Harvard’s Nancy Koehn on Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times

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Mike talks to historian Nancy Koehn, who holds the James E. Robison chair of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Dr. Koehn’s research focuses on effective leadership and how leaders, past and present, craft lives of purpose, worth, and impact.

She’s the author of multiple books, including Ernest Shackleton: Exploring Leadership, The Story of American Business: From the Pages of the New York Times, and Brand New: How Entrepreneurs Earned Consumers’ Trust from Wedgwood to Dell. Her latest book is Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times, which has just been released.

Mike and Dr. Koehn discuss the common traits great leaders possess, reasons for declining trust in our political leaders, her advice for those who aspire to be great leaders, her leadership comparison of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and lots more.

– follow Dr. Koehn on Twitter
– Dr. Kohen’s website
– Forged in Crisis (Amazon)

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PG119: Price Resigns, Puerto Rico, Senate Primary, Graham-Cassidy, New Travel Ban, Tax Reform

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Mike and Jay start off this jam-packed episode with a look at the resignation of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price in the wake of a travel scandal. Mike points out that Price joins an unusually large contingent of former Trump staffers for such a young administration, but both Mike and Jay agree that President Trump did the right thing in forcing Price’s resignation.

Next, it’s a look at the federal government’s response to the devestation caused by hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Once again, the Guys agree that the administration’s efforts have been good, especially considering the unique challenges presented by Puerto Rico’s location, as well as emergency response resources being stretched thin after hurricanes Harvey and Irma. That said, Jay thinks that the Trump team could use some remedial lessons in messaging.

After that, the Guys talk about the Alabama Republican Senate primary race, where former judge, and ardent cultural conservative Roy Moore soundly defeated incumbent Luther Strange, despite President Trump’s support of Strange.

Following that is a discussion of the vote that wasn’t on Graham-Cassidy, the latest (and last, for now) GOP attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare, a look at the latest Trump travel ban, and Mike and Jay’s analysis of the Republicans’ tax reform framework.

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Glenn Hubbard on Tax Cuts, Growth, Inequality, & Secular Stagnation

Mike talks to economist Glenn Hubbard. Dr. Hubbard is dean and Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics at Columbia Business School.

In addition to writing more than 100 scholarly articles in economics and finance, Dr. Hubbard is the author of three popular textbooks, as well as co-author of The Aid Trap: Hard Truths About Ending Poverty, Balance: The Economics of Great Powers From Ancient Rome to Modern America, and Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Five Steps to a Better Health Care System.

Dr. Hubbard also has a wealth of real-world economic policy experience. From 1991 – 1993 he was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. From 2001 until 2003, he was chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush, where he played a key role in the design of the 2003 Bush tax cuts. He also served as an economic advisor to the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney, and the 2016 campaign of Jeb Bush. In the corporate sector, he serves on the boards of ADP, BlackRock Closed-End Funds, and MetLife.

Dr. Hubbard is co-chair of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, a past Chair of the Economic Club of New York, and a past co-chair of the Study Group on Corporate Boards.

Mike and Dr. Hubbard discuss the fall of great powers throughout history, whether economists are too disconnected from the real world, pro-growth tax reform, what economists agree on, the value added tax, and lots more.

Dr. Hubbard Recommends:
– The Economist
– Think tank research. Two of our favorites at The Politics Guys are the right-of-center American Enterprise Institute and the left-of-center Brookings Institution.

Dr. Hubbard’s Website

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PG 118: Trump’s UN Speech, The Escalating Nomenclature of North Korea and the United States, Facebook and Drudge go Russian, and the Alabama Primary

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This week Trey explains how hurricane Irma had him evacuate the state of Florida and offer thanks to all the listeners who inquired about his family and home. Then Trey and Jay turn to politics and the week’s biggest story: Trump’s United Nations speech. Trey, despite himself, was a bit impressed, but Trey and Jay disagree over the bigger implications of the speech. Most pointedly, they debate whether the Republican Party has given up on classical liberalism as an economic policy. Next they move to the escalating war of words between Trump and Kim Jong-un. Jay argues that we cannot have another cold war future and Trey offers a bit of caution to the rhetoric. After that they tackle the news that Facebook was being used by Russians for advertising purposes during the election and that Matt Drudge consistently linked to Russian propaganda. Finally Trey and Jay turn to the Alabama primary and Trump’s unique endorsement before explaining why they didn’t talk health care.

Trey’s Recommended Reading:

–Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry that Forged a Nation

Jay’s Recommended Reading:

–Higher Ed’s Latest Taboo Is ‘Bourgeois Norms’

–Scandal Erupts over the Promotion of ‘Bourgeois’ Behavior

–Paying the price for the breakdown of the country’s bourgeois culture

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Congressman Jim Jordan on the Debt Limit, Tax Reform, and the 2016 Election

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Jay talks to Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus. Jay and Rep. Jordan discuss the debt ceiling, tax reform, the Obama administration’s attempts to influence the 2016 presidential election, and more.

As a lead-in to the interview, Mike and Jay talk about the history of the Freedom Caucus. After the interview they discuss Rep. Jordan’s policy positions and recommendations.

– Follow Rep. Jordan on Twitter

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PG117: Trump’s DACA Deal, Bernie’s Medicare For All, Equifax Breach

This week, the Guys start off by talking about the potential deal President Trump reached with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi that involves allowing Dreamers to stay in the country legally in exchange for enhanced border security. Mike is cautiously optimistic about the proposal while Jay believes that Schumer and Pelosi may be far more interested in a 2018 campaign issue than a legislative accomplishment.

Next is a look at Senator Bernie Sanders’ ‘Medicare For All’ legislation, which he introduced this week. Neither Mike nor Jay think it has a chance of passing, and while Mike would support a true ‘Medicare for All’ bill, he argues that what Sanders calls for is far more generous than Medicare and would be a financial disaster. Jay doesn’t disagree, though he’s definitely not in favor of even a scaled-back ‘Medicare For All’ type program.

Finally, Mike and Jay talk about the political implications of the Equifax security breach. Mike believes it’s high time we updated our regulatory framework and impose the sort of oversight on credit rating agencies that we do on other financial institutions. Jay doesn’t disagree, exactly, though he’s far more skeptical of the value of imposing more regulations on the agencies and favors alternate approaches to incentivizing them to keep our personal data safe.

Mike’s Recommended Reading:
– Richard Posner, Leader of a Legal Revolution

Jay’s Recommended Reading:
– In The Garden of Beasts. Erik Larson

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Political Correctness and Identity Politics

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This week, Mike and Jay respond to a listener who feels Mike was being snide and slanderous to Jay in a recent show, and then move on to an in-depth discussion of political correctness and identity politics.

For their discussion, they focus on these four articles:

A linguist explains how the far-right hijacked political correctness

The Liberal Crackup

Identity Politics Are Tearing America Apart

How Trump Kills the G.O.P

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PG116: DACA, Trump’s Deal with Dems, North Korea, Travel Ban

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This week, Mike and Jay start out by discussing President Trump’s decision to discontinue President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. They both agree that it’s probably a good policy, but that it’s also probably unconstitutional, and as such President Trump did the right thing by discontinuing it and urging Congress to enshrine it into law.

Next it’s a look at President Trumps deal with his new friends Chuck (Schumer) and Nancy (Pelosi) to continue to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling until mid-December. The move caught Congressional Republicans by surprise and was not appreciated by them, to say the least. Mike optimistically wonders if maybe this is a sign of a more bipartisan Trump, while Jay things that it’s another example of Trump forgetting who his friends are – friends he might need in, say, an impeachment trial.

After that, the Guys turn to the still worsening situation in North Korea in the wake of the regime’s latest and most powerful nuclear weapons test. Jay is convinced that the US won’t let North Korea develop the capability to launch a nuclear strike on the mainland US while Mike believes that the costs of preventing it are simply too high to bear and that some day soon, North Korea will have that capability, despite President Trump’s promise that it will not be allowed to happen.

Finally, it’s an update on President Trump’s travel ban, which was dealt a setback this week by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Jay feel that the 9th Circuit got it wrong, while Mike argues that the administration’s interpretation of an earlier Supreme Court opinion was too narrow.

Mike’s Recommended Reading:
– Grand Hotel Abyss: The Lives of the Frankfurt School. Stuart Jefferies

Jay’s Recommend Reading:
– The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Henry Petroski on The State of American Infrastructure

Mike talks with Henry Petroski, a Professor of Civil Engineering and History at Duke University. Dr. Petroski is a prolific scholar and public intellectual – in addition to publishing nineteen books and hundreds of articles in newspapers, magazines, and trade publications, he’s authored over seventy-five academic journal articles. His many books include: The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance, The Evolution of Useful Things, The House with Sixteen Handmade Doors, and The Road Taken: The History and Future of America’s Infrastructure.

In this episode, Mike and Dr. Petroski discuss learning from failure, how bad US infrastructure really is, why so many big projects seem take longer and cost more than projected, what a good infrastructure bill would look like, and lots more.

Dr. Petroski’s Recommendations:
– American Society of Civil Engineers Smart Brief
– US Department of Transportation
– American Infrastructure Weekly
– Trump Administration Infrastructure Initiative

Dr. Petroski’s Duke University Page

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PG115: Hurricanes, Transgender Lawsuits, and Sanctuary Cities

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This week, Mike and Jay start things off by talking about the politics of Hurricane Harvey, including the quality of the government’s response, how well President Trump personally responded, and the role federal flood insurance plays in disasters like this.

Next, it’s an update on President Trump’s ban on transgender troops in the military. The Guys begin with a discussion the wisdom of Secretary of Defense Mattis’s decision to allow transgender troops to stay in the military until a full review has been completed. After that, they talk about the two lawsuits that have been filed against the ban.

Finally, Mike and Jay revisit the issue of sanctuary cities, in light of a federal judge barring the enactment of Texas’ sanctuary city prohibitions.

Mike’s Recommended Listening:
– Sam Harris’ interview with Charles Murray

Jay’s Recommended Reading:
– The American Spirit is Alive in Texas

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Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to politicsguys.com and click on the Patreon link.