China warns Trump over potential steel and aluminum tariffs

Summary: US Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, recommended that Trump impose tariffs against foreign metal suppliers for “national security” reasons. Wang Hejun, a senior official at China's Commerce Ministry, responded that "If the United States' final decision affects China's interests, we will take necessary measures to defend our rights". Trump has already imposed tariffs on solar panels and washing machines, affecting business in China and other countries, and prompting them to file cases with the World Trade Organization. Some Americans fear that more U.S. trade actions, will cause Beijing to respond with their own tariffs on U.S. companies that rely on its market.

Analysis/Opinion: While the tariffs against foreign suppliers would probably help U.S. metal businesses, I think they have too much potential to hurt other American businesses. If China responds with their own tariffs, many U.S. companies could lose their biggest trading partner. Moreover, I don’t really see how imported steel is a risk to our national security, so I don’t think that Trump should impose any tariffs. However, it’s probably not likely that China will respond too drastically, as they rely on American businesses pretty heavily.

Questions:

Do you think Trump should impose tariffs against foreign metal suppliers?

What do you think will happen if Trump does impose the tariffs?

Link:
http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/17/news/economy/china-steel-aluminum-tariffs/index.html

Russians Charged With 2016 Election Tampering

Summary: About 13 Russians have been charged with interfering with the 2016 presidential election, 5 of them have been charged with aggravated identity theft. Most of the charges are led under the fact that they have spent thousands of dollars in political advertisement, hired an actress to pro tray Hillary Clinton in a prison outfit, and many other forms of intervening with the elections. Trump's response to the convictions to the Russians is that he stated that it has already been happening before he started running for president and that "there was no collusion". Russia's response to the charges were that there was no tampering and "Americans are impressionable people they see what they want to see".

Questions:
1. Do you think this charge to the 13 Russians will push the investigation in the white house even farther?

2. What do you think investigators will use when it comes to finding out if the Trump administration had any contact with the Russians?

Link:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43092085

Trump Kills Compromise on Immigration

Summary:

As many of you know, DACA is supposed to expire soon. The Trump administration was supposed to be working on a compromise bill with the Democrats in congress in order to pass legislation to protect DACA dreamers. The bill would also strengthen immigration restrictions on chain immigration and border security. However, this has not been working out to be the case, Trump is now making efforts to ensure that the bill does not pass because he feels it's compromise does not benefit his side enough. He has also threatened to veto the bill, in addition to convincing congress members to vote against the bill. The bill was shot down in the senate after it fell 21 votes short of the needed 60. What is more interesting, is that Trump has said in the recent past that he would be willing to work with democrats. In addition he has also sympathized with dreamers and immigrants. These previous positions are a hard contrast to the current stance Trump is now taking against the dreamers.

Link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/opinion/trump-kills-compromise-on-immigration.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region&region=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region

Questions:

1. why do you think Trump has repeatedly changed his stance on key issues both in his campaign and presidency, so quickly rather than sticking firmly to one side? 

2. Do you think that a compromise bill will eventually be reached between Republicans and Democrats in Congress?

3. Do you think that DACA dreamers will be able to survive here if a compromise is not reached in congress and their protection is not renewed?

North Korea is a murderous regime, why is the media glamorizing it at the Olympics?

Summary: Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un, sat behind United State’s VP Mike Pence at the opening ceremony of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. The New York Times’ headline read, “Kim Jong-un’s Sister Turns On the Charm, Taking Pence’s Spotlight,” and CNN’s headline read “Kim Jong Un's sister is stealing the show at the Winter Olympics,“ and ABC’s headline read, "North Korea's 200-plus cheerleaders command spotlight at 2018 Winter Olympics with synchronized chants.” The author of this article at The Hill states that this is just another reason trust in the media is at an all time low. Other articles are comparing Kim Yo Jong to Ivanka Trump by stating their similar roles in the administrations. However, the media is focusing on Kim’s great smile, instead of the gulags, mass murders, starvation, Otto Warmbier, and missile tests of North Korea. Pence said the U.S. will continue to apply the maximum pressure to North Korea, but did say that he will talk to North Korea if they wanted to (which did not happen).  

Analysis & Opinion: Personally, I do not believe that the two Koreas should unify because they are in very different places. Like South Korea has an advanced economy and well developed education system, while North Korea does not. So, it would cost a lot to unify them, in addition to assimilating the two cultures. For example, even though the two Koreas are competing together in the Olympics, most North Koreans are not able to watch the majority of the Olympics and their athletes. I also think that Pence should have actively tried to have a meeting with Kim in order to discuss a way to move forward without being on the brink of nuclear war. Personally, I believe this would involve a request to remove sanctions by Kim, and Pence refusing. Even if this meeting was not a success, I think it would be important to foster a healthy relationship.

Questions:

1. What do you think about Kim Yo Jong’s role in North Korea? What do you think about her (and North Korea all together) at the Olympics? 
2. Do you believe that by having North Korea compete with South Korea as one united Korea it will foster a more cooperative relationship between the two? Do you think that this might lead to reunification or just foster a healthy and peaceful relationship?
3. Do you think Pence should have talked with her? What do you think would have happened?
4. Why do you think the media is glamorizing North Korea's appearance at the Olympics?

Article Links: http://thehill.com/opinion/international/373420-north-korea-is-a-murderous-regime-why-is-the-media-glamorizing-it-at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/11/world/asia/kim-yo-jong-mike-pence-olympics.html?rref=collection%2Fnewseventcollection%2Fwinter-olympics-2018

At least 17 dead in Florida school shooting, law enforcement says

CNN

Summary: At least 17 people died today, in a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The shooting was carried out by 19 year old Nikolas Cruz, a former, expelled student of the school. The gunman first pulled the fire alarm in hopes of getting students to exit the building. Many students at first thought it was a fire drill, before hearing gunshots, at which point students remained in classrooms and followed lockdown procedures. President Trump tweeted “no child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school,” soon after the incident.

Analysis: Firstly, I cannot even imagine how horrifying it is to be attacked in school, a place that most people consider safe. Secondly, the New York Times article made a really interesting connection regarding the assault rifle Nikolas Cruz used. He used a semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle, which was the same weapon used in the mass shootings at the elementary school in Newtown Connecticut; the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado; the concert in Las Vegas, Nevada; and the church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. The weapon is apparently popular among consumers, and very powerful as it is, according to the article, a “consumer version of military-grade assault rifles.” AR-15 rifles were prohibited under the Federal Assault Weapons Ban from 1994-2004, but since the ban has been lifted, there is an increase in sales of the weapon. I personally do not feel safe knowing that ordinary civilians can possess such harmful weapons, and I believe that the ban should be re-implemented

Questions:

1. Do you think that the Federal Assault Weapons Ban should be re-implemented?
2. What needs to be done to prepare schools for potential gun-attacks?
3. What measures can President Trump or the government take, in order to ensure that “no child, teacher or anyone else [will] feel unsafe in an American school.”

Links: CNN; NY Times

Trump’s military parade would cost between $10 million and $30 million, White House budget director says

Summary: Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to plan a military parade later this year to showcase U.S. military might. He got the inspiration from France’s Bastille Day celebration which he attended in Paris last year. The White House budget director, Mick Mulvaney, estimated that the event will cost between $10 to $30 million and the funds will either be appropriated by Congress or come from money that has already been approved. The last time the U.S. had a military parade was in 1991, celebrating the U.S. victory in the first Gulf War. However, Democrats and some Republicans have expressed concerns about the event, questioning the need for the parade, which may display authoritarian tones.

Questions:

Do you think having a military parade is a good idea? Is it worth the money?

How do you think other countries might perceive the event?

Link:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/02/14/trumps-military-parade-would-cost-between-10-million-and-30-million-white-house-budget-director-says/?utm_term=.3c6f0620687e

Economic cost of the opioid crisis: $1 trillion and growing faster

Summary: The cost of the growing opioid epidemic is estimated to be $1 trillion from 2001 to 2017, and projected to cost $500 billion from 2017 to 2020. This will continue to rise unless something major changes as overdose related deaths have been sharply increasing over the past few years.. Currently, Congress is considering spending $6 billion in the next two years to address the opioid crisis. In his budget, Trump proposed spending $17 billion on opioids, of that $13 billion for the Health and Human Services Department, while cutting other health care programs like Medicaid. Altarum, a non profit research group, said "the greatest cost comes from lost earnings and productivity from overdose deaths — estimated at $800,000 per person based on an average age of 41 among overdose victims." Last year, the number of fatal opioid-related overdoses was about 62,500. Most of the people dying from overdoses are in the prime of their lives (ages 30-40). From 2001 to 2017, health-care costs related to the opioid crisis reached $217.5 billion, and will cost at least $29.1 billion annually.

Analysis & Opinion: The opioid epidemic costs the government and society in a variety of ways including the criminal justice system, health care, and employers.  The government faces trade offs when decided how much to spend on certain issues. In this case Trump decided to spend money on the opioid epidemic rather than health care program. To combat this issue I believe that we need to raise awareness about and raise money for the opioid epidemic.  

Questions:

1. Do you believe that the opioid crisis is one for health officials or law enforcement to deal with? Why?
2. What do you think should be done about the opioid crisis? How would you fix the problem?

Article Links:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/02/13/585199746/cost-of-u-s-opioid-epidemic-since-2001-is-1-trillion-and-climbing

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/12/economic-cost-of-the-opioid-crisis-1-trillion-and-growing-faster.html

These Valentine's Day roses cost $39 each but last an entire year

CNN

Summary: Venus et Fleur is a company which sells boxed roses that supposedly “last an entire year.” The flowers are processed with a special wax-based solution which contributes to the immense longevity of the flowers. The company is founded by two entrepreneurs, Seema Bansal and Sunny Chadha who got the idea for this company after Chadha sent wilted flowers to his girlfriend, Bansal, one Valentine’s Day. The company’s sales took off after Khloe Kardashian posted a picture on Instagram of the box of Venus et Fleur flowers she received. Based on this success, the couple began sending flowers to more celebrities such as DJ Khaled and Gigi Hadid in hopes of further publicizing their brand. They plan to open up three more distribution centers in the U.S. and internationally, in order to meet “the growing demand”---currently they are selling about 80,000 arrangements per year.

Analysis: If I were to consider the marginal costs and benefits of these flowers, I suppose that they would be worth it, as most people value pleasing those they love at more than $39; therefore, if you are already going to buy flowers, the benefit of upgrading to these might seem to override the cost. However, I personally do not think this marginal benefit analysis is compelling enough for me to buy these flowers because fresh flowers serve the same purpose and are cheaper. Yes, they don’t last as long, but what can you do with a flower that lasts a year?

Questions:

1. “A single red rose costs $39, while a box of 42 costs upwards of $399.” At this cost, would you buy these flowers?
2. Do you think that events such as Valentine’s Day hold significant meaning? Or are they just excuses for businesses to get consumers to buy things?

Source: CNN Money

Second Judge Rules Against Trump Administration on Ending DACA

Summary of article:A second judge has ruled against Trump's plan on ending the DACA program on March 5th. Nicholas Garaufis ruled last Tuesday that the administration had  "erred in concluding that DACA is unconstitutional". This is the second ruling against the termination of the program after a judge in San Francisco stated that DACA must remain in place. There has been no comment from the justice department about this ruling so far. The time that trump plans on ending the program is March 5th which will give legislation time to create a new program that would replace DACA, however, there hasn't been much progress due to the fact that some believe that this is a partisan issue and has hit many barriers from Republicans. Trumps stance on the issue is stated: "We're asking Congress to support our immigration policy that keeps terrorists, drug dealers, criminals and gang members out of our country. We want them out. We don't want them in and right now we're working on DACA, we're working on immigration bills and we're making them tough," Trump said.

Questions: Do you believe that there would be a resolution that would replace the DACA program before the March 5th deadline? if so, how different do you think it would be?

With DACA and immigration reform being some of the main reasons for governmental shutdowns, do you believe it will happen again if congress does not try and negotiate immigration? Why?

Link: 
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/02/13/second-judge-rules-against-trump-administration-on-ending-daca.html

Harvest Box not to be implemented anytime soon

Summary: On Monday, February 12th, the Trump administration announced that the participants  Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which aids low-income Americans, would receive a Harvest Box. The Harvest Box would include food pre-selected for "nutritional value and economic benefit". The proposal was to cut off $21 billion from the federal deficit over the next ten years. While this seems like a great plan, it seems to be that the proposal would not be implemented anytime soon. There are tons of negative feedback from officials, such as saying it's not a serious proposal or is meant to be a distraction.

Questions:

Are you in favor of the Harvest Box? Why or why not?

If you are in favor, what are some ways this proposal can be made more "serious" for it to be implemented?

Link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/us/harvest-box-snap-food-stamps.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Edward Snowden Boasts That He Got Security Clearance Faster Than ‘Half Of This White House’

Summary: On Monday, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden (who leaked thousands of documents exposing the NSA’s eavesdropping) tweeted that he won government security clearance “faster than half of this White House.” Snowden replied to a tweet by Journalist Barton Gellman (who writes about the government, privacy and security) which stated that it’s “highly unusual” for so many in the Trump administration to be still lacking permanent clearance after this much time. Yet they still have access to sensitive information. Last week The Washington Post reported that “dozens” of White House staffers are still waiting for permanent security clearances including former representative Porter and Jared Kushner (who is still involved in the Russia investigation). It’s particularly unusual for someone at Kushner’s level to not be cleared as someone at that level should not have to wait wait more than three months for the permanent security clearance.  Also, Lawyer Mark Zaid (who represents government workers going through the clearance process) said in a tweet replying to Gellman, that it’s not that unusual that so many people still lack permanent security clearance.

Questions:

1. What do you think about this? Do you think it is unusual that some people at a high level in the Trump administration still lack clearance?
2. Do you think that the reason that Kushner has not been cleared is because of his involvement in the Russia investigation, or something in his background? Why?

Article Link: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/snowden-tweets-security-clearance-faster-than-white-house_us_5a823eb6e4b0892a0352201a?section=us_politics

Chloe Kim Wins Olympic Gold Medal in Snowboard Halfpipe

Summary:

Chloe Kim, an athlete in the PyeongChang Olympics is representing the USA in snowboarding. She was one of the top snowboarders four years ago when trying to compete in the Sochi Olympics in 2014. However, she was unable to compete due to being underaged. Kim says in hindsight that it was a good thing she was not able to compete four years ago because she didn't think she could "handle the pressure."

As a seventeen year old, Kim has just won the gold medal in the snowboard halfpipe. Several women tried to keep up with Kim, but her scores dominated in this race.  

Questions:

1. Do you think that there should be age restrictions on who can compete in the Olympics?
2. Being that we are close to, if not the same age as Chloe Kim, can you imagine the kind of commitment it would take to be an Olympian in high school?

Source:
https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/chloe-kim-wins-snowboard-halfpipe-gold-olympic-debut

White House wants to deliver food to the poor, Blue Apron-style

Summary: As a part of the Trump administration’s 2019 budget plan, participants of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(SNAP) who receive monthly cash benefits for food, would receive a box of food instead. The box would contain “nutritious” food, 100% grown in the U.S. and would be valued at about half of the SNAP recipient's monthly benefit. They would be given the remainder of their benefits on electronic benefit cards like before. This proposal is estimated to save $130 billion over ten years, although some believe the government won’t save that much due to the costs of purchasing and distributing the food. The Trump administration also hopes to improve the nutritional value of the program and reduce fraud. Some are concerned that families won’t have a choice in the food they receive or know what they’re receiving in advance. Moreover, it may be difficult for families to pick up the food boxes, especially if they don’t own a car.

Questions:

Do you think the administration's proposal to replace food stamps with food boxes is a good idea?

How do you think this proposal will affect participants of SNAP?

Link:

http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/12/news/economy/food-stamps-box-blue-apron/index.html

Amazon is laying off hundreds of workers as it adds aggressively elsewhere

Washington Post

Summary: Amazon is laying off hundreds of employees working in its Seattle headquarters as well as other locations. The layoffs are happening in Amazon’s “more mature areas of business” such as online retail, in order to open up jobs in rapidly growing sectors such as “echo devices, Amazon’s Web Services cloud business, and digital entertainment and video.”  The source claims that the company will try and find jobs in these areas for some of their laid off employees. Furthermore, the company is trying to open up a second headquarters in North America, which is expected to bring about 50,000 more full-time jobs.

Analysis/Connection to Economics: I feel like this incident fits well into the Worldly Philosophers Chapter 3 reading which described how in a market system, society’s demands for quantities are met. If people want more of Amazon’s echo and its digital entertainment and video, Amazon is going to spend more of its scarce resources to fit those demands rather than continue pursuits such as online retail which are now not as desired. Unfortunately, this change in resource allocation will lead to the laying off of a lot of employees, however, considering that Amazon is continuing to expand its workforce, I think that these employees will have other job options.

Questions:

1. Are you concerned about the layoffs?

2. Is preserving existing jobs more important, or creating jobs in more profitable areas at the expense of laying off employees?

3. Do you see any other connections to what we have learned in economics?

Links: CNN ; Washington Post

Trump budget would boost defense funding, slash domestic spending

Summary: On Monday, the White House's released its 2019 budget in which the OMB focused on the mindset: “Fund what we must, cut where we can, and reduce what we borrow.” There are increases for the departments of Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs and Defense, and money put toward his border wall & security, immigration enforcement, improving infrastructure, and to combat the opioid epidemic. While there are decreases for the departments of the State, Labor and Housing and Urban Development, as well as for Medicare, Medicaid, and the food aid program SNAP. In this plan, the budget does not become balanced even though Trump has pushed for cuts to the deficit. Trump also wants to rely on state and private dollars “to spur action on infrastructure in their communities.” DACA was not put into this budget, as Trump wanted it to be part of a separate deal between the White House and Congress.

Connection to Economics: In the Budget, the government faces trade-offs as they have to decrease one department’s budget if they want to increase another department’s budget. Since there is scarcity, there will never be enough money to increase all the department’s budget to make them happy, so the government needs to make trade-offs.

Questions:

1. Do you agree with where Trump cut or increased spending? What would you have done differently? Why?
2. What do you think about what Trump chose to do with DACA? How do you think that will work out for Trump and the Republicans?

Article link: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-budget-would-slash-spending-domestic-programs-entitlements-n847141

Link to the full budget: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/budget-fy2019.pdf

Tesla Reports Money Loss with Model 3

Summary: Tesla had high hopes for their newest and most affordable car, the Model 3. The Model 3, starting at a price of $35,000, is much cheaper than their previous cars that cost $70,000 or more. However, due to manufacturing malfunctions, Tesla has lost a great deal of money in the process. Tesla has reported a record loss of $675.4m in three months compared to a loss of $121.3m the year before. Though Tesla has lost a significant amount of money since the production of the Model 3, Tesla still remains optimistic for the future. They say that they "have learned many lessons" and expect rates to go up in the future.


Questions:
1. Do you think that more companies will take a risk like this and make more affordable cars?
2. Do you think that the Model 3 will be successful for Tesla?


Source:
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42980841

Puerto Rico Blackout

Summary: A fire at a substation in Northern Puerto Rico lead to a blackout. This is a huge setback considering Puerto Rico is still recovering from Hurricane Maria months after it wreaked havoc on the country. They have been trying to fully restore power for nearly five months and this blackout is yet another challenge in their recovery efforts. Since the hurricane, 400,00 power customers are still left without power. While the fire subsided quickly and power was restored in some areas, this fire highlights the fact that much of the power equipment was old and needed to be replaced but due to the financial crisis was left in disrepair. Additionally, the power authorities are left with 9 billion dollars worth of debt.


Questions:
1. The power authority is a government run business, if this were a run in the private sector do you think they would have the same issues?
2. Do you think this is an area that the US should get involved in?



Source:
 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/11/us/puerto-rico-blackout-power-station-explosion-hurricane-maria.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fus&action=click&contentCollection=us&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront