Peterson Perspectives: Interviews on Current Issues

Daniel Heller and Martin Chorzempa believe that policymakers need to create a regulatory framework for initial coin offerings.

PIIE Senior Fellow Chad P. Bown and Soumaya Keynes of The Economist examine what a no-deal Brexit would look like, or the economic implications if Britain were to split from the European Union without a new trade deal. They talk with Professor Swati Dhingra of the London School of Economics about her research on what reverting to World Trade Organization (WTO) tariffs would mean for the United Kingdom. They also discuss looming nontariff barriers to trade in sectors like pharmaceuticals, aviation, and financial services.

On the occasion of its 70th anniversary, PIIE Senior Fellow Chad P. Bown and Soumaya Keynes of The Economist focus on the origins of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, or GATT. They speak with the authors of "The Genesis of the GATT" (Cambridge University Press)—Professors Douglas Irwin, Petros Mavroidis, and Alan Sykes—about the gripping lead-up to the signing of the transformative trade agreement on October 30, 1947. The American Smoot-Hawley tariffs, British Imperial Preferences, World War II, Lend-Lease Act, John Maynard Keynes, James Meade, the Lacock Scholars, and many others all show up to ultimately shape the deal that governed the multilateral system over the next 70 years.

At a recent CNN town hall debate between Senators Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz, Jacob Funk Kirkegaard questioned the validity of Senator Sanders’ policy proposals to spend like a Scandinavian country while only raising taxes on the wealthiest citizens. In this Peterson Perspectives interview, Kirkegaard discusses Denmark’s effective tax rate where middle class citizens are taxed nearly 50 percent of their income.

At a recent CNN town hall debate between Senators Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz, Jacob Funk Kirkegaard questioned the validity of Senator Sanders’ policy proposals to spend like a Scandinavian country while only raising taxes on the wealthiest citizens. In this Peterson Perspectives interview, Kirkegaard discusses Denmark’s effective tax rate where middle class citizens are taxed nearly 50 percent of their income.

Soumaya Keynes of The Economist and PIIE Senior Fellow Chad P. Bown focus on the economic tension arising through the ongoing NAFTA—or North American Free Trade Agreement—talks between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The episode also dives into the question of how integrated the NAFTA economy is, exploring value-added in the hotly contested automobile industry. The trade geeks also provide rapid-fire answers to questions from listeners who were asked "What else do you want to know about NAFTA?"

Soumaya Keynes of The Economist and PIIE Senior Fellow Chad P. Bown discuss an ongoing trade dispute involving large civil aircraft jets, Bombardier and Boeing, as well as the governments of Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The dispute involves subsidies, the Trump administration’s potential imposition of tariffs, and the high-stakes politics of putting Quebec and Northern Ireland jobs at risk.

PIIE Senior Fellow Chad P. Bown and Soumaya Keynes of The Economist focus this week on the costs of increased uncertainty generated by President Trump’s threat to rip up US trade agreements as well as the United Kingdom’s Brexit vote to leave the European Union. Professor Nuno Limão of the University of Maryland joins to discuss his recent research on how trade agreements reduce investment uncertainty and provides insight from Portugal’s 1986 entry to the European Community, China’s 2001 entry to the WTO, and lessons for policymakers today.

Nicolas Véron says that rescinding AIG’s status as “systemically important” will not lead to financial instability.

Nicolas Véron says that rescinding AIG’s status as “systemically important” will not lead to financial instability.