GoodFellows: Conversations on Economics, History & Geopolitics

The rubber meets the road in California this fall when a proposed one-time 5% tax on the state’s billionaire class – wealth taxes being a longtime progressive hobby horse – faces a public vote in the form of Proposition 40. Joshua Rauh, the Hoover Institution’s George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in economics and author of a data analysis of Prop 40’s fiscal and economic impacts, explains why the measure would be a “disaster” if enacted and whether the policy battle marks the beginning of more public engagement on the part of the wealthiest Californians or instead will speed up their exodus from the Golden State. After that: the fellows reflect on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America – where they were that fateful day and 9/11’s legacy as it pertains to the war on terror, social divides and global alliances (if a similar attack happened today, would Vladimir Putin still be the first world leader to offer assistance to the American president?). Finally, in the “Lightning Round”: the pros and cons of an ascendant world senior population; the merits of “financial engineering” as governments spend and borrow more; disorder in the ranks as more of America’s military leaders part ways with the Pentagon; young conservatives’ “Nixonmaxxing” (and revising presidential history).

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On the latest GoodFellows: Is economic strangulation the key to achieving Iranian cooperation, or another misstep in the Persian Gulf? Is a sequel to “Woke 1” in the works? And does playing the race card in the aftermath of a former Cambridge University professor's suicide make his death even more tragic – and distract from another tragedy: declining academic tragedy?

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Jay Bhattacharya returns to GoodFellows—now as NIH director and acting CDC director—for a candid conversation on what COVID got wrong, why science needs a replication revolution, and how to restore public trust. Jay takes on the legacy of lockdowns, school closures, Fauci, gain-of-function research, China, AI-enabled biosecurity risks, vaccine questions, and the fight to make scientific dissent possible again.

Then: Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, AI guardrails, democratic socialism, and what Homer can still teach us about war.

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After a productive first 100 days after returning to office, President Trump has since hit a rough patch – stubborn inflation (despite an otherwise powerhouse economy), an unpopular war with Iran, setbacks at the Supreme Court, plus growing dissent among congressional Republicans as his party faces the distinct possibility of losing one or both chambers of Congress in November. Has the ever-impulsive, risk-taking Trump lost his political Midas touch, or is he simply yet another president befuddled by a second-term jinx (not to mention a disgruntled electorate)? If Trump is sorely in need of a “win”, will it come on the domestic front or abroad (spoiler alert: look to Cuba)? After that, the fellows discuss whether it was fair play for the American president to intervene in World Cup officiating and the International Olympic Committee to allow Russian athlete to compete for Mother Russia in the 2028 Games, if the war in Ukraine is anywhere close to a tipping point, whether futbol is in fact an expression of socialist convictions (or so New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani believes), and the policy smarts (or a lack thereof) of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ call for a sovereign wealth on AI companies’ stock and how those firms should be addressing the industry’s image problem (the fellows playfully disagreeing on using AI to cheat on schoolwork). 

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On paper, it was a mismatch: a fledgling republic seeking freedom from the world’s mightiest empire. And yet the American Revolution ended with the upstart colonists’ victory over the mighty British military. Rick Atkinson, a military historian and author of a “Revolutionary Trilogy” on the fight for America’s independence, discusses the military tactics, geopolitical shifts, and economic conditions that factored into the war’s outcome. After that, the fellows discuss why serving as the British prime minister has become a game of musical chairs and how Labour lost its way, as well as the rise of “democratic socialism” and the appeal of class warfare and expansive government in the US – most notably, a California ballot initiative that imposes a “wealth tax” on the state’s billionaires.  Finally, in the “lighting round”, John's thoughts on the passing of former Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan; H.R.’s take on the Pentagon putting its generals out to pasture; and Niall reflecting on European World Cup fans descending upon the US, only to discover a land of abundance (i.e., plenty of ranch dressing even if there’s not enough beer to go around).

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