Former US Senator Phil Gramm on Inequality Fallacies and How Economic Freedom Creates Growth | Hoover Institution

About this episode

Jon Hartley interviews Phil Gramm about economic freedom, inequality fallacies, and his legislative contributions.

Jon Hartley and Phil Gramm discuss Graham’s career as an academic economist at Texas A&M, his service in the US House of Representatives and in the US Senate, and his work on the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings and Gramm-Leach-Bliley legislation. Graham also talks about his recent books on the role that economic freedom plays in economic growth, as well as various fallacies surrounding the rise of inequality in the US. Recorded on April 28, 2026. ABOUT THE SERIES Each episode of Capitalism and Freedom in the 21st Century, a video podcast series and the official podcast of the Hoover Economic Policy Working Group, focuses on getting into the weeds of economics, finance, and public policy on important current topics through one-on-one interviews. Host Jon Hartley asks guests about their main ideas and contributions to academic research and policy. The podcast is titled after Milton Friedman‘s famous 1962 bestselling book Capitalism and Freedom, which after 60 years, remains prescient from its focus on various topics which are now at the forefront of economic debates, such as monetary policy and inflation, fiscal policy, occupational licensing, education vouchers, income share agreements…

People in this episode

Host: Jon Hartley

Guest: Phil Gramm

Topics covered

• economic freedom
• inequality
• economic growth
• legislation
• public policy

Keywords

• Phil Gramm
• economic freedom
• inequality
• Gramm-Rudman-Hollings
• Gramm-Leach-Bliley

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Texas A&M, Hoover Institution

Books & works: Gramm-Rudman-Hollings, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, Capitalism and Freedom

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