An Interview with Senator Phil Gramm, Economist, Legislator, and Author

From the classroom to the halls of Congress, to international banking, and the public square, few Americans have made a more sustained and consequential case for economic freedom than our guest on this episode of Voices of Freedom.

Senator Phil Gramm taught economics at Texas A&M University for twelve years before serving in the United States Congress for more than two decades — first as a Representative from Texas, then as United States Senator. His legislative record includes the Gramm-Latta Budget, which reduced federal spending and paved the way for the Reagan tax cut; the Gramm-Rudman Act, which placed the first binding constraints on federal spending; and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which modernized the nation's banking, insurance, and securities laws. He is currently a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of The Myth of American Inequality and The Triumph of Economic Freedom. Senator Gramm is a 2026 Bradley Prize winner.

Topics Discussed on this Episode:

• Senator Gramm's path from the classroom to Congress

• The legislative legacy of the Gramm-Latta Budget, Gramm-Rudman Act, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act

• Whether Congress can recover a commitment to fiscal discipline

• How the country arrived at today's polarization over free enterprise and markets

• The case for economic freedom and what's at stake for the next generation