Maxwell School News and Commentary

"As these last few weeks have shown us, the pandemic is not over," says Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, professor of economics. He says the recent surge in COVID-19 cases could lead to another round of business closures and job losses, potentially unwinding a portion of the labor market’s summer rebound.

Meeting the terms of the ["Phase One" trade] deal could now rely on the state’s willingness to step in and make the purchases instead of the private sector, says Mary Lovely, professor of economics. "There are going to be a lot of businesses in China that are not going to survive this," she says, referring to the lockdowns associated with the coronavirus.

The new system "is a gigantic finger in the eye of WTO," says Mary Lovely, professor of economics. "The decider will be the trade representative in consultation with the president."

"We borrowed a lot of money to give tax cuts to big corporations and rich people in not the most effective way," says Leonard Burman, Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics. "The real concern is the growing debt and the possibility that interest rates won’t stay low forever—and I don’t think they will." 

"I think that if President Trump goes through and raises these tariffs and then China retaliates, there will be a lot more pain and no gain," says Professor of Economics Mary Lovely.

"More tariffs and failure to get a deal will ultimately seem to people like further failure of the government," says Mary Lovely, professor of economics.

According to Mary Lovely, professor of economics, the rules around Made in America labeling can be confusing, and companies can violate them without realizing it. "There are rules, and companies—even if they’re trying to abide by them—may find them complicated, so issuing a cease and desist, it might not be unreasonable."

"The first few rounds of tariffs hit supply chains really hard," says Mary Lovely, professor of economics. Now, the Trump administration "has begun to hit things clearly not processed in the U.S.—consumer goods—and this is going to get people’s attention."

Len Lopoo, professor of public administration and international affairs, and Kerri Raissian '08 M.P.A./'13 Ph.D. (PA), argue that the steady decline of the birthrate in the U.S. could be a "harbinger of difficulties on the horizon," impacting Social Security and Medicare, and affecting the number of young people to enter the military and to innovate in business.