Maxwell School News

“The seductive rhetoric of Trump tariffs hides a combination of contradictions, wishful thinking, and superficial understanding of economics, which sells America a mirage and threatens to weaken the stability of the global trading system,” writes Devashish Mitra, professor of economics and Gerald B. and Daphna Cramer Professor of Global Affairs.

When it comes to space exploration, “I would think that this next [Trump] administration is going to be a continuation of the success in the first administration,” says University Professor Sean O’Keefe. “[Trump] prides himself on being very unpredictable, so I wouldn’t put certainty on this, but all signs point in that direction.”

“When interest rates were very low, companies basically had endless money—and investors were telling them to focus on growth, not profitability,” says Aaron Benanav, assistant professor of sociology. “But because interest rates are rising, there’s a shift from big investors to say, ‘No, now you really have to focus on profitability.’ And the big way to do that is through cuts.”

"We had the chance to bring some people back into the workforce who had really been hurt under the recession. And I’m worried that’s going to be jeopardized before those people have a chance to get a full-time job," says Mary Lovely, professor of economics.

Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, says that while too crowded a field leads to a lack of meaningful conversation, restricting the debate stage too extensively is also not ideal because it creates "a self-fulfilling prophecy" in which dark horse candidates never get the chance to emerge.

Len Lopoo, professor of public administration and international affairs, was interviewed for the TIME article "Paid Family Leave Has Stalled in Congress for Years. Here's Why That's Changing.". Lopoo was asked about the political dimensions of Paid family leave, and why it has stumped congress for years.

Grant Reeher discusses the state politics behind abortion access in the TIme article, "Trump Keeps Talking About Second-Trimester Abortions. Here's What He Gets Wrong." As efforts heat up to ban abortion on a national level, blue states are looking to strengthen their abortion laws, while red states are attemtping to dismantle them. Reeher says these restrive efforts are meant "to be tested in courts."

On presidential candidate John Delaney's suggestion that if elected, he would debate Congress four times a year, Professor Grant Reeher opines: "I can see that this is an effort to change the political culture by requiring direct engagement, but the participants have to agree to take the exercise at face value, in front of TV cameras, and the political disincentives against doing that right now are strong."

 "When you put out things that people can get behind, you also put out things that people can criticize," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, about Senator Warren's campaign strategy to release detailed policy positions early on in the primary cycle.

"Most experts agree that there is no crisis at the southern border," William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs, says about Trump's claim that a wall is needed because of a crisis at the border.

Generally, people find workers and taxpayers to be deserving of government benefits,” says Christopher Faricy, associate professor of political science.

"Creation of a separate military service as a ‘Space Force’ is a solution in search of a problem," says Sean O’Keefe, University Professor and Howard G. and S. Louise Phanstiel Chair in Strategic Management and Leadership. "There’s no reason to believe that space-related programs would fare any better than they do today under the U.S. Air Force recognizance."

"These have morphed into levers, cudgels, whatever you want to call them," says Mary Lovely, professor of economics, about the Trump administration’s trade threats. "We’ll see what’s left in the end."

"This is obviously a really dynamic area of the law," says William C. Banks, professor of public administration and international affairs. "It’s a rapidly changing area of policy and law in states. It’s challenging for legislatures to keep up with the changes in technology — what you can do with your telephone or your gadget that’s hardly visible."

"We’ve built entire infrastructures with particular temperatures in mind," says Matthew Huber, associate professor of geography. "When temperatures get really high, we don’t have the material capacity to deal with that."

"You can't get in the way or do anything to impede an investigation that has already been launched and if you do you may suffer criminal penalties,” says William C. Banks, professor of practice of public administration and international affairs.

In the current charged political environment, a national commission might be the only path to a new approach acceptable to both parties. “Trump couldn’t stand in the way of that” if Congress moves in that direction, says William C. Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs.