Oren Cass
Oren Cass is the executive director 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 CNN Opinion, and his work also appears regularly in publications including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
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.
Chipping away at globalization is a smart move Share This
CNN—American Compass’s Oren Cass argues that the CHIPS Act marks an inflection point for America turning away from globalization and revitalizing domestic industry.
CHIPS Won’t Help China Share This
THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE—American Compass executive director Oren Cass argues that demanding perfect legislation is a convenient excuse for voting no, and a standard by which everyone would always vote no.
Pass the CHIPS, Please Share This
Congress finally appears poised to make progress on a competitiveness bill that focuses squarely on an especially pressing need: support for the domestic semiconductor industry. The case for doing this has been well made in numerous forums, from American Compass’s own Guide to the Semiconductor Industry and analysis at National Review to the recent Wall […]
Recovering a Sense of Papoose Share This
In this week’s Compass Point, Pursuing the Reunification of Home and Work, Erika Bachiochi throws a fascinating curveball into the modern debate over home economics. That debate, to oversimplify, pits the mid-20th-century model of breadwinner-plus-homemaker against the late-20th-century model of the dual-income household.
Post-Roe, the GOP is stepping up to support American families Share This
CNN—American Compass executive director Oren Cass discusses the promising shift on the right-of-center toward supporting generous pro-family benefits like Senator Romney’s Family Security Act 2.0.
The climate crisis is no excuse for backsliding on democracy Share This
FINANCIAL TIMES—For progressives, the US Supreme Court’s EPA ruling should have been a teachable moment, argues American Compass executive director Oren Cass.
College Is Not For All Share This
THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE—American Compass’s Oren Cass and Wells King discuss the reality that most young Americans miss out on commencement.
Brave New Regulation Share This
Silicon Valley’s techno-optimists insist loudly on two contradictory points. On one hand, they celebrate the Internet and its associated innovations with phrases like “paradigm shift” and “creative destruction,” and celebrate themselves as the visionaries leading humanity into (unironically) a Brave New World. On the other, they reject the need for new public regulation, insisting that […]
The Banality of Student Loans Share This
Desacralizing higher education financing would impose cost discipline on the industry, limit enrollment to students likely to succeed, and provide fair relief to borrowers.
Who Has the Expertise to Watch the Experts? Share This
What role should experts play in our politics? Of course, they have their own freedom of speech, and are welcome to hawk their wares in the marketplace of ideas. But when election day arrives, their votes count no more or less than others, and they are far fewer in number. Democracy relies upon non-experts to […]
Cutting China tariffs will offer no respite from rising prices Share This
FINANCIAL TIMES—American Compass executive director Oren Cass makes the case against rolling back tariffs on China in response to inflation.
Is Washington the Next Detroit? Share This
Our latest Compass Point is by James M. Roberts, long-time research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and co-editor of their Index of Economic Freedom, reflecting on his experience in the conservative establishment and the perils of a political movement running on autopilot. “Conservatives are fond of warning that a government program, once established, never dies,” […]