​What happens when local governments try to do more while struggling to perform their basic responsibilities?

Mark Moses, Senior Fellow at the California Policy Center and author of The Municipal Financial Crisis, joins me to discuss municipal finances, public pensions, government balance sheets, AI, data centers, and the expanding scope of local government.

We examine why an annual balanced budget can hide longer-term financial problems, what taxpayers should understand about pension obligations, and how government policies can affect innovation and investment.

The broader question connects it all: What should local government actually do, and what happens when it tries to do too much?

This is also a natural follow-up to our first Let People Prosper conversation in 2022.

​Get show notes at vanceginn.substack.com. 

​The Constitution, tariffs, and whether America is abandoning the principles that made it prosperous.

Dr. Michael Munger returns to the Let People Prosper Show for a wide-ranging conversation about classical liberalism, constitutional restraints, public choice, tariffs, free trade, and political power.

Mike is the Pfizer/Edmund T. Pratt Jr. University Distinguished Professor at Duke University, with appointments in political science, economics, and public policy. His research focuses on markets, regulation, and government institutions, and he is a former president of the Public Choice Society and current president of the Philadelphia Society.

Mike first joined me in 2023 to discuss whether capitalism was sustainable in America. This time, we go deeper: What happens when Americans become more willing to weaken constitutional restraints to achieve preferred political outcomes? What does public choice teach us about trusting government power? What do tariffs actually do? And how can the principles of individual liberty, voluntary exchange, and limited government endure?

It's a conversation about the institutions behind American prosperity and what it takes to maintain them.

Watch or listen to the full episode and find more of my work at VanceGinn.com and get show notes at vanceginn.substack.com. 

​How much power should unelected federal agencies have?

Ashley Baker, Executive Director of the Committee for Justice, joins me to discuss the Supreme Court, FTC power, antitrust enforcement, regulatory costs, and why constitutional restraints matter for competition and innovation.

We discuss Trump v. Slaughter, the end of the remaining Humphrey’s Executor precedent, how regulatory process itself can become costly, and why regulations aimed at large companies can sometimes create a moat protecting incumbents from smaller competitors.

The bigger question: How do we hold government accountable while preserving competition and innovation?

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Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly, but can America build the energy and infrastructure needed to remain the global leader?

Adam Thierer, Resident Senior Fellow for Technology and Innovation at the R Street Institute, returns to the Let People Prosper Show to discuss data centers, energy, AI and jobs, competition with China, online age verification, free speech, and the future of technology policy.

We examine why data-center moratoriums and other restrictions could weaken investment and innovation, whether fears of an AI-driven jobs apocalypse are justified, and how policymakers can address legitimate harms without replacing permissionless innovation with government control.

We also discuss the stakes of the U.S.-China AI competition. America’s advantage is not central planning. It is a system that allows entrepreneurs, workers, investors, and innovators to experiment and compete.

The goal should be to address real harms while preserving the freedom and infrastructure necessary for innovation and human flourishing.

Watch or listen to the full episode and find more of my work at VanceGinn.com and VanceGinn.Substack.com.

What does it really mean to prosper?

In this special episode of the Let People Prosper Show, I’m joined by my wife, Emily Ginn, a licensed Master Social Worker, certified life coach, entrepreneur, and host of the IVF This podcast.

Emily and I discuss our personal journey through infertility and IVF, how that experience helped shape our family, and why she turned what she learned into a business helping other women navigate infertility.

We also explore entrepreneurship, raising three children while pursuing meaningful work, what policymakers should understand about IVF and patient choice, and why prosperity is about much more than income or economic growth.

Ultimately, human flourishing is about family, purpose, relationships, service, opportunity, and having the freedom to build a meaningful life.

Learn more about Emily and IVF This Coaching at IVFThisCoaching.com.

Subscribe for more conversations about economics, public policy, freedom, family, and human flourishing. Get show notes and more about my work at Ginn Economic Consulting at vanceginn..com.

You can't sustainably cut taxes while government keeps spending more.

Dr. Adam Michel joins me to explain why Washington's fiscal problem begins with spending, how tariffs can undermine tax cuts, and what Congress should do to build a simpler, flatter, more pro-growth fiscal system.

We also discuss debt, investment, reconciliation, welfare reform, and why lower taxes work best when paired with limited government and open markets.

Get show notes at vanceginn.substack.com.
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#TaxCuts #FiscalPolicy #Economics #EconomicFreedom

The political left and right increasingly agree on one dangerous idea: Washington should direct more of the economy.
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Industrial policy, tariffs, subsidies, and economic nationalism are being sold as ways to rebuild manufacturing, strengthen families, and make America more prosperous. But replacing market decisions with political direction does not create prosperity. It concentrates power, protects favored industries, and forces families and businesses to pay the bill.

That is the focus of my conversation with ⁠Dr. Paul Mueller⁠, Senior Research Fellow and Director of Defending Freedom and Combatting Collectivism at the American Institute for Economic Research. Paul studies entrepreneurship, economic growth, monetary economics, and political economy. He also hosts AIER’s ⁠The Economist Next Door⁠, which brings economic ideas to everyday Americans.

We discuss his AIER paper examining the New Right’s growing embrace of industrial policy, protectionism, and government-directed investment.

🎧 Listen, Like, and Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.
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​Economics is often reduced to numbers and policy debates. But its deeper question is simple: How can people peacefully cooperate to improve their lives?

That is the focus of my latest conversation with Abigail R. Hall, professor of economics at the University of Tampa, Senior Fellow with the Independent Institute, and Senior Affiliated Scholar with the Mercatus Center.

Abby joined me to discuss her new book with , Austrian Economics: An Introduction. The book explains how human action, subjective value, prices, entrepreneurship, and dispersed knowledge allow people to cooperate without central direction.



🎧 Watch or Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.
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Inflation is usually discussed as a policy problem, but families experience it as a daily burden that changes how they save, spend, plan, and build their lives. It shows up at the grocery store, in rent and mortgage payments, in childcare costs, in interest rates, and in the growing feeling that even when people work hard, they are still falling behind. But inflation does more than raise prices. It changes behavior.

That is why I enjoyed this conversation with Dr. Jeffrey L. Degner, Research Fellow in Economics and Economic Freedom at the American Institute for Economic Research. Jeff is the author of Inflation and the Family, which challenges the common view that inflation is just a macroeconomic variable. His work shows how inflation reshapes household decision-making, weakens institutions, shortens time horizons, and erodes the foundations families need to plan and thrive. Before joining AIER, Jeff spent years in education, from high school to higher education, and most recently served as Dean of the School of Business at Cornerstone University. 

His research brings together economics, history, and moral philosophy to explain why sound money matters beyond markets. It matters for families.

🎧 Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.
🌐 Learn more about my work at vanceginn.com
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​Regulation isn't free.

Every new rule changes incentives, raises compliance costs, and affects the choices available to consumers, workers, entrepreneurs, and investors.

In this episode, Richard Morrison and I discuss why better regulation—not simply more regulation—is essential for a thriving economy. From ESG and banking to agency power and corporate governance, we explain why economic freedom remains one of the strongest foundations for innovation, investment, and prosperity.

Subscribe for more conversations on economics, policy, and freedom.
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