Category: 3-DailySometimeCommentary

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Trump tariffs: All about the deficits

US President Donald Trump has announced sweeping tariffs on global trade, adding taxes of as much as 50% to imports from some countries.

The tariffs, he says, are ?reciprocal? ? calculated to address currency manipulation and trade barriers that other countries place on the US.

However, when you look at how the new tariffs were actually calculated, that claim does not add up.

Tim Harford speaks to Thomas Sampson, an associate professor at the London School of Economics, to understand what is going on.

Presenter: Tim Harford Producers: Lizzy McNeill and Nathan Gower Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon

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What A Day - Trump Tariffies The Markets

If Wednesday was ‘Liberation Day’ in America, then Thursday was its day of reckoning, as the reality of President Donald Trump’s decision to levy steep tariffs on dozens of countries set in. Financial markets around the world cratered. In the U.S., stocks lost more than $3 trillion in market value, registering their largest one-day drop since the start of the pandemic. But none of it seemed to bother Trump, who said of the fallout from his tariff announcement, ‘I think it’s going very well.’ Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics and trade policy at the Cato Institute, tells us everything we need to know about Trump’s tariffs.

And in headlines: The Pentagon’s acting inspector general said he’ll review Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal app to discuss military plans, the White House threatened to withhold funding from public schools over DEI programs, and lawyers for a Tufts University student detained by immigration officials asked a judge to keep her case in New England.

Show Notes:

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | Where DOGE Is Taking Us

This week, DOGE set its sights  and scythe on the Department of Health and Human Services, with a goal of cutting 10,000 federal workers, once again raising the question: what’s their endgame here?


Guest: Makena Kelly, senior writer for WIRED


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Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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What A Day - Trump Launches Tariff-Palooza

Wednesday was ‘Liberation Day’ in Trump’s America. For everyone else, it was a day of sheer economic panic, as President Donald Trump unveiled heavy 'reciprocal' tariffs on dozens of countries, on top of a 10 percent blanket tariff on all imports. Trump billed it all as a fool-proof strategy to bring back American jobs that have moved overseas, and said specifically the levies would be a boon for unionized workers at domestic car companies. But Trump is no friend to unionized labor. He's spent the days since his inauguration slashing thousands of unionized government jobs. Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, talks about how unions are fighting back.

And in headlines: Wisconsinites gave Elon Musk the middle finger by sending a liberal judge to their state Supreme Court, a federal judge dismissed corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and Amazon makes an eleventh-hour bid to buy TikTok.

Show Notes:

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - The Lives Ruined by Trump’s Deportation Machine

Trump campaigned on deporting dangerous criminals, but in his administration’s haste to deliver on that promise, men with no criminal records or who are in the United States legally have been taken to a prison in El Salvador, which even the administration admits was a mistake.


Guests:

Jonathan Blitzer, staff writer at the New Yorker, author of Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis.


Nick Miroff, staff writer for The Atlantic covering immigration.


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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther.


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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Is one in four people in the UK disabled?

Donald Trump is raising tariffs on Canada, but has his northern neighbour done anything to deserve them?

In her Spring Statement, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the UK?s fiscal ?headroom? was, again, ?9.9bn. We explore this curious coincidence.

Is it true that one in four people in the UK is disabled? And what does that mean for the state of our workforce?

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news.

Presenter: Tim Harford Reporter: Lizzy McNeill Producer: Nathan Gower Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: James Beard Editor: Richard Vadon