Welcome back! On today’s episode, Mercatus scholar Matthew Mitchell and Mercatus Distinguished Adjunct Fellow, Bruce Yandle, discuss the recent hot button topics flooding the current news headlines and their influence heading into the 2020 presidential election. What will be the economic impacts of the trade wars and Trump's tariffs? Who's really losing when it comes to paying for these tariffs? What do the Trump impeachment proceedings mean for the economy? Matt and Bruce sit down to discuss these questions and much more. And to end their conversation on a lighter note, Matt and Bruce also share stories about Bruce's grandson Adam Smith and discuss some books they hope to see in their stockings this holiday season. Check out Bruce Yandle's December 2019 Economic Situation Report here and to learn more about the latest research at Mercatus, please visit The Bridge. Want to get in touch with one of our scholars featured on the Download? Email Kate De Lanoy at kdelanoy@mercatus.gmu.edu. 

We're back to bring you a special episode on CDA Section 230 or, as one of our guests put it “the 26 words that created the Internet." This law paved the way for the explosion of Facebook, YouTube, and numerous other internet companies by protecting them from being held liable for what users say and do on their platforms. This also allowed each platform the freedom to develop its own content moderation standards. But, as these platforms have grown larger and central to public discourse, some are worried that section 230 gives tech companies far too much influence in who can say what. So, is 230 due for a reform? And if so, how? To unpack this topic further, Mercatus Scholar Brian Knight hosts today's episode.  In addition, we're joined by Jennifer Huddleston, Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center, whose research involves tech policy and law, Jeff Kosseff, Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity Law at the United States Naval Academy, Cyber Science Department, and the author of The 26 Words That Created The Internet, and finally, Adam Candeub, a professor of law and the Director of the Intellectual Property, Information, and Communications Law program at Michigan State University. Want to get in touch with one of our scholars featured on the Download? Email Kate De Lanoy at kdelanoy@mercatus.gmu.edu.  Today's What's on Tap beverage is Rhinegeist Brewery's Bubbles Rose' Ale from Cincinnati, Ohio.

Few words are more politically and emotionally charged in Washington than “healthcare.” Just as the Affordable Care Act was hitting a decade or so of nearly continuous debate, so-called Medicare for All proposals have become the latest battleground for healthcare policy wonks. Even beneath those big picture headline debates, other, smaller questions swirl around the healthcare world, including issues like prescription drug prices. We'd probably bet that the looming 2020 election season isn’t going to do much to end the country’s existential debate on what healthcare should look like, meaning these fights aren’t going away anytime soon. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make some progress, or at least shed a little light on them. Here to do that, we're joined by a couple of healthcare policy experts. First up, Tara O’Neill Hayes, Deputy Director of Health Care Policy at the American Action Forum. Tara’s work focuses on health insurance costs and coverage, including Medicare, Medicaid, and all the other issues that come along with it. Tara also spent some time as a Congressional staffer covering healthcare and budget issues. Next, we're pleased to welcome back to the show Bob Graboyes. The last time we caught up with Bob we were talking about medical drones, so we’re glad he’s back to both continue and broaden out that discussion a bit. Bob is a Senior Research Fellow and healthcare scholar here at Mercatus, and has years of experience researching and teaching the economics of healthcare. As we say goodbye to our host Chad, we want to hear from you! Email our producer Dallas at dfloer@mercatus.gmu.edu with your feedback on why you want the show to continue, how the show has helped you understand a particular topic better, or any general feedback on why you love the show. Our inboxes are open and we're ready to hear what you have to say. Today's What's on Tap beer features New Belgium Brewing's Passion Fruit Kolsch. You can continue to keep up with Chad on Twitter @ChadMReese. Thanks for listening. Cheers!

While it sometimes feels like a lifetime ago, it was just back in August of 2011 that Standard & Poor’s downgraded the United States’ credit rating from AAA to AA+. Since then, concerns about US federal debt have gotten less and less attention with each passing year even as debt itself continued to rise. For context, we think the number the last time we checked was just north of $22 trillion, while the federal deficit was just shy of a trillion dollars. But should we even care? After all, the US seems to have shouldered high levels of debt for a long time, and aside from the 2011 credit downgrade, doesn’t appear to have obviously suffered for it. Some proponents of a new idea called “Modern Monetary Theory” or MMT for short, even argue that as long as the Federal Reserve is around, US deficit spending is largely irrelevant. Here to talk about what US debt actually means for taxpayers and policymakers, we’re joined by two excellent guests. Tom Grennes joins us on the phone. Tom is a Professor of Economics Emeritus at North Carolina State, and author of a recent Mercatus paper on this topic titled “New Evidence on Debt as an obstacle to US Economic Growth" featuring his co-authors Mehmet Caner and Michael Fan. We have Kate Davidson here in the studio with us. Kate is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal covering the Federal Reserve and US economy from the Journal’s Washington Bureau, and before that she covered bank regulation and policy for Politico and American Banker. Follow Chad on Twitter at @ChadMReese. Today's What's on Tap beverage features Union Craft Brewing's Duckpin Pale Ale from Baltimore, Maryland.

Deference is one of those magical words in the world of regulatory policy. Different types of deference play a huge role in how courts and federal agencies interact when it comes to deciding cases, and those cases in turn help shape federal policy on everything from healthcare to financial markets to environmental protection. We say that upfront, because we’re about to dip our toes in the waters of administrative law, that’s the branch of law that deals with how regulations are made, and Chad's the only non-lawyer here at the table. So he reserves the right to interrupt and ask for clarifications as we go. That said, we’re here today to talk about Kisor v. Wilkie, a case currently before the US Supreme Court. On paper, this is a case about the Department of Veterans’ Affairs decision to deny a veteran benefits. James Kisor is the veteran, and Robert Wilkie is the Secretary of the VA. But as with any case before the Supreme Court, more is at stake here than just the people named in the individual case, and here to explain why this case matters and what we know about it so far are two regulatory legal experts. First, we're happy to welcome back to the show Jennifer Huddleston. Jennifer is a scholar here at Mercatus whose work often focuses on the intersection between technology and regulation. She’s been on the Download here before to talk about transportation innovation as well as data privacy. Second, from all the way on the other side of the building, we’re joined by Adam White. Adam is the Executive Director of the C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State here at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. He’s also a law professor there and wears a handful of other academic and policy hats. Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadMReese. Check out the Bridge for all Mercatus research, all the time. Love the show? Give us a rating on Apple Podcasts! It helps other podcasts listeners find the show. Today's What's on Tap beverage is brought to you by Devil's Backbone Brewing Company in Lexington, Virginia.

At any given time in an economy, you generally have two groups of people: some who have extra money and want to find a way to put it to use, and others who have ideas for how to use that money. The various products, services, and institutions that work to connect those two groups of people are collectively known as “capital markets,” and they’re a vital part of making the economy work, from providing vehicles for retirement savings to funding new businesses just starting up, or helping existing firms expand. With all that money flowing back and forth, of course, comes risk, and today we wrap up our three part series on resiliency by talking about ways to ensure that US capital markets are resilient to the normal ups and downs of economic activity. Joining us again as special co-host is Brian Knight, Mercatus scholar and financial regulations expert. Our first guest today is Georgetown University law professor Urska Velikonja. Urska has written extensively on securities regulation and enforcement both for academic journals and major media outlets. We’re also joined by Andy Vollmer, University of Virginia law professor and director of the John W. Glynn Jr. law and business program. Andy has worked as a partner in a securities litigation and enforcement practice group, and served as deputy general counsel at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadMReese. Today's What's on Tap beverage features the KBS Bourdon Barrel-Aged Bourdon Coffee Stout by Founders Brewing Co.

Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Mercatus Policy Download.   This week, we're very happy to be able to connect our listeners with Dr. Bruce Yandle, Distinguished Adjunct Fellow at Mercatus, Dean Emeritus at Clemson University, and author of the now-famous “Bootleggers and Baptists” model for understanding unlikely political alliances.   Long-time Mercatus fans will know that Bruce has been providing regular updates on the state of the economy for some time now, and earlier this month he released the March 2019 edition. Last week, he was on Capitol Hill sharing his economic situation report with policymakers, and we thought we’d share the audio from that meeting with you.   In just a minute, Bruce will talk about the December Market sell-off and what it means for 2019, the effects of the government shutdown, the future of interest rate policy, and more.   Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadMReese.   Want to learn more about Bruce? You can find his work and other quarterly economic situation reports here.   Follow along with Bruce's slideshow presentation here.

Today’s episode is part two in our resiliency series. Last time we talked housing and the Financial Crisis, and we’re not straying too far from that today. We’re going to be talking banking resiliency. For a long time, banks have been viewed as big, secure buildings where we keep our money and go to get a mortgage. Events like the financial crisis, however, tend to force people in the broader economy to wonder: how do we stop bank crises before they begin? Today, we’re going to try and get at the heart of that question by discussing what a resilient banking system looks like, whether or not we’re there after a decade of regulatory responses to the crisis, and where there’s room for improvement. To do that, we're joined once again by co-host Brian Knight, Mercatus Center senior research fellow and expert on a wide variety of financial regulatory issues. We're happy to have a couple guests in the studio with us. First up, Victoria Guida, financial services reporter for Politico Pro. And fresh off the train from Philadelphia, senior research fellow and Mercatus colleague Stephen Matteo Miller.  Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadMReese.   Today's What's on Tap beverage features Old Ox Brewery in Ashburn, Virginia.

Today we start a special miniseries on the idea of economic resiliency. Over the course of several weeks, we’ll be diving into three distinct policy areas to talk about ways policymakers can help make consumers, specific markets, and the entire economy better able to withstand shocks and crises. To help guide us through the series, we'll be joined by a special co-host, Brian Knight. Brian is a scholar here at Mercatus, directing our work on financial regulation, and is the perfect person to both contribute policy expertise and ask some probing questions of our additional guests as we work our way through the series. For today’s episode, we’re starting at the only place it makes sense to start a series about financial resiliency: the housing market. Often considered a primary source of the 2008 financial crisis, housing has gone from being considered the safest and most reliable markets in the US economy to one viewed with suspicion. Luckily for us, we have two extremely well-qualified folks in the studio today to help walk us through the past, present, and, hopefully, future of housing in the United States, and over the next 30 minutes or so, we’ll hopefully land on some ideas for making housing more resilient for everyone. First, we welcome back to the show Emily Hamilton. Emily is an economist here at Mercatus specializing in state and local policy. Emily’s research often focuses on land use regulations, looking at the local, state, and federal laws that play a significant role in shaping where and how people live. And to round-out the group I’m very happy to welcome Kevin Erdmann. Kevin is a visiting fellow with the Mercatus Center, and just released a new book entitled Shut Out that offers a bit of a contrarian take on the housing boom and bust. Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadMReese. Today's What's on Tap beer is the Partly Cloudy New England Style IPA from Solace Brewing in Sterling, VA.

Data privacy. Just saying those two words together probably conjures a whole host of emotions, ranging from suspicion and fear about the way corporations collect and use our personal information to amazement at the quantity and variety of digital products and services that our personal data buys us access to. As any lawyer will tell you, privacy has always been a tricky issue to pin down, and the digital age has made that even more obvious, as consumers seem both more willing than ever to share private information about themselves freely online and simultaneously more concerned that such information might be used improperly. For today’s episode, we’re going to be talking with some tech experts who deal with these issues every day. Mercatus scholar Jennifer Huddleston. Jennifer’s research focuses on the intersection of emerging technology and law Shane Tews, Visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where she focuses on cybersecurity and internet governance Brendan Bordelon, tech and cybersecurity reporter at National Journal   Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadMReese. Love the show? Give us a rating on Apple Podcasts! Today's What's on Tap beverage is Budweiser's Copper Lager.