Month: August 2017

EP 50 WHAT’S RON PAUL THINKING THESE DAYS?

EP 50 WHAT’S RON PAUL THINKING THESE DAYS?

Ron Paul rose out of obscurity as a Texas Congressman to be embraced politically by a diverse coalition, including young and old.  He also ran for President three times, twice as a Republican and once as a Libertarian.  Now, out of elective politics, he has established an Institute for Peace and Prosperity.  That organization is designed to advance an agenda that includes less military adventurism abroad and more fiscal responsibility and reform at home. He also wants to keep his concerns about civil liberties and government overreach in public view.  He selected his former Congressional aide, Daniel McAdams, to be executive director of this Institute.  He joins us on this episode.  http://ronpaulinstitute.org/

EP 49 TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF THE RISING COST OF COLLEGE

EP 49 TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF THE RISING COST OF COLLEGE

 

The escalating cost of a college degree has so many ripple effects.  Parents jeopardize retirement savings and  students defer many adult investments, in homes and family, in order to pay college loans back.  This phenomenon is relatively new.  Many of us can remember coming out of college with very modest paybacks required.  So what happened?  How have these costs gotten so out of hand and what are the responses from colleges and students to this massive problem?  Preston Cooper a research analyst in this field, joins us to discuss.

 

If higher education were a public good…

EP 48 TRUMP TRADE POLICY: IS IT BRINGING BACK MANUFACTURING JOBS AS ADVERTISED?

EP 48 TRUMP TRADE POLICY: IS IT BRINGING BACK MANUFACTURING JOBS AS ADVERTISED?

So Much Nonsense Out There, So Little Time….

Alan Tonelson

https://alantonelson.wordpress.com/

 

One key reason that Donald Trump now occupies the White House was his clarion call during the campaign for an ‘America First’ trade policy in order to rejuvenate mill and factory towns long forgotten.  Americatrendspodcast calls on Alan Tonelson, eminent trade expert, host of the Realitychek blog and author of ‘Race to the Bottom’ tells size up whether those promises are being kept and how the rest of the world is responding to the author of ‘The Art of the Deal’.

EP 47 WHAT IS CHANGING IN OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE BIRDS AND THE BEES?

EP 47 WHAT IS CHANGING IN OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE BIRDS AND THE BEES?

If we all want love, why is there such much conflict in our most intimate relationships?  How do we choose who we mate with–and how do we lose them?

Author David Buss began mulling these questions when he first write ‘The Evolution of Desire’ in 1994 and since that time, the study of human mating has entered the mainstream of science and our knowledge has expanded.

David Buss takes on new questions of the impact of technology of mate selection, whether men and women can be ‘just friends’ and if monagamy is giving way to serial relationships.

He also explores whether female sexuality is different than male sexuality and how. (Hint: it is.)

You’ve got to hear this compelling interview as trend: mating in the 21st century.

EP 45 UNLOCKING WASHINGTON’S REGULATORY VICE

EP 45 UNLOCKING WASHINGTON’S REGULATORY VICE

There’s a non-partisan reform coalition called ‘Common Good’ that offers Americans a new way to look at law and government.  They have some creative ideas about restoring common sense to all three branches of government.  Their key principle is simple, but powerful.  People, not rules, should prevail when assessing the effectiveness of laws and regulations.  So, practicallly speaking, how do you unlock people within bureaucracies to substitute reason for inflexible rules? And how do you focus more on results than process?  Many changes will be required in torder to accomplish their objectives.  Philip K. Howard, the founder of the organization, has enlisted people like Bill Bradley, a Democrat, and Republicans like Alan Simpson, to advocate for changes. We’ll let you in on their thinking on this episode of our podcast.

EP 43 BORDERWALL

EP 43 BORDERWALL

 

Our podcast takes an unconventional look at whether the physical barrier that is being proposed to divide the United States from Mexico might be re-examined and found to have any aesthetic or redeeming value from an architectural standpoint.  Ronald Rael an associate professor of Architecture at Berkeley lobs ‘an artistic and intellectual hand grenade’ into this debate with his book ‘Borderwall As Architecture’.  Our conversation takes us on a journey along a wall that cuts through a ‘third nation’–the Divided States of America.  He will have you imagine a wall that, despite the intended purpose of keeping people out, would serve to engage the imaginations of people on both sides in a common dialogue.  Expect to hear things you’ve never considered.

 

 

EP 42 CAN YOU ENVISION A SECURE RETIREMENT IN A SEA OF DEBT?

EP 42 CAN YOU ENVISION A SECURE RETIREMENT IN A SEA OF DEBT?

Esteemed economist, Laurence Kotlikoff, can hold two seemingly contradictory views at one time.  While he believes that the fiscal gap of the U.S. federal government–sum of all obligations on our books–is about 15 times the published number of $20 trillion, he’s not shy about trying to help individual Americans ‘Get What’s Yours’ from the complex Social Security system(which is also on the verge of bankruptcy).  And while he believes America is now bankrupt, and in a much worse situation than Greece, he’s not beyond trying to help you develop the ‘economist approach’ to saving for retirement by way of his MaxiFi program. He considers it a revolutionary new tool in retirement planning.  We try to engage Laurence Kotlikoff on all these subjects so we can improve your micro-finances even if the macro-finances of our society are in tatters.