It is amazing how, these days, the word “bipartisan” is always attached to Republicans doing something leftist in economic policy, and never Democrats doing something pro-market. And the bipartisanship of the Hawley-Sanders bill to cap credit card interest rates is a wonderful reason to not be yearning for bipartisanship. In this episode of Capital Record, David provides principle-based reasons for opposing this federal overreach, and it is a set of principles that have held up very well over time. A must listen!

How can we have an honest conversation about tariffs as public policy, let alone one rooted in first principles, if the conversation changes every five minutes? David uses this podcast to focus the attention where it belongs, to separate categories, and to encourage thoughtful and siloed analysis about the American worker, about tax revenue, about trade deficits, about human rights, and about negotiating tactics -- in a coherent and sensible manner. One may just find that the right policy decision on a given matter is easier to come by with good faith, logic, and conversation than bouncing around without focus or purpose.

With the RFK confirmation hearings in the news, could it be that “health and human services” is not just a story about vaccines, snack foods, and the controversy around Robert Kennedy, but is actually an economic story, with a lesson for us all about the reason people use words like “big pharma” and “big business”?

David heard someone say recently, “All I do is help rich people get richer” (this person, like David, works in wealth management), and this inspired David to do this podcast on how incredibly wrong that sentiment is.

David addresses the economics of the fire disaster in Los Angeles, the public-policy ramifications, and the history of voter action in California that speaks to some of what has happened (or not happened). There is not a lot of political dunking going on here, but there is a difficult and important discussion on municipal finance and the principles by which we think about regulations, environmental stewardship, and federal aid.

David breaks down the huge challenges of what has gone on with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the challenge of where things stand now, and the even bigger challenge of what to do into the future. You will be shocked to hear that he believes the solution to how guarantees are given to support the housing markets must be rooted to some first principles, and he has a few to try on for size.