IPI President Tom Giovanetti describes Social Security's structural, demographic and financial problems, and explains that there are solutions and it's not rocket science, if only our elected officials would pay attention. We focus particularly on Personal Retirement Accounts. Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews describes how three counties in Texas have demonstrated for 40 years that Personal Retirements Accounts can safely outperform Social Security's miserable rates of return.

Most people understand that the First Amendment protects Americans from government censorship of their speech, but more poorly understood is that it also protects Americans from government compelled speech. Government cannot compel private actors to "support" speech they do not agree with, and this has enormous policy implications for both right-leaning efforts to regulate social media, and left-leaning efforts to punish conscientious objectors like Jack Phillips, the Christian baker in Colorado. With IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews.

There is no need for fossil fuel advocates to bash renewable energy, and vice versa. Instead, we should all be pursuing energy abundance as a strategy, and encouraging an "all of the above" approach. Innovation in energy should be favored by all, whether it's innovation in cleaner burning fossil fuels, solar and wind, geothermal, or nuclear. There is no reason to discourage a single megawatt from being produced from any energy source, and large-scale storage has the potential to radically create new energy markets and new opportunities. Led by IPI President Tom Giovanetti, with Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews.

IPI President Tom Giovanetti explains that our rights come neither from government, from the Bill of Rights, or from the Constitution, and thus are not limited to those enumerated in the Bill of Rights. Further, if your rights come from government or a document, government can take your rights away by changing the document. With IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews.

Eminent domain, or the taking of property for a public use, is a perfectly constitutional, if sometimes controversial, function of government and government-approved private actors. So long as the constitutional requirements are met--that it be for a public use and the owner receive just compensation, eminent domain is legitimate. But what is a public use? And what is just compensation? And was the Kelo decision right or wrong? IPI President Tom Giovanetti leads a discussion about eminent domain with the assistance of Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews

Trying to not get TOO deep into the weeds, IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews explain why treating the economy as dynamic rather than static, and treating consumers and businesses as rational rather than stupid, is the right way to try to estimate the results of policy changes on the budget and the overall economy.

There's a lot more going on behind the price of a pint of strawberries than just an arbitrary number. Prices convey information--an enormous amount of information. And if we understand the importance of price in signaling, rationing, and incentivizing production, then it's obvious why government price controls and "price gouging" laws are a terrible idea.

In a recent polling industry autopsy of the 2020 election, pollsters themselves acknowledge that they don't know why their numbers were skewed by about 4% in favor of Joe Biden and Democrats. "It's time to stop paying attention to pollsters," says IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews. And IPI President Tom Giovanetti thinks that's a great idea, since polling has a pernicious effect on our political system.

What is zero-sum thinking, and is it appropriate for economic policy? Is the pie static, or can we have more pie? And was Donald Trump the ultimate zero-sum politician? By IPI President Tom Giovanetti with Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews.

Long-awaited opportunity for IPI President Tom Giovanetti to talk about one of his favorite policy issues. Almost everyone, conservatives and liberals alike, thinks local control is a governing principle, and that state legislatures have no business intruding on local issues. But as Tom explains (and rants a little), this is a misunderstanding of the structure of our constitutional system and results in cities enacting all sorts of policies that erode economic liberty, property rights, and individual liberty. IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews tries to get a few words in edgewise but mostly this is Tom's rant.