Happy 2012 and welcome to the Heartland’s podcasts. This week, listen to a 
discussion on how to defend freedom in our personal and economic lives. Click the links below to listen, and subscribe on iTunes so you get the latest podcasts as soon as they are produced. (Search for “Heartland Institute” in the iTunes store.)
ON EDUCATION: Many states are implementing merit pay and value-added assessments for teachers, but Mike Ford of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute says they’d do better to follow a different approach: freeing districts and schools to set their own policies. Gov. Scott Walker’s limits on collective bargaining allow Wisconsin school districts to dispatch the traditional step-and-lane teacher pay systems for something better, and Ford’s new report advises how to create some excellent alternatives. He suggests encouraging teacher and principal collaboration with, among other policies, schoolwide per-pupil bonuses for improving student achievement. Listen here.
ON TECHNOLOGY: Defense Attorney James Egan discusses the lawsuit brought against him by the City of Seattle for subpoenaing police squad-car dash-cam footage. Listen here.
ON BUDGET: Tax Foundation economist Mark Robyn discusses the 2012 State Business Tax Climate Index, which shows Wyoming with the nation’s best tax system and New Jersey with the worst. Listen here.
ON HEALTH CARE: Benjamin Domenech responds to Norm Coleman on Obamacare repeal. Listen here.
ON FINANCE: Ying Ma, a Heartland Institute policy advisor, interviews Ian Bremmer, President of the Eurasia Group, about state capitalism and the global battle between the state and the free market. Listen here.
