1619 Project: A Flawed Interpretation With a Hidden Agenda (Video)

– February 5, 2023 Reading Time: < 1 minute

In this episode of Liberty Curious, Kate Wand and AIER Research and Education Director Phillip W. Magness highlight the historical flaws of the 1619 project, and explore why it excludes abolitionists like Frederick Douglass.

Phil describes how the project’s creators use pro-slavery figures to denounce free-market capitalism, and exposes the underlying Marxist ideology that underpins the 1619 Project’s premises. Ironically, as Phil explains, slavery has more in common with Marxism than the 1619 project’s authors care to admit.

Phillip W. Magness works at the Independent Institute. He was formerly the Senior Research Faculty and F.A. Hayek Chair in Economics and Economic History at the American Institute for Economic Research. He holds a PhD and MPP from George Mason University’s School of Public Policy, and a BA from the University of St. Thomas (Houston). Prior to joining AIER, Dr. Magness spent over a decade teaching public policy, economics, and international trade at institutions including American University, George Mason University, and Berry College. Magness’s work encompasses the economic history of the United States and Atlantic world, with specializations in the economic dimensions of slavery and racial discrimination, the history of taxation, and measurements of economic inequality over time. He also maintains an active research interest in higher education policy and the history of economic thought. His work has appeared in scholarly outlets including the Journal of Political Economy, the Economic Journal, Economic Inquiry, and the Journal of Business Ethics. In addition to his scholarship, Magness’s popular writings have appeared in numerous venues including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Newsweek, Politico, Reason, National Review, and the Chronicle of Higher Education.