Free The Economy
Free The Economy is a weekly podcast hosted by Richard Morrison of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, examining the intersection of news, policy, and economics featuring guests that include writers, policymakers, explorers, contrarians, and free thinkers of all kinds.
Episodes
171 episodes
Revisiting Earth Day with Todd Myers
This week we cover the dwindling number of U.S. public companies, a pro-consumer merger in California, and how to end the housing affordability crisis. Our guest this week is Todd Myers, Vice President for Research at the Washington Policy Cent...
How to Get What You Want with Josh Bandoch
This week we cover AI development in China, how large investors recycle homes, and the need for reform of the Clean Air Act. Our guest this week is Josh Bandoch, Head of Policy at the Illinois Policy Institute and author of the new book How...
Consumer-Regulated Energy with Travis Fisher
This week we cover economic growth in China, the political legacy of Viktor Orban in Hungary, and the one-year anniversary of President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs. Our guest this week is Travis Fisher, director of energy and environmental...
Kids, Big Tech, and the First Amendment with Jessica Melugin
This week we cover deficit spending, the burdens of Total Boomer Luxury Communism, and how to renounce the villainization of business. Our guest this week is Jessica Melugin, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Technol...
Population and Abundance with Gale Pooley
This week we cover income inequality, myths about homelessness, First Amendment protections for AI, and reforming unfunded mandates. Our guest this week is Gale Pooley of the Discovery Institute. We’ll talk about the death of Paul Ehrlich, the ...
Enduring Policy Principles with Richard Stern
This week we cover housing affordability, train safety, Paul Ehrlich (1932-2026), and Brian Doherty (1968-2026). Our guest this week is Richard Stern, Vice President of the Plymouth Institute for Free Enterprise at Advancing American Freedom. W...
Regulating Finance with James Copland
This week we cover the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, fighting fraud in broadband deployment, and cutting red tape to boost housing affordability. Our guest this week is James Copland, senior fellow and director o...
Mississippi Renaissance with Douglas Carswell
This week we cover housing abundance, capitalism’s approval rating, audits of state finances, and the consumer nostalgia of Stranger Things. Our guest this week is Douglas Carswell of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. We talk a...
Big Tech, Europe, and Free Speech with Spence Purnell
This week we cover the Supreme Court’s recent decision on tariff powers, myths of the Great Recession, and fiduciary duty for asset managers in Oklahoma. Our guest this week is Spence Purnell of the R Street Institute. We talk about Big Tech co...
The Impact of Trump’s Trade War with Alex Durante
This week we cover the sneaky federal cause of high housing prices, record outflows from ESG investment funds, and why YouTube and Instagram shouldn’t be legally liable for the emotional problems of anxious teenagers. Our guest this week is Ale...
What’s Wrong with Congress with Kevin Kosar
This week we talk about Consumer-Regulated Electricity, the amazing falling U.S. poverty rate, and how smart TVs are keeping us all connected. Our guest this week is Kevin Kosar, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. We’ll talk ab...
Social Mobility in the 50 States with Justin Callais
This week we talk about satellite shot clocks at the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Reserve nominee Kevin Warsh’s digital-dollar beliefs, the burden of aluminum tariffs, and empowering state attorneys general to sue over credit card...
The Meaning of GDP with Brian Albrecht
This week we talk about the last 50 years of regulatory reform, a new study on climate adaptation, and reforms to Kentucky’s property tax system. Our guest this week is Brian Albrecht, chief economist of the International Center for Law and Eco...
Permitting for Speed with Grant Dever
This week we talk about making a living in podcasting, confronting our mounting national debt, and assessing President Trump’s new healthcare plan. Our guest this week is Grant Dever of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, also kno...
Total Boomer Luxury Communism with Russ Greene
This week we talk about Trump’s 10% credit card interest proposal (and the dangers of populist economics in general), a new report on debanking from Cato Institute analyst (and previous Free the Economy guest) Nick Anthony, and, via pr...
FDR’s Political Legacy with David Beito
This week we talk about communist housing policy in New York City, the best economics and history books to read in 2026, a legal setback for unions in California and New York, and the hottest gadgets from CES in Las Vegas. Our guest this week i...
China’s Economy and the U.S. with Derek Scissors
This week we talk about corporate real estate investing, woke pension funds, changing fuel economy rules, and questions about a possible Trump Federal Reserve nominee. Our guest this week is Derek Scissors of the American Enterprise Institute a...
Climate Policy Endangerment with Marlo Lewis, Jr.
This week we talk about tariff refunds, Affordable Care Act subsidies, Ryan Young’s Books of the Year for 2025, and how Santa landed on Trump’s naughty list. Our guest this week is Marlo Lewis, Jr., senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise I...
Consumer Finance and Privacy with James Erwin
This week we talk about the decline of electric vehicles, liberation for home appliances, the failure of tariffs to deliver new jobs, and the rise of climate realism. Our guest this week is James Erwin, Director of Innovation Policy at American...
The Business of America with Neil Bradley
This week we talk about the economic impact of net-zero policies in blue states and Europe, top targets for environmental policy reform in 2026, a new report on digital debanking from Congress, and why 38% of Stanford students are claiming to b...
Balancing the Budget with Kurt Couchman
This week we talk about our 150th episode anniversary party, the documentary Dear Mr. President: The Letters of Julia Sand, the new $140,000-a-year poverty level, billionaire envy, and socialist deregulation of small businesses in New York City...
Sesquicentennial Celebration
This week we celebrate the show’s sesquicentennial anniversary – that is, our 150th episode. We look back at the dozens of smart, funny, passionate, and insightful guests we’ve had over the past three years and let you hear from several in thei...
Charting Tariff Madness with Joey Politano
This week we talk about changes in consumer credit, disappearing fast-food jobs in California, and six things the climate movement gets wrong about China. Our guest this week is popular economics Substacker and chart maker extraordinaire Joey P...
Truth, Lies, and Economics with Jeremy Horpedahl
This week we talk about Social Security’s cost of living, conserving rare earth minerals, and why California keeps losing tech jobs. Our guest this week is Prof. Jeremy Horpedahl, director of the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics, assoc...
Our Nuclear Tomorrow with Craig Piercy
This week we talk about administrative law judges, AI innovation saving lives, environmental regulation creating more wildfires, and more research on the fight against corporate welfare. Our interview this week is with Craig Piercy, CEO of the ...