Maxwell School News and Commentary
Filtered by: The Washington Post
McDowell Discusses Trump’s Plans to Maintain Dollar Dominance in BBC, Bloomberg, Wash Post Articles
“The idea that you’d use political coercion to bind countries, or bind market actors within countries, to use the currency is not how the dollar ascended to this place in the first place,” says Daniel McDowell, professor of political science. “If that’s what’s needed to maintain dollar dominance, that shows there’s a real fundamental problem with the economic appeal.”
See related: Federal, International Affairs, Taxation, Trade, U.S. Foreign Policy, United States
Patel Speaks With the Washington Post About the Use of Sanctions as Economic Warfare by the US
“It was a pivotal moment,” Kristen Patel, Donald P. and Margaret Curry Gregg Professor of Practice in Korean and East Asian Affairs, says of President George W. Bush's targeting of a North Korean bank in 2003. “Treasury got the go-ahead to start pounding things with this hammer.”
See related: Conflict, Government, U.S. Foreign Policy, U.S. National Security, United States
O’Keefe Talks About the Need for Civil Service System Reform in Washington Post Article
“We think the current civil service system is badly in need of reform. But the blueprints offered by both left and right are problematic. One side is firmly rooted in a status quo that (inadvertently or otherwise) impedes accountability, and the other could end up politicizing the very civil servants who should be politically neutral,” writes University Professor Sean O'Keefe and his co-authors.
See related: Congress, Federal, United States
Mihm Comments on the GAO’s High-Risk List of Programs in Washington Post Article
Cybersecurity is an example of an area where risk never will be eliminated, explains Chris Mihm, adjunct professor of public administration and international affairs. “The issue is if it’s being effectively managed by the agency, by the government,” he says.
See related: Cybersecurity, Federal, United States
Benanav Speaks With the Washington Post About the Four-Day Workweek
Some of what Americans want today—better work/life balance and stronger community—can be found in what former President Richard Nixon proposed long ago, says Aaron Benanav, assistant professor of sociology. And, he adds, he was fairly progressive on economic issues by today’s standards.
See related: Autonomous Systems, Congress, Economic Policy, Labor, United States
Faulkner Discusses New York State’s Adultery Law in Washington Post Article
Laws criminalizing adultery are on the books in a handful of other states but are rarely enforced. In most cases, they were put on the books at a time when adultery was among the only ways to obtain a divorce, according to Carol Faulkner, professor of history.
See related: Law, New York State, State & Local
Banks Testimony Cited in AP, Wash Post Articles on Colorado Lawsuit to Bar Trump From the Ballot
William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs, says that once the attack on the Capitol began, Trump had options he did not use. “He should respond to his constitutional responsibilities to protect the security of the United States when there’s an assault on our democratic process,” Banks says of Trump.
See related: Federal, Law, U.S. Elections, United States
Montez Cited in Washington Post Article on the Impact of States’ Policies on Life Expectancy
The differences in state policies directly correlate to those years lost, said Jennifer Karas Montez, director of the Center for Aging and Policy Studies and author of several papers that describe the connection between politics and life expectancy.
See related: Longevity, Political Parties, State & Local, U.S. Health Policy, United States
Bendix Speaks to the Washington Post About the Maui Wildfires
Jacob Bendix, professor emeritus of geography and the environment, says the grasses provided “fine fuels that ignite easily” due to their high surface area-to-volume ratio, dense growth patterns and height.
See related: Government, United States, Wildfires
McDowell Weighs in on Brazil-China Relationship in Washington Post Article
“When China and Brazil sign an agreement like this, it’s trying to put into place the infrastructure that would make it possible to use China’s currency, but that doesn’t mean that individual firms are going to choose that,” says Daniel McDowell, associate professor of political science.
See related: China, Economic Policy, International Affairs, Latin America & the Caribbean