Trump’s Amateurism on Display, or is He Shorting the Market for His Family and Cronies?
We begin with Trump’s amateurism on display as he reverses himself, again backing down on reciprocal tariffs with a 90-day pause, except for China, which got hit with a 125% tariff on its exports. We examine the possibility that the grifter-in-chief is shorting the market for his friends and his family, like Jared, by causing these wild swings on the stock exchange, or that Trump realized world leaders weren’t “kissing his ass” as he claims they were. Joining us is Robert Hockett, the Edward Cornell Professor of Law and Finance and a Professor of Public Policy at Cornell University who has first-hand experience working at the International Monetary Fund and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He continues to consult for a number of U.S. federal, state, and local legislators and regulators. He drafted Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal” resolution for the House of Representatives and officially advises her on economic policy. His latest books are Money From Nothing Or, Why We Should Stop Worrying About Debt and Learn to Love the Federal Reserve; Financing the Green New Deal: A Plan of Action and Renewal; The Citizens’ Ledger: Digitizing Our Money; Democratizing Our Finance; and most recently, Spread the Fed: Distributed Central Banking for Productive Monetary Policy.
An Assessment of the Amount of Damage Ahead From Trump’s Trade War
Then we assess the amount of damage ahead from Trump’s trade war and speak with Professor Matt Gold, who teaches International Trade Law at the Fordham University School of Law. He is a Distinguished Fellow at the Geneva Trade Institute, where he teaches the United States’ rights and obligations under international trade agreements. He is a Principal at Gold & Associates, where he consults with investment funds and banks. Professor Gold was a Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative within the Executive Office of the President during the Obama-Biden Administration. He was International Trade Advisor for Joe Biden during his 2020 Presidential campaign. Professor Gold also practiced International Trade Law for more than 16 years and worked in trade policy for the U.S. Departments of State, Commerce, and Defense.
Given Today’s Drop in Oil To $56 From $72 a Barrel Last Week, What Kind of a Deal Could Emerge Between the U.S. and Iran on Saturday?
Then finally, we examine the likelihood of a deal being struck between the U.S. and Iran on Saturday and the impact of oil prices falling from $72 barrel last week to $56 today. We speak with Gregory Brew, an analyst with the Eurasia Group’s Energy, Climate & Resources team focusing on the geopolitics of oil and gas. Brew also serves as Eurasia Group’s country analyst for Iran. A historian of modern Iran, oil, and U.S. foreign policy, he is the author of The Struggle for Iran: Oil, Autocracy, and the Cold War, 1951–1954 and Petroleum and Progress in Iran: Oil, Development, and the Cold War.