Resolution:
Until there is convincing evidence that government-imposed gun control brings a net reduction in harm, all legal restrictions on adult possession of guns should be abolished.

For the affirmative:

Aaron Brown is a statistician, Bloomberg opinion columnist, and author of Wrong Number: How To Extract Truth From a Blizzard of Quantitative Disinformation. He is the former head of financial market research at AQR Capital Management and has taught statistics at New York University and the University of California, San Diego.

For the negative:

Robert Spitzer is a distinguished service professor emeritus of political science at the State University of New York at Cortland and an adjunct professor at William & Mary Law School. He is the author of 16 books, including 6 on gun policy, most recently The Gun Dilemma and the 10th edition of The Politics of Gun Control.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
The Jeffrey Epstein scandal has become a case of moral panic.

For the affirmative:

Michael Tracey is an independent journalist, political commentator, and media critic. He is the cohost, alongside Matt Taibbi, of Today’s News, a podcast by Racket News. His writing can be found on Substack and at Unherd.

For the negative:

Marcella Szablewicz is an associate professor of communication and media studies at the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences at Pace University. Her research focuses on contemporary Chinese media and youth culture, digital leisure culture, digital games, and media moral panics.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should complete its mandate to deport all illegal aliens currently residing in the United States.

For the affirmative:

Simon Hankinson is a senior research fellow in the Border Security and Immigration Center at the Heritage Foundation and author of The Ten Woke Commandments—You Must Not Obey. From 1999 to 2022, he was a Foreign Service Officer serving in India, Fiji, Ghana, Slovakia, Togo, Washington, D.C., Marseille, and Nairobi.

For the negative:

Bryan Caplan is a professor of economics at George Mason University, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, and adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. He is the author of several books, including the graphic novel, Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration, and editor of Bet On It, a project of the Salem Center for Policy at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
Billionaires should pay a higher share of federal taxes.

For the affirmative:

Natasha Sarin is a professor of law at Yale Law School and the president and co-founder of the Budget Lab at Yale. She served as the deputy assistant secretary for economic policy and later as a counselor to Secretary Janet Yellen at the U.S. Treasury Department, where her work focused on narrowing the gap between the taxes owed by the American public and those collected by the IRS.

For the negative:

Adam Michel is the director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute, where he focuses on analyzing the economic and budgetary effects of taxation in the United States. He served as deputy staff director at the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, as a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, and as program manager for the Spending and Budget Initiative at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is likely to fulfill his campaign pledge to make New York City more affordable for most residents.

For the affirmative:

Zephyr Teachout is an attorney and professor of law at Fordham Law School, where she focuses on the intersection of corporate power and political power. She is the author of two books, Break 'Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money and Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United. She also served as special advisor and senior counsel for economic justice at the New York Attorney General's Office.

For the negative:

John Ketcham is director of cities and a legal policy fellow at the Manhattan Institute. His areas of expertise include housing, local elections, infrastructure, and parental rights, particularly in New York City and State. His writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The American Mind, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Newsweek, and City Journal.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
The National Institutes of Health should be abolished.

For the affirmative:

Terence Kealey is a British biochemist and historian of science and economics. He is the former vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham and the author of The Economic Laws of Scientific Research and Sex, Science and Profits: How People Evolved To Make Money. He is an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, where he published the recent white paper, Mission Lost: How NIH Leaders Stole Its Promise to America.

For the negative:

Jeffrey Flier is an endocrinologist and an award-winning researcher on the causes of obesity and diabetes. He is a Harvard University distinguished service professor and the Higginson professor of physiology and medicine at Harvard Medical School. He was the 21st dean of the faculty of medicine at Harvard University and served as a clinical associate at the National Institutes of Health.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
Artificial Intelligence will provide enormous net benefits to nearly every member of society.

For the affirmative:

Perry Metzger is a technology manager, consultant, academic researcher, and entrepreneur specializing in computer systems, networking, software development, system architecture, security, and cryptography. He has held key roles across tech and finance, and currently serves as the chairman of Alliance for the Future, a Washington, D.C.-based public policy organization focused on artificial intelligence.

For the negative:

Brian Merchant is a tech journalist, columnist, and critic focused on AI, Silicon Valley, labor, and power. He is the author of two books, The One Device: the Secret History of the iPhone and Blood in the Machine: the Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech, as well as the Substack newsletter Blood in the Machine. He also serves as a journalist in residence at the AI Now Institute.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
Government-run child protective services should intervene more in the lives of children.

For the affirmative:

Naomi Schaefer Riley is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she focuses on child welfare and foster care issues, and a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum. She is a former columnist for the New York Post and a former Wall Street Journal editor and writer, as well as the author of several books, including No Way to Treat a Child: How the Foster Care System, Family Courts, and Racial Activists Are Wrecking Young Lives.

For the negative:

Martin Guggenheim is the Fiorello LaGuardia Professor of Clinical Law Emeritus at New York University Law School and founder of the Family Defense Clinic. As one of the nation’s foremost experts on children’s rights and family law, he has published more than 50 articles and book chapters, authored five books, and successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
The U.S. government should break up large technology companies like Amazon, Meta, and Google to protect workers, suppliers, consumers, and democratic institutions.

For the affirmative:

Matt Stoller is the director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project and the author of Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy. He co-hosts the Organized Money podcast and publishes the newsletter BIG, available on Substack.

For the negative:

Geoffrey Manne is the president and founder of the International Center for Law and Economics, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center based in Portland, Oregon. He is also a distinguished fellow at Northwestern University’s Center on Law, Business, and Economics and a visiting professor of law at IE University, Madrid.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
The U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 decision to dismantle affirmative action in American higher education marked a significant regression in the pursuit of racial equality.

For the affirmative:

Paul Frymer is a professor of politics at Princeton University, specializing in American politics, law, civil rights, race, labor, political parties, and institutional development. He is the author of Uneasy Alliances: Race and Party Competition in America and Black and Blue: African Americans, the Labor Movement, and the Decline of the Democratic Party.

For the negative:

Jason Riley is an opinion columnist at The Wall Street Journal, where his column, Upward Mobility, has run since 2016. He is also a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of several books, including Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed, False Black Power?, Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell, and The Affirmative Action Myth: Why Blacks Don't Need Racial Preferences To Succeed.

The Greene Space

44 Charlton Street New York, NY 10014

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
The failure of Oregon's experiment in decriminalizing all drugs is compelling evidence that other attempts at complete decriminalization will fail just as badly.

For the affirmative:

Kevin Sabet is a drug policy scholar who served as a White House Office of National Drug Control Policy advisor to three U.S. presidential administrations. He is an assistant adjunct professor at Yale University, the director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida, and the co-founder and president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM). He is the author of Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana and coeditor of Marijuana and Contemporary Health Issues.

For the negative:

Zach Weissmueller is a senior producer at Reason. He has produced documentary shorts, video interviews, and feature articles for the platform since 2010, covering permissionless technology, free speech, mental health and homelessness, experimental governance, COVID-19 policy, criminal justice reform, and drug legalization.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
Paying for sex should be a crime.

For the affirmative:

Melanie Thompson is the chief outreach and advocacy officer at the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW). She is a survivor of sex trafficking and prostitution and is a speaker, activist, and leader in the global fight to end prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation. Melanie sits on several survivor advisory boards and is the host of Exit Wound, a limited podcast series produced by CATW.

For the negative:

Kaytlin Bailey is the founder and executive director of Old Pros, a nonprofit media organization creating the conditions to change the status of sex workers in society. She is the host of The Oldest Profession Podcast and the creator of The Oldest Profession, a live show on the history of sex work. Kaytlin’s writing has appeared in a variety of publications, including The Daily Beast, Vice, and Reason magazine.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
President Trump's deportation policies generally violate key civil liberties as set forth in the U.S. Constitution.

For the affirmative:

Glenn Greenwald is an investigative journalist, author, and former constitutional lawyer. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on Edward Snowden and the National Security Agency at The Guardian and has authored several bestsellers on civil liberties and government surveillance. Greenwald graduated from New York University School of Law and hosts System Update, a live prime-time news show on Rumble.

For the negative:

Anna K. Gorisch is the founder and managing partner of Kendall Immigration Law, PLLC, and has extensive experience in employment-based immigration. In addition to her legal practice, she is a regular resource for news outlets such as Bloomberg Law and The Free Press, and is a frequent guest on the Political Orphanage podcast. Before attending Georgetown University Law Center, she worked as a professional theatre artist and is a published playwright.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
The government should offer to all Americans a health insurance plan that would compete with private insurance plans.

For the affirmative:

Jacob Hacker is the Stanley Resor Professor of political science at Yale University, the codirector of the Ludwig Program in public sector leadership at Yale Law School, and a resident fellow of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale University. His 2002 book, The Divided Welfare State: The Battle Over Public and Private Social Benefits in the United States, was awarded the Aaron Wildavsky Enduring Contribution Award by the American Political Science Association.

For the negative:

David Goldhill is the CEO and cofounder of Sesame, an online marketplace for discounted health services, and chair of the board of directors at the Leapfrog Group, an independent organization for hospital and medical safety. He was the president and CEO of the Game Show Network and president of TV at Universal Studios, and his 2013 book, Catastrophic Care: Why Everything We Think We Know about Health Care Is Wrong, catapulted David to a leading voice for health care advocacy.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
The Cold War was a necessary response by the United States to a Soviet and Chinese threat to the global balance of power.

For the affirmative:

Hal Brands is the Henry A. Kissinger distinguished professor of global affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. Brands graduated from Yale University with a Ph.D., M.A., and M.Phil. in history, and has authored books on the Cold War and post-Cold War history, including What Good Is Grand Strategy?: Power and Purpose in American Statecraft From Harry S. Truman to George W. Bush and Latin America’s Cold War.

For the negative:

Gareth Porter is an American historian, investigative journalist, author, and policy analyst specializing in U.S. national security issues. With a Ph.D. in Southeast Asian studies from Cornell University, he has published several books on the Vietnam War, including Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam and Vietnam: The Politics of Bureaucratic Socialism. He is a winner of the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
Government restrictions on the immigration of peaceful and healthy people make sense from a libertarian standpoint, especially in present-day America.

For the affirmative:

Dave Smith is a comedian, political commentator, and media personality. He is the host of the Part of the Problem podcast and is a regular guest on Gutfeld! and The Joe Rogan Experience. His most recent stand-up special, 30 Minutes with Dave Smith, is available on YouTube

For the negative:

Alex Nowrasteh is the vice president for economic and social policy studies at the Cato Institute. He has been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and The Washington Post, and regularly appears on Fox News, MSNBC, Bloomberg, and NPR. He is the coauthor of Wretched Refuse? The Political Economy of Immigration and Institutions.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
Libertarians should focus on building liberty-for-real societies like the Free State Project, rather than reforming an ever-expanding, uncontrollable federal government.

For the affirmative:

Eric Brakey is the executive director of the Free State Project. He served as a Maine state senator for three terms and was the Maine state director for the 2012 Ron Paul presidential campaign.

For the negative:

Andrew Heaton is a comedian, author, and political satirist. He hosts The Political Orphanage podcast and is the author of Tribalism is Dumb: Where It Came From, How It Got So Bad, and What to Do About It.

Grappone Conference Center

70 Constitution Ave Concord, NH 03301

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
The oppression of Palestinians in non-democratic Israel has been systematic and profound.

For the affirmative:

Peter Beinart is a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the Newmark School of Journalism at the City University of New York. He is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, Editor-at-Large for Jewish Currents, and a political commentator for MSNBC. Beinart has authored several books, including The Good Fight (2006), The Icarus Syndrome (2010), and The Crisis of Zionism (2012). His upcoming book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza, will be released in January 2025. A Yale graduate and Rhodes Scholar, he previously served as managing editor and editor of The New Republic from 1995 to 2006.

For the negative:

Michael Rubin is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he specializes in the Middle East and Africa, and director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum. Dr. Rubin has lived in post-revolution Iran, Yemen, and Iraq, and spent time with the Taliban before 9/11. For more than a decade, Rubin taught classes at sea about the Horn of Africa and Middle East conflicts, culture, and terrorism, for the US Navy. Dr. Rubin has taught at universities in the United States, Israel, and Iraq, and is the author of "Dancing with the Devil," a history of diplomacy with rogue regimes and terrorists.

SoHo Playhouse

15 Vandam Street New York, NY 10013

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception offsite: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
The United States started the new Cold War with Russia and the catastrophe in Ukraine.

For the affirmative:

Scott Horton is director of The Libertarian Institute, editorial director of Antiwar.com, and host of Antiwar Radio on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles and the Scott Horton Show on ScottHorton.org. He is the author of Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War With Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine (2024).

For the negative:

Eli Lake is a columnist for The Free Press and contributing editor for Commentary magazine. He is a longtime journalist who has covered foreign affairs and national security for Bloomberg, The Daily Beast, and Newsweek. He has reported on these topics from India, China, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, and Israel..

Filene Auditorium
at Dartmouth College

3 Maynard St, Hanover, NH 03755

Debate starts at 3:00 PM
Reception afterward

Sponsored by the Dartmouth Political Union Limited tickets are available at no cost. Please contact Lukas Grund at lukas.grund@reason.org to request complimentary tickets.

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
President Nayib Bukele's crime-fighting policies in El Salvador provide a model for reducing violence in other Latin American countries.

For the affirmative:

Peter Gietl is the managing editor for Return and Frontier magazine for Blaze Media. He is a journalist and editor covering human stories in the digital age, from crypto to AI to transhumanism. As the managing editor for Frontier he runs a premium lifestyle magazine dedicated to the hope and dynamism of the unfolding American future; covering the people, trends, products, and visions at the epicenter of that new future. He lives in Texas.

For the negative:

Ricardo Avelar is a journalist, editor, and political analyst from El Salvador. He holds a BA in Political Science from Francisco Marroquín University in Guatemala, and an MSc in International Relations of the Americas from University College London. He is currently a senior journalist, editor, and chief satirist at Revista Factum, one of the leading investigative outlets in Central America. He has been the Political Editor at El Salvador's largest newspaper and a researcher on the rule of law, democracy, and electoral integrity. In 2021, he co-directed a docu-series about a coup attempt led by Nayib Bukele on February 9, 2020.

Caveat

21 A Clinton Street, New York, NY 10002

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception at the venue: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
Presidential immunity for official acts is a key factor in the proper functioning of the U.S. government's executive branch.

For the affirmative:

Elizabeth Price Foley is a Professor of Law at Florida International University College of Law, a public law school in Miami, Florida, where she teaches constitutional law and separation of powers. She also serves Of Counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Baker Hostetler, where she practices constitutional and appellate law. Professor Foley is the author of three books on constitutional law published by Yale, Harvard and Cambridge University Presses. She has testified before Congress on numerous constitutional topics and her op-eds appear regularly in the Wall Street Journal. She has previously served as a judicial clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, a Fulbright fellow at the National University of Ireland, and a senior legislative aide on Capitol Hill.

For the negative:

Glenn Greenwald is a constitutional lawyer, investigative journalist, and best-selling author. Acclaimed as one of the 25 most influential political commentators by The Atlantic, one of America’s top 10 opinion writers by Newsweek, and one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers for 2013 by Foreign Policy, Greenwald’s fiercely adversarial reporting has won the highest awards in journalism around the world, including the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for the NSA-Snowden revelations. Leaving The Intercept—which he co-founded—in 2020, he is now an independent journalist and host of SYSTEM UPDATE nightly on Rumble.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
Free market President Javier Milei of Argentina has been making tangible progress toward improving the Argentinian economy.

For the affirmative:

Santiago Forster is an Argentine-American who advocates for free markets and sensible politics. He is a youth leader within the Argentine political group, Enlaces, which is adherent to President Javier Milei’s political party. Santiago is currently carrying out his studies in Boston, where he is a student in International Business & International Affairs at Northeastern University. In 2019, Santiago was recognized as one of the top 10 individual debaters nationwide by the Argentine Debate Association (ADA). He now works in finance in the U.S. and is the co-founder and President of the LatAm Business Club at Northeastern University. In this role, he has hosted and interviewed notable figures such as the former President of Ecuador, Jamil Mahuad, as well as CEOs of multinational companies. With experience in areas such as finance and strategic communications, Santiago has become passionate about the overlap between the private and public sectors and sees them as mutually supportive.

For the negative:

Agustín Dante Rombolá was born and raised in Buenos Aires. He is a lawyer who graduated from Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) in 2017, specializing in Constitutional Law and Human Rights. He started working in politics ten years ago, as a member of the Unión Cívica Radical (Radical Civic Youth), a socialdemocratic party and the oldest party in Argentina. He is the current President of its Youth arm, Juventud Radical (Radical Youth). In 2023, he worked on the political campaigns of Horacio Rodríguez Larreta (for President) and Martín Lousteau (for Buenos Aires City Governor).

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
The stagnation of living standards, and soaring economic inequality, have become the defining economic trends of American life.

For the affirmative:

David Leonhardt is a senior writer at The New York Times and the author of Ours Was the Shining Future: The Story of American Dream. The Atlantic, the Financial Times and McKinsey & Co. named it one of the best books of 2023. David writes The Morning, The Times's flagship newsletter, and has previously been The Times's Washington bureau chief, founding editor of The Upshot and a podcast host. He also led a strategy group that helped shape The Times's digital future. He has won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

For the negative:

John Early is a mathematical economist, adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and president of the consultancy Vital Few, LLC. His experience includes two appointments as assistant commissioner at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, chief operating officer of an international consultancy in quality, chief strategy and customer officer for a Fortune 100 company, and legislative assistant to Senator George McGovern. His more than 80 publications include The Myth of American Inequality: How Government Biases Policy Debate, with Phil Gramm and Robert Ekelund and topics including measuring price change, labor force dynamics, income measurement, fiscal dynamics, improving healthcare, and customer loyalty.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

UPDATE

Resolution:
In the current presidential election, both Democrats and Republicans consist of a UniParty that will lead us to the bottom of the national policy dumpster.

For the Affirmative:

David Stockman was elected as a Michigan Congressman in 1976 and joined the Reagan White House in 1981. Serving as budget director, he was one of the key architects of the Reagan Revolution plan to reduce taxes, cut spending and shrink the role of government. He is the author of six best-selling books, most recently: Peak Trump: The Undrainable Swamp And The Fantasy Of MAGA (2019); The Great Money Bubble: Protect Yourself from the Coming Inflation Storm (2022); and Trump's War on Capitalism (2024). He is currently the publisher of a daily blog, Contra Corner – “the place where mainstream delusions and cant about the Warfare State, the Bailout State, Bubble Finance and Beltway Banditry are ripped, refuted and rebuked.”

For the negative:

Stephen Moore was formerly Trump’s senior economic advisor. He is a Heritage Foundation economist and a Distinguished Visiting Fellow for their “Project for Economic Growth.” He is also the co-founder of Unleash Prosperity, which aims to educate policy-makers in supply-side economics. Before returning to the Heritage Foundation in 2014, Moore was the economics and policy writer for the Wall Street Journal and a member of The Journal’s editorial board. During that time he authored Who’s the Fairest of Them All?: The Truth about Opportunity, Taxes, and Wealth in America (2012).

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012

IMPORTANT: THIS DEBATE WILL BEGIN 15 MINUTES EARLIER THAN USUAL

Doors open at 5:45 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:15 PM
Reception: 7:45 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:  
Among the candidates actively running for President in November, Donald Trump is the best choice.

For the affirmative:

Dr. Arthur B. Laffer is the founder of Laffer Associates, an economic research firm. Dr. Laffer has distinction in many publications as “The Father of Supply-Side Economics.” Dr. Laffer was a member of President Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board for both of his terms (1981-1989) and was a founding member of the Reagan Executive Advisory Committee for the presidential race of 1980. He also advised Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on fiscal policy in the UK during the 1980s. In 2019, Dr. Laffer was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump. Dr. Laffer has authored numerous books including his most recent, Taxes Have Consequences: An Income Tax History of the United States.

For the negative:

Chase Oliver is an American political activist and nominee of the Libertarian Party for the 2024 United States presidential election. He was formerly a sales account executive and HR representative. Oliver was the Libertarian candidate for the 2022 United States Senate election in Georgia and the 2020 Georgia's 5th congressional district special election. In the 2022 Georgia special United States Senate election, Oliver received over 2% of the popular vote, and was accused of acting as a spoiler candidate and forcing the Georgia senate race into a run-off.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:  
It is likely that the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated in the Wuhan laboratory in China.

For the affirmative:

Matt Ridley's books have sold over a million copies, been translated into 31 languages, and won several awards. His books include The Red Queen, Genome, The Rational Optimist, and How Innovation Works. "Viral: the search for the Origin of Covid-19", co-authored with Alina Chan, was published in 2021. He sat in the House of Lords between 2013 and 2021 and served on the science and technology select committee and the artificial intelligence select committee. He created the Mind and Matter column in the Wall Street Journal in 2010, and was a columnist for the Times 2013-2018. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

For the negative:

Dr. Stephen Goldstein is a virologist at the University of Utah conducting research on coronavirus evolution. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he conducted research on the biology of MERS-CoV, a zoonotic virus first identified in 2012. Over the course of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic Dr. Goldstein has engaged with the Utah Department of Public Health, University of Utah Health, and local and national media to provide scientific expertise. He has co-authored reviews and original research papers on the origin of SARS-CoV-2.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
A better way to persuade more people of libertarianism is to convince them of the ethics stemming from self-ownership and the non-aggression principle, without relying primarily on consequentialist/utilitarian arguments.

For the affirmative:

Dennis Pratt has written almost 2000 essays on libertarian ethics before de-platformed, Quora. Redesigned and produced largest liberty festival (PorcFest), 2019-2024. Free State shill. Builder, “Libertarian Homeland”. Founder, Free Town Project. Founder, SHELL liberty community clubhouse. New Hampshire Liberty Activist of the Year. Owner, Independence Inn. Apologist, LPNH. Ethicist, Live Free Die Free. Founder, Personal Growth Network. Founder, Parents Decide. Homeschooler. Scientist, New product design, GTE Labs. Northwestern & MIT. @DennisPrattFree

For the negative:

Gene Epstein is the Executive Director of the Soho Forum. He is the former Economics and Books Editor of Barron's, a position he left in January 2018 after a 26-year stint. He frequently appears on libertarian podcasts, including the "The Tom Woods Show.” He has defended the negative at 11 Soho Forum debates, and this appearance will be his 12th. His November 2019 debate on socialism with Prof. Richard Wolff has had more than six million views on Youtube.

PorcFest

"The Pavilion"
Roger's Campground
10 Rogers Campground Rd,
Lancaster, NH 03584
Starts at 12:00PM

Resolution:
The Austrian economics of Mises and Rothbard contains economic intuitions that are important, correct, and missing from Chicago School economics.

For the affirmative:

Gene Epstein is the Executive Director of the Soho Forum. He is the former Economics and Books Editor of Barron's, a position he left in January 2018 after a 26-year stint. He frequently appears on libertarian podcasts, including the "The Tom Woods Show.” He has defended the negative at 11 Soho Forum debates, and this appearance will be his first time defending the affirmative. His November 2019 debate on socialism with Prof. Richard Wolff has had more than six million views on Youtube.

For the negative:

David Friedman, An American economist, legal scholar, and anarcho-capitalist theorist, author of six non-fiction books, many articles and three novels. His most popular book is The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to a Radical Capitalism.

PorcFest

"The Pavilion"
Roger's Campground
10 Rogers Campground Rd,
Lancaster, NH 03584
Starts at 12:00PM

Resolution:
The United States should strike Iran's nuclear facilities.

For the affirmative:

Alan Dershowitz is an American lawyer and law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appointed as the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law in 1993. He is the author of several books about politics and the law, including The Case for Israel(2003); and The Case for Peace (2005). His two most recent works are The Case Against Impeaching Trump (2018) and Guilt by Accusation: The Challenge of Proving Innocence in the Age of #MeToo (2019). In January 2020, he joined President Donald Trump's legal team as Trump was being tried on impeachment charges in the Senate. He is a strong supporter of Israel, self-identifing as both "pro-Israel and pro-Palestine," and writing, "I want to see a vibrant, democratic, economically viable, peaceful Palestinian state existing side by side with Israel."

For the negative:

Glenn Greenwald is a constitutional lawyer, investigative journalist, and best-selling author. Acclaimed as one of the 25 most influential political commentators by The Atlantic, one of America’s top 10 opinion writers by Newsweek, and one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers for 2013 by Foreign Policy, Greenwald’s fiercely adversarial reporting has won the highest awards in journalism around the world, including the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for the NSA-Snowden revelations. Leaving The Intercept—which he co-founded—in 2020, he is now an independent journalist and host of SYSTEM UPDATE nightly on Rumble.

Symphony Space

2537 Broadway (at 95th St), New York, NY 10025

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Resolution:
Government-imposed restrictions during the Covid pandemic were prudent and essential.

For the affirmative:

Brent Orrell is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute focusing on job training, workforce development, and criminal justice reform. Orrell has over 20 years of experience in the executive and legislative branches of government, and was nominated by President George W. Bush to lead the Employment and Training Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he wrote extensively on the impact of the disease on working conditions and the role of social distancing policies and practices in protecting worker and public health.

For the negative:

Tom Woods is the New York Times bestselling author of 13 books, which have been translated into a dozen languages, and holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University. He won the $50,000 first prize in the Templeton Enterprise Awards for his book The Church and the Market, and was the winner of the 2019 Hayek Lifetime Achievement Award, given in Vienna by the Hayek Institute and the Austrian Economics Center.

The Sheen Center

18 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012

Doors open at 6:00 PM
Meeting Convenes on the Main Stage: 6:30 PM
Reception: 8:00 PM

Moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.