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The state of the U.S. economy is of critical importance to all Americans and sure to be a major issue in the 2020 presidential election. On its face, the economy appears strong – high growth, low unemployment, low interest rates, and little inflation. But beneath the surface worrying trends lurk. Many Americans continue to be left behind. Markets are signaling a high chanc...


This episode examines the country's workforce and what's influencing job creation and job loss.

The economic prosperity of the United States of tomorrow depends in large part on how we invest in human capital today. It’s not news that to continue to compete, we need a workforce that is better educated, more technology-driven, and global. Who will be the engines of future economic growth and what are we doing to capitalize on their momentum? While much attention is be...

As the 2016 presidential election approaches, the economy is a tale of two realities. On one hand, employment numbers, housing prices, and corporate profits have rebounded substantially since President Obama took office nearly eight years ago at the height of the financial crisis. At the same time, the nature of work is shifting, leaving many behind, long term unemployment...

Most of the tactics that allies are employing to stem Putin’s aggressions in Ukraine are economic in nature: oil and gas embargoes, severe international banking restrictions, shutdowns of foreign business operations, and more — all with the objective of crippling aspects of Russia’s economy. But will they work? Is handcuffing a country’s economy an effective way to counter...

America has always meant business. We’re a nation of self-starters, strivers, and entrepreneurs — with the courage to take big risks and the confidence to determine our own destiny. Entrepreneurs are seen as the beating heart of our economy, generating the jobs, wealth, and innovation that keep the American Dream alive. But what are the conditions that small businesses nee...

We know the success of our economy depends in large part on a vibrant, market-based economic system. But markets, by their nature, don’t deal effectively with many issues. We must also have a constructive and effective government, with a willingness to engage in principled compromise and ground decisions in facts and analysis.The fundamental challenge facing our economy is...

The American economy motors on, with unemployment near record lows, incomes outpacing rising prices, the debt default averted, the stock market showing surprising strength, and the much-predicted recession still not in sight. Using the charts he brings to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and his New York Times op-eds articles, Steven Rattner will attempt to square why, then, American...

This talk rethinks refugees as a potential economic benefit to the societies that host them, rather than simply passive victims of war and tyranny. Taking the audience on a research journey across continents, Alexander Betts, professor of forced migration and director of the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University, shows how refugees’ skills, talents, and aspirations c...



Robert Reich live at the Aspen Ideas Festival.

Around the world, people who are angry at stagnant wages and growing inequality have rebelled against established governments and turned to political extremes. Liberal democracy, history's greatest engine of growth, now struggles to overcome unprecedented economic headwinds — from aging populations to scarce resources to unsustainable debt burdens. Democracies risk falling...

The relationship between business and society in America has always been close. Today, it is perhaps closer than ever. Catalyzed by events like the murder of George Floyd and inspired by powerful social movements, many corporations have moved from tacit to far more open positions on hot-button social issues. Society, in turn, has largely moved to embrace corporations whose...


Even when the economy is booming and unemployment is low, millions of Americans still face economic hardship. And in the last few years the United States has dealt with supply chain challenges, inflation and financial instability. The economic tools we have to identify, address and talk about those problems aren’t always up to the task, and sometimes the picture we get is...

In the year plus since the murder of George Floyd and the global outcry for racial justice, much has changed in the world. And yet, systemic racism still casts its long shadow on many aspects of our lives. Join PayPal CEO Dan Schulman and Shartia Brantley to discuss the economic underpinnings of racial injustice and the investments that leaders across the ecosystem can mak...


What are the best solutions for dealing with the increasingly dire North Korea situation?

In the United States, salsa outsells ketchup as the No. 1 condiment on our tables. In the summer of 2017, the Spanish-English pop song sensation “Despacito” performed by Puerto Rican Luis Fonsi broke records as the most-viewed music video online. The American Latino is a powerful consumer group, representing $2.13 trillion in GDP. If their economic might were represented a...

The China-US relationship appears to have arrived this year at two inter-related flashpoints, on trade and technology, as President Trump’s administration enters a trade war that has destabilized world markets and has gone to war too against China’s tech giant Huawei. What’s really at the core of the trade dispute—and just how dominant is China’s lead on next-generation 5G...


Chinese President Xi Jinping is poised to start his second five-year term when the 19th Party Congress convenes in Beijing this fall. Under him, a new generation of leaders will emerge as China continues to position itself for maximum strategic and economic influence around the globe. As the United States enters an era of “America first,” Beijing is launching projects of s...