Are We Rome? Ben Powell Compares the U.S. with the Roman Empire

"If we continue down the misguided path that the government is taking us, then the future does not look good," says Free Market Institute's Ben Powell.

Reason's Nick Gillespie caught up with Powell to discuss the theme of this year's Freedom Fest, "Are We Rome?" and whether America is following in Rome's footsteps towards decline.

"Our economic freedom has been plummeting the last ten years," Powell says, "and this isn't a product of Obama. It's Bush and Obama consistently. More than half of our decline in economic freedoms happened under Bush. It's just the rate of decline is happening more under Obama."

Held each July in Las Vegas, Freedom Fest is attended by around 2,000 limited-government enthusiasts and libertarians. Reason TV spoke with over two dozen speakers and attendees and will be releasing interviews over the coming weeks. Go here for an ever-growing playlist of this year's interviews.

About 5 minutes.

Produced by Tracy Oppenheimer. Camera by Paul Detrick and Oppenheimer.

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