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Vance Ginn, Ph.D.

Vance Ginn, Ph.D., is an accomplished economist finding free-market solutions that let people prosper. He is founder and president of Ginn Economic Consulting where he provides high-quality research and trusted insights on how to affect change at the federal, state, and local levels. Ginn’s experience includes time in public policy, government, and academia. He is chief economist at Pelican Institute for Public Policy and a senior fellow at several think tanks, including at Americans for Tax Reform, Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), and Young Americans for Liberty.

Energy & Environment

The Green Energy Agenda Increases Poverty. It Must Stop.

The push to ditch reliable energy is out of control. Politicians are manipulating the energy market through subsidies, tax breaks, and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives in regulations and government pensions. It’s also concerning that the “big three” investment institutions, which collectively hold over $20 trillion in assets, too often coerce the companies in which they...

March 27, 2023

Taxes & Spending

Should Fears of Recession get in the way of Property Tax Relief?

Texans are struggling with high property taxes, soaring prices, and stagnant income. As a result, most big-budget players favor some property tax relief. For instance, Gov. Greg Abbot declared his intention to use half of the actual surplus fund ($16.3 billion) for this initiative. Likewise, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick revealed that property tax relief is...

January 10, 2023

Taxes & Spending

Conservative Texas Budget Supports Historic Tax Relief

Washington’s progressive policies have substantially reduced economic freedom, which in 2020 hit the lowest score since 1975, and resulted in a U.S. recession and 40-year high inflation. And in Texas, high property taxes from excessive local government spending have contributed to an affordability crisis for many families. Unfortunately, things will get worse nationally, likely dampening...

December 12, 2022

Taxes & Spending

Improve Texans’ Affordability Crisis by Cutting Property Taxes

Americans are facing a housing affordability crisis—and Texans are no exception. Texas families struggle to make ends meet with high inflation, stagnating wages, and rising mortgage rates. Add high property taxes to the equation, and it is not difficult to see why 1-in-2 Texans reported that they were behind on rent or mortgage payments and...

October 31, 2022

Family

Empowerment Accounts: 21st Century Safety-Net Reform

Frankie Johnson, a college-educated single mother from Washington, D.C., moved to Atlanta to distance herself and daughter from an abusive husband. Without a job or place to live, she sought government assistance for childcare and transitional housing. While she waited for this assistance, she was offered a job paying $70,000. She turned it down. Why?...

September 12, 2022

Economy

The U.S. is in Recession and Washington is Making it Worse

The Washington Post called them President Biden’s “wins in Congress.” But Democrats shouldn’t take that victory lap yet, as the Post admits—there’s little in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act that will do anything of the sort. Despite the Biden administration’s claims to the contrary, the U.S. is in a recession. And despite its claims that...

August 22, 2022

Economy

Harding-Coolidge Path to Prosperity: A History Lesson for President Joe Biden

A nation emerging from a significant pandemic and an economic downturn awaited President Joe Biden in early 2021. President Warren G. Harding inherited a similar situation after winning the 1920 election in a landslide. But Harding overcame it by getting government out of the way. The economy recovered quickly—whereas Biden enacted bad progressive policies that...

August 10, 2022

Economy

Should Americans have major beef with slaughterhouses?

Everyone is feeling the pinch at the supermarket these days, as inflation—measured by the decline in the purchasing power of money for a basket of goods and services—recently hit a 40-year high. From eggs to milk, it is getting harder to bring home the bacon. Nowhere has that been more visible than in the prices...

August 5, 2022

Economy

Texas Ought to Use Federal Funds Wisely: Consider Public-Private Partnerships

With extensive economic pressure facing the U.S., progressive lawmakers in Washington believe they have found a new solution: taxing and spending. This failed fiscal framework has become an easy sell for each new progressive administration. But this time the Biden administration has placed America in a high-inflation recession, and looks to do more harm with...

August 4, 2022

Economy

Inflation Recession Act: Higher Taxes, More Inflation, Deeper Recession

While a stagnating economy with high inflation is what economists usually call stagflation, the current situation is worse, as the real economy is declining. So there’s much less to go around for everyone—making us poorer in the process. This inflation-recession could be resolved by Washington reversing course, but President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress...

August 4, 2022

Economy

‘Inflation Reduction Act’ Will Hurt Americans’ Savings

Americans are sacrificing their savings to keep up with soaring inflation. This burden has contributed to consumer sentiment reaching its lowest level in June since the University of Michigan started the survey in January 1978. And the progressive policies in D.C. could soon make this bad situation worse. The personal saving rate, which is the...

August 4, 2022

Economy

CHIPS: Governments’ Obsession with Corporate Welfare

The U.S. government is bankrolling favored businesses at the expense of taxpayers and other businesses. Again. By continually involving itself in the market, government is impeding economic growth and the potential of industries to reach their full potential. That must change. Congress recently passed the CHIPS Act, which is a $280 billion spending boondoggle that...

August 4, 2022