​If politics feels angrier, dumber, and more tribal than ever, you’re not imagining it. Smart people are talking past each other. Good intentions collide. Every issue becomes a moral emergency. And somehow, even ideas that once united people—like trade, cooperation, and innovation—now trigger outrage.

This episode gets to the why.

My guest is Arnold Kling—one of the most original thinkers on how economics and politics actually work in the real world. Arnold doesn’t just analyze policy outcomes; he explains why we struggle to communicate, why persuasion fails, and why cooperation breaks down even when everyone claims to want prosperity.

He’s the author of The Three Languages of Politics and Specialization and Trade, two books that help explain why debates feel impossible—and why decentralized cooperation still beats control every time.
This conversation ranges from political psychology to trade, from tribalism to AI, and from economic ignorance to real reasons for optimism. If you want to understand why our politics feels broken—and how prosperity still emerges despite it—this one’s for you.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of the Let People Prosper Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.

​Washington never runs out of ideas for spending money it doesn’t have.

This episode of the Let People Prosper Show takes on one of the latest examples: so-called “Trump Accounts.” Marketed as a pro-family, pro-capitalism idea, they’re actually another case of federal social engineering through the tax code—layered on top of an already broken fiscal foundation.

To unpack it all, I sat down with Veronique de Rugy, one of the sharpest and most honest fiscal minds in America. She’s the George Gibbs Chair in Political Economy at the Mercatus Center and a nationally syndicated columnist who has spent her career calling out budget gimmicks, cronyism, and policies that trade long-term prosperity for short-term politics.

She was last on the show in Episode 102, discussing immigration and American values. This time, we dive into deficits, tariffs, inflation, entitlement pressure, and why Washington’s obsession with using the tax code to “fix” social problems often makes things worse.

🎧 Watch or listen to the full episode on ⁠YouTube⁠, ⁠Apple Podcast,⁠ or ⁠Spotify⁠, and visit ⁠my website vanceginn.com⁠ for more information about my work at Ginn Economic Consulting.

​If you listen closely to today’s labor debates, you’ll hear a familiar refrain: workers need more protection from Washington. But scratch the surface, and what many politicians really mean is more power for unions, more mandates for employers, and fewer choices for workers themselves.

That’s backward.

In this episode of the Let People Prosper Show, I talk with Vinnie Vernuccio, one of the sharpest labor-policy minds in the country and a longtime advocate for actual worker freedom. We talk about what it really means to be pro-worker in a 21st-century economy—one defined by flexibility, technology, and individual choice, not 1930s labor law.

This is a timely conversation. Between renewed pushes for the PRO Act, rising use of AI in the workplace, and growing attacks on independent contracting and right-to-work laws, the future of work is being shaped right now. And too often, workers are treated as political props rather than individuals with agency.

This episode pushes back—hard.

🎧 Watch or listen to the full episode on YouTube, Apple Podcast, or Spotify, and visit my website at vanceginn.com for more information about my work at Ginn Economic Consulting.

​We talk a lot about opportunity in America—but far less about where opportunity actually exists and why.

Why do some states consistently help people climb the economic ladder while others trap families in place for generations? Why do well-intended policies often backfire? And why is “doing more” by the government so often the wrong answer when it comes to social mobility?

That’s exactly what we unpack in Episode 186 of the Let People Prosper Show with Dr. Justin Callais, Chief Economist at the Archbridge Institute and lead author of the new Social Mobility in the 50 States (2025) report.
Justin brings data, clarity, and—refreshingly—humility to one of the most politicized topics in economics. The findings challenge both the left’s obsession with redistribution and the right’s tendency to overlook the very real policy barriers that states create.

Watch the full episode on ⁠YouTube⁠, ⁠Apple Podcast,⁠ or ⁠Spotify⁠, Substack for show notes at⁠ vanceginn.substack.com⁠, and visit my website at ⁠vanceginn.com⁠ for more information about my work at Ginn Economic Consulting.

​Few projects in recent memory have done more to distort America’s past—and poison our present debates—than the 1619 Project. What was marketed as a serious historical reckoning quickly hardened into political dogma, shutting down debate, smearing critics, and rewriting the story of capitalism, freedom, and the American founding.

That’s why this conversation matters.

In Episode 182 of the Let People Prosper Show, I’m joined by Dr. Phillip W. Magness, Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and one of the earliest and most rigorous critics of the 1619 Project. Phil didn’t approach this debate with slogans or counter-myths. He approached it the only way serious scholarship should: with evidence, primary sources, and a willingness to follow the facts—even when they cut against the narrative.

What follows is a conversation about history, yes—but also about capitalism, academic integrity, and why truth still matters in a politicized age. Subscribe to my YouTube channel and Substack newsletter with show notes at vanceginn.substack.com, and for more information, visit my website at vanceginn.com. Subscribe, share, and watch today!

​If you’ve ever wondered why it’s easier to order groceries on your phone than to legally cut hair, start a home business, or switch careers, this episode explains exactly what’s gone wrong.

America’s labor policies are stuck in the past—designed for a 1930s economy that no longer exists. Meanwhile, workers have moved on. They want flexibility. They want choice. They want opportunity. And increasingly, government is standing in the way.

My guest is Austen Bannan, Workforce Policy Fellow at Americans for Prosperity and one of the sharpest voices making the case for worker freedom over bureaucratic control. Austen works at the intersection of labor policy, occupational licensing, and education reform—where outdated rules quietly crush opportunity for millions of Americans.

This is a conversation about why empowering workers—not protecting systems—is essential if we actually want people to prosper.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of the Let People Prosper Show, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. You can also find more of my work at vanceginn.com and vanceginn.substack.com.

​If you’ve ever wondered why so many people assume progress is automatic, why trillion-dollar deficits barely raise eyebrows anymore, or why “economic planning” keeps making a comeback despite its long record of failure—this episode gets to the heart of the issue.

Prosperity doesn’t happen by accident. Freedom doesn’t sustain itself. And history doesn’t bend toward progress unless the rules of the game allow it to.
That’s why this conversation matters.

My guest is ⁠Dr. Peter Boettke⁠, Distinguished University Professor of Economics at George Mason University and Director of the F.A. Hayek Program at the Mercatus Center. This is Peter’s third appearance (episodes ⁠10⁠ and ⁠119⁠) on the Let People Prosper Show, and every time he joins, he brings clarity to questions most policymakers avoid.

Today’s discussion centers on his new book, ⁠The Historical Path to Liberty and Human Progress⁠, which makes a simple but uncomfortable point: human flourishing depends on institutions—and bad institutions destroy progress faster than good intentions can save it.

At a time of runaway federal spending, renewed industrial policy, and bipartisan refusal to confront tradeoffs, this conversation couldn’t be more timely.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of the Let People Prosper Show, and subscribe on YouTube. You can also find more of my show notes at vanceginn.substack.com and read my work at ⁠vanceginn.com⁠.

​If you’ve ever wondered why so many young people are confused about capitalism, skeptical of markets, or convinced that government control is the answer to rising prices and shrinking opportunity, this episode gets straight to the root of the problem.

Economic ignorance isn’t accidental. It’s the predictable outcome of bad policy, bad education, and a culture that treats inflation and government growth as unavoidable facts of life rather than man-made choices. That’s why this conversation matters.

My guest is Diogo Costa, president of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)—one of the most important institutions advancing free markets, individual liberty, and economic understanding. Diogo didn’t come to these ideas through theory alone. He lived through inflation firsthand while growing up in Brazil, watching savings evaporate and trust in institutions collapse. That experience shaped his worldview long before he ever led one of the most influential freedom organizations.

Today, Diogo is focused on a long game most politicians ignore: building a liberty pipeline by educating students before politics hardens their views and bad ideas take root.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of the Let People Prosper Show, and subscribe today. You can also find more of my work at vanceginn.com or vanceginn.substack.com.

​If you’re trying to understand why starter homes have vanished, why marriage and birth rates are falling, or why your kids can’t afford to move out, you won’t find a clearer guide than Dr. Emily Hamilton. Her latest piece in Governing, “To Support Families, Repair the Housing Ladder,” is a must-read. It makes a simple but devastating point: 

We’ve eliminated the low rungs of the housing ladder—and now we’re shocked people can’t climb it.

Starter apartments? Outlawed. Manufactured housing? Zoned out.SROs? Gone. Family-friendly rentals? Blocked by NIMBY politics. And now the U.S. is flirting with population decline for the first time ever. This conversation explains why—and what to do about it.

👉 Subscribe on vanceginn.substack.com to get shows and show notes in your inbox and follow my handle on X at @vanceginn for more pro-growth policy content that doesn’t pull punches.

​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