American Wonk

On today’s episode of American Wonk, Avik Roy talks to Congressman Jim Banks of Indiana, Chairman of the Republican Study Committee and author of a pathbreaking health care reform bill called the Hospital Competition Act. Should the GOP shed its big business reputation to help kitchen table voters? More on the Hospital Competition Act here. […]

The American Jobs Plan has been touted by Vice President Kamala Harris as the biggest jobs investment since World War II. But how exactly will we pay for $2 trillion in new spending on infrastructure, green energy, housing, and education reform? Do the benefits of increased spending outweigh the proposal’s impact on deficits and tax rates? Last week, Avik […]

On May 1st, Texas will hold a special election to fill the seat of late U.S. Congressman Ron Wright, who passed away in February from COVID-19. The contentious, all-party election has 23 candidates vying for the seat, including Rep. Wright’s widow Susan. One of the Republican candidates, Michael Wood, joins Avik Roy, President of FREOPP, to discuss his […]

On today’s episode of Covid in 19, Scott Immergut of Ricochet and Avik Roy talk about a new FREOPP report that ranks the pandemic performance of 31 countries, including the U.S. Which countries have moved up and down in the rankings, which country is number 1, and why is Europe having such a tough time? […]

Can conservative principles adapt to appeal to younger generations and minorities? What are realistic conservative policy goals for the 21st century? Is there a future for an inclusive, equal opportunity-oriented conservative movement? Patrick Ruffini from Echelon Insights, a next-generation polling, analytics, and intelligence firm, joins American Wonk to discuss. Patrick has a background as a […]

On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Scott Immergut of Ricochet and Avik Roy of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity talk about why the vaccines are not a vindication of Big Pharma, but of small, innovative biotech startups. Also, who’s first in line to get the vaccine? And what about the people who […]

On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Scott Immergut of Ricochet and Avik Roy of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity talk about this week’s vaccine news from Pfizer and Biontech. How good is the data? Are more vaccines on the horizon? Will Joe Biden strive to distribute vaccines around the world or prioritize […]

On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Scott Immergut of Ricochet and Avik Roy of FREOPP talk about the World Health Organization’s new guidance that lockdowns are bad. What took them so long? And with the holidays coming up, Avik explains why his kids will be trick or treating and why he’s even looking forward […]

On today’s episode of American Wonk, FREOPP’s Avik Roy talks with Ilya Shapiro, author of “Supreme Disorder,” a new book on the politics of the Supreme Court. They talk about Amy Coney Barrett and ask: what have conservatives gotten right and wrong in their quest to change how the Supreme Court thinks about the Constitution? […]

On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Scott Immergut of Ricochet and Avik Roy of FREOPP talk about President Trump’s recovery from the virus. What really happened, and what do we need to know about the new treatments that Trump has taken?