Phil Gramm
Phil Gramm is an American economist, author, and former U.S. senator from Texas. He taught economics at Texas A&M University, represented Texas in Congress from 1979 to 2002, and co-authored *The Triumph of Economic Freedom* with economist Donald J. Boudreaux.
The Case That Government Intervention, Not Markets, Threatens Economic Freedom
In *The Triumph of Economic Freedom*, Senator Phil Gramm and economist Donald J. Boudreaux argue that familiar accounts of industrialization, the Great Depression, trade and inequality misread the evidence in favor of expanding government. They contend that economic change often improved living standards and widened individual choice, while government interventions and failed policies posed a greater threat to economic freedom. At a Hoover Institution book talk, John Cochrane joined the authors in presenting their case for judging economic outcomes against the alternatives people actually faced.
Economic Freedom, Not Managed Equality, Drives Growth
Former US senator Phil Gramm, in a Hoover Institution conversation with economist Jon Hartley, argues that America’s debates over inequality, poverty, deficits and financial crises are distorted by measures and narratives that leave out central facts. Drawing on his books and legislative career, Gramm makes the case that economic freedom, not directed investment or redistribution, has been the main source of US growth and mobility. He contends that official inequality statistics undercount transfers and taxes, that the 2008 crisis stemmed from housing policy rather than Gramm-Leach-Bliley, and that efforts to substitute government judgment for markets reliably fail.