The American Compass Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Talkin’ (Policy) Shop: End Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China May 17, 2023

Show notes

On this episode of Talkin’ (Policy) Shop, Oren and Chris discuss China’s “permanent normal trade relations” (PNTR) status and the case for revoking it.
Granting PNTR to China as part of its ascension to the WTO was supposed to grant American firms and workers comparable benefits in the Chinese market. But the experts were wrong. The “China Shock” cost millions of American jobs, reduced domestic investment and innovative capacity, strained many communities’ social fabric, and contributed to a surge in “deaths of despair” concentrated among middle-aged Americans without college degrees.
Further Reading

American Compass policy brief: End “Permanent Normal Trade Relations” with China
Searching for Capitalism in the Wreckage of Globalization (Oren Cass, American Compass)
“Where’s the Growth?” (American Compass)
“The Balancing Act” (American Compass)
“China Trade Relations Act of 2023," Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Rick Scott (R-FL), Ted Budd (R-NC), and J.D. Vance (R-OH)
“Ending Normal Trade Relations with China Act,” Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO)

Critics Corner with Angela Rachidi May 09, 2023

Show notes

On this episode of Critics Corner, Oren Cass is joined by Angela Rachidi, senior fellow and Rowe scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, to discuss family affordability. Is there a cost of living crisis? How can we measure the economic pressures on American families? And how should public policy respond?
Further Reading:

The 2023 Cost-of-Thriving Index by Oren Cass
The Evidence on Family Affordability by Angela Rachidi
American Compass Family Affordability Survey

Talkin’ (Policy) Shop: Making Social Media Safe for Kids May 03, 2023

Show notes

On this episode of Talkin’ (Policy) Shop, Oren and Chris discuss how to protect kids online. Children who use social media are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, and self-harm, are more vulnerable to exploitation, and are more at risk of exposure to dangerous or illicit material. Parents, meanwhile, are unable to adequately protect their children from these harms. That’s where policymakers can step in to protect children online the same way we do in the real world.
Further Reading:

American Compass policy brief: Making Social Media Safe for Kids
Protecting Children from Social Media (Chris Griswold, National Affairs)
Governing After a Revolution (Oren Cass, American Compass)
The Dangerous Experiment on Teen Girls (Jonathan Haidt, The Atlantic)
How Changing One Law Could Protect Kids from Social Media (Yuval Levin, The New York Times)
An Online Age-Verification System (American Compass policy brief)
Kids Online Safety Act (Senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal)
Protecting Kids on Social Media Act (Senators Tom Cotton, Brian Schatz, Chris Murphy, and Katie Britt)

Senator Marco Rubio on Globalization, Markets, and the Common Good Apr 19, 2023

Show notes

On this special episode of the American Compass podcast, Senator Marco Rubio joins Oren Cass for a wide-ranging discussion of conservative economics and the common good. They cover the importance of domestic industrial capacity, seeing markets as a tool, dignified work as a key national interest, and, of course, TikTok.

Talkin’ (Policy) Shop: Pre-Competitive R&D Consortia Apr 12, 2023

Show notes

On this episode of Talkin’ (Policy) Shop, Oren and Chris are joined by Willy Shih, a professor at Harvard Business School, to discuss pre-competitive R&D consortia. At a time when America has lost its innovative edge, these consortia give government an opportunity to support industry while letting market forces work.
Pre-competitive R&D consortia allow firms that are normally competitors in the market to work together on a common technology platform, sharing the resulting IP from which they can develop products to compete against each other. The collaboration pools resources and expertise, and provides a site at which public policy can constructively subsidize investment without “picking winners and losers.”
Further Reading

American Compass policy brief: Pre-Competitive R&D Consortia
On Research and Development (Willy Shih, American Compass)
Pass the Chips, Please (Oren Cass, American Compass)
A Guide to the Semiconductor Industry (American Compass)

Talkin’ (Policy) Shop: Worker Voice Mar 29, 2023

Show notes

On this episode of Talkin’ (Policy) Shop, Oren and Chris discuss the issue of worker voice: how many American workers have less influence in their workplaces than they would like, and how we can reform labor law to create new avenues for their input from the shop floor to the boardroom.
Further Reading

American Compass policy briefs: Collaborative Labor-Management Committees & Workers in the Boardroom
A Better Bargain: Worker Voice and Representation (Chris Griswold, American Compass)
Not What They Bargained For: A Survey of American Workers (American Compass)
Workers of the World (Wells King, American Compass)
Teamwork for Employees and Managers (TEAM) Act of 2022 (Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN))

Talkin’ (Policy) Shop: Public Pension Accountability Mar 08, 2023

Show notes

Policy in Brief is now Talkin’ (Policy) Shop! On this episode, Oren and Chris discuss the problems that arise when chronic pension underfunding pushes public pension managers to seek unrealistic returns, pushing them toward risky, opaque, and illiquid alternative investments like private equity and hedge funds. These investments charge enormous fees while avoiding disclosures that would allow the public to evaluate their performance. When these gambles go bad, taxpayers are on the hook.
Capital imbued with public purpose, like state and local pension funds, should be invested transparently. Congress should pass legislation requiring reasonable public reporting standards for private funds that invest and collect fees on public-purpose capital.
Further Reading

American Compass policy brief: Public Pension Accountability
Confronting Coin-Flip Capitalism (Oren Cass, American Compass)
A Guide to Private Equity (American Compass)
‘Warning signs’: PE could impact public pension plans’ funding status this year. (Jessica Hamlin, PitchBook)
Investing Novices Are Calling the Shots for $4 Trillion at US Pensions.” (Neil Weinberg, Bloomberg)

Critics Corner with Steven Kaplan Mar 01, 2023

Show notes

On this episode of Critics Corner, Oren Cass is joined by University of Chicago Booth School of Business professor and private equity expert Steven Kaplan. They discuss the pros and cons of private equity, the risk of bankruptcy during leveraged buyouts, and the effects—both good and bad—on both workers and investors.
Further Reading:

American Compass’s work on financialization
Confronting Coin-Flip Capitalism by Oren Cass
A Guide to Private Equity by American Compass
Populists Don’t Know Much About Private Equity by Steven Kaplan and Todd Henderson (Wall Street Journal)
Debate: Does the Private Equity Industry Create Substantial Social Value? by Oren Cass and Todd Henderson (Newsweek)

Policy in Brief: Local Content Requirements Feb 22, 2023

Show notes

On this episode of Policy in Brief, Oren Cass and Chris Griswold discuss how to spur private investment, innovation, and competition by guaranteeing demand for domestic production. In recent years, industrial production has been increasingly offshored, leaving supply chains more fragile and entrenched abroad. America’s domestic industry has declined as a result, degrading our long-term ability to innovate and leaving the U.S. dependent on other nations for critical goods. A local content requirement (LCR) for goods that are critical for national security or the industrial base would go a long way to reshoring American industry and rebuilding the U.S. manufacturing base.

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