​This week on the Let People Prosper Show, I sit down with someone who has lived enough life experience to fill three biographies: Dr. Meaghan Mobbs. She’s a West Point grad, paratrooper, combat veteran of Afghanistan, clinical psychologist, humanitarian leader in Ukraine, national security advisor, and now one of the sharpest voices at the Independent Women’s Forum. Her new report, Women and the West: Liberty, Tyranny, and True Liberal Values, is a wake-up call. It argues that women’s rights are being quietly eroded inside the very societies that claim to be the most “progressive.” And she’s right — something is slipping.

This episode digs into the uncomfortable truth: freedom for women isn’t collapsing in some distant corner of the world; it’s being chipped away here at home under slogans like “equity,” “inclusion,” and “progress.” We talk about true liberalism (the good kind), the danger of what Meaghan calls “suicidal empathy,” why motherhood sharpened her perspective, and how Western civilization can still protect what made it great. It’s an important conversation — and an encouraging one — at a moment when the West badly needs clarity.

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. 

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Dr. Meaghan Mobbs
02:07 The Journey to Advocacy and Education
06:08 The Impact of Motherhood on Advocacy
11:05 Erosion of Women's Rights in the West
14:51 Comparing Women's Rights Globally
19:02 Defending Western Values and True Liberalism
19:58 The Dangers of Suicidal Empathy
22:11 Critique of DEI and Affirmative Action
24:50 The Freedom of Choice for Women
26:50 Nostalgia for the 1950s and Its Implications
30:17 The Importance of Legal Immigration
32:35 Lessons from Conflict Zones
34:19 Restoring Confidence in Western Values
37:17 Optimism for the Future

Originally published on Substack. 

When a Republican president starts acting like a New York City socialist, it’s time to say the quiet part out loud: Industrial policy has officially infected both political parties.
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The Wall Street Journal reports that the Trump administration plans to take an equity stake in a semiconductor startup founded by Intel’s former CEO should alarm anyone who still believes capitalism means private risk and private reward.

The deal—made through the government’s CHIPS Act slush fund passed during the Biden years—reads less like a market transaction and more like Washington’s latest attempt to play venture capitalist with other people’s money.

And let’s be clear: When government takes equity in a private company, that isn’t capitalism. That’s corporate socialism.
In fact, it’s precisely the kind of policy you’d expect from NYC Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani—not a Republican president.
But here we are.

When Government Takes an Equity Stake, It’s Not “America First”—It’s Government First

This chip startup—led by a respected former Intel CEO—may well be brilliant. It might innovate, scale, and help rebuild domestic semiconductor capacity.

That’s not the point.

The point is what government is doing:

• picking a firm
• choosing a technology
• subsidizing the risk
• absorbing potential losses
• sharing in theoretical profits
• and distorting competition

This is industrial policy by another name: political venture capitalism, which has failed in every country and every century it’s been attempted.

If this is the new right-wing economic strategy, then the difference between Washington GOP and the socialist left is now just the branding.

The Free Market Doesn’t Need a Babysitter
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Let’s walk through the basics—something both parties seem to have forgotten.

Capital markets exist. They evaluate risk. They price innovation. They take losses when they get it wrong and reap rewards when they get it right.

Investors exist. They specialize in picking promising technology and turning it into real businesses.

Entrepreneurs exist. They build companies because they believe in their ideas, not because the federal government holds out a check.

We don’t lack money.

We don’t lack expertise.

We lack the political will to let markets work without Washington playing helicopter parent.

When government inserts itself as an equity partner, one thing is certain:

Profits are privatized.

Losses are socialized.

And taxpayers always end up holding the bag.

Corporate Welfare: Where Both Parties Quietly Agree

Most Americans miss the quiet truth about Washington:

Democrats prefer social welfare.

Republicans prefer corporate welfare.

And both forms of welfare substitute political judgment for market discipline.

The Trump administration’s equity-stake experiment doesn’t put America first.

It doesn’t put workers first.

It puts politicians and bureaucrats first.

And it places taxpayers on the hook for decisions they never made.

The Semiconductor “Crisis” Doesn’t Justify Central Planning

We’ve heard the justification:

“China is subsidizing chips, so we must do the same.”

No.

We don’t beat China by becoming China.

China subsidizes everything precisely because its political system doesn’t allow prices, entrepreneurs, and markets to guide resources. That’s why it wastes more capital than any major economy on earth. That’s why its productivity is collapsing. And that’s why its growth model is unraveling.

Copying China’s industrial strategy is like copying Venezuela’s inflation strategy:

You don’t learn from failure by recreating it.

If the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem needs strengthening—and it does—then fix the barriers preventing private investment:

• cut spending and taxes
• reduce regulatory burdens
• open energy markets
• allow faster permitting
• stop subsidizing competitors
• end distortions that make domestic manufacturing so costly

In other words, get government out of the way.

A Classical Liberal Rule: If It’s a Good Investment, Government Doesn’t Need to Fund It

True capitalism is not complicated:

• People in the market take risks.
• Investors take losses.
• Entrepreneurs reap rewards.
• Government protects property rights, ensures rule of law, and stays neutral.

Once government becomes an investor, neutrality disappears.

Regulators protect their portfolio.

Competition becomes political.

Access becomes relational.

And innovation becomes something you lobby for—not something you earn.

It’s the opposite of a free market.

It’s industrial favoritism with better lighting.

You Cannot MAGA with a Central Planner’s Playbook

I say this with respect for many good policies Trump pursued in his first term:

You don’t restore American greatness by embracing government equity stakes in private firms.

You don’t revive American manufacturing by funneling taxpayer money to politically blessed companies.

And you don’t build the next generation of semiconductors by outsourcing investment decisions to bureaucrats who’ve never built a semiconductor in their lives.

America’s strength has never come from Washington picking winners.

It comes from a free people out-innovating, out-producing, and outperforming the world because they are free—not government-backed.

If we want faster innovation, stronger markets, and global leadership in technology, the answer is simple:

End corporate welfare.

End industrial policy.

Unleash free markets.
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Let America’s entrepreneurs—not politicians—drive the future.

​This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful to bring you a conversation that captures exactly why freedom matters so much for human flourishing. In this special holiday episode of the Let People Prosper Show, I sit down with Dr. Jason Sorens, Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, whose work shows—again and again—that prosperity grows when government gets out of the way and lets people build, create, move, and thrive.
​
We talk about housing affordability, zoning reform, migration trends, and the economic importance of local freedom. On this day of gratitude, Jason’s message is a needed reminder: America’s prosperity has always come from free people making free choices, not from bureaucratic micromanagement.

If you’re thankful for liberty, opportunity, and the chance to build a better life, this episode fits the moment perfectly.
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. 

(0:00) – Thanksgiving intro & guest bio
(3:00) – Why freedom deserves our gratitude
(9:00) – Housing affordability challenges
(15:00) – Zoning’s impact on opportunity
(21:00) – How government distorts prosperity
(27:00) – Private alternatives and innovation
(33:00) – What opportunity zones got wrong
(39:00) – Property taxes and civic accountability
(45:00) – Freedom in the 50 States
(51:00) – Gratitude, freedom, and future policy

​In a world where protectionism, trade wars, and anti-capitalist rhetoric persist, few voices explain economic freedom with greater clarity and conviction than Dr. Don Boudreaux.

This week on the Let People Prosper Show, I’m joined by Don, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, Senior Fellow at the Mercatus Center, and one of the most articulate defenders of liberty and markets in America today. Don is co-author, with former Senator Phil Gramm and Robert Ekelund, of the new book The Triumph of Economic Freedom: Debunking the Seven Great Myths of American Capitalism. Through his writing, teaching, and his widely read Cafe Hayek blog, he has spent his career making the moral and empirical case for free markets, open trade, and voluntary exchange as the foundation of human progress.

In this episode, we examine the myths surrounding capitalism and trade that continue to mislead voters and policymakers — from the notion that globalization has “hollowed out” the middle class to the misconception that tariffs enrich nations.
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. 
​
(0:00) – Introduction and Guest Overview
(3:00) – The Myths of Capitalism
(9:00) – Trade and Tariffs: What Really Drives Prosperity
(18:00) – Antitrust, Innovation, and Economic History
(27:00) – Long-Term Optimism for the American Economy

He’s right that capitalism has lifted more people out of poverty than any government program ever could. But claiming that Texas is its headquarters misses an uncomfortable truth: our state is drifting away from the principles that made it great.

I responded:
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“Texas can’t claim to be the HQ of capitalism while excessive spending and crony corporatism still run the show.”

He’s not wrong. Texas politicians talk about free enterprise while practicing a form of crime corporatism—where profits depend on proximity to power rather than productivity.

Capitalism vs. Cronyism

True capitalism is rooted in voluntary exchange, competition, innovation, and personal responsibility. It’s the system that rewards value creation and drives economic progress.

Cronyism, on the other hand, uses the language of markets to justify government favoritism. It’s when politicians decide which firms get subsidies, abatements, or tax breaks—and which don’t.

Look around Texas today. Programs like the Texas Enterprise Fund and local Chapter 313 and 403 property tax abatements transfer taxpayer money to politically favored corporations under the banner of “economic development.” In practice, they distort competition and punish smaller, homegrown businesses that play by the rules.
​
That’s not capitalism. It’s the same interventionist logic that policymakers in Washington, California, and Brussels use when they subsidize electric vehicles, chip manufacturing, or “green energy.” The label may sound different, but the economics are identical: government picks winners and losers, and taxpayers pick up the tab.

​The Spending Problem
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This fiscal drift is made worse by runaway spending. Texas’s state budget has grown far faster than population growth plus inflation over much of the past two decades.

Source: https://www.vanceginn.com/letpeopleprosper/responsible-state-budgets-across-the-us

When government grows faster than the economy that funds it, the burden inevitably shifts to taxpayers—either through higher taxes, higher debt, or slower private-sector growth.

Economists call this the crowding-out effect: as government consumes more resources, fewer remain available for private investment and entrepreneurship. Over time, that erodes the very dynamism that once made Texas stand apart.

If current trends continue, Texas risks following the same path as states like California—a place that once embodied opportunity but lost its competitive edge to regulation, spending excess, and political patronage.

The Real Texas Model

The Texas Model that once set the standard nationally wasn’t built on subsidies or bureaucratic growth. It was built on limited government, low taxes, and economic freedom.

Those principles attracted millions of families, entrepreneurs, and employers seeking a fair chance—not a government favor. But when state leaders chase headlines through new incentives and “economic development” packages, they signal to the market that prosperity comes from politics, not productivity.

If Texas truly wants to be the “HQ of capitalism,” it must return to what works:

• End corporate welfare and targeted subsidies. Let all firms compete on merit.
• Adopt strict spending limits tied to less than population growth plus inflation.
• Cut taxes. Broad-based relief beats narrow giveaways every time.
• Streamline regulation. Free markets flourish when policymakers trust people more than processes.

Learning from History

Every time governments try to manage capitalism, they eventually manage decline. We’ve seen it before. In the 1970s, Britain’s industrial policy was supposed to “save jobs”; it nearly bankrupted the nation. Japan’s “targeted development” strategy produced short-term gains but long-term stagnation. And California’s subsidies haven’t stopped its outmigration—they’ve accelerated it.

Texas doesn’t need to repeat those mistakes. The state already has the most important ingredients for success: a strong entrepreneurial culture, a diverse economy, and people who value freedom. What’s possibly missing is the discipline to govern by principle instead of politics.

The Way Forward

Capitalism isn’t about handouts or headquarters—it’s about freedom, risk, and reward. If Texas wants to lead the nation, it must restore the fiscal and moral foundations that made it exceptional.

That means less central planning, fewer carveouts, and a renewed focus on letting people keep more of what they earn.

Prosperity doesn’t come from the government’s spending pen. It comes from the creativity, hard work, and responsibility of Texans themselves.
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That’s how we make Texas truly free again. That’s how we let people prosper!