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Tom Giovanetti

President

Tom Giovanetti is president of the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI), a conservative, free-market public policy research organization based in Dallas, Texas.

In addition to his administrative duties, Tom writes for IPI and for leading publications on a variety of policy topics including taxes and economic growth, self-government and the Founders' design, civil liberties and constitutional protections, judicial supremacy, intellectual property, Social Security personal accounts, technology and Internet policy, and out-of-control government spending.  In addition to being regularly published in major outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, FoxNews.com and The Dallas Morning News, Tom has a regular column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Tom frequently appears in the media and is a fill-in host for the Mark Davis Show in the Dallas-Fort Worth market. 

Tom's passion is encouraging conservative voters and organizations to remain skeptical of Big Government, maintain faith in markets, and defend individual liberty as the best means of achieving human flourishing. His most recent work has focused on free-market solutions to the student debt issue, preserving freedom of speech online, and persuading state legislatures to override local and municipal policies that restrict economic liberty.

Mr. Giovanetti has represented IPI at many national and international organizations, including the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) the World Health Organization (WHO) and represented IPI during trade agreement negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Mr. Giovanetti is a popular speaker and writer, and also testifies before state and federal legislative committees on a variety of topics.

Follow Tom on Twitter at @tgiovanetti

October 5, 2023

Are Democrats Getting Mugged by Reality? (Audio: Podcast)

With the shocking news that the Biden administration has resumed building a border wall (!), IPI President Tom Giovanetti wonders if Democrats are finally getting mugged by the reality of the results of their policies. Tom talks about the border crisis, the crime spike, and persistent inflation with IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews.

October 2, 2023

IPI Policy Basics: The Wealth Effect (Audio: Podcast)

IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews explains the (mostly) psychological phenomenon of the Wealth Effect, which can accelerate either a good economy or a bad economy. And he uses “Bidenomics” as an illustration of an attempt to turn the reverse wealth effect into the wealth effect. With IPI President Tom Giovanetti.

September 28, 2023

Like a Recurring Bad Dream, Net Neutrality Is Back (Audio: Podcast)

IPI has been involved with the “net neutrality” debate from the very beginning almost two decades ago. And now with the Biden administration, it’s back. But what IS net neutrality, and why would it be harmful to the internet and to the US economy? IPI President Tom Giovanetti pontificates and IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews patiently listens.

September 25, 2023

Lessons from Government Shutdowns (Audio: Podcast)

With a federal government shutdown looming, IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews discusses his recent op/ed in The Hill reviewing the history of recent government shutdowns, and how the politics tends to play out. Hint: Republicans always get blamed. With IPI President Tom Giovanetti.

September 21, 2023

They Don't Make Strikes Like They Used To (Audio: Podcast)

With both Hollywood writers and United Auto Workers engaging in labor strikes, IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews discuss the declining power of labor unions, why unions strike during inflationary times, the Wage-Price Spiral, and the attitude conservatives should have toward labor unions.

September 14, 2023

The Ten New Rules of American Politics (Audio: Podcast)

IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews leads a fascinating discussion about a recent analysis by Doug Sosnik of current and emerging trends among the American electorate. With IPI President Tom Giovanetti.

August 25, 2023

IPI's Take on the First Republican Presidential Debate of 2024 (Audio: Podcast)

IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews, Director of Development & Events Addie Crimmins, and President Tom Giovanetti share our thoughts and reactions to the first Republican Presidential Debate of the 2024 cycle. We discuss overall impression, FoxNews’ production, who helped themselves, who hurt themselves, and who surprised. And we wonder if our impressions reflect at all the impressions of today’s Republican Party.

 

August 14, 2023

IPI Policy Basics: A Look At the Gender Pay Gap (Audio: Podcast)

What’s the truth about the gender pay gap? Is it explained by misogyny and discrimination, or by the choices women make? Maybe a combination of the two? Is it getting better? And with women outnumbering men in colleges, universities, and graduate programs, is it about to disappear altogether? IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews shares some information from the book “The Myth of Inequality” on the gender pay gap with IPI President Tom Giovanetti.

August 11, 2023

Who Is the Most Reaganesque of the GOP Presidential Candidates? (Audio: Podcast)

Ronald Reagan put together an astonishing coalition that led to not only election and reelection, but also sweeping improvements to both America’s domestic economy and international standing. What was it about Reagan that attracted such a winning and successful coalition, and do any of the current Republican presidential candidates resemble him in any way? A conversation between IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews and IPI President Tom Giovanetti.

August 7, 2023

A New (?) Conservative Blueprint for Healthcare Reform (Audio: Podcast)

IPI Resident Scholar and healthcare policy expert Dr. Merrill Matthews explains a new-ish effort on the part of some conservative policy experts, which sound to IPI President Tom Giovanetti an awfully lot like the same sound healthcare policies conservatives have been pushing for the last two decades.

 

August 4, 2023

America's Credit Rating Gets Downgraded (Audio: Podcast)

IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews discuss this week’s news that at least one bond analyst firm has downgraded the debt of the US Treasury. Is this the canary in the coal mine? For how long can we expect people to keep buying US debt on favorable terms despite our unfavorable fiscal behavior?

July 31, 2023

IPI Policy Basics: How Third-Party Candidates Affect Presidential Elections (Audio: Podcast)

IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews takes us through the history of third-party presidential candidates in recent history, explaining that third party candidates never come close to winning but in some cases the third party candidate has arguable affected the outcome of the election. With IPI President Tom Giovanetti.

July 29, 2023

Why the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) Is Bad Law (Audio: Podcast)

IPI President Tom Giovanetti explains the major problems with the “Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA),” federal legislation that would impose unworkable age verification schemes on internet platforms, and which creates a duty of care burden for internet platforms that not only creates enormous and undefined liability but also assumes that speech can cause harm, which likely violates the First Amendment. With IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews.

July 24, 2023

The Rise of the Imperial Presidency Means the Decline of Constitutional Governance (Audio: Podcast)

According to a recent story in the New York Times, forces aligned with Donald Trump are determined to make structural changes to give Trump total control over the Executive Branch, including independent agencies, in a potential second Trump term. Conservatives have long believed that too much power has been concentrated in the Executive Branch, since the Legislative Branch is supposed to be the most powerful branch of government in our system. The desire to elect a strongman and imbue him with unlimited power to impose his will is a populist, not a conservative, impulse, which is why it’s disturbing to see quotes from leaders of formerly conservative organizations endorsing strongman populism. With IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews.

July 20, 2023

A Critical Tax Case Goes to the Supreme Court (Audio: Podcast)

One troubling flaw in the 2017 TCJA tax reform was the provision that deemed unrealized overseas profits as income and imposed taxes on these unrealized profits. In a painful irony this Republican design could set the precedent to allow progressive Democrats to impose a wealth tax on the unrealized increases in value of investments and assets. But in the meantime it also saddled Charles and Kathleen Moore with an unjust tax bill for unrealized overseas profits, and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear their case. But might a conservative Supreme Court allow this unjust tax to remain in place because that’s how Congress wrote the law? With IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews.

Total Records: 433