Freedom & Progress 2022: FREOPP’s Annual Conference
A gathering of those who, like Frederick Douglass, believe that freedom is humanity’s greatest engine of prosperity and progress.
About the Freedom & Progress Conference
For all of her imperfections, there has never been a country that has created more opportunity for more people than the United States of America.
The inaugural Freedom & Progress Conference seeks to unite American leaders in politics, policy, journalism, and philanthropy who believe that economic and political freedom are humanity’s greatest engines of prosperity and happiness. Our goal? To build a 21st century movement that embodies the principles best described by Frederick Douglass, who in 1870 declared, “I never intend to belong to any other party than the party of freedom and progress.”
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was a triumph of the values that made America great — an event that liberated 125 million people from tyranny. Former vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp compiled those values into what he called the American Idea: “The Declaration of Independence applies to every individual; everyone should have the opportunity to rise as high as their talents and efforts can carry them; and while people move ahead, we should endeavor to leave no one behind.”
Those of us who embrace the American Idea know that free economies are more generous than unfree ones. We understand that countries that strive for equality under the law are better and fairer than those that do not. And we treasure the right to speak freely — especially to disagree with the policies of our government — knowing that this right is essential to ensuring that our government’s purpose is to serve us, rather than the other way around.
Unfortunately, economic and political freedom are under assault from a new generation of left-wing and right-wing activists. These radicals of the left and right have much in common.
They both believe that some Americans are nobler than others, solely because of their ancestry.
They both believe that Americans have too much freedom.
And they are both opposed to the American Idea, because they both believe that some Americans deserve to be left behind.
As a result, it has fallen to us to ensure that America is not merely a collection of tribes and territories, but also a nation that lives up to the values that make the United States a beacon to people all over the world.
Please join us as we build a new movement, focused on equal opportunity, freedom, and progress.
For questions, email us at fp2022@freopp.org.
Agenda
(Note: This agenda is subject to change. Please check back to ensure you have the latest version.)
OPENING PLENARY SESSION
How Freedom Achieves Progress
8:30–9:00 E.T.
In order to reunite our country, we must deploy the principles of personal and economic freedom to help every American gain the opportunity to rise.
Jonathan Bush (@Jonathan_Bush), Chairman, FREOPP; CEO, Zus Health
Avik Roy (@Avik), President, FREOPP
Who Has Classical Liberalism Left Behind?
9:00–9:40 E.T.
Classical liberalism—the values of individual and economic liberty, social toleration, and empirical rigor—has helped make America the wealthiest country in the history of the world. But not every community has shared equally in America’s success. What have been the blind spots of the classical liberal movement? What are the strongest arguments of illiberals on the right and left? How can freedom best serve those who are struggling in America today?
Avik Roy (@Avik), President, FREOPP
Matthew Continetti (@continetti), Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
David Frum (@davidfrum), Staff Writer, The Atlantic
Marshall Kosloff (@makosloff), Host, The Realignment podcast
David Nott, President & CEO, Reason Foundation
Championing American Interests — And American Values — Around the World
9:40–10:20 E.T.
Under President Ronald Reagan, Americans were proud of their role in liberating hundreds of millions of people from Soviet and Nazi tyranny. Since then, U.S. struggles in Iraq and Afghanistan have led a new generation of nationalists to argue that it is in America’s interests to seek neutrality in foreign affairs, despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s threats to Taiwan. Can America’s foreign policy strengthen freedom abroad and at home?
Ben Domenech (@bdomenech), Editor-at-Large, The Spectator (Moderator)
Brad Lips (@bradlips), CEO, Atlas Network
Kori Schake (@KoriSchake), Senior Fellow and Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 1
After Affirmative Action
10:45–11:25 E.T.
During the 2022–23 Supreme Court term, the court will rule on two landmark cases—Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. UNC—that may end race-based affirmative action in the United States. What should happen next? In a world without affirmative action, what should governments, corporations, community organizations, and others do to improve opportunities and outcomes for Americans impacted by the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow?
Ian Rowe (@IanVRowe), Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute (Moderator)
Devon Westhill (@DevonWesthill), President & General Counsel, Center for Equal Opportunity
Kenny Xu (@kennymxu), President, Color Us United
John Yoo, Heller Professor of Law, University of California at Berkeley
How War Has Changed the Energy Climate
10:45–11:25 E.T.
In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the year’s record-breaking energy prices, how should we be thinking about energy and climate that ensures that all Americans have access to safe, clean, affordable, and abundant energy?
Grant Dever (@grantadever), Visiting Fellow, FREOPP (Moderator)
Drew Bond (@BondDrewBond), President & CEO, C3 Solutions
Neil Chatterjee (@FERChatterjee), Former Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Travis Fisher (@TS_Fisher), President & CEO, ELCON
Welfare Reform: Social Mobility and the Safety Net
10:45–11:25 E.T.
In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed landmark welfare reform legislation that he called “an historic opportunity to make welfare what it was meant to be: a second chance, not a way of life,” ending a system “trapping generation after generation…and hurting the very people it was designed to help.” Over the ensuing two-and-a-half decades, child poverty has declined dramatically in America, but two-parent families are increasingly scarce. What needs to be done to help federal assistance live up to Clinton’s promise? Do new ideas like wage subsidies and universal basic income take us forward or backward?
Scott Winship (@swinshi), Senior Fellow & Director of Poverty Studies, American Enterprise Institute (Moderator)
Sam Hammond (@hamandcheese), Director of Social Policy, Niskanen Center
Aparna Mathur (@aparnamath), Visiting Fellow, FREOPP
Robert Rector, Senior Research Fellow, Heritage Foundation
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 2
Inflation and the Rising Cost of Living
11:35–12:15 E.T.
Americans continue to rank inflation as their top economic concern, and no wonder: people living paycheck-to-paycheck can ill afford increases in their household budgets. Why is the Federal Reserve struggling to tame inflation? How do housing and energy regulations constrain our ability to reduce the cost of living? Can we bend the health care and higher ed cost curves?
Avik Roy (@Avik), President, FREOPP (Moderator)
Dan Arbess (@DanArbess), Visiting Fellow, FREOPP; CEO/CIO, Xerion Investments
Jon Hartley (@Jon_Hartley_), Research Fellow, FREOPP
Matthew C. Klein (@M_C_Klein), Visiting Fellow, FREOPP
Can We Protect Public Safety While Expanding Equal Justice?
11:35–12:15 E.T.
Cable news has tried to make the debate about policing and criminal justice into a binary choice: You’re either for defunding the police, or for the death of George Floyd. But public safety isn’t a zero-sum game. Smarter policing practices will protect Americans’ civil rights, while also reducing crime.
Jonathan Blanks (@BlanksSlate), Research Fellow, FREOPP (Moderator)
Rafael Mangual (@Rafa_Mangual), Senior Fellow and Head of Research, Policing & Public Safety, Manhattan Institute
Clark Neily (@ConLawWarrior), Senior Vice President for Legal Studies, Cato Institute
What Kinds of Immigrants Should America Seek?
11:35–12:15 E.T.
While much of the political controversy around immigration in the United States has revolved around illegal immigration, it is the broken system for legal immigration that is the core problem. 70 percent of Americans believe that legal immigration into the U.S. should either increase or remain at current levels, while only 24 percent believe legal immigration should decline. Who should those immigrants be?
Natalia Dashan (@nataliadashan), Visiting Fellow, FREOPP (Moderator)
John Bash, Partner, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
Jeff Flier (@jflier), Visiting Fellow, FREOPP; Former Dean of Harvard Medical School
Alex Nowrasteh (@AlexNowrasteh), Director of Economic & Social Policy, Cato Institute
LUNCH & KEYNOTES
A Special Video Message from Andrew Yang
12:30–12:35 E.T.
Fireside Chat: Why Experts Failed Us During the COVID-19 Pandemic
12:35–1:05 E.T.
Avik Roy (@Avik), President, FREOPP (Interviewer)
Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya), Professor of Health Policy, Stanford University
Fireside Chat: The Case for Optimism About America
1:05–1:40 E.T.
Avik Roy (@Avik), President, FREOPP (Interviewer)
Joe Lonsdale (@JTLonsdale), Managing Partner, 8VC
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 3
Repairing the Damage from COVID School Closures
1:45–2:25 E.T.
When schools across the country closed their doors to students in 2020 and 2021, families with resources found ways to adapt. But low-income children were often left without access to any meaningful educational opportunities. It is already clear that the repercussions of these closures have been severe and far-reaching. What can now be done to begin to right this devastating wrong?
Dan Lips (@DanLips), Senior Fellow, FREOPP (Moderator); Head of Policy, Lincoln Network
Derrell Bradford (@Dyrnwyn), President, 50CAN
Sam Garrison (@SamGarrison155), Member, Florida House of Representatives
Gavin Schiffres (@gmschiffres), Research Fellow, FREOPP
Unconventional Solutions to the Skyrocketing Cost of Housing
1:45–2:25 E.T.
Housing is the single largest component of Americans’ household budgets, representing one-third of the average family’s consumer spending. But over the last 15 years, growth in the price of housing has exceeded growth in Americans’ incomes, making it harder for ordinary families to afford everyday life. Much of these trends is due to government policy, from zoning laws to Fannie & Freddie and the Federal Reserve. What can we do to make housing more affordable?
Roger Valdez (@Seattle4Growth), Research Fellow, FREOPP (Moderator)
Jon Hartley (@Jon_Hartley_), Research Fellow, FREOPP
Ben Hobbs, Professional Staff Member, U.S. Senate Committee on Aging
Dana Wade, Chief Production Officer, Walker and Dunlop
Expanding Competition Among Health Care Providers
1:45–2:25 E.T.
Hospital consolidation and government-created monopolies are a leading driver of rising health care prices. What is an appropriate role for government in tackling this problem? What changes would make the biggest and fastest real-world difference in Americans’ pocketbooks?
Joel White (@jwhite_health), President, Council for Affordable Health Coverage (Moderator)
Ge Bai (@GeBaiDC), Professor of Health Policy & Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya), Professor of Health Policy, Stanford University
Avik Roy (@Avik), President, FREOPP
SPECIAL FILM SCREENING
The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai’s Extraordinary Struggle for Freedom
2:30–4:20 E.T.
When Hong Kong’s basic freedoms come under attack, media tycoon Jimmy Lai finds himself in the crosshairs of the state and must choose between defending Hong Kong’s long-standing liberties, or his own freedom. Jimmy’s story, depicted in this compelling new documentary, is one that can reignite a movement to defend the cause of freedom for Hong Kongers, for China as a whole, and humanity everywhere. After the screening, veterans of Tiananmen Square and the Hong Kong freedom movement will give us a first-hand look at one of the most important regions of the world.
Mary Kissel (@marykissel), Executive Vice President & Senior Policy Advisor, Stephens
Joey Siu (@jooeysiiu), Hong Kong Activist
Fengsuo Zhou (@ZhouFengSuo), President, Humanitarian China
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 4
Representing the Silent Majority
2:30–3:10 E.T.
Thanks to partisan primaries, gerrymandering, and other quirks, our nation’s elected officials are increasingly incentivized to represent fringe voters instead of the disenfranchised majority. Can electoral reforms like ranked-choice voting, nonpartisan primaries, and multi-member House districts change these trends?
Avik Roy (@Avik), President, FREOPP (Moderator)
Jonathan Bydlak (@jbydlak), Policy Director, Governance, R Street Institute
Lee Drutman (@leedrutman), Senior Fellow, New America
Geoff Kabaservice (@RuleandRuin), Vice President of Political Studies, Niskanen Center
The Root Cause of Student Debt: Unaccountable Prices
2:30–3:10 E.T.
The cost of college and other higher education degrees continues to rise, in many cases far exceeding the economic value of the education students receive. Sweeping loan forgiveness programs are poorly targeted toward those who need a leg up. What are better ways to make higher ed more affordable, and to ensure that more Americans are prepared for the 21st-century economy?
Kerry Healey (@KerryMHealey), President, Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream (Moderator)
Lindsey Burke (@lindseymburke), Director, Center for Education Policy, Heritage Foundation
Preston Cooper (@PrestonCooper93), Senior Fellow, FREOPP
Jason DeLisle (@delislealleges), Senior Policy Fellow, Urban Institute
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 5
The Blue-Collar Agenda
3:15–3:55 E.T.
Angus Deaton and Anne Case have described the phenomenon of “deaths of despair” in working-class and rural regions. These Americans—including many without college degrees—feel unheard by a political system influenced by highly educated elites in New York, Washington, and California. Will restricting trade and immigration make blue-collar communities better off? Or are there more effective ways to expand opportunities for middle- and lower-income workers?
Henry Olsen (@henryolsenEPPC), Columnist, Washington Post (Moderator)
Judge Glock (@judgeglock), Senior Director of Policy and Research, Cicero Institute
Matthew Klein (@M_C_Klein), Visiting Fellow, FREOPP
Ryan Streeter (@StreeterRyan), Director of Domestic Policy, American Enterprise Institute
Drug Prices and Innovation
3:15–3:55 E.T.
Big pharmaceutical companies insist that efforts to rein in drug prices will gut medical innovation and drive the U.S. back “into the dark ages of biomedical research.” Are high prices on old drugs needed to develop new ones? How can we ensure that America remains at the leading edge of new treatments while making more life-saving medicines affordable for all?
Gregg Girvan (@GreggGirvan), Resident Fellow, FREOPP (Moderator)
Peter Bach (@peterbachmd), Chief Medical Officer, Delfi Diagnostics
Michael Cannon (@mfcannon), Director of Health Policy Studies, Cato Institute
Anna Kaltenboeck (@a_kaltenboeck), Principal, ATI Advisory
CLOSING PLENARY SESSION
Bitcoin and the Promise and Perils of Cryptocurrency
4:20–5:00 E.T.
Bitcoin has the potential to revolutionize money the way the internet revolutionized information. Bitcoin’s skeptics, however, argue that digital currencies are a passing fad. China has launched a “central bank digital currency” that will enable it to monitor the economic activity of every Chinese resident. What should lawmakers, regulators, and ordinary people keep in mind about the revolution in decentralized finance?
Avik Roy (@Avik), President, FREOPP (Moderator)
Tuur Demeester (@TuurDemeester), Founder, Adamant Research
C. Wallace DeWitt (@CWallaceDeWitt), Senior Counsel, Allen & Overy LLP
David Zell (@DavidZell_), Visiting Fellow, FREOPP; Co-Founder, Bitcoin Policy Institute
Freedom & Progress After the Midterms
5:00–5:40 E.T.
Join an all-star panel of pundits and practitioners to discuss the results of November’s midterm elections, and what they mean for equal opportunity, freedom, and progress.
Margaret Hoover (@MargaretHoover), Host, PBS’ Firing Line (Moderator)
Michael Franc, Chief Research Officer, FREOPP
Grover Norquist (@GroverNorquist), President, Americans for Tax Reform
Henry Olsen (@henryolsenEPPC), Columnist, Washington Post
Closing Reception
5:40–7:00 E.T.
A prime opportunity to network with speakers and attendees to close out the day.
