Heard at Heritage

Taiwan finds itself in a challenging position vis-à-vis U.S. trade policy. It is the target of the global steel tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. At the same time, its extensive involvement in Chinese supply chains confronts it with potential fallout from a US-China trade war. On the other hand, Taiwan remains, as it has for many years, an ideal candidate for negotiation of a free trade agreement with the U.S. – a move that could encourage others of its trading partners to follow suit. So where is US trade policy heading with regard to Taiwan? Will the U.S. administration and Congress take up the economic and strategic opportunity it represents or with they allow it to become collateral damage in the prosecution of a newly, aggressive American trade policy? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our universities are now overwhelmingly dominated by a radical identity-based grievance culture in which a growing number of victim groups, whose priorities and assertions are rarely challenged, are given free rein to disparage, drown out, and silence views they deem offensive. As a result, our universities no longer value fearless inquiry, but rather seek to impose a reigning orthodoxy that offers an unrigorous and tendentious view of our intellectual traditions and politics. Amy Wax will analyze how that orthodoxy is enforced and, more importantly, how it can potentially be countered.Amy L. Wax is the Robert Mundheim Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School where she teaches remedies, social welfare law and policy, the law and economics of work and family, and conservative political and legal thought. A graduate of Yale College, Harvard Medical School, and Columbia Law School, she served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General in the United States Department of Justice from 1988 to 1994, where she argued 15 cases before the United States Supreme Court. She has published widely in law reviews and journals of opinion, including the Wall Street Journal, Policy Review, Commentary, American Affairs, National Affairs, The New Criterion, and First Things. She is the author of Race, Wrongs, and Remedies (2009 Hoover Press). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After recent historic declines in student achievement following decades of increased federal involvement in K-12 education, it is time to re-think federal intervention in education. Ted Rebarber and Neal McCluskey, co-authors of the new Pioneer Institute White Paper, Common Core, School Choice & Re-thinking Standards-Based Reform, argue that government central-planning of education has blocked efforts to achieve international competitiveness, stifled innovation, and increasingly threaten the curricular autonomy of private schools. Instead, they propose eliminating key federal mandates and implementing school choice policies specially designed to prevent government control over private schools. Brad Thomas, House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Patrick Wolf, University of Arkansas, will provide commentary on the report and presentation, and participate in a discussion followed by questions from the audience. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a timely book, Peter J. Wallison challenges the legitimacy of the modern administrative state. Rather than take up the burden of legislating, Congress has delegated lawmaking responsibility to regulatory agencies in direct violation of the Framers’ intent that the only government officials who should make law are the ones directly accountable to the electorate. The Supreme Court has aided and abetted this knowing violation of the Constitution by upholding a broad range of rulemaking delegations to political appointees and bureaucrats. The Court has aggravated the problem with the Chevron doctrine, which allows agencies to define the meaning of acts of Congress even though the Framers intended the federal courts to have that authority. This book argues that there is time to re-establish the constitutional system that the Framers created, but that we must act now or risk losing this opportunity forever. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Socialists have since the mid-19th century claimed the ethical high ground against conservatives and (19th-century) liberals. Let us help the poor, the socialists say. And so we all should. But the claim to virtue is faulty, both as theory and as practice. In a free society a bourgeois ethic should rule, not top-down direction by the great and good.For a complete list of speakers, topics, and dates of the Free Markets: The Ethical Economic Choice speaker series visit heritage.org/free-markets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After withdrawing from the Iran nuclear agreement in May, the Trump Administration restored nuclear-related sanctions, which become fully effective after November 4th. What will be the impact of these sanctions? What additional U.S. policies are needed to respond to Iran’s nuclear and other challenges? Will the administration be able to achieve its goal of negotiating an improved nuclear agreement? A panel of experts will examine these and other issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The UK/US defence relationship is the broadest, deepest and most advanced of any two countries. The UK’s Minister for Defence Procurement will talk about what the UK and US are doing jointly to build on their long-standing relationship to develop a capable future force that deters our adversaries, whilst ensuring a secure and resilient industrial base. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alexander Hamilton wrote that the judiciary would be the “weakest” and “least dangerous” branch. Thomas Jefferson warned that if the judiciary had the authority of “exclusively explaining the Constitution,” it would be a “mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, that they may twist and shape into any form they please.” The power properly exercised by unelected federal judges appointed for unlimited terms was debated at and since America’s founding. That debate has intensified as judicial power expanded in the 20th century and the broader question of the proper scope of federal government power is engaged today. This debate will address a specific question about the judiciary’s place in our system of separated power and its relationship to the other branches. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Puerto Rico, children struggle in an underperforming education system that has poorer educational outcomes than any of the 50 states on the U.S. mainland. Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló and Secretary of Education Julia Keleher have proposed considerable and long-overdue reforms to Puerto Rico’s education system. Their plans seek to make Puerto Rican schools more accountable to parents by providing greater education choice to the island’s residents. The proposed education reforms are not simply due to a failing education system but are modifications that account for migration trends and economic stagnation. These changes are imperative as the tragic effects of Hurricane Maria have only expedited a regional exodus after the storm devastated many homes and schools.Please join us for a discussion about the impact of school choice on children and the future of education in Puerto Rico. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a landmark book from national drug policy leader Robert L. DuPont, MD, Chemical Slavery covers two crucial topics: First, the national drug epidemic including an understanding of its evolution to become a national emergency, and the science of addiction and recovery. Second, Dr. DuPont presents his experience-based guide to the intimate, day-to-day struggle with the disease of addiction from prevention to lasting recovery.This book shows the ways in which these two domains of addiction, the national and the personal, are intertwined and can be both understood and managed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.