Within minutes of his swearing in, President Donald Trump shot out of the starting gate with a burst of executive orders covering everything from immigration, to DEI, to energy, and more. Keeping up with all this, much less making sense of it all, feels kind of like drinking from a fire hydrant. But we take a stab at it in this episode of Independent Outlook, tackling seven or eight of the most pivotal orders.

Senior Fellow Judy Shelton, author of Good as Gold is interviewed on BBC radio. In the last months of 2024, the US economy grew at a lower pace than economists forecast. Judy Shelton says the effect of tariffs will be less important than the supply side agenda of the Trump administration. Inflation should go down if energy prices fall and businesses can expand with access to captal. International currency manipulation hurts US manufacturing and Trump intends to use tariffs as a negotiating tactic, she says .

Lawrence McQuillan from the Independent Institute joins Bob to delve into the regulatory failures and mismanagement behind the wildfire crisis in California. They discuss the environmental policies that exacerbate risks, offer practical solutions to firefighting and prevention shortcomings, and examine the role of private stewardship in mitigating future disasters. This episode overall sheds light on how California’s political landscape and approach to wildfires continues to fuel a recurring tragedy.

La Canada Flintridge resident Kristian Fors reacts to California Gov. Gavin Newsom's executive order suspending environmental regulations and explains why he is not confident in the government's management of the forests.

Senior Fellow Judy Shelton, author of Good as Gold: How to Unleash the Power of Sound Money, discusses her economic outlook for Donald Trump’s second term. She says his main concern is to re-energize the private sector and boost economic liberty with lower taxes and less regulation. She adds a pro-growth agenda would be more powerful than any tariffs Trump might impose.

In this episode Scott welcomes Britain's Right Honorable Suella Braverman, a conservative member of the UK Parliament elected first in 2015. She served in several high posts in the UK government, including on the education select committee, as a Brexit minister, as attorney general under Boris Johnson until 2022, and as Home Secretary. Her priorities include stopping small boat immigration across the English Channel, common sense policing and safety for the British people. Suella says “you can make your life and that of others better by taking a responsibility self-empowerment and service.”

Kristian Fors, a Los Angeles County resident and research fellow at the California-based Independent Institute, says locals are wondering what their tax dollars are going toward as officials struggle to contain devastating wildfires fanned by strong winds.