President, River Twice Research
President of River Twice Research; author of Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World and Superfusion: How China and America Became One Economy and Why the World's Prosperity Depends on It
The S&P Downgrade: Economics and Politics After a weekend of silence, President Obama addressed the S&P downgrade and the US economy this afternoon from a White House dining room. He said that the US will always be a AAA-country, and Standard and Poor's is the only ratings agency to downgrade its credit rating to AA+.
The S&P Downgrade: Economics and Politics Fingers of blame are being pointed in every direction as Wall Street and world financial markets react to history's first downgrade of America's credit rating. Standard and Poor's is taking its own licks for bad mathematics and because other ratings firms are keeping the US at AAA . Is President Obama at fault? What about Tea Party Republicans and European economies? Why are US Treasuries still the safest place to be? What's next for local governments and individuals with home and auto loans?
China: Before and After Election Day In this year's political campaigns, Democrats and Republicans are accusing each other of helping to cause America's economic decline. In the process, both parties are demonizing China.
China: Before and After Election Day Television commercials featuring Chinese music, pictorial characters and gongs suggest that China has morphed from a "Communist threat" to an economic menace. While Democrats claim free trade pushed American jobs to a foreign country, Republicans say "green" stimulus money is being used to buy Chinese products. Have both parties found the same scapegoat to blame for America's problems? Will policies change once the voting is over, or have US consumerism and profit-making combined to create an economic knot that can't easily be untied?
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
President Trump: US to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord Trump says he was elected to serve Pittsburgh, not Paris.
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?