Why Democrats Should Support a Work Requirement for Welfare (Audio: Podcast)
House Republicans included a work requirement for welfare benefits (“workfare”) in their legislation agreeing to raise the debt ceiling. IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews discusses the history of workfare, and discusses with IPI President Tom Giovanetti why workfare contributes not only to fiscal prudence but also to human flourishing.
IPI Policy Basics: What Is Intellectual Property, Why Is it Important, and Why Is it Controversial? (Audio: Podcast)
In recognition of World IP Day, the Institute for Policy Innovation, an accredited Non-Governmental Organization affiliated with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), discusses the importance of intellectual property protection. With IPI Senior Research Fellow Bartlett Cleland and IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews.
How the Biden Administration is Putting Prescription Drug Innovation at Risk (Audio: Podcast)
IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews, who has spent significant time researching and understanding prescription drug and health care innovation, describes how the Biden administration is abusing the “march in rights” permitted under the Bayh-Dole legislation in order to supposedly reduce prescription drug prices. He then explains how the Biden administration is also in danger of allowing the international TRIPs waiver provisions to further weaken patent protection. IPI Senior Research Fellow Bartlett Cleland relates these issues to the same kinds of tech transfer issues encountered in the tech industry, and IPI President Tom Giovanetti interjects thoughts of questionable value.
President Biden Mandates Electric Vehicles (Audio: Podcast)
By attempting to radically restrict auto emissions through regulatory fiat, President Biden is attempting to force a major policy change on the American people and the American economy by essentially mandating the use of electric vehicles. IPI President Tom Giovanetti rants a couple of times about this violation of the principles of self-government, while IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews explains why the country just isn’t ready for the forced migration to electronic vehicles.
Is Texas Falling for the Importation of Drugs from Canada? (Audio: Podcast)
This week HB25, which would create and fund a new agency in Texas that would coordinate the importation of prescription drugs from Canada, sailed through the Texas House of Representatives. IPI President Tom Giovanetti is surprised that this tired and failed idea has caught the eyes of Texas legislators, but IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews has the receipts. Based on his years of research and study of importation, Dr. Matthews explains why this idea is likely a waste of time and effort for the Texas Legislature.
Government Bureaucracies Can't Supervise Our Banks. Here's a Private Sector Alternative (Audio: Podcast)
With the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and a few others, it’s clear that the Federal Reserve failed to detect and prevent fairly obvious problems, and then acted to guarantee deposits above the legal guarantee threshold of $250,000. Beyond of the moral hazard of that action, why is it that the only option for protecting deposits is the federal government? Shouldn’t there be ways to insure the security of deposits through private sector devices? IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews describes his recent op/ed, written with IPI Board Chairman Wayne Stoltenberg, on private alternatives to federal insurance.
In Regulating Big Tech, the Solution Might Be Worse than the Problem (Audio: Podcast)
At the federal level the news is full of talk about the federal government banning the social media app TikTok, while at the state level many states are passing legislation related to banning minors from social media. IPI President Tom Giovanetti describes the problems with legislation intended to empower the Executive Branch to ban software like Tik Tok, and with IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews discusses state-level legislation as well.
Can a Person Run for President from Jail? (Audio: Podcast)
Former President Trump faces at least four legal proceedings of various types that could theoretically result in jail time. While it’s not very likely, it’s worth asking whether a candidate could actually run for president from jail, since Trump’s odds of doing some jail time are greater than zero. IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews tells us of several times in US history when someone has actually run for president from jail, and with IPI President Tom Giovanetti games out the various scenarios of what would happen if an incarcerated person actually managed to win a presidential election. Again, the odds of this scenario are not very likely, but greater than zero.
IPI Policy Basics: What Is Industrial Policy, and Why Shouldn't We Have One? (Audio: Podcast)
The recent Obama and Trump administrations have progressively moved in the direction of industrial policy, but the Biden administration has jumped in with both feet. Oddly, some conservatives are increasingly comfortable with the government using industrial policy to influence outcomes they favor. In this IPI Policy Basics podcast, IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews explain what industrial policy is, and why it’s largely incompatible with a limited government, free-market philosophy, while also acknowledging that political reality will always be pushing toward rather than against elements of industrial policy.
IPI Policy Basics: Modern Monetary Theory, R.I.P. (Audio: Podcast)
What is “Modern Monetary Theory (MMT),” and what is it in contrast with? IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews and IPI President Tom Giovanetti discuss the heterodox economic theory that promises government can print and spend as much money as it wants to with little or no downside, and asks the musical question “But wouldn’t that cause inflation?” We talk a little monetary policy, a little Milton Friedman, a little neoclassical economics, and conclude that MMT is a load of bunk.
Total Records: 995
