Oren Cass – founder and chief economist at American Compass, a conservative think tank based in Washington D.C. – delivered the Fall 2024 Vik-Bailey Lecture.
The presentation, titled “The Future of American Politics”, discussed the American tradition of conservatism and the history of Republican Presidents as well as their approaches to conservatism.
Cass identifies as part of the New Right, and his ideas – anchored by social conservatism – are gaining traction with a younger set of Republican policymakers. He said “conservatives are rebuilding their economic muscles” and are “coming back to the idea that markets can work but only when conditions and constraints are in place that align private interest with the common good”.
The lecture and its key talking points were covered by Christy DeSmith, staff writer at The Harvard Gazette – read the full article here.
The Vik-Bailey Lecture series is sponsored by the Vik-Bailey family – Caroline Vik and Thomas Bailey, both alums of the Department of Government.
About Oren Cass
Oren Cass is the founder and chief economist of American Compass and author of The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America (2018). He is a contributing opinion writer for the Financial Times and the New York Times.
From 2005 to 2015, Oren worked as a management consultant in Bain & Company’s Boston and Delhi offices. During this period, he also earned his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was elected vice president and treasurer of the Harvard Law Review and oversaw the journal’s budget and operations. While still in law school, Oren also became Domestic Policy Director for Governor Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, editing and producing the campaign’s “jobs book” and developing its domestic policy strategy, proposals, and research.
He joined the Manhattan Institute as a senior fellow in 2015 and became a prolific scholar, publishing more than 15 reports for MI and editing its popular “Issues 2016” and “Issues 2020” series, testifying before seven congressional committees and speaking on dozens of college campuses. He founded American Compass at the start of 2020.