Trumponomics

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Why GDP Is a Dumb Way to Measure Economic Output Apr 12, 2017

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G, a D and a P. Three letters, lots of trouble. Gross Domestic Product is the world's most common way to measure the value of all goods and services produced in an economy. But does it really deserve its pedestal? Lorenzo Fioramonti, a professor at the University of Pretoria, tells Dan and Scott that the acronym should actually stand for "Gross Dumb Product." He argues that it's responsible for all manner of sins, ranging from the pillaging of a South Pacific island to an instrument used by austerity-craven northern Europeans to hammer Greece. Time for a revolution, Fioramonti insists. Just make sure investors don't crucify you.

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Here's What Happens When a Chinese Firm Buys a Closed GM Plant Apr 05, 2017

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President Donald Trump spent plenty of time on the campaign trail accusing China of stealing American jobs by taking away factories and using unfair trade practices. But China is actually giving a lifeline in one hard-hit part of the Rust Belt. That makes things between the two nations more complicated than Trump might want to admit as he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time. Michael Davis, economic development director for Moraine, Ohio, and Case Western Reserve University professor Susan Helper explain the story to Scott Lanman and guest host Andrew Mayeda.

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Death and Despair in White America Mar 29, 2017

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We usually don't think about economics as a life-or-death subject. But for white Americans without a college degree, there's no other way to describe it. With job opportunities limited and an opioid epidemic in full throttle, death rates among this group are skyrocketing, an issue that probably helped elect Donald Trump as president. Anne Case and Angus Deaton, the married academic couple who brought this issue to the forefront, have just issued a followup paper to their groundbreaking 2015 study on the subject. Case returns to Benchmark to discuss the latest findings with Dan and Scott -- and offers her ominous take on what it portends for the future of the nation.

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How a Red State City Fell in Love With Muslim Immigrants Mar 24, 2017

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Post-industrial Midwestern America helped propel Donald Trump to the nation's top job. You've heard that a hundred times. But did you hear about St Louis? A wave of Bosnian refugees, many of them Muslim, arrive in the city, starting in the mid-1990s. The result: a surge in business and job creation, revitalization of the community and help in the transition from a manufacturing to a service economy. Sadik Kukic tells Dan and Michelle about his journey from Balkan concentration camps to a pillar of the local community: He's now president of the Bosnian Chamber of Commerce. What could be more American?

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Inflation Makes Duke Bootee Wonder How I Keep From Going Under Mar 16, 2017

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Who says economics has to be all about numbers? Take a trip back in time with the Benchmark crew to the early 1980s, when double-digit inflation was such a scourge that it inspired a lyric in the hip-hop classic "The Message." Ed "Duke Bootee" Fletcher, who wrote most of the song, joins Scott and Dan to talk about those lyrics -- and a whole lot more. Then Alice Rivlin, a former Fed vice chair, gives perspective on inflation from her decades in the economic-policy world.

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The United States of Inertia Mar 08, 2017

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Americans like to think of themselves as great risk takers, rolling back frontiers and imbued since birth with a spirit of entrepreneurship. But what if the technological revolutions spawned in Silicon Valley were, ironically, symptoms of a risk-averse country? Underneath the latest app for sex or music, we are becoming older and more comfortable with stasis and statism, according to guest Tyler Cowen. Dan and Scott ask him why we've become more like Europe and poster children for sclerosis: France, Germany and Italy.

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Trump Can Party On With This Blueprint From Europe Mar 01, 2017

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Forget Vladimir Putin. If Donald Trump and the Republicans want to stay in power, they could do well to emulate the approach of Poland's Law and Justice Party. After sweeping to victory in 2015, the conservative party has mixed nationalist rhetoric, populist economic policies and social conservatism to maintain a healthy lead in polls while driving liberals and the media crazy. So what's in the secret sauce, besides an unpronounceable brand of beer? Scott and Dan are joined by two Polish colleagues who can answer that question: Wojciech Moskwa, Bloomberg's Warsaw bureau chief, and Kasia Klimasinska, a Bloomberg reporter in Washington.

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Fix Inequality Now? Be Careful What You Wish For Feb 22, 2017

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Widening inequality is a blight on the modern economy and will ultimately undermine growth. But wait. Let's not hurry to fix it because history shows it can only really be addressed by total war, total revolution, state collapse or Black Death-like pandemics. That's the conclusion of Stanford professor Walter Scheidel, who joins Dan and Scott. Scheidel takes us on a tour-de-force of the rise and fall of inequality from cave societies through the bubonic plague to the two World Wars. He's not an optimist.

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`Hamilton the Protectionist' Is a Show Trump Might Like Feb 16, 2017

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Donald Trump has had plenty to say about the smash hit musical "Hamilton": "Highly overrated," for one. But if we focus instead on Hamilton's economic policy, the president might find something to applaud. The first U.S. Treasury secretary wanted to protect industry. Hamilton also sought to roll back globalization and replace foreign-made goods with domestically produced ones. Sound familiar? Bloomberg's Rich Miller joins Dan and Scott to explain.

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Surprise! Your Cash Is Now Worthless Feb 08, 2017

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The nation's leader takes a sudden action that only a handful of people know about beforehand. His populist base loves it, even if it could disrupt the economy. Donald Trump's executive order on immigration? No, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to invalidate more than 80 percent of currency in circulation, a bid to stamp out corruption. Three months later, do the benefits outweigh the costs? Or will the hit to the economy be felt for years to come? Cornell University professor Eswar Prasad and Bloomberg reporter Sho Chandra join Scott to share their recent firsthand experiences from India and help explain why the action might just end up working.

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