108. School Choice: States Must Lead

This newsletter dives into key economic issues at the federal and state levels and provides a free-market approach so politicians get out of the way to let people prosper.

Hello Friend,

Wow! January flew by. It’s been a productive month. Many state legislatures started their sessions so we have a lot to watch. And this week was School Choice Week as many of us push for school choice to empower parents in every state. Four states recently passed universal education savings accounts, which will hopefully continue to be passed by every state soon. This is a much-needed free-market reform to improve student outcomes, increase pay for quality teachers, reduce poverty, and reduce crime. Check out my commentary in the Washington Examiner below on how school choice puts students first.

The revolutions of school choice, responsible budgets, and flat taxes across the states provide optimism that politicians can do good things to empower people with the freedom to achieve their full potential. States must continue to lead the way because we’re unlikely to see much good come out of D.C. I’ve noted more ways to unleash ways to let people prosper throughout this newsletter so please read it and share with your family and friends. Thank you!

Let People Prosper Show: Please subscribe to my podcast on your favorite platform: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

Here’s the latest episode with Dr. Ben Powell of the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University on the gains from immigration and trade and much more.

The new episode on Tuesday will be with David Bahnsen on the financial situation and economic causes for inflation. The next two will be with U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) on federal budget reforms and fiscal sanity (or insanity) then Jason Isaac on the master resources of oil and gas needed for flourishing and fewer blackouts in Texas and beyond. Don’t miss them!

If you want to get an overview of all of my episodes, check out these short videos of about 1 minute each where you’ll learn something and see which longer episodes you want to check out.

Here are two recent shorts that received a lot of views:

• Watch the full episode with Dr. Chuck Beachamp on how corporate greed is a myth and what the problems are with the Federal Reserve here.

• Watch the full episode with John Hendrickson on tariffs, trade, and the state flat tax revolution here.

Latest Interviews

• Don’t miss my latest television and radio interviews and past speeches here.

TAKE ON STATE ECONOMIES & POLICIES

1. Texas’ economic situation continues to lead the country & break records in employment. And red states are leading the way in general:

   

   The following figure from Soquel Creek on Twitter tells an important story of the benefits of economic freedom. More on this in my blog post.

   

2. Louisiana’s economic situation is in dire need of improvement as people are fleeing for other places. Check out this and more on how to solve this in my recent blog post here.

   

3. My commentary in the Washington Examiner: School Choice Puts Students First.

   

   “Our public school system is a failing bureaucratic nightmare that puts students last. And this is contributing to fewer education outcomes, more poverty, and higher crime. School choice can — and will — change that.”

4. My recent co-authored research on the costs of occupational licensure in Texas and beyond, and free-market solutions to this problem.

   

   Key Points:
   – Occupational licenses should only be required where there is a clear and convincing need to protect the health and safety of the public and the license is reasonably expected to achieve that protection.
   – Texas has taken important strides in recent years to reduce the number of unnecessary occupational licenses, but more needs to be done.
   – Occupational licenses should be reviewed and eliminated if determined to be unnecessary to protect the health and safety of the public.

5. States continue to show the way for more opportunities for families to prosper.

   

TAKE ON U.S. ECONOMY & POLICIES

1. Don’t miss my latest blog post on the U.S. economic situation which includes how we got here, debt limit, inflation, Q4 GDP, recession, and more, like how inflation-adjusted average weekly earnings are down for 21 straight months!

   

2. Listen to my radio interview—Funding Crisis: Will Social Security Survive the Next Decade?

   

3. We need school choice now!

   Young Americans for Liberty @YALiberty

   School choice is the best way to move education forward! @VanceGinn #edreform #schoolchoice

   

4. Economic growth was only +0.96% Q4-over-Q4 in 2022, which was the slowest except the 2020 recession since 2009 (the last year of the Great Recession). It was even worse if you consider the entire picture noted in the tweet below. More in my blog post here.

   

5. The spin from both major parties is unfortunate. Stick with me for the facts.

   

CLOSING TAKE

• What would you call the recession in 2020? Here’s what a small sample said (my preference is Shutdown Recession):

  

• Texas has a massive budget surplus. Most people who answered this poll on Twitter said that every excessively collected taxpayer dollar (“surplus”) should go back to taxpayers. The best way would be to compress the school district maintenance and operations property taxes which are already essentially controlled by the state legislature. I’ve noted this in multiple research projects over the years (see this post on why it can and should be done). The Huffines Liberty Foundation published a good report recently outlining this as well.

  

• Good quote:

  

• My family is doing well. We are continuing to live our dreams and grow in the process. Our boys have been playing sports and the baby girl is almost 10 months old and likely walking any day. It’s been extraordinary to see how much my business has grown in such a short period. There is much more to come! Stay tuned for more ways to let people prosper. #blessed

• I’m praying that we have our needs met through Jesus Christ.

  

• Let people prosper.