The Political Conversation

The Political Conversation

By Wally KnoxNewsPolitics
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The Political Conversation episodes

  • Short: The ECA Can Still Pass. Here's what's at play–with Cong. Adam Schiff

    At this moment, only two members of Congress can challenge any state's electoral college votes and throw the election into chaos in 2024. That's why passing the Electoral Count Act is paramount–to prevent a Jan 6 repeat, and to protect election integrity. But it's never that simple, of course–it has to make it through Congress first.


    Listen to this week's ten-minute episode, to hear Congressman Adam Schiff discuss what the bill aims to do, the opportunity for bipartisanship, and how and when this bill may make it through the chambers.

    11 min
  • Ep. 13: What To Believe on Inflation and Recession, with Brad Delong

    Several camps have strong views on what the Federal Reserve should do next to control inflation.  And on the federal budget, there always are arguments about whether the deficits are too large or needed to keep America working. Who do we believe?  

    Wally asked that of Brad DeLong, a heavy-duty macroeconomist at Berkeley and former Assistant Director of the Treasury who has just published Slouching Toward Utopia, a history of the economy from its takeoff around 1870 to our times.

    https://www.thepoliticalconversation.org/

    1 hr 1 min
  • Short: The Impact of the Midterms In the Era of Instability
    Will the 2022 Midterm election show that we have polarized into hostile camps? That the center in our politics called the shots in the key races?  In race after race, were the results determined by which way the Independents went? Or were races dominated by Democratic or Republican loyalists? 
    An interesting context for thinking about the Midterms and their role over time is provided by Stanford professor Morris Fiorina who takes a wider, academic view–in today's 15-minute episode, I return to his work to examine this moment.
    15 min
  • Ep. 12: Globalization is Out and Productivism is In, with Dani Rodrik

    Globalization made many promises, but left one detail out: it would pit American workers against workers elsewhere around the globe working for a fraction of their pay. The result was a multi-decade decline of our middle class. In the 1990s, Dani Rodrik of Harvard predicted that people would rebel and elect a spokesperson to voice their rage. Anyone come to mind?


    Decades ago Rodrik’s was a lonely voice; today he is sought after. Rodrik is looking ahead again, this time he foresees the rise of a new economic consensus. I sat down with him to examine just what he foresees.

    https://www.thepoliticalconversation.org/

    56 min
  • Ep. 11: Can taxes be pro-technology and pro-worker at the same time? With Daron Acemoglu
    For Daron Acemoglu, the prominent MIT economist relied on from The Times to Politico, what is missing from our current debate on business taxation is an awareness of the difference between taxes on labor and taxes on capital.  In our conversation on The Political Conversation, Acemoglu lays out how the huge rate difference between taxes on work (25 percent) and the taxes on capital (now 5 percent) has driven a reckless embrace of automation and has been the primary driver of the destruction of our middle class.  

    Can taxes be pro-technology and pro-worker at the same time? Daron weighs in. 
    1 hr 1 min
  • Ep. 9: Is America Ready for a Third Party? With Darry Sragow

    We've all wondered, at one time or another: Are these really our only two choices? But turning that thought to action is not the popular thing to do. This didn't phase Darry Sragow in 2011, when the opportunity to join a serious effort to create a third American party came about. 


    Sragow's views on America's need for a third party come out of decades spent as a senior official at the federal and state levels and as campaign consultant for a small armada of successful candidates.

    https://www.thepoliticalconversation.org/

    48 min
  • Ep. 8: Thinking beyond partisan gridlock with Henry Waxman and Frances Lee

    Some say Washington just hasn't gotten much done; for others, our democracy seems to be on the brink of collapse.


    Take a break from the despair with Frances Lee of Princeton and Congressman Henry Waxman. Lee discusses her new book The Limits of Party, which aptly challenges the idea of total partisan gridlock. Henry Waxman adds the inside perspective as one of the foremost legislators of his times.

    1 hr 9 min
  • Ep. 7: What it Takes to Govern Versus What it Takes to Win, with Governor Steve Bullock

    In 2012 and in 2016, Steve Bullock was elected to be a Democratic Governor in Montana. In 2016, 25% of his vote also voted for Donald Trump. It is safe to say Bullock understands rural voters, swing voters, and persuadable Trump voters.


    In his interview on The Political Conversation, he argues: Democrats might be able to win the presidency with a coastal majority. But with only that, you cannot govern. Governing requires a lot more.

    54 min

About The Political Conversation

From the publisher's feed

The podcast in search of an honest conversation about the vast political changes going on in America.