Lessons from Fellow Free-Market Warriors This Month | Prosperity Pulse #32
Reflections from recent tech and policy events and the latest work advancing policies that let people prosper.
Hello Free Market Warriors!
I return to this monthly recap refreshed and encouraged after spending time with many of the people leading the fight for free markets, economic freedom, and human flourishing.
A few weeks ago, I attended and helped support the Freedom Conservatism annual conference in our nation’s capital. It was energizing to be surrounded by principled leaders and thinkers who remain committed to liberty regardless of where the political winds may blow. I especially enjoyed hearing from U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and many other champions of free markets and limited government.
From there, I traveled to Park City, Utah, for the Abundance Institute’s Operation Gigawatt Summit. The conversations around energy abundance, innovation, and removing barriers to progress were both timely and inspiring. It was also an honor for Ginn Economic Consulting to help sponsor the event and support these important discussions.
Last week, I attended the James Madison Institute’s Florida Tech and Innovation Summit 2026. I attended many thoughtful discussions on regulation, artificial intelligence, data centers, and the policies needed to foster innovation and economic growth.
This month also brought a few personal milestones. It marked the 24th anniversary of the car accident that changed the course of my life and helped shape my mission of advancing policies that let people prosper. I also celebrated publishing the 200th episode of the Let People Prosper show, featuring my friend, Jeramy Kitchen, president of Texas Policy Research.
As summer begins, I look forward to a season with less travel, more time with family, and continued work toward the mission that drives everything we do: let people prosper. Thank you for your continued support and for being part of this journey.
God bless you and your family,
Vance Ginn, Ph.D.
President, Ginn Economic Consulting
Highlights from This Month
1. Affordability and the Economy
Families are feeling the pressure everywhere: at the gas pump, the grocery store, the doctor’s office, on insurance bills, in rent payments, on mortgage statements, and through rising credit card balances. So where is this affordability crisis coming from? It is the result of years of government spending too much, inflating too much, regulating too much, subsidizing too much, and blocking too much of the supply families need.
Many Americans are worried about rising gas prices. While states cannot control global crude oil markets, they can influence many of the costs that determine what consumers ultimately pay. At the Pelican Institute, I explain how lawmakers can help lower costs by improving taxes, regulations, infrastructure, refining capacity, transportation systems, and the overall cost of doing business.
New inflation data show prices continuing to rise too quickly, with energy costs receiving much of the attention amid growing conflict in the Middle East. But policymakers must not confuse the spark with the fuel. The fuel is a Federal Reserve that never fully returned to normal after the 2008 financial crisis, combined with a federal government that continues to spend far beyond what taxpayers can sustainably support. I share four charts that share this story.
2. Addressing Housing Costs
Housing affordability is a major economic problem facing American families. Congress is finally taking action, but it should not pretend Washington can fix housing by deciding who is allowed to buy what. At RealClear Markets, I highlight some problems with the ROAD to Housing Act in Congress.
Specifically, Congress should remove or substantially narrow the bill’s forced-sale and institutional-investor provisions. The real solution is not restricting buyers, but increasing supply. That means speeding up permitting, reducing regulatory barriers, lowering construction costs, and creating a more stable environment for builders to invest and build more homes. The piece was also featured in RealClear Policy.
For a deeper look at housing affordability, including federal proposals and the role that state and local property taxes play in driving housing costs higher, I recently shared additional analysis on Substack.
3. Spending & Taxes
Some states are considering imposing exit taxes on families, entrepreneurs, and investors who choose to leave. As I argue in The Daily Economy, states can either ask why people are leaving or try to tax them for escaping. An exit tax chooses punishment over reform. This piece was also featured by ZeroHedge, RealClear Markets, and Epoch Times.
Another misguided tax idea gaining traction is the call to “tax the rich.” While sold as a tax on billionaires, these policies often reach far beyond the billionaires. At Kansas Policy Institute I explain how it can easily becomes a tax on everyday people who own assets (a farm, a local roofing business, etc.), employ workers, take risks, and often have wealth on paper but tight cash flow in real life.
There is encouraging news as well. The latest income tax map from Americans for Tax Reform shows a major shift underway across the states. More policymakers are moving away from highly progressive income tax systems and toward flatter, lower, and in some cases zero-income-tax models that encourage growth, investment, and opportunity.
Property taxes remain one of the most significant barriers to affordable homeownership and long-term economic security. In a new Ginn Economic Consulting report, Joseph Johns and I use Montana as a case study for how states could eliminate property taxes through responsible reforms. In a separate paper, I examine how Wyoming has an opportunity to lead the nation by eliminating school district property taxes through sustainable spending discipline. You can explore my latest property tax research and analysis below.
I also enjoyed joining Paul Mueller on The Economist Next Door podcast to discuss why property taxes challenge the concept of true ownership. Even after paying off a mortgage, homeowners remain obligated to make ongoing payments to the government to keep their property.
Finally, my Sustainable Budget Project at Americans for Tax Reform recently released updated state-by-state data. I have been reviewing the numbers in a new Substack series examining fiscal trends across the country. Recent analyses include Alabama, Alaska, California, and Texas.
4. Banking
The appointment of a new Federal Reserve chair presents an opportunity to rethink the role of monetary policy in the economy. The real test for Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh is whether the Fed will merely manage the existing framework more effectively or begin the difficult work of restoring sound money, reducing its footprint in financial markets, and ending its role as Washington’s fiscal shock absorber.
On KTRH Radio, I discuss why there is reason to be optimistic that the Federal Reserve may do a better job of protecting Americans from the hidden tax of inflation. Stable prices are essential for preserving purchasing power, encouraging investment, and supporting long-term economic growth.
At the same time, policymakers should be careful not to misdiagnose rising credit-card interest rates. Too often, banks receive the blame, but they do not operate in a vacuum. Higher credit-card rates are largely driven by inflation, Federal Reserve policy, and rising delinquency risks — not simply by the actions of financial institutions.
5. Technology and Artificial Intelligence
Panic over data centers is escalating. As I point out in Washington Examiner, making it harder to build data centers in America will not reduce demand for digital infrastructure. It will simply push investment, innovation, and strategic advantages elsewhere. If the U.S. chooses to slow development, countries like China will be eager to fill the gap.
Kansas has an important choice to make: it can become a place where the next generation of digital infrastructure is built, or it can regulate, zone, and subsidize its way into mediocrity while investment goes elsewhere. At Kansas Policy Institute, I explain how recent legislation could affect the state's ability to attract data centers and participate in the growing digital economy.
The piece above recieved a lot of feedback, mainly that focused on four concerns: water, electricity, zoning, and whether data centers really help local communities. Kansans deserve answers about how new development will affect their communities. I answer each of those concerns in my latest at Kansas Policy Institute.
6. Freedom, Family, and Markets
Strong societies are built from the bottom up, not the top down. Families, faith communities, charities, businesses, and local institutions provide the relationships, responsibilities, and support systems that help people flourish. When these institutions are strong, they can often address challenges more effectively and compassionately than distant bureaucracies. RealClear Policy shared this reflection as well.
At The Daily Economy, I challenge one of the most persistent myths in American politics: that there is a large, permanent class of people trapped in poverty year after year. The data tell a more hopeful story of mobility, opportunity, and progress than many political narratives suggest.
I also share reflections from the recent Freedom Conservatism conference. Freedom Conservatism matters because it reminds the right what it should be conserving: the American promise of freedom, opportunity, personal responsibility, and human flourishing.
Last month, I joined Justin Callais and Richard Morrison on the podcast From Ideas to Innovation for a wide-ranging conversation on principles over politics, AI doomerism, abundance, and the policies that help people prosper.
Many of today’s policy debates ultimately come down to freedom. Property taxes can trap homeowners in perpetual payments. Exit taxes seek to limit mobility. Excessive regulations can discourage innovation. Monetary distortions can create dependency. Unsustainable government spending burdens future generations. The answer is not better central planning but greater freedom, stronger institutions, and policies that empower people to solve problems themselves.
At Kansas Policy Institute, I explain why Kansas should strengthen agriculture by making the entire state more competitive. Success in agriculture depends on much more than farms alone. It requires affordable energy, efficient logistics, strong infrastructure, housing, health care, technology, manufacturing, and entrepreneurship.
I also reflect on faith, family, and the proper role of government. Modern politics often assumes that when families struggle, government should take on a larger role. While usually well-intentioned, that approach can gradually shift responsibility away from families and communities and toward bureaucracies. A healthier vision recognizes that families are the foundation of society and should be strengthened rather than replaced.
Just 47-percent of Americans correctly answered questions on financial literacy. I discuss the causes and impacts on this crisis at 1200 WOAI News Radio.
7. Trade and War
Trade is about so much more than cheaper goods, it is about cooperation., I reflect on the often-overlooked connection between free trade and peace in a special Memorial Day newsletter.
What I’m Learning
Dallas Morning News: Good piece on the RealPage lawsuit and AI causing high rents.
AIER: The phenomenon of "dedollarization” explained.
National Review: Good explanation on how gas tax holidays tend to create shortages, generate windfalls for some fuel sellers, and expand federal deficits that will drive inflation and interest rates even higher.
Americans for Prosperity: How Certificate of Need laws result in less competition, raising costs and decreasing choices.
AIER: An exploration of the relationship between federal, state, and local governments shaped by transfers and the incentives they create.
Great Capitalism: Richard Morrison shares a great write-up on the recent Freedom Conservative conference.
EPIC: Sad to hear this announcement as EPIC’s work has been so important. Thank you for your work!
Houston Chronicle: Data centers are the next front in Texas’s long history of prosperity through building infrastructure needed for a boom.
Evanston Roundtable: Evanston, IL, is chasing the wrong villain because banning RealPage or “algorithmic rent fixing” won’t make housing affordable.
FIRE: This nonsense must stop. Instead we need to empower parents, not government.
Taxpayer Protection Alliance: Powerful infographic on how Colorado is targeting data centers based on misleading claims about water and energy use.
NetChoice: Great Data Center 101 guide showing how they are the backbone of the modern digital economy.
Americans for Tax Reform: How much American families pay every year because of lawsuit abuse.
Washington Post: How war and tariffs hurting American farmers may impact November elections.
Reason: We need to eliminate property taxes for EVERYONE.
Texas Policy Research: Powerful story of a Texas grandmother who's non-violent record from 15 years ago still follows her into jobs, housing, and loans despite living crime free ever since.
Tax Policy Foundation: Is your state one of the five with the highest top marginal individual income tax rates?
Bloomberg Law: Digital ID may be coming to Texas that will provide China with our data from leaks.
DC Journal: How the Faster Labor Contracts Act would give big labor much greater negotiating power over employers.
Wall Street Journal: AI doomerism paints a dark picture for jobs, but Meta is investing in a skilled workforce to power the future.
E3: New report finds there’s no quantitative evidence that data centers have historically been subsidized by other customers under existing rate structures.
Economy_Heather: Why is the hiring recession over?
Books I’m Reading:
I recently finished reading Ludwig von Mises’ Liberalism: The Classical Tradition for the third time. I gave it a 5-star rating!
Let People Prosper Show Podcast
The Let People Prosper Show features deep discussions on hot topics:
Episode 202 (Thursday):
In this week’s episode of the Let People Prosper Show, I’m joined by Dr. Tyler Goodspeed, Chief Economist at ExxonMobil and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, to discuss his new book, Recession: The Real Reasons Economies Shrink and What to Do about It.
Episode 203 (Next Thursday):
Joining me next week is Lura Forcum, a consumer and social psychologist, former professor, and strategist with a knack for translating complex economic and policy ideas into something regular people can understand. Her nonprofit experience includes the Independent Center, State Policy Network, and Mercatus. We discuss why economic intuition in such short supply, why “good economics” arguments often fail, and what messaging actually works.
Did you miss This Week’s Economy episode 167?
Quote of the Week
Bible Verse of the Week
Thank you for supporting my mission to promote economic freedom and prosperity. I hope this edition of Prosperity Pulse keeps you informed, inspired, and ready for the days ahead.
Please subscribe (get a paid subscription!) to this newsletter today, become a paid subscriber, and share it with your staff, family, and friends. Get more of my work at Ginn Economic Consulting at vanceginn.com.