through Washington spin with data-driven analysis, showing how Congress, bureaucrats, and special interests have fueled a debt crisis that threatens the future. In our conversation, we dive into the national debt as a failure of elites, the false fights over discretionary vs. mandatory spending, and what Washington could learn from low-tax, low-spend states. We also cover the gimmicks that dominate appropriations and the challenge of making fiscal responsibility popular again.
For more insights, visit vanceginn.com. You can also get even greater value by subscribing to my Substack newsletter at vanceginn.substack.com. Please share with your friends, family, and broader social media network.
In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, many are asking what comes next. Free speech feels under attack. Policy debates feel more heated than ever. But now is not the time to retreat—it’s the time to fight for truth. We need clarity about which policies work and which don’t, and we must pursue those that let people prosper.
Part of that fight is advancing pro-growth policies that get government out of the way. The latest economic data paint a troubling picture: inflation is running hot, the national debt is soaring, the labor market is weakening, and a third of U.S. states are slipping into recession. Now more than ever, we need policies that can steady the ship and put America back on the path to prosperity.
In this episode of This Week’s Economy, I’ll break down what all this data means—and what solutions can move us forward.
You can catch the full episode on YouTube, Apple Podcast, or Spotify.
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What happens when innovation runs headfirst into big government?
On this week’s Let People Prosper Show, I’m joined by Jake Morabito, Senior Director at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), where he leads both the Communications and Technology Task Force and the Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force. Jake is working directly with state lawmakers to make sure freedom—not federal micromanagement—drives the future of innovation.
From AI and broadband expansion to smart cities and age verification, Jake has been at the center of some of the most pressing debates in technology policy. His background—from Capitol Hill with Rep. Darrell Issa to his work with Software.org—gives him a unique perspective on how lawmakers handle innovation and how often they get it wrong. Together, we explore how states can lead in AI without replicating California’s regulatory overreach, how to bridge the digital divide without fostering dependency, and how free-market principles can guide a more prosperous digital future.
For more insights, visit vanceginn.com. You can also get even greater value by subscribing to my Substack newsletter at vanceginn.substack.com. Please share with your friends, family, and broader social media network.
Across the U.S., students are heading back to school. But here’s the reality: despite record levels of public education funding, student performance is flat—or more likely declining—in many places.
Nearly twenty states have adopted near-universal Education Savings Accounts, giving families more freedom. Yet in many others, progress lags. Even where legislation has recently passed, like in Texas, the programs often fall short of true, universal choice in terms of all students, all options, and all dollars.
The time for a school choice revolution is now! In this episode of This Week’s Economy, I break down why education needs choice, competition, and innovation—and how those principles can transform not just the lives of individual students, but families, communities, and the future of our nation.
You can catch the full episode on YouTube, Apple Podcast, or Spotify.
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Today’s guest is Kurt Couchman, Senior Fellow in Fiscal Policy at Americans for Prosperity—and a trusted fiscal ally since our days in Washington, back when he was at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Kurt’s cutting-edge thinking on balanced-budget amendments, statutory fiscal targets, and bipartisan reform has made him one of the most respected voices in the fight against runaway spending.
His new book, Fiscal Democracy in America: How a Balanced Budget Amendment Can Restore Sound Governance, is out now—and it’s essential reading if you care about fiscal responsibility, government accountability, and long-term economic growth.
For more insights, visit vanceginn.com. You can also get even greater value by subscribing to my Substack newsletter at vanceginn.substack.com. Please share with your friends, family, and broader social media network.
Many lawmakers have lost sight of the basic economic principles that build flourishing societies. From putting Washington in private boardrooms to imposing tariffs, this administration seems intent on focusing on anything but the real problem: runaway government spending.
Inflation and many of today’s economic woes are made worse by federal deficits that fuel higher interest rates and add relentless inflationary pressure. These challenges won’t be solved by squeezing “revenues” out of private industry or taxing imports. They’ll only be solved by spending less, taxing less, and regulating less.
We’ll break down the latest news on these issues and more in this edition of This Week’s Economy.
You can catch the full episode on YouTube, Apple Podcast, or Spotify.
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What keeps the socialist temptation alive—and why does it resonate with younger Americans?
On this week’s Let People Prosper Show, I interview Iain Murray, Vice President for Strategy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Iain is one of the sharpest voices in the movement for economic liberty, directing CEI’s Center for Economic Freedom and shaping the debate on labor, trade, energy, and beyond.
We discuss his journey from the UK to the US, his time as a civil servant under heavy bureaucracy, and his work at CEI to expose the hidden costs of “regulatory dark matter.” We also dive into his book The Socialist Temptation, unpacking why socialism still attracts voters—and how free markets can win the argument with better storytelling. Along the way, we tackle Brexit, trade, environmental stewardship, and the battle of values driving today’s political realignment.
For more insights, visit vanceginn.com. You can also get even greater value by subscribing to my Substack newsletter at vanceginn.substack.com. Please share with your friends, family, and broader social media network.
With socialist policies coming from progressives and conservatives, it’s clear America’s political class — left and right — has lost its economic compass.
Headlines tell the story: student loan forgiveness, tariffs, income redistribution, protectionist trade. Each is a form of central planning that shifts decisions from people in markets to lawmakers and regulators in government. No wonder the economy feels stuck — with $37 trillion in national debt, a bloated Federal Reserve balance sheet, and growing doubts about the American Dream.
What we need is a practical, principled defense of free markets — and the courage to push leaders to embrace it, even when it’s politically inconvenient.
You can catch the full episode on YouTube, Apple Podcast, or Spotify.
Visit: VanceGinn.com
Subscribe: VanceGinn.Substack.com