/client

Topics

Memberships

Tools

Customer Service

Network

Newsstand

For Business

For Education

For Advertisers

About Barron's

bolded

unBolded

Betterment CEO Sarah Levy explains how they are incorporating digital currency into their business strategy.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250815/857ebb79-028b-482a-84d2-18a9c5c2d5bc/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Betterment is Dipping Their Toes into Crypto

Sarah Levy, CEO of Betterment, discusses market volatility, regulation concerns, and where she’s finding bipartisan agreement in the financial space.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250815/5f12279a-b207-42bc-b5f1-5a34a8a1e8d7/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Betterment CEO On Government Policies Impacting Investing Habits

The exec talks crypto, advisors, and the legislation she's watching in an interview with At Barron's Andy Serwer.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250813/676b2b97-9259-40e8-bee4-1ae231eaefb6/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Sarah Levy: From the Entertainment Industry to CEO of Betterment

Surrounding recent and political controversies at Harvard University, author and Harvard professor Arthur C. Brooks tells Barron’s Andy Serwer that it’s "not a Harvard problem, it’s a higher ed problem."

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250808/84a195a2-f0a2-4b8e-9f87-e4334c12159d/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

This Harvard Professor Sees Too Much Activism in Universities

Author and Harvard professor Arthur C. Brooks breaks down why people in leadership positions tend to have intense emotions.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250808/aad81f06-d6bb-41bd-bd46-c5acf8136fcb/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Is Happiness at the Top? A Look at Leaders, CEOs, and Politicians.

Author and Harvard University professor Arthur C. Brooks discusses all things happiness, why he supports capitalism, and what's going on at Harvard with Editor at Large Andy Serwer.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250807/056164ae-5083-468f-9aeb-5cf5f436861b/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

'It's Not a Feeling': A Harvard Professor on the Formula for Happiness

The Marriott business has over 30 brands including The Ritz-Carlton, Westin, and Sheraton. Anthony Capuano, Marriott International CEO, discusses why the large brand portfolio and strategy is a priority.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250805/7aa6e4f9-ea94-4ebb-b62b-234961329bc9/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

How Many Brands is Too Many? For Marriott, 30 Is a Sweet Spot

Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano breaks down the micro and macro effects of tariffs on the company, specifically in China.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250805/b8b663a5-37f7-4034-976a-27044ecc58b1/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

How Tariffs are Affecting the Hotel Industry in the U.S. and Abroad

Marriott International's Anthony Capuano spoke about when he was named chief executive officer of the hotel chain after the death of Marriott's then-CEO and amid the Covid-19 pandemic. "It was, you know, on a personal level, extraordinarily emotional," Capuano said. This interview was recorded on June 2, 2025.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250731/5e9f8f17-1e0a-407e-a18b-2f479cd6450d/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

How Marriott's CEO Was Appointed During Significant Challenges

At Barron's

Saira Malik, chief investment officer of Nuveen, makes the case for more gains in 2023.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230925/4d8aa5ee-77aa-4400-884b-1fafeff893ec/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

S&P 4700?

David Bailin, chief investment officer of Citi Global Wealth, offers his take on the latest IPO activity and what it says about the strength of capital markets.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230925/5f4d4a28-d83a-40e3-ad94-28bc25b1c3bc/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

IPOs: Making a Comeback

Chris Harvey, head of equity strategy at Wells Fargo Securities, explains what would make him more bullish on stocks and when he sees a Fed rate cut coming.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230918/1f534ddf-5da9-4d1d-9926-fda63e90468e/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Cuts on the Horizon?

Tom Kennedy, chief investment strategist for J.P. Morgan Global Wealth Management, explains why he thinks concerns around a slowdown in China are overblown.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230918/09304272-5f0c-49df-892a-3a3d4622c9c3/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Evaluating China Risk

Liz Young, head of investment strategy at SoFi, discusses how market moving the August inflation data could be.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230911/50b8c6b4-8fd3-4d6f-adff-dd0a024a57d7/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Inflation in the Spotlight

Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Stifel, offers her take on the biggest risks to the economy right now.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230911/cac885e4-b322-40f8-876c-ebd443fe9d29/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Assessing Economic Headwinds 

Dan Ives, managing director and senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities, explains why he thinks Apple will continue to be a market leader.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230905/1a48f030-5a5a-401c-a571-ec9115a0155e/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Prove-me Moment

Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird, highlights bullish catalysts that could drive the market higher between now and year-end.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230905/729974df-4594-4fc6-a385-5457b1d87e32/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Gearing up for a Rally

Matthew Luzzetti, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank, discusses what’s next for the Federal Reserve and the economy.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230501/7264fcc9-eea9-4d99-b839-4cd4c20500c9/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Recession Ahead 

MarketBrief | Clips

MarketBrief Clips

David Bailin of Citi Global Wealth and Saira Malik of Nuveen debate the probability of a recession and discuss where they’re finding opportunities in equities and fixed income.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230925/a61dd831-40b8-4727-934f-077d2b880711/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Investing in a Slowing Economy 

Take stock of your investments in less than 10 minutes with new show from Barron’s and MarketWatch.

Chris Harvey of Wells Fargo Securities explains why he believes the Federal Reserve is done hiking interest rates while J.P. Morgan Global Wealth Management’s Tom Kennedy makes the case for multi-asset investing.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230918/84e9a4a4-4e50-4b7b-934c-9a532f9803fc/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Rate Hikes in the Rearview?

Lindsey Piegza of Stifel discusses the upside risks for inflation while SoFi’s Liz Young explains why she’s cautious on the market through year-end.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230911/395ecb74-e349-45b0-a6b8-f91b8874aaf8/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Pricing Pressure & Frothy Valuations

Baird’s Ross Mayfield makes the case for a better than expected September for stocks while Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities explains why big tech can rally another 15%.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230905/156bf778-e13d-41ef-b750-55e2ef1c0162/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

September to Remember? 

Kristen Bitterly of Citi Global Wealth Management explains why the strong start to the year is nothing more than a bear market rally while Eric Winograd of AllianceBernstein offers his outlook for the Fed, inflation, and the labor market.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230220/ae07e591-f017-4e82-babb-c80144e7d42f/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Time to be Skeptical?

Anastasia Amoroso of iCapital explains why she thinks the stock market rally is nearing a ceiling while U.S. Bank Wealth Management’s Lisa Erickson discusses where she’s finding investment opportunities in an uncertain environment.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230213/61be15a3-f5ac-4a25-b944-edd15e605e30/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Hitting a Wall

Jack Manley of J.P. Morgan Asset Management explains why now is the time to leg back into risk assets while BlackRock’s Rick Rieder offers his top fixed income opportunities.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230206/0be0daa9-d29a-4350-b277-a9ee6ed9a2ea/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Two Ways to Play

Amid impressive January gains, Cameron Dawson of New Edge Wealth discusses how she’s positioning her portfolio and Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics explains why he thinks the economy can still avoid a recession.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230130/a8c37d62-592b-4830-9466-65c3824205fe/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Gauging Upside Potential

Mike Schumacher of Wells Fargo Securities explains why he’s nervous about stagflation while Sylvia Jablonski of Defiance Investments offers her top portfolio picks.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230123/1e752a76-b7d4-4802-821a-837d6176f979/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Wall Street’s Biggest Risk

MarketBrief | Full Episodes

MarketBrief Full Episodes

After 10 straight hikes, the central bank switched gears and opted to keep rates steady. But that doesn't mean the Fed's inflation fight is over.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230616/9dce6e5c-4c62-4aa6-b432-d3407ac41aea/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

The Fed's Rate Pause, Explained

A publicly traded company can increase it's number of shares available by splitting its stock. Here's why companies may do it and how it affects investors.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20221115/f37dedad-4403-4f6d-bd22-067d0fb148df/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Stock Splits Are Big This Year. Here's What They Mean for Investors.

Here's why a publicly traded company may decide to go private and what it means for its shareholders.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20221025/9fb3fa20-e2ac-485b-aa4d-8fcf3ebd3151/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

What Happens When a Stock Goes Private?

What Happens When a Public Company Goes Private?

When saving for retirement, there are many different accounts and tax strategies to consider. Here's how to tell if a Roth IRA conversion could be right for you.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20221021/624f992c-db58-4144-93cc-b888c6948059/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

What to Know About Roth IRA Conversions

As recession fears loom, here are three ways investors can prepare and protect their portfolios.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20221020/5d94fa79-7b6d-4c51-8ac7-8c523c99d487/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Preparing Your Portfolio for a Recession

Retiring abroad could lower your cost of living, so you can make your savings go further in your golden years. But a permanent move to a new country could be more complicated than you think. Here's what you should know.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20220823/7a028383-44a0-4957-a070-0018f046ec97/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Thinking Of Retiring Abroad? Here's What to Consider.

Billionaire-backed space companies have made space tourism a reality. How to participate in a potential private-sector space boom.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20220818/99bac587-9be5-48e6-9376-48f3bb8d55cf/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

How To Invest In Space Tourism

When you hear the words 'electric vehicle', you might immediately think 'Tesla'. But as more automakers enter the EV competition, Tesla might have trouble holding its lead. Here's what investors need to know.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20220722/111776c7-d9d2-4cd2-8194-4c58b0cb7e57/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Is Tesla Miles Ahead of Others in the Electric Vehicle Race?

Chinese tech company DiDi Global, which runs a ride-sharing app, has announced it plans to delist from the New York Stock Exchange. Investors are watching and waiting to see what other Chinese giants with U.S. listings, like Alibaba and JD.com, will do. Here's what delisting entails.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20220722/eacf026e-7303-4eb7-80ab-3e2344e2b120/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

What Happens When a Stock Delists?

Barron's Explains

CEO Cristiano Amon has a plan to shrink Qualcomm’s reliance on phones and grow its role in AI, cars, and beyond. Investors are skeptical—should they be?

https://m.wsj.net/video/20241127/99579ccd-a5c1-4acc-ac31-32469f7d8b1c/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

What's Next for Qualcomm?

On the Barron's Streetwise Podcast, Barron’s senior writer Al Root sits down with Jack Hough to discuss Toyota’s recent success with hybrids, the coolest cars at the New York Auto Show, and what’s ahead for Tesla stock.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240329/f163bbd7-0cb6-4c6f-b7f9-a85ae5cd2553/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Is Electric Vehicle Demand Cooling Off? 

On the Barron’s Streetwise podcast, Rystad Energy’s Alexandre Ramos Peon discusses how U.S. oil producers have boosted profitability and production despite fewer wells.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240326/0a4b30c7-379c-460f-abc3-838a7f1eb1a9/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

The Outlook for Oil

On the Barron’s Streetwise Podcast, Jack Hough pushes back against one of Bitcoin’s most popular valuation models.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240318/b38cc34a-5064-4a6a-a47c-4c855de11973/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Bitcoin as 'Digital Gold' 

On the Barron’s Streetwise podcast, Raphael Zagury of Swan Bitcoin shares his bitcoin price model with Associate Editor Jack Hough.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240312/c0acb0bf-e4e3-46ca-8fd5-13af6fa401e5/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

The $600,000 Case for Bitcoin

Kathy Jones, Chief Fixed Income Strategist at Schwab, says it might not matter. Plus, the outlook for yields and the national debt.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240305/0505813c-e38b-47cb-ade2-e7c3aff68dbd/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Bond Funds or Individual Bonds?

Brian Niccol on developing new customer favorites, taking menu tips from TikTok, and the outlook for growing the business.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230725/dec91556-4dbe-49e6-85d9-ed0e8233ac02/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Chipotle's CEO on How He Plans to Double the Business. Again.

Jim Farley on competing with Tesla, and why Ford is favoring Level 3 autonomy over full self-driving capability.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230519/9aa4288a-39a1-4fb8-8b9d-3be0c58adc18/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Ford CEO On the Outlook for EVs and Robo Cars

J.P. Morgan Asset Management's David Kelly says inflation is like a rollercoaster: It will come down again.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230505/5d8d3d70-598d-4ee4-a76e-21381c911e40/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Inflation, Attractive Bonds, and Value Abroad

Barron's Streetwise

Stocks are expensive, risks abound, and AI is about to change the world. Other than that, building a calamity-proof retirement portfolio should be a cinch. Tune in as two veteran money managers size up the markets and share their investment ideas.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250211/17a5e7d6-7c36-44b0-a35e-bf5ac3a24194/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Saving for a Sunny Day

Research shows that people greatly underestimate the healthcare costs they’ll face in retirement. Learn from experts how to estimate those costs, prepare for potential long-term care needs, and manage healthcare expenses in retirement.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250211/e7c022d9-badf-4e95-8e7c-0b6fce9f7823/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Are You Fiscally Fit?

Surging power demand, new energy sources, and growing competition have spurred the utility industry to become more innovative than ever before. Our panelists will unpack the changes afoot and explore what lies ahead for companies, customers, and investors.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240917/001ea098-1fcc-4da5-9f0e-a3b149bbb2fb/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Not Your Father's Utility

Modernizing America's grid will take creativity and money -- lots of money. Learn how players across the power sector can achieve their electrification goals and serve new customers without breaking the bank for consumers.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240917/bd6bd43a-bb07-4b7f-9d1c-6ae04220bea9/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Ready for a Revamp?

The launch this year of Bitcoin ETFs has made it easier for investors to buy and trade the cryptocurrency. But is that a wise move, and if so, how much crypto should you own?

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240529/cbb77f15-ef70-445d-85ae-5f02c24ea1ef/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Investing in Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin and other digital currencies reside on software networks that aim to revolutionize everything from finance to art. Barron's talks to industry experts about the outlook for blockchain technology and its potential uses.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240529/8f60a5ea-6de4-4c3c-b7c2-12b11aaa99f3/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Is Crypto Really a Game-Changer?

Persistent inflation means retirement savings don't go as far as they once did. We discuss the best inflation hedges, and how retirees can benefit from higher-for-longer interest rates.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240429/69577ad6-cbaf-4d34-96f1-c42136e26aa2/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Protecting Your Nest Egg from Rising Prices

The impact of inflation is felt unevenly across the economy and markets. Learn which industries, and companies do best in a “sticky” inflation era, and how fixed income, alternative assets, and gold can help investors hedge against further price growth.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240429/bfee3cb8-715f-4323-929f-43a73fd58877/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Don’t Trim Your Inflation Hedges

Science, tech, and better healthcare delivery are helping people live longer and improving quality of life. Two healthcare investment experts tell us about some of the most promising developments in medicine, and the companies behind them.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240305/33bed2b1-bdef-401f-bb72-18f7a43f2548/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Longevity: An Investor's Playbook

Barron's Roundtable

Barron's Advisor The Way Forward

Investing in Tech

Barron's Investing in Tech Clips

A Better Economy & Wealth Gap Events

Wealth Gap

Level Up

Barron's Events

Back to Business

Great Investors

MarketWatch

Video Center - Barron's home

A battle of restricting in Texas has created a national firestorm, with Lone Star State Democrats fleeing to other states, and governors from California to New York getting in on the fight. But what is gerrymandering, how did it start, and what does it mean for Donald Trump’s second term?

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250813/25816623-d9bb-4063-9dda-a357ac911493/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

WSJ Opinion: The Gerrymandering Wars Heat Up 

The redistricting wars rage on as growing numbers of states from Florida to California consider further Gerrymandering in the wake of Republican moves to redo Texas's congressional maps.

Announcer: From the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal, this is All Things with Kim Strassel.

Welcome to All Things with Kim Strassel. And this week, we're gonna talk to a guy who knows a lot about redistricting, not just politics, but importantly its legal and constitutional foundations, and its longtime role in our republic. Welcome to Hans von Spakovsky, former member of the Federal Election Commission and senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation. Hans, thank you for joining us. How are you?

I'm doing just fine, thanks, and I appreciate you having me on the show.

Yeah, I'm excited about this because I can tell viewers and listeners you're gonna say some things that might surprise them. Okay, on the topic du jour, or rather, the topic day August redistricting all the time, everyone knows by now, this all kicked off when Republicans moved to redistrict Texas midway through the census cycle. And even though Texas already had its congressional map with the goal of adding about five more Republican seats, Democrats melted down, governors like California's Gavin Newsom and New York's Kathy Hochul vowed to respond by drawing their own maps. This is now provoked Republicans to double down themselves. They're now looking at Florida, Missouri, Indiana, and the trench warfare is going on. I wanna actually spend most of this podcast talking about some important bigger issues about Gerrymandering and redistricting. But just quickly, Hans, from an immediate political perspective, where do you see all this headed?

Well, folks need to understand that there's no law or constitutional provision prevents Texas from midterm redistricting. Any state can do that if they want to. They just haven't in the past because it's a lot of work to go through the redistricting process. What I haven't seen mentioned Kim much is that the incentive for this was actually a warning letter from the Department of Justice, and the warning letter was over the fact that at the end of last year, the Fifth Circuit US Court of Appeals, right? That's the appeals court that has authority over both Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana said, "Oh, you know what, we made a mistake 40 years ago when we said that the Voting Rights Act protects, covers, and requires what are called coalition districts." Coalition districts are districts that are not what are called majority minority districts. You know, a district where perhaps Black voters are a majority. Coalition districts are where they can't find enough racial minorities to fill up a district so they combine two different groups like a group of Black voters and a group of Hispanic voters so they become a majority. Well, Texas, in 2021 thought they had to comply with that, so they drew up four of those coalition districts. Well, what the Fifth Circuit said is that's a political alliance. You know, that's, that is not protected under the Voting Rights Act and therefore, Texas, when you drew up those districts, you were engaging in unconstitutional, racial Gerrymandering. And what they meant was that what was the primary factor they used to draw up the boundary lines?

Race.

It was race.

Yeah.

And you can't do that. And so Texas is now trying to fix that and in fixing that, well, yeah, it's gonna create what, GOP favored districts because what were those other districts supposed to do? Elect Democrats.

Yeah, no, and we are gonna talk some about how the congress and courts have really made this issue more complicated in ways that you just mentioned. But you make a really good point about what Texas is doing here in that it is essentially attempting to help the Republican Party because it's currently in the hands of Republican legislators and, you know, Gerrymandering or this process of cutting up voters into districts in ways that favor one political party or the other. It's become a bit of a dirty word in our political language. Not everybody knows exactly what it is or exactly how it works, but there's this general view these days that it's bad because it equals this base partisan effort by one party or the other. I have read a lot of your writings on this, and you make the point that Gerrymandering is in fact envisioned that the founders knew that politics would play a part in the process of drawing boundaries, but gave that power to state legislators anyway. And you moreover note that telling those legislators that they can't even consider politics would, and I quote you here, "Destroy a fundamental element of our democratic system," end quote. That notion's gonna blow a lot of our minds, so explain.

Yeah, I mean, the whole reason we have the word gerrymander is because the first time it happened was in 1812. I mean, we've had this for our entire history and, you know, the word comes from Elbridge Gerry, who was the governor of Massachusetts, and he drew up a district that looked like a salamander. So they combined that to come up with Gerrymandering. What the Supreme Court has also said about this is, look, redistricting is a political question, a political issue and it's part of the hurly-burly of politics. You know, it's the political parties battling each other in the political arena and in the world of ideas. And there's nothing unconstitutional about it. In fact, Kim, as you probably know, the Democratic Party actually went all the way to Supreme Court just a couple of years ago trying to claim that political Gerrymandering was unconstitutional, even though they've been doing it for a very long time. And the Supreme Court said, "It's not unconstitutional, and we are not gonna make decisions about that because it's what, it's a political question." And you know what I would say to people, if they don't like what's happening in a particular state, well if the legislature is the one doing it, then work to unelect and get those people out of office. That's the solution to it or the other potential answer is push the legislature to put in very strict rules. Very strict standards on compactness, continuousness, not breaking up county governments and cities as as much as possible, that's how you do it.

Well, I think you make a really good point that it's not impossible to both understand that there will always be an element of politics involved in this, but to also expect those engaged in the politics, to have common sense in the way they draw these districts, as you say, to have tight compact districts, ones that maybe follow set boundaries like mountain ranges or rivers, you know, ones that, rather than these kind of ink blot maps that we get these days. You actually make the point too that there's actually some good arguments why you don't want to try to keep politics out of redistricting. And you know, people forget that as much as we like to suggest there's all these nefarious people sitting in a room coming up, micromanaging the data, this is a bit of an inexact science. You've got a very mobile society where districts change quickly. Sometimes voters split their tickets. You don't really know how that's gonna work. Also, there's a tension between trying to shore up the security of your districts versus creating more, which maybe dilutes your power in more districts. I mean, there's a lot of reasons why this can boomerang on plenty of the people that are engaged in the districting, right?

Yeah, right. That's true. And particularly because look, most states as we were discussing, they do redistricting right after the census, right, within a year or two. By the time the next census rolls, around 10 years later, those districts, the populations have radically changed in many places because we're such a mobile society. Take Texas where the current fight is going on, right? They redistricted in 2021, but Texas has had the fastest growing population in the country. They've added over 2 million people since those those districts were drawn. Which means that those districts now, which are supposed to be equal in population, well they're obviously not because that huge increase in population has obviously distorted those districts.

Does your view change on this at all then given what might be a move toward more mid decade redistricting? I mean, is there a risk that some of these points or calculations change if essentially legislatures are meeting on a constant basis to re-update their maps to most benefit them?

Well, yeah, that's a potential problem. But you know what was interesting just recently when the president said he thought he wants to do a mid-decade census? Is I actually checked the US code, right? That's the list of federal statutes and it turns out, I don't think a lot of people know this, in the 1970s, Congress actually passed a law amending the census statute to provide for guess what, a midterm census.

And is there any special reasons for that?

I couldn't quite find out why they did it, but I suspect it was because of the fact that they knew that we are one of the most mobile societies of any of the Western democracies and populations change very, very quickly. And you know, why not do a census every five years instead of every 10 to try to compensate for that. Particularly also because remember the census is a key to how much money states get from the federal government. There are many federal programs that are based on your population. And if you're waiting 10 years for the census to take into account your huge increase in population, you're not getting federal money you otherwise probably should be getting.

Fascinating. We are in new political times. I wanna ask you about another element of this. So Democrats are racing to attempt to redraw some of their lines and their effort is going to be more complicated than most of the Republican efforts. And that's because of this bad reputation Gerrymandering has out there, we've seen this new phenomenon especially in the last 15 or 20 years where you've had these states adopt these independent redistricting commissions. And the notion is that they will be fairer and nicer and better if we outsource this line drawing to a group of supposedly nonpartisan figures. Numerous states have these now, although Democrats are threatening to sideline most of them as part of this redistricting thing. Your thoughts on these independent commissions and how they actually work in practice.

Actually, just a couple of years ago I took a look at the congressional districts that the so-called independent redistricting commission of California established. 'Cause California is one of the states that did this. And I compared it actually to, guess what, Texas. And it turned out that this supposedly independent redistricting commission had engaged in greater political Gerrymandering than the Texas Republicans had.

Yeah.

So this idea that these independent commissions will somehow come up with these clean bills without politics just doesn't fit reality. And there's two things about it. One who gets appointed to 'em, right? State legislators and governors appoint the members. So they're all gonna be people who are politically active and they are have no accountability. Like I said, if the state legislature, if you don't like what they've done, you can try to vote them out of office. Yeah, that may be hard, but you can at least try to get them out of office and you may succeed. When people are appointed to these redistricting commissions. If you're voters and you don't like what they've done, there's nothing you can do about it.

And convenient, right, too because Californians can say, "Oh look, you know, you don't like those maps and we didn't do it," even though of course they did do it because it's all their partisan actors engaged. But it's a kind of a handwashing exercise in my mind. I also wrote a great piece saying that you end up having two kinds of commissions, one that are stuffed with partisans, right? So they're essentially doing the dirty work of the party or ones that are actually equally split, which deadlock all the time. And then usually at which point the legislature steps in and does a partisan gerrymander anyway so it doesn't seem like they're accomplishing much.

No, no. And and actually I'll tell you something else. I found out from personal experience some years ago when the California Independent Redistricting Commission was first getting set up, a lawyer I know in California called me because, you know, they needed to rely on experts, right? To gather the data and to draw up the proposed maps. This lawyer called me and said, "Well, here are the lawyers who they've hired to do this. What do you know about them?" Well, I knew every one of 'em because every one of 'em were all these very liberal lawyers who were essentially allies of guess what? The Democratic Party.

Democratic Party.

And these were the experts hired by this independent commission.

Yeah, an additional problem, right? It's not even just the elected members of the commission, but all their staff, et cetera. Another phenomenon we've seen is congress and federal courts getting in on this Gerrymandering and redistricting act. And you set us up really well by mentioning one of the big laws out there that has really thrown monkey wrench after monkey wrench into this process. This was Congress getting involved. Give us a brief explanation of the provisions in the Voting Rights Act that affect Gerrymandering and redistricting and how that has left us with a bit of a mess.

I will tell you this is a very confusing area of the law, and it's particularly confusing for state legislators. 'cause they have two cliffs in between that they have to walk. I call it the Goldilocks rule of drawing political districts. Under the Voting Rights Act, you cannot discriminate on the basis of race. Now look, that law was passed originally to stop what was going on in the south, right? Black Americans were being kept from registering, they were being kept from voting. That kind of misbehave, that's all gone. But what started happening in the late '70s and '80s is that folks started saying, "Well, that provision that prevents racial discrimination also prohibits diluting votes." So we're not talking about anyone being kept from voting, but supposedly their vote is diluted if they can't elect their candidate of choice. What all of that boiled down to was that section two of the Voting Rights Act required states to create certain political districts called majority minority districts, in which a racial group that is a minority in the state has a district or more than one district where they may be a minority of the entire state, but there are a majority of the voters in that particular district so that they can, if they vote cohesively, they can elect their candidate of choice. Now, the problem is is that the Supreme Court has also said, "Well, okay, race may be one of the factors you can use under the Voting Rights Act, but you can't have it be the prime main factor. If you use race as the main factor when you're drawing boundary lines, well then you have violated the 14th amendment of the Constitution, the equal protection clause." You know, one person, one vote. And all of this came out of a case out of the Carolinas in the '80s where in order to create a Black majority district, the state legislature created a district that looked like a barbell. They took two large areas in entirely separate parts of the state and connected them with an interstate highway. And the Supreme Court said, you can't do that. You know, race was clearly the main factor you used to draw that district. That's racial discrimination. So all these legislators are, well, they're supposed to use a little bit of race, but they can't use too much race when they draw these lines. And the problem is you can have two judges look at exactly the same set of facts and come to exactly opposite conclusions on that. And that's what causes so many cases to spring up in the litigation area.

Well, you just brought up the next question, which is courts increasingly are just the arbiters of all of this.

That's right.

And you know, there have been some lines set, you know, the Supreme Court did put out a ruling for a while saying that the courts that were outlying maps, purely on the grounds that they were partisan, couldn't do that because basically the court ruled that this is a political activity. You don't get to sort of override the judgment of the political actors. More recently, it's the Supreme Court has been chipping away at some of this Voting Rights Act questions. Where do you think that heads in the next couple of years? Because I mean, we've got what at the moment? Louisiana's being heard again this fall over a case has been going on for a while. There's been litigation in Georgia. This is just a constant merry-go-round for the court of these redistricting suits.

Yeah, in fact, Justice Alito actually complained about that. They're getting so many redistricting cases going up to Supreme Court, and it's because the area of the law is so confusing. That Louisiana case you just described actually shows the problem in this area. Because what happened in Louisiana was out of their congressional districts, they had one that was a majority Black district. And they did redistricting, they maintained that district, and Black voters came in and said, "Oh, well, you discriminated against us because you didn't create a second Black majority district and we deserve it, why? Well, because we're about 35% of the population of the state." Okay, so a judge agreed with them and said, "Louisiana, you have to drop a second district. So they did that. Well, they got sued again, but this time, they got sued by White voters who said, "When you drew up that second district, you did it entirely based on race, therefore you violated equal protection." So they had two different courts saying two different things to them, and that's the case that's gonna be reheard by the Supreme Court in the fall. And Justice Thomas has said this is a real problem and that race should not be allowed at all in redistricting because that violates equal protection, the one person one vote standard and it's discriminatory. So I think the fact that they said we're not gonna make a decision this past June, we're gonna rehear arguments in the fall, says that they're given that serious consideration.

Well, wouldn't that make sense to you?

Yes.

I mean, we've now had a Supreme Court and I think it was John Roberts who authored decision to say we need to stop discrimination on the basis of race to stop discriminating. Stop making decisions on the basis of race. And Justice Thomas's, you mentioned, have noted that in our increasingly pluralistic American society, it actually becomes very difficult to even decide who is a majority or a minority based on where you're standing in the country, right? There are plenty of places in America where Whites are the minority, and if we continue to go down this road, wouldn't we assume there's gonna be more litigation not less? Wouldn't this be consistent with where the Supreme Court seems to have been headed in general on race?

Yeah. No, I think that's exactly right. And quite frankly, look, the best thing that could happen in states to try to prevent that kinda litigation is that when they get population data that they're gonna use redistricting, it's entirely without any racial data.

I absolutely love that suggestion. And on that wonderful advice you just gave, we're going to take our leave. We wanna thank you Hans von Spakovsky for coming on today. We wanna thank our listeners for tuning in. If you like the show, you can hit the subscribe button and if you'd like to write to us, you can at atkim@wsj.com.

WSJ Opinion: The Gerrymandering Wars Heat Up

Up Next

At Barron's

View All

MarketBrief Clips

View All

MarketBrief Full Episodes

View All

Barron's Explains

View All

Barron's Streetwise

View All

Barron's Roundtable

View All

Barron's Investing in Tech Clips

View All

Wealth Gap

View All

Level Up

View All

Barron's Events

View All

Back to Business

View All

Great Investors

View All

MarketWatch

View All