FREOPP’s Freedom & Progress Conference: An agenda for the next four years
FREOPP’s annual Freedom & Progress Conference is in one week—Nov. 18–19 in Washington, D.C.—and if you’ve taken a look at the election results, you know why this year’s conference promises to be the most impactful one yet.
There are lots of credible theories as to why voters are sending Donald Trump back to the White House. But if you’re data-driven, like I am, it’s pretty clear that there’s one reason above all: the economy.
Of all the questions asked in this election’s exit polls, one stood out as by far the strongest correlate to whether someone voted for Trump or Harris: whether or not you felt your family’s financial situation today was better, worse, or about the same as it had been four years ago.
Voters who said that their families were worse off than they were four years ago voted overwhelmingly for Trump, 81–17. Those who said they were better off now than 4 years ago voted overwhelmingly for Harris, 82–14. Those who said they were about the same also strongly supported Harris, 69–28.
The problem for Harris: there were twice as many voters who felt they were worse off than those who felt better off.
That’s where FREOPP comes in.
We founded FREOPP in 2016 because we agreed with those across the political spectrum—including Trump—who believed that, so far, the 21st-century economy has served elites better than it has served lower- and middle-income Americans. The difference is that at FREOPP, we’re using the tools of free enterprise, individual liberty, technological innovation, and pluralism to rectify that problem.
On November 5th, an overwhelming majority of voters said that the rising cost of living had personally harmed them. At the Freedom & Progress conference, you’ll hear about all the work that FREOPP’s scholars—and other leading thinkers—do on this issue, from housing to education to energy to health care to macroeconomic policy.
The full agenda is here. Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will will share with us his thoughts on the future of the two parties, as will pollster Patrick Ruffini, whose 2023 book Party of the People: Inside the Multiracial Populist Coalition Remaking the GOP predicted the electoral outcome we saw last week. The end of the 2024 election kicks off the battle to define the two parties’ philosophies and policies for 2028, and we’ll hear from Hoover’s Lanhee Chen, National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Kent Lassman on that.
But what really makes Freedom & Progress unmissable is the ability to learn from—and be inspired by—scholars and thinkers who are solving the problems that everyday Americans are dealing with. Along with cost of living, we’ll talk welfare reform with FREOPP scholars Michael Tanner and Aparna Mathur. Three of the nation’s top tax experts—Grover Norquist, Ryan Ellis, and Daniel Bunn of the Tax Foundation—will talk about the upcoming battle over the expiring 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
We’ll cover artificial intelligence and the future of work. We’ll talk about government efficiency and the administrative state with an all-star cast including Jennifer Pahlka, Philip Howard, and Dan Lips. We’ll debate free trade, industrial policy, and immigration reform. We’ll discuss our landmark work reimagining how we address homelessness. And you know we’ll talk about everything health care, with the FREOPP team and also former Health & Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.
Some people on both the right and the left argue that the only way to help ordinary Americans is to put centralized authorities in charge of how you work and live and participate in the economy.
But America became the greatest country in the world—one that has piled up countless tales of social mobility—by betting on the ingenuity of ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things. That’s why they call it the American Dream.
George Will calls FREOPP the think tank with “custody of the philosophy that made America.” I like to think it’s because we make a point not only to support our own scholars who work on freedom and opportunity, but to bring together aligned thinkers, journalists, activists, and philanthropists from across the country.
The overwhelming feedback we get from Freedom & Progress attendees each year is that it is the most inspiring gathering on the calendar for people who believe in the power of individual and economic liberty to help all Americans. Don’t miss it! Register here.
Sincerely,
P.S. We have discounted registration for government staffers, non-profits, and young people. Respond to this email if you fall into one of these categories and we’ll get you the appropriate discount code.