PG144: A War of Words and Tariffs between China and the United States, Zuckerberg Goes to Congress, the Potential U.S. Pullout from Syria

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Trey is joined by Ken this week and reveals he is headed to Oklahoma Christain University. Trey and Ken open the show by discussing the ongoing dispute between the United States and China over trade policy. The hosts explore both the immediate tariffs on aluminum and steel issued by Donald Trump and the pork and wine tariffs imposed by China in retaliation. The hosts also parse the escalating war of words between the two countries and speculate on the possibility of a trade war. Trey and Ken agree that free trade is largely better for the economy (Trey most strongly), but disagree over the role of unions in a free trade driven world.

Next Trey and Ken look at the thorny issue of Cambridge Analytica and Facebook’s numerous privacy snafus over. In a series of reveals it was uncovered that Facebook is recording data on users call and texting data, allowing apps to gather wide swaths of information on users who had not consented and more. In short, for a variety of reasons, Facebook could not get off the proverbial front page. Trey and Ken ask themselves what they might do if they were Congress. Specifically what questions the hosts might have for Mr. Zuckerberg in a committee hearing. Trey and Ken also muse on if people really are willing to pay the economic cost for privacy and mull whether Congress ought to make that a mandated requirement.

Finally Trey and Ken move to the international issue of Syria. They discuss President Trump’s comments earlier last week on an imminent pullout and the revelations late last week that he is butting heads with his military staff, potentially offering them a six month timeline. In a unique twist Trey argues that U.S. foreign intervention has been a failure and finds support for Trump’s stated goal to wind down military options overseas while Ken limitedly argues that the U.S. has a moral imperative to see them through to create stability.

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What Trey’s Reading:

Longtime listeners might have gleaned that I love political science and history, but what you might not know (unless you follow me personally on Twitter or Instagram) is that I am a runner and aspiring triathlete. I love to run year round in on all terrain and in all weather and so this week I am going to share a pair of books I read that I think might inspire you to get outside, run more, and maybe even change the way you eat. Sorry we didn’t have time to share it during the episode itself!

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. An inspiring tale of how all of humanity is a running people, but how we lost the essence of our running.

Eat and Run by Scott Jurek. It is a autobiography with running and eating thrown in from one of the world’s greatest ultra-marathoners. Scott is a man who runs as much in a single race — 150 miles — as I run in a month!

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