Peterson Perspectives: Interviews on Current Issues

What's Peterson Perspectives: Interviews on Current Issues about?

Audio recordings of Peterson Perspectives interviews with Peterson Institute for International Economics research staff, analyzing current economic and political events.

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Peterson Perspectives: Interviews on Current Issues episodes:

02.12.2020
Trade Talks Episode 121: Can Infant Industry Protection Work? Evidence from Napoleon
The Napoleonic Blockade offered an opportunity for economists to see whether temporary protection from imports can help industrial development. Réka Juhász (Columbia University) joins to discuss her research into whether French regions better protected from trade with the British during...
01.27.2020
Trade Talks Episode 119: Stock Markets, the Economy, and Trump’s Trade Policy Uncertainty
Nick Bloom (Stanford University) joins to discuss the increase in trade policy uncertainty under President Trump and implications for investment and economic growth. They describe new ways of measuring policy uncertainty – including the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index, as well...
01.21.2020
Trade Talks Episode 118: Ins and Outs of the US-China Phase-One Trade Deal
Two former USTR negotiators join to explain the details of the new US-China trade agreement. Agriculture negotiator Darci Vetter (Edelman, 3:50) describes China’s new commitments toward US farm products, and foreign investment negotiator Lauren Mandell (WilmerHale, 18:30) explains changes to...
01.09.2020
Trade Talks Episode 117: Trump's Import Tariffs Have Hurt US Exports
New evidence reveals a side effect of President Trump’s import tariffs. The research shows that, through US supply chain linkages, the new US tariffs on imported inputs are directly contributing to the recent slowdown in US exports of outputs. Kyle...
12.30.2019
Trade Talks Episode 116: Fish Subsidies. What’s the Catch?
The WTO is failing to meet a 2020 deadline set by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to negotiate limits to fisheries subsidies. To figure out why, we went to Geneva and spoke with Alice Tipping (International Institute for Sustainable Development)...
12.20.2019
Trade Talks Episode 115: The Trade War and US Elections
Republicans lost 40 seats in the 2018 elections for the US House of Representatives. Emily Blanchard (Tuck School of Business) joins to discuss new research that investigates how Trump’s trade war affected the 2018 election. The evidence suggests the combination...
12.16.2019
Trade Talks Episode 114: US and China Announce a Phase-One Deal
Trump’s US Trade Representative provides a fact sheet and more detail on the first stage of the deal announced December 13 to address the administration’s trade war with China. The fact sheet previews an eventual 86-page legal agreement that would...
12.14.2019
Trade Talks Episode 113: How and Why Congressional Democrats Tweaked the USMCA
USMCA gets one step closer after Congressional Democrats, organized labor, the Trump administration, and Mexico strike a deal. Megan Cassella (Politico, 2:18) explains how the four-way negotiations led to the December 10 announcement of additional tweaks to the new North...
12.09.2019
Trade Talks 112: Forensic Subsidies Detectives and Trade Disputes
Government subsidies are a key battle area in today’s trade disputes between countries, including the US and China. But finding and measuring those subsidies is increasingly hard. Ken Ash uses the aluminum sector to describe the OECD’s new approach to...
11.25.2019
Trade Talks 111: Trade Policy Under Trump
Stephen Vaughn, formerly the Trump administration’s USTR General Counsel, joins in a wide-ranging conversation about the Trump administration’s trade policy. They discuss critiques of the pre-Trump approach (3:04), as well as Trump’s approach on China (6:00), the European Union (18:30),...
11.12.2019
Trade Talks 110: Will 3D Printing Increase Trade? Hear All About It
Companies can now "print" some products locally, obviating the need for trade. But for hearing aids, the economic shakeup has turned out different thus far. Caroline Freund and Michele Ruta (World Bank) join to discuss their new research examining the...
11.05.2019
Trade Talks 109: A Different US-China Fight Hits the Headlines
The WTO authorizes China to retaliate against US exports. The timing bodes poorly for an Appellate Body already under stress. They discuss how the US has failed to fix its antidumping and the “single rate presumption” issue in this dispute,...
11.01.2019
Trade Talks 107: Making Services Trade Great
Services trade gets no respect. The release of the WTO’s World Trade Report 2019 gave us a chance to fix that. Roberta Piermartini and Stela Rubinova (World Trade Organization) as well as Alan Beattie (Financial Times) join to provide insights...
10.24.2019
Trade Talks 107: Bombed Embassies and Document Leaks – How China Got into the WTO
Paul Blustein (Centre for International Governance Innovation) joins to discuss the contentious process of US-China negotiations in the late 1990s that ultimately resulted in China joining the World Trade Organization. Their discussion of his latest book – Schism: China, America,...
10.15.2019
Trade Talks 106: Trump's Mini-Deal with China
Jenny Leonard (Bloomberg News) joins to update what is known about President Trump’s October 11 announcement of a potential deal to address his ongoing trade war with China. Their wide-ranging conversation covers Beijing’s take on these developments, how this agreement...
10.07.2019
Trade Talks 105: Aircraft Subsidy Disputes: How These Tariffs Are Different
The World Trade Organization authorizes new US retaliatory tariffs on EU imports in one of its biggest and longest-running formal disputes in history. Former WTO Appellate Member Jennifer Hillman (Council on Foreign Relations) joins to explain the complexity of the...
09.30.2019
favoriteshare flag audioTrade Talks Episode 104: How to Hit Currency Manipulators and Fight the Strong Dollar
A strengthening dollar reignites a recurring debate about how to hit back against countries that deliberately weaken the value of their currencies. Joseph Gagnon (PIIE) and Maury Obstfeld (PIIE, Berkeley) join to discuss two recent and controversial policies proposed to...
09.24.2019
Trade Talks Episode 103: US-China Trade War from the Trenches
Erin Ennis and Jake Parker (US-China Business Council) join to explain results from the USCBC’s annual survey of its members of American companies doing business in China. They describe the original purpose and nearly 20-year history of the survey, as...
09.17.2019
Trade Talks Episode 102: Is Trump Beating the Chinese Economy?
Nicholas Lardy joins to provide an update on Chinese economic performance over the year since the summer 2018 outset of the trade war. They assess a number of President Trump’s recent statements by examining data on China’s economic growth, exports,...
09.16.2019
Trade Talks Episode 101: Huawei, National Security, and the Trade War
Yuan Yang (Financial Times) joins to explain the allegations and complications surrounding Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei. They discuss alleged risks to national security, IP theft, unfair trade, sanctions violations, export controls, the entity list, and more.
09.11.2019
Trade Talks Episode 100: Sneaking Up on a No-Deal Brexit
Anand Menon (The UK in a Changing Europe) joins Keynes and Bown to provide an update on political developments, as well as the shifting timeline, for Britain to depart from the European Union with or without a trade agreement. They...
09.06.2019
Trade Talks Episode 99: The Surprising Story of the US Trade Deficit with South Korea
Kadee Russ (University of California Davis) joins Keynes and Bown to discuss her research on why Korea’s trade surplus grew so widely after the Korea-US (KORUS) Free Trade Agreement went into effect in 2012. They explain the role of trade...
08.28.2019
Trade Talks Episode 98: What's Wrong with Germany's Trade Surplus?
Jeromin Zettelmeyer (Peterson Institute for International Economics) joins Keynes and Bown to explain the growth of Germany’s trade and current account surplus, and the puzzle behind why it has not gone away. They discuss the role of the Europe Union,...
08.22.2019
Trade Talks Episode 97: Watching China's Human Rights
Sophie Richardson (Human Rights Watch) joins Keynes and Bown in a wide-ranging conversation about human rights in China. They begin with basic human rights before turning to recent Chinese government efforts to surveil, detain and politically re-educate hundreds of thousands...
08.16.2019
Trade Talks Episode 96: Trump's Next China Tariffs and Fears in the Global Economy
Keynes and Bown discuss the Trump administration’s announcement to impose new tariffs totaling $300 billion of Chinese imports split across September 1 and December 15, 2019. Each tariff list targets a different set of consumer goods for the first time,...
07.19.2019
Trade Talks Episode 93: US Trade Policy Before Trump, with Ambassador Michael Froman
Former United States Trade Representative Michael Froman* joins Keynes and Bown to discuss the Obama administration’s approach toward China and the World Trade Organization. On China, they describe the challenge of relying on allies and US companies when using WTO...
07.15.2019
Trade Talks Episode 92: Japan and South Korea: Old Wounds, New Trade Fight
Keynes and Bown are joined by Dukgeun Ahn (Seoul National University) to discuss Japan’s threat to limit South Korean access to inputs needed to make display panels and semiconductors for smartphones. The current dispute traces back to failures to resolve...
07.08.2019
Trade Talks Episode 91: Can Trade Adjustment Assistance Work?
Ben Hyman (Federal Reserve Bank of New York) joins to discuss the problem of workers hurt by increased competition arising through trade. They explain the US Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program and new evidence on whether it helps workers stay...
06.12.2019
Trade Talks Episode 90: Trade Policy the Asian Way
Former Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Pangestu joins Keynes and Bown in a wide-ranging conversation about trade policy and negotiations in Asia. They chat about Indonesia’s episodes of trade liberalization, corruption, and the benefits of losing a WTO dispute. They discuss...
06.07.2019
Trade Talks Episode 89: The Migration Crisis Behind Trump's Mexico Tariff Threat
Gordon Hanson (University of California San Diego) joins Keynes and Bown to explain the migration and humanitarian crisis at the heart of President Trump’s threat to impose new tariffs on imports from Mexico. They discuss the history of undocumented migration...
06.03.2019
Trade Talks Episode 88: Trump-Mexico Trade War Cheat Sheet
Keynes and Bown describe President Trump’s decision to declare an emergency on the US southern border. On May 30, Trump invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and stated he would impose new tariffs on all US imports...
05.20.2019
Trade Talks Episode 87: Trump Shifts His National Security Threats (Again)
Keynes and Bown explain Trump’s latest trade actions in his national security cases on steel, aluminum and automobiles. They speak with Kristin Dziczek (Center for Automotive Research) about perceived threats to R&D of “American-owned” carmakers, as well as the political...
05.17.2019
Trade Talks Episode 86: When Is Tariff Revenue Bad Tax Revenue?
Lucie Gadenne (University of Warwick, IFS) joins Keynes and Bown to explain when and why some countries use import tariffs as an important source of total tax revenue collections. They discuss her research on the fiscal cost of trade liberalization,...
05.13.2019
Trade Talks Episode 85: Trump-China Negotiating Dramatics and Even More Tariffs
Keynes and Bown update the sudden change in US-China trade negotiations and President Trump’s tariff escalation. They speak with Lingling Wei in Beijing (Wall Street Journal) about misunderstandings and why the two sides remain so far apart. They also discuss...
05.07.2019
Trade Talks Episode 84: Brexit, British Politics, and European Parliamentary Elections
Duncan Robinson (The Economist) joins Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown to provide an update on the Brexit process of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. They discuss ongoing cleavages in the major British political parties, and implications of the...
05.02.2019
Trade Talks Episode 83: Tariffs for Sale and Identity Politics
Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown chat with Gene Grossman (Princeton University) about decades of research on what determines tariffs in the real world. They discuss the role that voters, politicians, lobbyists, and campaign contributions play in setting out the supply...
04.29.2019
Trade Talks Episode 82: How Big Is the USMCA? It’s Uncertain
Soumaya Keynes of The Economist and Chad P. Bown of PIIE discuss the hotly anticipated US International Trade Commission economic impact assessment of the US-Canada-Mexico Agreement. They explain the ITC use of economic models to show potential effects on the...
04.18.2019
Trade Talks Episode 81: National Security and Trade – The Fear of Imitation
Mona Pinchis-Paulsen (New York University) joins Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown to discuss the historical origins and tradeoffs of justifying trade restrictions under the threat to national security. Sparked by an April 2019 WTO ruling involving combat between Russia and...
04.09.2019
Trade Talks Episode 80: Zeroing: The Biggest WTO Threat You’ve Never Heard Of
Keynes and Bown replay episode #45 (July 2, 2018), explaining the outsized importance of "zeroing"—a technical, yet politically controversial method the United States uses to calculate antidumping tariffs. They speak to Thomas Prusa (Rutgers University) about zeroing’s contentious negotiating history,...
04.05.2019
Trade Talks Episode 79: A President Explains Mexican Trade
Former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo (Yale University Center for the Study of Globalization) joins Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown to chat about Mexico’s history of trade and trade deals. They start in 1980 with Mexico’s closed economy, and then they...
04.01.2019
Trade Talks Episode 78: Trade Talks Does Its Taxes
Kimberly Clausing (Reed College) joins Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown to explain international taxation and its impact on multinational corporations. They discuss the economic and policy concerns over profit-shifting, tax havens, and different approaches that governments have taken, including worldwide...
03.25.2019
Trade Talks Episode 77: Happy Tariffversary
One year on from the 2018 national security actions on steel and aluminum, Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown discuss who is paying for President Trump’s tariffs. They speak with David Weinstein (Columbia University) and Amit Khandelwal (Columbia Business School) about...
02.23.2019
Trade Talks Episode 73: Soybeans and the Trade War Fallout
Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown discuss the economics of soybeans, a major American export targeted by Chinese tariffs as part of the ongoing US-China trade war. Keynes visits farms in Iowa, and the two explain the impact of competition from...
02.14.2019
Trade Talks Episode 72: Richard Baldwin on Disruption, Technology and Trade
Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown sit down with Richard Baldwin (Graduate Institute) to talk about centuries of economic and social change resulting from the combined forces of globalization and new innovations. They also discuss his new book "The Globotics Upheaval:...
02.07.2019
Trade Talks Episode 71: Money Matters for Trade
Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown sit down with Kalina Manova (University College London) to talk about how corporate finance affects international trade. They discuss her research on how access to finance can be a source of comparative advantage, how the...
01.30.2019
Trade Talks Episode 70: Nicholas Lardy on the Chinese Economy
Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown sit down with Nicholas Lardy (PIIE) to talk about his new book “The State Strikes Back: The End of Economic Reform in China?” They discuss the evolution of Chinese economic development since 1978, the role...
01.25.2019
Trade Talks Episode 69: Slowbalization
Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown discuss forces working to slow the pace of globalization. Patrick Foulis (The Economist) joins from Davos, Robert Johnson from the University of Notre Dame and finally Susan Lund of the McKinsey Global Institute from Washington,...
01.19.2019
Trade Talks Episode 68: Brexit Votes for Uncertainty
Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown discuss the rocky departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union. Sam Lowe (Centre for European Reform) joins for an update on the latest political developments as Britain approaches the March 29, 2019 deadline....
01.15.2019
Trade Talks Episode 67: Blood Trade
Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown speak with Alice Fulwood (The Economist) about what is behind the $150 billion of annual trade in blood plasma products. They cut through the mystery of the exploding trade flows by explaining technological advancements, value-added,...
12.17.2018
Trade Talks Episode 66: Paul Krugman Talks Trade
Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown sit down with Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman (CUNY and New York Times) in a wide-ranging interview about international trade. They discuss NAFTA, labor standards, and the USMCA (2:25); the current toxicity of trade politics...

What's Peterson Perspectives: Interviews on Current Issues about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Peterson Perspectives: Interviews on Current Issues episodes:

Trade Talks Episode 121: Can Infant Industry Protection Work? Evidence from Napoleon

Trade Talks Episode 119: Stock Markets, the Economy, and Trump’s Trade Policy Uncertainty

Trade Talks Episode 118: Ins and Outs of the US-China Phase-One Trade Deal

Trade Talks Episode 117: Trump's Import Tariffs Have Hurt US Exports

Trade Talks Episode 116: Fish Subsidies. What’s the Catch?

Trade Talks Episode 115: The Trade War and US Elections

Trade Talks Episode 114: US and China Announce a Phase-One Deal

Trade Talks Episode 113: How and Why Congressional Democrats Tweaked the USMCA

Trade Talks 112: Forensic Subsidies Detectives and Trade Disputes

Trade Talks 111: Trade Policy Under Trump

Trade Talks 110: Will 3D Printing Increase Trade? Hear All About It

Trade Talks 109: A Different US-China Fight Hits the Headlines

Trade Talks 107: Making Services Trade Great

Trade Talks 107: Bombed Embassies and Document Leaks – How China Got into the WTO

Trade Talks 106: Trump's Mini-Deal with China

Trade Talks 105: Aircraft Subsidy Disputes: How These Tariffs Are Different

favoriteshare flag audioTrade Talks Episode 104: How to Hit Currency Manipulators and Fight the Strong Dollar

Trade Talks Episode 103: US-China Trade War from the Trenches

Trade Talks Episode 102: Is Trump Beating the Chinese Economy?

Trade Talks Episode 101: Huawei, National Security, and the Trade War

Trade Talks Episode 100: Sneaking Up on a No-Deal Brexit

Trade Talks Episode 99: The Surprising Story of the US Trade Deficit with South Korea

Trade Talks Episode 98: What's Wrong with Germany's Trade Surplus?

Trade Talks Episode 97: Watching China's Human Rights

Trade Talks Episode 96: Trump's Next China Tariffs and Fears in the Global Economy

Trade Talks Episode 93: US Trade Policy Before Trump, with Ambassador Michael Froman

Trade Talks Episode 92: Japan and South Korea: Old Wounds, New Trade Fight

Trade Talks Episode 91: Can Trade Adjustment Assistance Work?

Trade Talks Episode 90: Trade Policy the Asian Way

Trade Talks Episode 89: The Migration Crisis Behind Trump's Mexico Tariff Threat

Trade Talks Episode 88: Trump-Mexico Trade War Cheat Sheet

Trade Talks Episode 87: Trump Shifts His National Security Threats (Again)

Trade Talks Episode 86: When Is Tariff Revenue Bad Tax Revenue?

Trade Talks Episode 85: Trump-China Negotiating Dramatics and Even More Tariffs

Trade Talks Episode 84: Brexit, British Politics, and European Parliamentary Elections

Trade Talks Episode 83: Tariffs for Sale and Identity Politics

Trade Talks Episode 82: How Big Is the USMCA? It’s Uncertain

Trade Talks Episode 81: National Security and Trade – The Fear of Imitation

Trade Talks Episode 80: Zeroing: The Biggest WTO Threat You’ve Never Heard Of

Trade Talks Episode 79: A President Explains Mexican Trade

Trade Talks Episode 78: Trade Talks Does Its Taxes

Trade Talks Episode 77: Happy Tariffversary

Trade Talks Episode 73: Soybeans and the Trade War Fallout

Trade Talks Episode 72: Richard Baldwin on Disruption, Technology and Trade

Trade Talks Episode 71: Money Matters for Trade

Trade Talks Episode 70: Nicholas Lardy on the Chinese Economy

Trade Talks Episode 69: Slowbalization

Trade Talks Episode 68: Brexit Votes for Uncertainty

Trade Talks Episode 67: Blood Trade

Trade Talks Episode 66: Paul Krugman Talks Trade