Heard at Heritage

A conversation with Dr. Kim Holmes and Amb. Terry Miller about why Economic freedom matters and how Heritage's Index of Economic Freedom became the measuring stick by which governments evaluate their own performance, and compare their progress to their neighbors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Threats to religious freedom in China were on the rise in 2018, especially after the Chinese government instituted its new Regulations on Religious Affairs in February 2018. Christians in China are facing newfound persecution. Between September and December of last year, three major churches, the Early Rain Covenant Church, Zion Church, and Rongguilli Church were shuttered. Muslims in Xinjiang are experiencing terrifying surveillance and between 800,000 to more than 1 million individuals are now held in political “reeducation” facilities facing unknown fates. Persecution of Tibetans likewise intensified with religious structures and homes of Tibetans destroyed. Persons of faith are increasingly under siege as China attempts to “Sinicize”, or secularize, religious practice so that it conforms to the values and priorities of the Chinese Communist Party. Promoting religious freedom has been in the U.S. ethos for generations, and over the past year the U.S. government has consistently condemned heightened threats to religious freedom in China. Please join us as we consider next steps the U.S. government can take to hold China accountable for its violations of religious freedom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are seeing a significant increase in the number of nationwide injunctions issued by federal district court judges against the federal government. Are such judges acting outside of their jurisdictional limits? Are their actions constitutional and within the procedural precedents of the U.S. Supreme Court? Do such injunctions promote forum shopping and do they violate class action requirements? Does this restrict the development of the law and violate the organizational structure of the federal judicial system by freezing legal issues in conformance with the holding of a single federal district judge, rather than allowing the 13 circuit courts of appeal to reach their own conclusions under the supervision of the Supreme Court? These important questions will be discussed in a lively forum by both academic and government legal experts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, a college degree is not necessary to achieve the American Dream and live a fiscally successful life.Sure, for many, college can be the perfect launching pad. The societal aspect of school can be transformative, and the exposure to different people, different thoughts, and different ideas is crucial.But for millions of young Americans, college is not the answer. What about the teenager for whom sitting in a classroom is unfulfilling and frustrating? What about the kid with a skillset that can’t be nurtured on campus?In Class Dismissed: Why College Isn’t the Answer, Nick Adams explains how you can achieve the American Dream without receiving a traditional education. An essential tool for parents and grandparents, this book discusses how families can recognize whether their child will get more from a trade school or a mentorship than they will from four years of study. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In October 2008, as the U.S. economy plunged, the Federal Reserve began paying interest on banks' reserve balances. The resulting switch to a "floor system" of monetary control, in which changes in the interest rate on reserves, rather than reserve creation or destruction, became the Fed's chief tool for influencing economic activity, was to have far-reaching consequences--almost all of them regrettable.Besides intensifying the downturn by causing banks to hoard reserves, the floor system all but destroyed the market for unsecured interbank loans that had been banks' ordinary "first resort" source of last-minute liquidity. By depriving the Fed's asset purchases of the ability to stimulate investment and spending, it also compelled the Fed to compensate by purchasing assets on an unprecedented scale. All of this resulted in a substantial increase in the Fed's role in allocating scarce credit. Finally, by severing the ordinary connection between the stance of monetary policy and the extent of the Fed's asset holdings, the floor system risks turning the Fed's balance sheet into a fiscal-policy playground.Selgin’s book is the first comprehensive account of the Federal Reserve’s new post-crisis “floor” monetary policy operating system. Selgin will share his three-year research journey into this new experimental system, how the Fed stumbled into it, and its consequences for the economy — including how it could turn the Fed into a Trojan piggybank of fiscal profligacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who could be against a law that promises equality and bans discrimination? Parents who’ve already experienced grief, despair, and witnessed medical harms as they attempted to get help for their gender-confused children. Medical experts concerned about how adding "gender identity" into civil rights law would cause physical and psychological harm. People who have transitioned, and then detransitioned, concerned with what this ideology will do to children. Lesbians who have been punished for having the audacity to say that men are not women. Radical feminists concerned that nearly all sex-segregated spaces, colleges, sports, dormitories, and women's rights in general will disappear if “gender identity” becomes a protected class and the dangers this poses to women and girls.Please join us for a panel discussion featuring speakers from the political left as they share their stories of the harmful consequences of what will happen if "gender identity" ideology is enshrined into U.S. civil rights law. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Taxing Wars explores how a country decides to pay for wars and how that decision shapes how the public and the military experience the conflict.Dr. Kreps explores how the way that the United States has funded her wars fluctuated through time. Government fund their activities through one of three mechanisms: taxation, borrowing, or printing more money. All three have been leveraged in different levels through American history with the noticeable use of domestic borrowing through war bonds.Those methods of raising resources to fight a war have consequences to how the public experiences the conflict and therefore on sense of shared sacrifice that they generate. In a democracy, this sense of shared sacrifice directly impacts the country’s ability to fight. Taxing Wars explores this connection and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Index of Economic Freedom (www.heritage.org/index) celebrates its 25th Anniversary in 2019!The Index evaluates government policies and economic conditions in 186 countries. Since its inception in 1995, the Index, an annual cross-country analysis by The Heritage Foundation, has tracked the progress of economic freedom around the globe and measured the real impact of advancing economic liberty.The 25th anniversary edition provides compelling evidence of the dynamic benefits for individuals and societies from greater economic freedom. Around the world, governments that respect and promote openness and free markets provide greater opportunities for innovation, progress, and human flourishing.Join us as we unveil the Index rankings for 2019 and examine the link between economic freedom and prosperity around the globe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last year alone, 16.7 million individuals suffered some form of identity theft. This crime exposes victims to many difficulties in their daily lives, ranging from the inability to participate in our economy to the inability to prove to a potential employer (or even our government) that they are a US citizen. Our antiquated system of collecting trivial facts and government IDs to confirm the identity of individuals contributes to these problems because anyone with sufficient information about you can literally “BE” you. Join us at the Heritage Foundation as our panel explores how new blockchain technologies can help prevent identity theft and protect millions of Americans. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On December 4, 2018, after five years of failed attempts to get Russia to return to compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty obligations and verifiably destroy its 9M729 missile system, the U.S. officially announced its intentions to withdraw from the treaty. There is much debate regarding what actions the U.S. should take as it prepares to withdraw from the INF treaty. Most analysts agree the U.S. should continue to encourage the Russian government to renegotiate an updated INF Treaty. Some experts propose that in parallel with these efforts, the U.S. should develop and field new low-yield nuclear weapons as well as improved conventional ground-launched cruise missile systems and cruise missile defenses. They assert that these actions would better deter Russian use of low-yield nuclear weapons and better defend its NATO allies from Russian cruise missile threats. Opponents of these recommendations counter that the U.S. development of low-yield nuclear weapons, ground-launched cruise missiles and improved cruise missile defenses will only antagonize Russia and lead to a new arms race. Please join us for a discussion on the recommended way ahead for the U.S. in a post-INF world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.