Merrill Matthews, Ph.D., is a resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation, a research-based, public policy “think tank.” He is a health policy expert and opinion contributor at The Hill. He also serves on the Texas Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Dr. Matthews is a past president of the Health Economics Roundtable for the National Association for Business Economics, the largest trade association of business economists. Dr. Matthews also served for 10 years as the medical ethicist for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center’s Institutional Review Board for Human Experimentation, co-author of On the Edge: America Faces the Entitlements Cliff, and has contributed chapters to several books, including Physician Assisted Suicide: Expanding the Debate and The 21st Century Health Care Leader and Stop Paying the Crooks (on Medicare fraud).
He has been published in numerous journals and newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, Barron’s, USA Today, Forbes magazine and the Washington Times. He was an award-winning political analyst for the USA Radio Network.
Dr. Matthews received his Ph.D. in Humanities from the University of Texas at Dallas.
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.
If the Government Cut Medicare Fraud, It Wouldn't Have to Cut Medicare (Audio: Podcast)
IPI’s Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews shares some of his observations and research about how federal entitlement programs like Medicare tolerate rates of fraud that are much higher than fraud rates in the public sector, and if Medicare had been able to prevent $100 billion in fraud PER YEAR, it might not be in the fix it’s in today. And IPI President Tom Giovanetti rants about how you can’t expect private sector level performance from government, since the incentives in government are 180 degrees opposed to the incentives in the private sector. Oh, and “pay and chase” makes an appearance, too.
IPI Policy Basics: There's Nothing Wrong with Stock Buybacks (Audio: Podcast)
What are stock buybacks, and why have Democrats decided that stock buybacks should be discouraged/punished/banned? IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews explain what stock buybacks are and why Democrats have wrongly demonized them.
Biden's Budget Blowout (Audio: Podcast)
Today the Biden administration released its budget proposal, and it’s a progressive doozy. $5.5 trillion in new tax hikes, trillions of dollars in new spending, punishment for fossil fuels and rewards for renewables, hammering the wealthy and handing out goodies for everyone else, it’s all in there. Of course most of it will never happen, because it’s a campaign document, not a serious budget proposal. With IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews and IPI President Tom Giovanetti.
What Are the Priorities of this Texas Legislative Session?
Texas political expert Matt Mackowiak joins IPIs Merrill Matthews to discuss the current Texas legislative session, what’s likely to make it through, and why the Texas Legislature is different from many other states.
Money Supply and Inflation
Inflation has everyone’s attention. In this podcast, economist and financial analyst Don Luskln explains to IPI’s Merrill Matthews why the rapid increase in the money supply caused the inflation. And the declining money supply means inflation is on its way down.
How Texas Business May Fare from the 2023 Texas Legislative Session (Audio: Podcast)
Special Guest Annie Spilman, Texas State Director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), shares with us NFIB’s policy priorities for the 2023 Texas Legislative Session. Annie points out the harm of the “inventory tax” (personal business property tax), the gross receipts tax, and the problem of health care costs for small businesses. With IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews.
Is a Four-Day Workweek or School Week In Your Future? (Audio: Podcast)
IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews has noticed a somewhat under-the-radar trend of school districts moving to four-day school weeks, and more and more businesses doing the same. A four-day work week isn’t a new concept, except this time it involves a reduced number of work hours per week. Is this a good trend? Is it an effect of the Covid-19 pandemic? And is this even a policy issue? With IPI President Tom Giovanetti.
Total Records: 704
