The international economic system has reached a major turning point. Challenges include the rise of China, U.S. ambivalence about its role on the global stage, and Trumpian trade policy disruptions. What comes next, and what are the potential consequences?

RELATED SOURCES

ABOUT ECONOMICS, APPLIED

Economics, Applied brings together top leaders and researchers to break down key economic developments, offering evidence-based insights and practical lessons for navigating today’s economy. Economic change is constant. Subscribe to keep up: hoover.org/podcasts/economics-applied. 

Since the end of World War II, the United States has played the leading role in designing, supporting, and governing the international economic system. How did the system operate, and what were its underlying principles, goals, and challenges? Steven Davis speaks to Maurice Obstfeld about the international economic system that emerged after World War II, the central role of the United States, and how the positive-sum nature of the system fostered prosperity. They consider how the system functioned in the Bretton Woods era, the Nixon Shock of 1971, high inflation in the 1970s, transition to sound monetary policy in the 1980s, and how the U.S. Dollar became even more central to the system in the 1990s.

RELATED SOURCES

ABOUT ECONOMICS, APPLIED

Economics, Applied brings together top leaders and researchers to break down key economic developments, offering evidence-based insights and practical lessons for navigating today’s economy. Economic change is constant. Subscribe to keep up: hoover.org/podcasts/economics-applied. 

Steven Davis speaks with Carolina Arteaga and Victoria Barone, two Econ professors, about the US opioid epidemic. They discuss Purdue Pharma’s marketing strategy, its influence on physicians, and policy factors as drivers of the epidemic. Next, they consider economic consequences, the odd character of how the media covered the epidemic, the (slow) response of most politicians to a mounting tragedy, and how – over time – the opioid epidemic and its fallout drove a major political realignment in the United States. 

RELATED SOURCES

ABOUT ECONOMICS, APPLIED

Economics, Applied brings together top leaders and researchers to break down key economic developments, offering evidence-based insights and practical lessons for navigating today’s economy. Economic change is constant. Subscribe to keep up: hoover.org/podcasts/economics-applied. 

Richard Baldwin joins the podcast to speak with Steve about Trumpian Trade Policy, its underlying political logic, its lack of economic coherence, and its consequences for the American and global economies. They also discuss economic and political forces that led to the current protectionist moment in US trade policy, and whether it will endure. Finally, they outline four scenarios for the future international trading system and what it means for US economic fortunes and geopolitical influence.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Richard Baldwin is Professor of International Economics at IMD Business School and Editor-in-Chief of VoxEU, an innovative online platform that publishes short, accessible articles grounded in recent research in economics and political economy. Previously, he held faculty appointments at the Geneva Graduate Institute and Columbia Business School. He also served as Senior Staff Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers under President George H.W. Bush. 

Steven Davis is the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Hoover Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). He is a research associate of the NBER, IZA research fellow, elected fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, and consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He co-founded the Economic Policy Uncertainty project, the U.S. Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes, the Global Survey of Working Arrangements, the Survey of Business Uncertainty, and the Stock Market Jumps project. He also co-organizes the Asian Monetary Policy Forum, held annually in Singapore. Before joining Hoover, Davis was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, serving as both distinguished service professor and deputy dean of the faculty.

RELATED SOURCES

Steven Davis speaks with Kenneth Rogoff about the dominant role of the US Dollar in the international monetary and financial system, drawing on Ken’s new book, Our Dollar, Your Problem. They review how the Dollar became pre-eminent, the benefits and costs, the relationship to U.S. monetary policy, and the forces that could undermine Dollar Dominance. These include geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China, the U.S. fiscal outlook, and threats to central bank independence.  

Recorded on June 2, 2025.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Kenneth Rogoff is a Professor of International Economics at Harvard, former Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund, chess grandmaster, and author of many influential works, including his highly celebrated book with Carmen Reinhart, This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Steven Davis is the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Hoover Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). He is a research associate of the NBER, IZA research fellow, elected fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, and consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He co-founded the Economic Policy Uncertainty project, the U.S. Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes, the Global Survey of Working Arrangements, the Survey of Business Uncertainty, and the Stock Market Jumps project. He also co-organizes the Asian Monetary Policy Forum, held annually in Singapore. Before joining Hoover, Davis was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, serving as both distinguished service professor and deputy dean of the faculty.

RELATED SOURCES

Steven Davis chats again with Jens Ludwig about his new book on gun deaths in America. The conversation focuses on low-cost policy solutions that can reduce gun deaths without remaking American society. The solutions include pocket parks, predictive policing, and programs that help people think about behavior in stressful situations.

Recorded on April 23, 2025.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Jens Ludwig is the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. He is also the Pritzker Director of the University’s Crime Lab and codirector of the NBER’s working group on the economics of crime. His latest book, just out from the University of Chicago Press, is titled Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence.

Steven Davis is the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Hoover Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). He is a research associate of the NBER, IZA research fellow, elected fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, and consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He co-founded the Economic Policy Uncertainty project, the U.S. Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes, the Global Survey of Working Arrangements, the Survey of Business Uncertainty, and the Stock Market Jumps project. He also co-organizes the Asian Monetary Policy Forum, held annually in Singapore. Before joining Hoover, Davis was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, serving as both distinguished service professor and deputy dean of the faculty.

RELATED SOURCES

Steve Davis speaks to Jens Ludwig about his deeply-researched new book on gun deaths in America. They discuss why America has so many gun deaths, how traditional narratives fail to explain most gun violence, and why past policies failed to reduce the deadly toll. Ludwig also advances a fuller explanation for gun violence, grounded in evidence and behavioral insights.

Recorded on April 23, 2025.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Jens Ludwig is the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. He is also the Pritzker Director of the University’s Crime Lab and codirector of the NBER’s working group on the economics of crime. His latest book, just out from the University of Chicago Press, is titled Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence.

Steven Davis is the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Hoover Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). He is a research associate of the NBER, IZA research fellow, elected fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, and consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He co-founded the Economic Policy Uncertainty project, the U.S. Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes, the Global Survey of Working Arrangements, the Survey of Business Uncertainty, and the Stock Market Jumps project. He also co-organizes the Asian Monetary Policy Forum, held annually in Singapore. Before joining Hoover, Davis was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, serving as both distinguished service professor and deputy dean of the faculty.

RELATED SOURCES:

Steve queries Chad Bown and Doug Irwin about the rupture in U.S. trade policy under Trump 2.0, the economic consequences, and what it would take to restore confidence in the United States as a reliable trade partner.

Recorded on April 16, 2025.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Chad Bown is a Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, former Chief Economist for the U.S. State Department and the host of  Trade Talks, a podcast about international trade and trade policy.

Douglas Irwin is Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute, and author of several books on trade and trade policy, including Clashing over Commerce: A History of U.S. Trade Policy and Free Trade Under Fire.

Steven Davis is the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Hoover Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). He is a research associate of the NBER, IZA research fellow, elected fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, and consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He co-founded the Economic Policy Uncertainty project, the U.S. Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes, the Global Survey of Working Arrangements, the Survey of Business Uncertainty, and the Stock Market Jumps project. He also co-organizes the Asian Monetary Policy Forum, held annually in Singapore. Before joining Hoover, Davis was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, serving as both distinguished service professor and deputy dean of the faculty.

RELATED SOURCES:

FOLLOW OUR GUEST ON THEIR PLATFORMS:

In the 1920s, the US government sharply restricted immigration inflows from countries in Eastern and Southern Europe. At the time, most immigrants from these countries had modest skills. Steve speaks to Stanford economist Ran Abramitzky about these immigration cutbacks, their effects on the earnings of US-born workers, and how the economy adapted.

Recorded on April 2, 2025.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Ran Abramitzky is the Stanford Federal Credit Union Professor of Economics, Senior Associate Dean of the Social Sciences at Stanford University, and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. His studies economic history, with a focus on immigration and income inequality.  His recent book with Leah Boustan, Streets of Gold: America's Untold Story of Immigrant Success (PublicAffairs 2022), was listed on The New Yorker's Best Books of 2022, Forbes' Best Business Books of 2022, and Behavioral Scientist's Notable Books of 2022.

Steven Davis is the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Hoover Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). He is a research associate of the NBER, IZA research fellow, elected fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, and consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He co-founded the Economic Policy Uncertainty project, the U.S. Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes, the Global Survey of Working Arrangements, the Survey of Business Uncertainty, and the Stock Market Jumps project. He also co-organizes the Asian Monetary Policy Forum, held annually in Singapore. Before joining Hoover, Davis was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, serving as both distinguished service professor and deputy dean of the faculty.

Steve speaks to Feng Chi about her research on the commercial value of the Decennial Census of Population and Housing. Using a creative empirical approach, Feng offers evidence that fresher government statistics yield better business outcomes and more value for consumers. Steve and Feng also discuss how government statistics improve the value of statistics generated in the private sector. 

Recorded on March 19, 2025.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Feng Chi, a PhD candidate at Cornell University, will join the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an Assistant Professor of Economics in Fall 2025. She holds a Master of Science degree in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University and a B.A. in Finance from Renmin University. Her research interests are in information economics, fintech, and entrepreneurship.

Steven Davis is the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Hoover Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). He is a research associate of the NBER, IZA research fellow, elected fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, and consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He co-founded the Economic Policy Uncertainty project, the U.S. Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes, the Global Survey of Working Arrangements, the Survey of Business Uncertainty, and the Stock Market Jumps project. He also co-organizes the Asian Monetary Policy Forum, held annually in Singapore. Before joining Hoover, Davis was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, serving as both distinguished service professor and deputy dean of the faculty.