The Brookings Cafeteria
Host Fred Dews interviews experts from the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization (think tank) based in Washington, D.C., about their research and ideas on solutions to the most pressing public policy challenges facing the nation and the world.
info_outline
Fall of the Berlin Wall, 30 years later
11/08/2019
Fall of the Berlin Wall, 30 years later
On November 9, 1989, the government of East Germany announced that all of its citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of Germans from east and west climbed onto the heavily fortified wall surrounding West Berlin and began chipping away at the concrete with hammers and other tools in a celebratory atmosphere. East German guards stood down. Thus began the fall of the Berlin Wall that had divided the city since 1961. The beginning of the end of the Cold War was at hand. On this episode, Constanze Stelzenmüller, a senior fellow at Brookings and the Kissinger Chair at the Library of Congress, discusses her new Foreign Policy Essay, “German Lessons: Thirty Years after the End of History, elements of an education,” and the lessons that were in store for her, her fellow Germans, Europe, and the world. Also, Senior Fellow David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, talks about his takeaways after watching people play the Fiscal Ship Game, an interactive game about balancing the federal budget developed by the Hutchins Center. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/11948990
info_outline
Beirut 1958: America's first Middle East intervention
11/01/2019
Beirut 1958: America's first Middle East intervention
In July 1958, U.S. Marines stormed the beaches of Beirut, Lebanon, ready for combat in the midst of an escalating sectarian crisis in the country. But they were greeted by sunbathers and vendors selling shawarma. The rest of their mission went mostly peacefully, but future American interventions did not go so well. In his new book published by the Brookings Institution Press, "Beirut 1958: How America’s Wars in the Middle East Began," Senior Fellow Bruce Riedel tells the story of the first U.S. combat operation in the Middle East and the lessons it continues to hold for today’s policymakers. In this interview with Brookings Press Director Bill Finan, Riedel brings a personal perspective to the story as his father was a United Nations official stationed in the region when the Marines arrived. Also, Senior Fellow Molly Reynolds explains what's happening in Congress, with a focus on the new impeachment resolution in the House of Representatives. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/11860199
info_outline
Brexit and the new plan for Northern Ireland
10/25/2019
Brexit and the new plan for Northern Ireland
Brexit—the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, has been scheduled to occur on October 31. But will it still happen? As events continue to evolve in Britain and in the European Union--including Prime Minister Boris Johnson's likely failed attempt to hold new elections in December--where do things stand? Amanda Sloat, the Robert Bosch Senior Fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings, explains what’s been going on, and what to expect next in Brexit. Also on this episode, Joseph Parilla, fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program, speaks to the issue of talent development as a component of city and regional economic development. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/11771495
info_outline
Policy 2020, your guide to the presidential election
10/18/2019
Policy 2020, your guide to the presidential election
Senior Fellow David Wessel interviews Senior Fellows Elaine Kamarck and Stuart Butler about the new Policy 2020 project and resource at Brookings. Policy 2020 empowers voters with fact-based, data-driven, non-partisan information to better understand the policy matters discussed by candidates running for office in 2020. Plus, in a new Coffee Break segment, meet Stephanie Aaronson, the vice president and director of Economic Studies at Brookings. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/11685560
info_outline
Learning across a girl’s lifetime
10/11/2019
Learning across a girl’s lifetime
How can girls, especially in developing countries, get the education that will prepare them with skills needed for lifelong success? On this episode, Christina Kwauk, fellow in the Global Economy and Development program, interviews three educators in the Echidna Global Scholars program. They are from India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Learn more about their backgrounds, who inspired them, and the important work they are doing in girls' education. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/11594687
info_outline
Global China’s plan for overseas military bases
10/04/2019
Global China’s plan for overseas military bases
This is the fifth of five special episodes in a takeover of the Brookings Cafeteria podcast by the Global China project at Brookings, a multi-year endeavor drawing on expertise from across the Institution. In this series, Lindsey Ford, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in Foreign Policy, speaks with experts about a range of issues related to Global China. In this episode, she speaks with Leah Dreyfuss and Mara Karlin, co-authors of the paper, "All that Xi wants: China attempts to ace bases overseas," in which they explore how China expands its interests abroad through infrastructure projects as well as military bases. Dreyfuss is associate director of Security and Strategy at Brookings; Karlin is a nonresident senior fellow in Security and Strategy. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/11507372
info_outline
Deterring military conflict with a global China
10/03/2019
Deterring military conflict with a global China
This is the fourth of five special episodes in a takeover of the Brookings Cafeteria podcast by the Global China project at Brookings, a multi-year endeavor drawing on expertise from across the Institution. In this series, Lindsey Ford, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in Foreign Policy, speaks with experts about a range of issues related to Global China. In this episode, she speaks with Senior Fellow Michael O'Hanlon and Nonresident Senior Fellow Caitlin Talmadge--who is also an associate professor of security studies at Georgetown University--about both the intensifying nuclear competition between the U.S. and China, and what approach Washington should take in response to limited aggression by Chinese forces. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/11487827
info_outline
Domestic politics in the rise of global China
10/02/2019
Domestic politics in the rise of global China
This is the third of five special episodes in a takeover of the Brookings Cafeteria podcast by the Global China project at Brookings, a multi-year endeavor drawing on expertise from across the Institution. In this series, Lindsey Ford, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in Foreign Policy, speaks with experts about a range of issues related to Global China. In this episode, she speaks with Senior Fellow Cheng Li, director of the John L. Thornton China Center, about how President Xi Jinping’s domestic political standing and policy priorities drive prospects for a global China. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/11472956
info_outline
How might a global China use economic sanctions?
10/01/2019
How might a global China use economic sanctions?
This is the second of five special episodes in a takeover of the Brookings Cafeteria podcast by the Global China project at Brookings, a multi-year endeavor drawing on expertise across the organization. In this series, Lindsey Ford, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in Foreign Policy, speaks with experts about a rang of issues related to Global China. In this episode, Ford talks with Richard Nephew about his paper on how a global China, itself long subject to economic sanctions, might use sanctions of its own. Nephew is a nonresident senior fellow in Foreign Policy, affiliated with the Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative. He is also a senior research scholar and program director at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/11455637
info_outline
What does a global China mean for the US and the world?
09/30/2019
What does a global China mean for the US and the world?
This is the first of five special episodes in a takeover of the Brookings Cafeteria podcast by the Global China project at Brookings, a multi-year endeavor drawing on expertise across Brookings. The project aims to understand China’s regional and global ambitions, and to look not just at how China has changed on the world stage, but also where the US-China relationship is headed. In this series, Lindsey Ford, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in Foreign Policy, speaks with experts about a range of issues related to Global China. In this episode, Ford talks with Tarun Chhabra and Ryan Hass, fellows in Foreign Policy and two of the leaders of the project. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/11409950
info_outline
And now the hard part: Resetting the US Relationship with Saudi Arabia
09/27/2019
And now the hard part: Resetting the US Relationship with Saudi Arabia
This week, the first episode in a special podcast produced jointly by Foreign Policy and the Brookings Institution. On each episode of “And Now the Hard Part,” host Johnathan Tepperman, FP’s editor in chief, and a Brookings expert discuss one of the world’s most vexing problems and trace its origins. And then the hard part: Tepperman asks the Brookings expert to focus on plausible, actionable ways forward. In this first episode in the series, Brookings Senior Fellow Bruce Riedel shares his insights on challenges in the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia, America’s oldest alliance in the Middle East. Upcoming guests in the weekly, eight-part series include North Korea specialist Jung Pak; Europe and Russia expert Alina Polyakova; and Brookings President John R. Allen. Subscribe to “And How the Hard Part” on Apple Podcasts or Google. Learn more at www.foreignpolicy.com/podcasts Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/11408243
info_outline
A global response to the climate crisis
09/20/2019
A global response to the climate crisis
The United Nations Climate Action Summit takes place during the UN General Assembly meetings in New York this month. Two guests are on this episode to discuss the event and the global response to the climate crisis: Amar Bhattacharya, senior fellow in Global Economy and Development at Brookings and co-lead with Professor Nicholas Stern of the Sustainable Growth and Finance Initiative of the New Climate Economy; and Samantha Gross, fellow in Foreign Policy and the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at Brookings. Also on today’s show meet Lindsey Ford, a new David M Rubenstein Fellow in the Foreign Policy program. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/11319482
info_outline
Addressing the global learning crisis
09/13/2019
Addressing the global learning crisis
According to data released in 2018, only 12 percent of children tested in 7 low- or middle-income countries met minimum proficiency for math, and 23 percent for reading. This compares to 77 percent and 80 percent, respectively, in wealthier OECD countries. To discuss how the global education system can bring about transformational change, Jenny Perlman Robinson, a senior fellow with the Center for Universal Education at Brookings, joins the show to talk about her research on scaling—or growing—education programs around the world. She also shares her discussions with three education leaders she interviewed at a global meeting in Switzerland this summer. These experienced leaders possess deep insights on the role that public, private, and civil society actors can play in scaling and sustaining education programs, and they bring fresh perspectives on the topic from around the globe. Also on this episode, Senior Fellow Molly Reynolds breaks down what’s happening in Congress as it returns to work after a summer recess. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/11228363
info_outline
US-China competition in global development
09/06/2019
US-China competition in global development
This is the second in a two-part series of episodes from the Brookings-Blum Roundtable, an annual forum for global leaders, entrepreneurs, and policy practitioners to discuss innovative ideas and to pursue initiatives to alleviate global poverty. In this episode, Merrell Tuck-Primdahl, director of communications for the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings, speaks with four experts about China's remarkable economic rise, its role in development projects in the region and around the world, and the U.S.-China trade war. Guests featured in this episode are: Homi Kharas, interim VP and director of Global Economy and Development at Brookings Minxin Pei, a professor at Claremont McKenna College Weijian Shan, group chairman and CEO, Pacific Alliance Group Michael Froman, chair of the board, Center for Inclusive Growth, Mastercard, and former U.S. trade representative Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/11122478
info_outline
Will foreign aid matter in the 2020 election?
08/30/2019
Will foreign aid matter in the 2020 election?
Will foreign assistance and foreign policy matter to voters in the 2020 elections? At the 16th Annual Brookings-Blum Roundtable, Merrell Tuck-Primdahl--communications director of Global Economy and Development at Brookings--leads a discussion with Brookings Senior Fellow E.J. Dionne, Jr.; Liz Schrayer, the president and CEO of U.S. Global Leadership Coalition; and Charlie Dent, former U.S. representative and senior policy advisor, DLA Piper. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/11046752
info_outline
Colombia’s search for peace and justice
08/23/2019
Colombia’s search for peace and justice
In June 2016, the government of Colombia signed a historic peace agreement with the armed rebel group known as FARC-EP to end a conflict that over five decades had taken the lives of at least 260,000 Colombians and displaced over 7 million. Three years later, the peace accord—a complex effort to not only stop the fighting but also address the underlying causes of the conflict, and to seek truth, justice, and reconciliation for victims—remains not fully implemented as new political disputes and leaders have hampered its progress. On this episode, experts Ted Piccone and Vanda Felbab-Brown explain the situation and how to move forward. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/10960517
info_outline
Don’t be fooled by deepfakes
08/16/2019
Don’t be fooled by deepfakes
Deepfakes are videos that make a person appear to say or do something they did not say or do, and they are coming to an election near you. With the 2020 election contests coming up, how can we guard ourselves against deep fakes and prevent them from changing the outcome of an election? To address this problem, this episode features a conversation with John Villasenor, a nonresident senior fellow in Governance Studies and the Center for Technology Innovation at Brookings. He is also a professor of electrical engineering, public policy, law, and management at UCLA. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/10864031
info_outline
On racism and white supremacy
08/09/2019
On racism and white supremacy
The language of racism and white supremacy is all around us; people are getting hurt, and also killed. But racism also pervades our public policies. To address these issues and how to move forward, this episode features a discussion with two Brookings experts: Andre Perry, David M. Rubenstein Fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program, and Vanessa Williamson, senior fellow in the Governance Studies Program and also in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/10826882
info_outline
Protecting American elections from foreign interference
08/02/2019
Protecting American elections from foreign interference
In June, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that “the Russians are absolutely intent on trying to interfere with our elections,” and just recently the Senate Intelligence Committee issued a bipartisan report finding that governments at all levels are unprepared to combat a Russian attack on U.S. election infrastructure. Meanwhile, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell has refused to allow a vote on House-passed election security measures, calling such efforts partisan and pointing to steps the Trump administration has taken to bolster election security. On this episode, Darrell West, the vice president and director of Governance Studies and Founding Director of the Center for Technology Innovation at Brookings, addresses these issues. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/10744337
info_outline
What really drives voters to the polls?
07/26/2019
What really drives voters to the polls?
Brookings Press Director Bill Finan sits down with Donald P. Green, the J.W. Burgess Professor of Political Science at Columbia University. Doctor Green is co-author, with Alan S. Gerber, of "Get Out the Vote: How to Increase Voter Turnout," now in its fourth edition from the Brookings Press. In "Get out the Vote," Green and Gerber take a scientific approach to the challenge of voter mobilization, and examine new data on the efficiency of various campaign tactics, including door-to-door canvassing, email, direct mail, and telephone calls. Also on the program, Senior Fellow David Wessel discusses whether the crisis in state and local pensions we so often hear about is really a crisis at all. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/10658600
info_outline
What can we do to reduce unplanned pregnancies?
07/19/2019
What can we do to reduce unplanned pregnancies?
Nearly half of the pregnancies in the United States each year are unplanned, and such unwanted or mistimed pregnancies can create negative outcomes for women, children, and families. Greater access to birth control, especially long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCS) empower women to only have children if, and when, and with whom they want. As restrictions on abortion become more widespread, how can states and organizations increase the availability of family planning information and access to contraceptive methods like LARCS? In this episode, Brookings Senior Fellow Isabel Sawhill leads a conversation with former Delaware Governor Jack Markell and Mark Edwards, the co-founder and co-CEO of Upstream USA, a non-profit working to expand opportunity by reducing unplanned pregnancy in the US. Also on the program, in a new Metro Lens segment, Senior Fellow Jennifer Vey, director of the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking, describes how the digital revolution is shifting where jobs are concentrating and why this job density matters to cities and regions. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/10557107
info_outline
The US in Southeast Asia, and the China challenge
07/12/2019
The US in Southeast Asia, and the China challenge
Jonathan Stromseth, a senior fellow and Lee Kuan Yew Chair in Southeast Asian Studies at Brookings, interviews Brookings President John R. Allen about the strategic significance of Southeast Asia, US relations with countries in the region, and the China challenge. President Allen recently returned from an extended trip to East Asia, where in June he opened and participated in a Brookings conference in Taipei on “The Risks of the Asian Peace: Avoiding Paths to Great Power War.” That conference is part of a broader Brookings project focused on Sustaining the Long Peace in East Asia. Subsequently, President Allen traveled to Singapore where Stromseth had an opportunity to join him for a series of dialogues with senior officials and regional policy experts. In this episode, President Allen reflects on his trip and considers the possible implications of his discussions and observations for U.S. Asia policy. Also on the program, what’s happening in Congress, with Senior Fellow Molly Reynolds on divisions in the House Democratic caucus and why inter-party polarization is the more serious issue in Congress. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/10488158
info_outline
Americans fear the wrong threats
07/05/2019
Americans fear the wrong threats
The authors of a new book argue that national security “fearmongering” is causing U.S. leaders to focus more on the threats that Americans perceive—like terrorism and nuclear war—than the ones that exist at home, like gun violence and the opioid crisis. In Clear and Present Safety: The World Has Never Been Better and Why That Matters to Americans (Yale University Press), Michael Cohen and Micah Zenko argue that “The American public is being fed, by politicians and pundits alike, a steady diet of threat inflation that has made them deeply fearful of the world outside their borders.“ In this episode, Thomas Wright, director of the Center on the United States and Europe and senior fellow in the Project on International Order and Strategy at Brookings, speaks with Zenko, a columnist at Foreign Policy, about the premise of the book, the geopolitical risks that do exist, and what role foreign policy might play in the 2020 presidential election. Zenko explains why the mid-1990s were the most dangerous time to be alive, the wide array of domestically driven risks, and why these factors matter more to American security than distant threats. Also, meet Christen Linke Young, a fellow in our USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy. Find out what she’s working on and why she recommends reading both Dreamland, by Sam Quinones, about the rise of the opioid epidemic, and Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/10389464
info_outline
Advancing opportunity in California’s Inland Empire
06/28/2019
Advancing opportunity in California’s Inland Empire
After three years of intensive collaboration with Brookings, public, private, and civic leaders in California’s Inland Empire have launched an ambitious strategy to expand opportunity and grow middle-class jobs in the region. In this episode, several of those leaders and Brookings experts discuss why this work is so important, how the Inland Empire reflects broader economic challenges and opportunities, and what other city-regions can learn to develop smarter approaches to building inclusive economic growth. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/10317101
info_outline
Where does nationalism come from?
06/21/2019
Where does nationalism come from?
Liah Greenfeld, professor of sociology, political science, and anthropology at Boston University, talks with Brookings Institution Press Director Bill Finan about her new book, "Nationalism: A Short History." She explains her broad definition of nationalism, Shakespeare's role in shaping the language of democracy and modernity, and how modern notions of "white nationalism" may not be nationalism at all. Also on the program, Senior Fellow David Wessel looks at why the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates and allow inflation to rise. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/10225088
info_outline
Rebroadcast: Former USTR Charlene Barshefsky on the obstacles to a US-China trade deal
06/19/2019
Rebroadcast: Former USTR Charlene Barshefsky on the obstacles to a US-China trade deal
This is a rebroadcast of a "Dollar & Sense: The Brookings Trade Podcast" episode. On it, former United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky joined host David Dollar to discuss the history of the United States’ economic engagement with China. Their conversation covered China’s entry and membership in the World Trade Organization, how domestic Chinese politics have affected the country’s trade policies, and the lasting impact of the global financial crisis on U.S.-China relations. Finally, Barshefsky outlined the prospect of the two countries reaching a trade deal in the near future. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria and Dollar & Sense are part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/10196906
info_outline
How to fix capitalism for America’s workers
06/14/2019
How to fix capitalism for America’s workers
From slow wage growth, to increasing numbers of men out of the labor market, to rising inequality and rising compensation for CEOs, today’s capitalism may not be working for workers. In May, the Guardian newspaper published a series of solutions to these and related problems, titled How to fix capitalism: Nine expert solutions for America’s broken system. On this episode, two of the authors in the series—Isabel Sawhill and Steven Pearlstein—join Richard Reeves to discuss their ideas for helping workers in today’s economy. During the conversation, Reeves calls four outside experts to ask them for their solution, and then the trio of experts in the studio discuss the idea. Richard Reeves is the John C. and Nancy D. Whitehead Chair, a senior fellow in Economic studies, director of the Future of the Middle Class Initiative, and co-director of the Center on Children and Families at Brookings. He is the author of “Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do about It,” published by the Brookings Institution Press. Isabel Sawhill is a senior fellow in Economic Studies at Brookings and author, most recently, of “The Forgotten Americans: An Economic Agenda for a Divided Nation.” Steven Pearlstein, business and economics columnist for the Washington Post and Robinson professor of public affairs at George Mason university. His recent book is titled, “Can American Capitalism Survive?” Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/10142697
info_outline
The power of parents in accelerating global education progress
06/07/2019
The power of parents in accelerating global education progress
Senior Fellow Rebecca Winthrop, director of the Center for Universal Education at Brookings, says that global organizations project that by 2030 half of the world's young people will not have the 21st-century skills and academic competencies they will need to thrive. The pace of change is too slow, and it could take a century for the poorest children to catch up. What's needed, she said, is a way to rapidly accelerate progress by leapfrogging education. And parents have a crucial role to play in this transformation. In this episode, Winthrop talks with four education leaders, whom she met at the LEGO Idea Conference in Denmark, about the role of parents and the power of innovative approaches like playful learning in pursuing education transformation. The four episode guests are: Ziauddin Yousafzai, co-founder and board member, Malala Fund Brijpal Patel, director of global program development, Right to Play Jen Lexmond, founder and CEO, EasyPeasy Eszter Salamon, director general of Parents International, and president, European Parents’ Association Also, listen to the episode about the book, "Leapfrogging Inequality: Remaking education to help young people thrive" Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/10078214
info_outline
China’s epic push for cleaner energy
05/31/2019
China’s epic push for cleaner energy
In its dominance of low-carbon industries that range from solar and wind power, to electric vehicles, to more-efficient coal combustion, China is emerging as a clean-energy juggernaut. That’s according to Jeffrey Ball, the author of a new paper from the Cross-Brookings Initiative on Energy and Climate titled “Grow Green China Inc.” Ball, argues that the West, instead of seeing this development as a threat, should see it as an opportunity both for business and for the planet. In this episode, Ball is interviewed by David Victor, the co-chair of the energy and climate initiative here at Brookings. Victor is also a professor of international relations at UC San Diego and director of its Laboratory on International Law and Regulation. In addition to his Brookings affiliation as a nonresident senior fellow, Jeffrey Ball is also a scholar in residence at Stanford University’s Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, and a lecturer at Stanford Law School. Also on today’s show, a look at how housing and transportation trends in the Washington capital region impact commuting, the climate, and the economy with Jenny Schuetz, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/9986927
info_outline
Preparing for the next recession
05/24/2019
Preparing for the next recession
When the next recession comes, and it certainly will, how will policymakers respond? In a new volume of policy proposals from the Hamilton Project at Brookings and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, a group of experts propose new and updated antirecession solutions to boost the economy and save jobs. These ideas center on the concept of automatic stabilizers, which are simply policy responses that trigger when a crisis is starting, and when policymakers may be too overwhelmed by the crisis to respond. On this episode, Jay Shambaugh—a senior fellow at Brookings and director of the Hamilton Project—and Heather Boushey—executive director and chief economist of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth—address these policy proposals. Also on today’s show, Senior Fellow Molly Reynolds discusses what steps the House of Representatives would have to take in any impeachment process, and also other business that Congress is pursuing, including a budget deal. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on iTunes, send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.
/episode/index/show/brookingscafeteriapodcast/id/9898817