The American Compass Podcast

Efforts to modernize labor law have stalled in Washington for decades, leaving workers vulnerable to delayed contracts, retaliation, and corporate maneuvers. Meanwhile, a new challenge looms for workers: rapid advances in automation and artificial intelligence, which could threaten not only blue-collar jobs but also white-collar professions once thought untouchable.Sean M. O’Brien, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, joins Oren to discuss labor’s realignment in the Trump era and amid technological change. They discuss the Faster Labor Contracts Act, a new bipartisan proposal to guarantee workers a faster first contract. Additionally, they explore the pitfalls of all-or-nothing union strategies, what it takes to build coalitions across party lines, and how organized labor can and should respond to the coming wave of technological innovation.Further Reading:“Unlock American Prosperity by Passing the Faster Labor Contracts Act,” by Sean M. O’Brien

Matt Yglesias, editor of Slow Boring and savvy commentator on public policy, dives into a fiery debate on the abundance agenda. He argues that it represents a renaissance of small-l liberalism focused on crucial areas like housing and energy. Opponent Oren Cass raises provocative questions about whether this abundance approach is just a repackaging of neoliberalism and consumerism. The discussion probes the political implications of prioritizing state capacity versus material concerns, challenging listeners to rethink what abundance really means.

Chad Squitieri, a law professor at the Catholic University of America, discusses whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) grants the president authority to impose tariffs. In contrast, Peter Harrell, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, argues this interpretation gives Congress a blank check it never intended. The conversation dives into the balance of power between Congress and the presidency, the constitutional implications of tariff authority, and the historical distinction between tariffs and embargoes.

America’s political elite assumed Wall Street would finance its future. Instead, private capital chased software and speculation, leaving the nation dependent on foreign supply chains for most manufactured goods. The result is a hollowed-out industrial base that no tax credit alone can fix.Julius Krein, editor of American Affairs and president of the New American Industrial Alliance, joins Oren to lay out the case for a distinctly American sovereign wealth fund, investing in strategic sectors that the market neglects. They discuss where the CHIPS Act falls short, why Intel is exactly the type of firm a potential fund should support, and what the fund’s governance should look like.Further reading:“How a Sovereign Wealth Fund Could Reindustrialize America” by Julius Krein“Financing for Critical Industries” by Julius Krein

In the 1990s, Silicon Valley thought access to China would help open their markets and liberalize the nation. Instead, their engagement ended up empowering the CCP and helped build the Chinese surveillance state.Geoffrey Cain, an investigative journalist and author, joins Oren to explain how some Big Tech firms were captured by China, risking U.S. supply chains by making them vulnerable to Chinese coercion and theft. They focus on how Nvidia’s recent push to sell advanced AI chips to Beijing will empower Chinese ambitions and undermine American security. Finally, they discuss the only workable solution to the threat of China: a hard break.

America once relied on oceans, industrial might, and large stockpiles to give her strategic depth—the ability to maneuver economically, militarily, and technologically during conflict. But those buffers have eroded in the age of drones, cyberattacks, and supply chains controlled by China.Nadia Schadlow, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and Deputy National Security Advisor during the first Trump administration, joins Oren to discuss how to rebuild strategic depth in an age of globalization and massive technological change. They explore how modern conflicts demand scalable production over bespoke systems, America's bureaucratic roadblocks slowing progress, and the necessity of allies and commercial industry in restoring deterrence. Finally, Schadlow outlines concrete steps the Trump administration could take to close America’s most dangerous shortcomings.Further reading:“New Dimensions of Strategic Depth” by Nadia Schadlow

Economists and politicians told us that President Trump’s tariffs would spark foreign retaliation and drive up domestic prices. But current economic data are beginning to tell a different story. Anna Wong, chief U.S. economist at Bloomberg Economics, joins Oren to discuss what the post-Liberation Day data are telling us. As tariff rates begin to stabilize due to trade deals, Wong breaks down how tariffs are reshaping firm behavior, potentially driving a wave of future domestic investment by realigning incentivizes. Additionally, Anna and Oren explain why the punditry class’s fixation on near-term CPI levels is missing the bigger story.

From working as a welder to taking on BlackRock as West Virginia’s first Republican-elected state treasurer in decades, Riley Moore’s trajectory has been anything but conventional. Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) joins Oren to discuss what a conservatism rooted in the dignity of work, the importance of family, and responsive to the needs of working people looks like. Plus, he and Oren unpack the importance of Republican leaders realizing that being pro-life, pro-family, and pro-worker must mean more than just writing it on a bumper sticker.

As the Trump administration reshapes how federal dollars flow to universities, reform-minded academics are rethinking how to fix the systemic problems on campus without jeopardizing important research.Simon Johnson, professor of entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan School of Management and Nobel Laureate in Economics, joins Oren to unpack why our nation’s bloated and bureaucratic universities need reform and how smarter use of federal funding can incentivize it. Plus, the two make sense of how to create new innovation clusters at universities nationwide rather than just at elite coastal institutions.

Even as the U.S. begins decoupling from our Asian rival, the threat of a second “China shock”—one where the country’s economy dominates key resources and minerals—is rapidly emerging.Brad Setser, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins Oren to dig into how China’s new wave of industrial overcapacity, currency manipulation, and continued cheap exports could ravage America’s economy a second time. They explore how this will impact the global economy, and how the Trump administration could respond with smart industrial policy.Further reading:“The Case that China is Now Actively Resisting Pressure on the Yuan to Appreciate” by Brad Setser"We Warned About the First China Shock. The Next One Will Be Worse" by David Autor and Gordon Hanson