The New Bazaar

In this discussion, Alex Armlovich, a Senior Housing Analyst at the Niskanen Center, dives into the groundbreaking ROAD to Housing Act, a bipartisan bill poised to tackle America's housing crisis. He highlights its focus on regulatory reform and innovative financing to enhance housing supply. The conversation explores the evolution of housing policy alliances, as well as successful and failed housing experiments. They also reflect on the challenges of urban transformation, the role of local governance, and the nostalgia of living in New York City.

Rob Armstrong is the writer who first coined the acronym in The TACO Trade, which stands for Trump Always Chickens Out, in a column back in April. He wasn’t trying to go viral, much less have the acronym circulate throughout Wall Street and the media, much less have President Trump be asked about it. But that’s what happened. Armstrong is the Unhedged columnist and podcaster at the Financial Times. He also had a prior career at a hedge fund, which abruptly ended in the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. He also has a PhD in philosophy, making him an unusual figure in the world of finance and economics journalism. The topics he writes about reflect this varied background. He and Cardiff reflect on the strangeness of coining a term that has such reverberations in a prominent national conversation, in this case the one surrounding President Trump’s tariff strategy, and whether the trade itself still applies. They also discuss how the feedback loops created by the acronym represent the fundamental nature of markets and the ways that societal narratives get around these days. But the main part of their chat is about US markets at the moment. Are they in a bubble? Why has there not been more of a negative effect from tariffs? And why has the US dollar fallen — and stayed fallen — while US stocks have returned to all-time highs just this week? What should we make of the horrific returns on long-term Treasuries this decade? And are higher interest rates truly here to stay? They also discuss Rob’s switch from working in finance to writing about it, and his recent column on Rene Girard and the mimetic rivalries that seem to define this political moment. Finally, they close with a surprising topic that Rob frequently also writes and speaks about: men’s fashion. Related links: The Unhedged Newsletter (Rob Armstrong)Unhedged Podcast (Katie Martin with Rob)A Wealth of Common Sense (Ben Carlson)The Overshoot (Matt Klein)Feed Me (Emily Sundberg)Rob’s Life & Arts columnRob’s FT style column Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this enlightening conversation, Nathan Goldschlag, Research Director at the Economic Innovation Group, dives into the intricate relationship between AI and employment. He shares insights from his extensive research on how AI is being embraced by various industries and its potential to enhance productivity. The discussion touches on the importance of complementary skills, the changing landscape for job seekers, and the economic implications of AI advancements. Goldschlag also highlights the ongoing challenges and debates surrounding worker displacement and the future of work.

It's hard to think of a better guide to the ongoing US-China trade war than Evan Medeiros. A professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and a lifelong scholar of the US-China relationship, Evan is also the co-author (with James Polk) of a new study, China's New Economic Weapons. Ever since the trade wars of the first Trump term, Chinese officials have been designing a new set of weapons to prepare them for another provocation from the US."Whereas in the past China mainly used basic trade or investment incentives and sanctions," the authors write, "today China is developing, testing, and deploying an entirely new collection of legal and regulatory tools for the explicit purpose of imposing targeted costs on companies and countries it sees as acting against its interests. In effect, these are precision-guided economic munitions, designed to inflict targeted and often substantial pain for political and geopolitical purposes." In other words, China has been preparing for exactly this moment. Cardiff and Evan discuss these new weapons, the long evolution of the US-China relationship, Evan's own experience in policymaking in the Obama White House, how both American and Chinese leaders have changed in the past decade, and the stakes of the current standoff.Related links: China's New Economic WeaponsChina and Russia Will Not Be SplitThe Delusion of Peak ChinaEvan's Faculty Page Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chad Bown, a leading trade economist from the Peterson Institute for International Economics and host of Trade Talks, dives deep into the turbulent world of tariffs. They discuss Trump's recent tariff decisions and their wide-reaching implications for the global trading order. Bown highlights the ongoing threats to the U.S. auto industry and the potential fallout for lower-income households. The conversation also explores the challenges of re-employing Americans in manufacturing and the complex dynamics affecting smaller nations and essential supply chains.

Joining Cardiff for this episode is Jared Bernstein, who was most recently the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors for President Joe Biden following a long career in economic policy and public service. Jared shares with Cardiff his thoughts on the current economic moment, the achievements he was most proud of during the Biden years, and a few regrets. They also discuss: How the econ policymaking sausage gets madeTrade policy, globalization with allies, and concerns about protectionismInflation challenges, including the impact of the American Rescue PlanUnions and worker bargaining powerThe housing supply crisis and the role of federal incentives for local reformsImmigrationAI’s possible effects on labor and productivity How an early musical career led Jared to economicsRELATED LINKSJared’s Substack newsletterJason Furman’s Foreign Affairs articleJared’s response to Furman2024 Economic Report of the PresidentEIG’s analysis on “Manufacturing jobs boom not reaching places hit by the China Shock” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, Cardiff chats with his EIG colleagues Adam Ozimek, chief economist, and Connor O’Brien, research analyst, about the one policy that achieves all three of the following goals simultaneously: It massively boosts the rate of economic growth through its effects on entrepreneurship, innovation, and the creation of entire new industries.It reduces inequality.Not only does it cost the taxpayers nothing, it actually saves them huge sums of money. That policy is the expansion of high-skilled immigration, a subject that became a source of contentious debate within the American right not long after the 2024 election. As it happens, Adam and Connor are the co-authors (with John Lettieri) of a big new report, Exceptional by Design, which explains how to design a high-skilled immigration that will maximize its benefits for American workers, businesses, and communities. In this chat, the three discuss: How bad thinking has led to bad policy The surprisingly nuanced economics of high-skilled immigrationThree myths about high-skilled immigrationThe flaws in the current system A new policy vision to change itThe three close with a discussion of why high-skilled immigration carries so much promise for the United States in particular — and the enormous, self-inflicted damage of failing to capitalize on it. RELATED LINKExceptional by Design, by Adam Ozimek, Connor O’Brien, and John Lettieri  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeffrey Ding, a scholar at George Washington University and author of "Technology and the Rise of Great Powers," delves into the U.S.-China tech rivalry. He presents a fresh theory emphasizing that it's not merely about developing new technologies but also about how well they spread across the economy. Ding argues that while China is perceived as an AI superpower, misconceptions about its capabilities abound. He highlights the vital role of education and decentralization in fostering innovation and discusses how effective technology diffusion can drive significant economic growth.

Kristen Soltis Anderson, a leading voice in opinion research and analytics, discusses the tight race in the upcoming presidential election. She breaks down the fluctuating polling data, emphasizing the need to understand underlying narratives rather than just numbers. The conversation also explores voter perceptions, brand stability of candidates, and how technological advancements shape political engagement. Additionally, they touch on American workers' job satisfaction and their desire for higher salaries amidst economic uncertainty.

What is the right foreign economic policy toward China? Did the Fed cut rates in time to avoid a recession? Have agglomeration economies been changed by work-from-home and the dematerializing economy? On September 21st, Paul Krugman joined host Cardiff Garcia live on stage for a sweeping conversation at the #EconTwitterIRL conference in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They discussed not only Paul’s view of the economy and his achievements in economics, but also his approach to communicating his ideas about economics — which is likely to be as important a part of Paul’s legacy as the (Nobel prize winning) economics itself.Among the other topics they covered: Paul’s hippie-punching days in the 1990s How economic geography has changed through the decadesWhether place-based policy worksWhy a previous regret no longer bothers him muchHow Paul blends style and substance in his writing Why Democrats seem so bad at running big cities The work Paul is most proud ofAnd at the end of this fun, dense, and surprisingly humorous chat, you’ll hear Paul answer the questions he fielded from the audience of economists, journalists, think tankers and others in attendance.  RELATED LINKS: Incidents from my CareerHow I WorkWhat isn’t the matter with American WorkersTPP at the NABEHow Trump Is Undermining the Economy in Some Struggling CitiesGeography and Trade Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.