Merrill Matthews, Ph.D., is a resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation, a research-based, public policy “think tank.” He is a health policy expert and opinion contributor at The Hill. He also serves on the Texas Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Dr. Matthews is a past president of the Health Economics Roundtable for the National Association for Business Economics, the largest trade association of business economists. Dr. Matthews also served for 10 years as the medical ethicist for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center’s Institutional Review Board for Human Experimentation, co-author of On the Edge: America Faces the Entitlements Cliff, and has contributed chapters to several books, including Physician Assisted Suicide: Expanding the Debate and The 21st Century Health Care Leader and Stop Paying the Crooks (on Medicare fraud).
He has been published in numerous journals and newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, Barron’s, USA Today, Forbes magazine and the Washington Times. He was an award-winning political analyst for the USA Radio Network.
Dr. Matthews received his Ph.D. in Humanities from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Making Welfare Reform Great Again (Audio: Interview)
Institute for Policy Innovation’s Dr. Merrill Matthews joins Pratt on Texas to discuss his recent op/ed in The Hill titled: Rick Scott Wants to Make Welfare Reform Great Again.
Should the Federal Government Subsidize Domestic Microchip Manufacturing (Audio: Podcast)
Should national security interests trump free-market proponents’ usual anti-corporate welfare, no subsidy, no trade distortions approach to policy? What constitutes a genuine national security consideration, since using national security as an invalid excuse has been used in the past. IPI President Tom Giovanetti, Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews, and Senior Research Fellow Bartlett Cleland discuss the legitimacy of federal policies that favor domestic sourcing of critical products such as microchips, pharmaceutical ingredients, rare earth metals, etc. for national security considerations.
The Texas Energy Grid, Resiliance, Fragility, and Why We Need An All-of-the-Above Energy Strategy (Audio: Podcast)
During our current hotter-than-usual summer, the Texas grid has come close to overcapacity several times. In light of the 2021 Texas freeze and blackouts, the Texas electrical grid is the subject of increased scrutiny. IPI President Tom Giovanetti, Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews, and Senior Research Fellow Bartlett Cleland discuss electrical generation and transmission, solar, wind and thermal generation, and what Texas needs to do going forward.
Green New Deal RIP (Audio: Interview)
IPI Resident Scholar Merrill Matthews joins Matthews joins the Kim Munson Show to discuss his latest Hill op/ed, Green New Deal, RIP. Matthews and Kim discuss recent events that made it clear that the New Green Deal is deceased for all intents and purposes. Rising gas prices, the Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia vs. EPA, and the incoming red wave in November that will push out progressive legislators and replace them with conservative members who understand that affordable, sustainable energy policies are what the American people need and want.
It's Not Just Oil Companies--It Takes Pipelines and Refineries, Too
President Biden’s rhetoric on energy these days suggests that he doesn’t actually understand all the things his administration has done to not only discourage oil and gas exploration, but also the construction of necessary pipelines and refineries. It’s incoherent for an anti-fossil fuels administration to berate the industry for not producing more. With IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews.
This Is What A Proper Supreme Court Looks Like
With blockbuster decisions ending this Supreme Court Term, IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews review the New York gun case, the Dobbs abortion decision, and the EPA case, and conclude that all three decisions reflect the proper role of the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Makes the Right Call on New York's Handgun Law (Audio: Podcast)
New York’s ban on handguns outside the home was always a violation of the Second Amendment, but it took this long for the right case to get to the right court. IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews discuss the fact that SCOTUS made it very clear that not only was the New York law unconstitutional, but that the court also made it clear that there is abundant room for reasonable regulations and restrictions on access to firearms.
Biden's Futility on Gas Prices (Audio: Podcast)
IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews and President Tom Giovanetti can’t get over the futility of the Biden administration’s rhetoric and proposals on high gas prices. The policies and rhetoric are incoherent and contradictory. So it goes for this administration.
Social Security's Finances Aren't Very Secure (Audio: Podcast)
The Social Security Trust Fund trustees are out with their latest annual assessment of the program's financial status, which remains gloomy. IPI's Dr. Merrill Matthews and Mark Litow, a former principal of the actuarial firm Milliman, Inc., discuss why the Social Security program faces such financial challenges and what to do about them.
If You Like Inflation, You'll Love Obamacare Premiums (Audio: Podcast)
Millions of people in the Obamacare health insurance exchanges face significantly higher premiums for 2023. And they will be hit with that increase right before the mid-term elections in November, which makes Democrats very nervous. IPI's Dr. Merrill Matthews and Mark Litow, a former principal of the actuarial firm Milliman, Inc., discuss where Obamacare went wrong and why the program largely failed to meets its main goals.
What Will Be the Result of GOP Gains of Hispanic Votes? (Audio: Interview)
IPI Resident Scholar Merrill Matthews joins the Rod Arquette Show to discuss his piece in The Hill about how much of the Hispanic vote the GOP would need to garner to gain political dominance.
What Share of the Hispanic Vote Would Give the GOP Political Dominance? (Audio: Podcast)
IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews suggests that the recent pattern of Hispanic voters increasingly voting Republican could actually give Republicans a structural political advantage, which is the opposite of the decades-long assumptions by Democrats. With IPI President Tom Giovanetti.
IPI Policy Basics: The Private Space Revolution (Audio: Podcast)
One thing the Obama administration got right was shifting NASA’s space program toward reliance on private space launch providers, which has led to an environment of much more rapid innovation, lower costs to taxpayers, and the emergence of multiple competing providers. IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews discuss how the private space revolution is yet another example of how the private sector does things better, faster, and cheaper.
President Biden is His Own Worst Communications Enemy (Audio: Interview)
Where does President Biden truly stand on the issues of the day? Some accuse him of being far left, while others say he drags his feet. The press has also been blamed for sewing confusion. IPI Resident Scholar Merrill Matthews joins Inside Sources host Boyd Matheson to discuss the real problem with the way the president does and does not communicate his agenda.
IPI Policy Basics: The Impact of Inflation on Your Taxes (Audio: Podcast)
IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews explain why inflation can result in taxes paid on false gains because capital gains tax rates and other taxes on assets are not indexed for inflation, and that income tax brackets in many states are also not indexed for inflation.
Total Records: 704
