Independent Outlook is the regular round-table conversation from the Independent Institute that provides timely insights and cutting-edge commentary on the most pressing issues of the day. It features Independent’s David J. Theroux (Founder and President), Dr. Williamson M. Evers (Senior Fellow), and Dr. Graham H. Walker (Executive Director), as well as occasional additional Independent Institute fellows.

In this twenty-ninth Independent Outlook, David Theroux, Williamson Evers, and Graham Walker debunk anti-Thanksgiving myths and examine the absurd politics of the Omicron variant of COVID-19; Biden's mandates and economic folly; oil, energy and climate issues; inflation as a regressive tax; comparative criminal justice and bail in Kenosha and Waukesha, WI, the Asbury murder case in GA, and the Jussie Smollet racialist hoax case in Chicago; organized retail crime, "smash and grab," and shop-lifting; midterm elections with Tracey Abrams in GA and Dr. Mehmet Oz in PA; the 2022 Winter Beijing Olympics and missing Chinese tennis superstar Peng Shuai; and more.

Graham H. Walker

Graham H. Walker is Executive Director and Assistant Editor for The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy at the Independent Institute. He received his Ph.D. in public law and government from the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Walker has served as Associate Professor of Politics at Catholic University of America, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, Visiting Scholar in Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, NJ), Senior Research Scholar at the Witherspoon Institute, Headmaster at Oaks Christian School, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, President at Patrick Henry College, Legislative Aide to former Congressman David Stockman, and Fellow at the Presidio Institute.

Williamson M. Evers

Williamson M. Evers is a Senior Fellow, Director of the Center on Educational Excellence, and Assistant Editor for The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy at the Independent Institute. Dr. Evers received his Ph.D. degree in political science from Stanford University, and he has served as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development from 2007 to 2009; Senior Adviser to U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings during 2007; and former Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution. In addition, he was a member of the Hoover Institution’s Koret Task Force on K-12 Education from its beginning in 1999 until it wrapped up in 2014. From July to December 2003, he served in Iraq as Senior Adviser for Education to Administrator L. Paul Bremer of the Coalition Provisional Authority.

David J. Theroux

David J. Theroux is Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Independent Institute and Publisher of its quarterly journal, The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy. He received his B.S., A.B., and M.S. from the University of California, Berkeley, and his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. A member of the Mont Pelerin Society, he has been a director of eight corporations and four foundations, and he has been a member of the Nominating Committee for the Heinz Awards, William I. Koch Crime Commission, Prison Advisory Board for the California Little Hoover Commission, Board of Advisors of the Libertarian Christian Institute, and Executive Committee for the Templeton Collegiate Honor Rolls for Education in a Free Society.