Public Speaker Series

Is it possible to reject big-government solutions while remaining fiercely dedicated to racial justice? Drawing from his co-authored book, Black Liberation Through the Marketplace: Hope, Heartbreak, and the Promise of America (Emancipation Books, 2022), Dr. Witcher reclaims the classical liberal tradition as a vital engine for Black independence. If we look beyond hyper-partisan rhetoric to explore how historical and modern government manipulation has stalled minority advancement, we discover why true economic freedom remains the definitive path to achieving the promise of America.

Marcus Witcher is a Teaching Assistant Professor of Economic History at West Virginia University and Manager of Undergraduate Programs for the Knee Regulatory Research Center, specializing in the history of regulation, political economy, and modern American conservatism. Author of Getting Right with Reagan: The Struggle for True Conservativism (2019) and co-author of Black Liberation Through the Marketplace: Hope, Heartbreak, and the Promise of America (Emancipation Books, 2022), his work has also appeared in The Washington Post and Reason Magazine.

Texas has long prospered because of its relatively limited government, low taxes, entrepreneurship, and economic freedom, but maintaining that advantage is not guaranteed. Dr. Vance Ginn will examine the economic and policy choices shaping the state's future, including government spending, taxes, property rights, education freedom, housing, energy, and emerging technologies. Drawing on classical liberal principles and his experience in academia, public policy, and government, he will discuss how markets and institutions—rather than government—can better empower people. The talk offers a roadmap for keeping Texas a place where people can innovate, work, build, and prosper.

Vance Ginn is founder and president of Ginn Economic Consulting and host of the Let People Prosper Show podcast since 2022, Dr. Ginn collaborates with more than 20 free-market organizations countrywide to craft and advocate for pro-growth solutions that impact millions of Americans. He is a nationally recognized economist and one of America’s leading advocates for free-market policies that promote economic growth, expand opportunity, and ensure fiscal responsibility. His career has been defined by a steadfast commitment to advancing policies that empower individuals, limit government overreach, and foster long-term prosperity.

His journey to economic leadership was shaped by his early life experiences. Raised in a lower-income, single-mother household in South Houston, Texas, with his dad having epilepsy, Dr. Ginn developed a deep understanding of the struggles that economic policy decisions can impose on families. This firsthand experience fueled his drive to explore solutions that remove government-imposed barriers to success. Through perseverance and hard work, he earned his doctorate in Economics from Texas Tech University, setting the foundation for a career dedicated to his God-given calling to Let People Prosper.