Maxwell School News and Commentary

Louis Kriesberg, professor emeritus of sociology, provided his point of view on why the U.S. is so tough on China, Iran and Turkey and on the possible change of the role of NATO and OSCE in Europe.

"The emotions surrounding this have been extremely high, and most Republicans are on record already showing they wanted to go forward with a vote," on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, says Reeher. "Those things can’t be walked back."

"They are trying to threaten the Canadians into signing a deal that at this point the Canadians don’t want to sign and there is a gigantic bogeyman in the room which is the 25 percent tariff on Canadian auto imports," says Mary Lovely, professor of economics.

Devashish Mitra, professor of economics and Gerald B. and Daphna Cramer Professor of Global Affairs, says, "any tariff increase will come at a huge cost to India’s consumers as well as producers who use imported inputs."

According to Stuart Rosenthal, professor and chair of economics, market-rate housing filters down at a rate of almost 2 percent per year—fast enough to make a big difference. Housing filters fastest in the middle of the country, but it filters down on the expensive coasts, too, he found. 

According to Ryan Griffiths, associate professor of political science, separatist aspirations are "alive and kicking" elsewhere in the world. That includes Catalonia and Scotland in Europe, and also French territory New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea’s Bougainville.

University Professor and former NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe was tasked with informing the families and friends of the terrible fate of the astronauts on the Columbia Space Shuttle. "It went from being a moment of great anticipation and elation...to a stillness, recognizing that the time that had been anticipated for the shuttle to land had passed," he says of the tragic event.

Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion, explains how Trump overperformed in places with high rates of drug use, suicide, and family distress. According to Monnat, Trump's message of economic nationalism and promises to bring back manufacturing jobs resonated with people in these areas who felt left behind by globalization and the decline of traditional industries.

"The Privacy Act is a big hurdle here unless Congress takes control of the materials and tries to release them themselves," says William C. Banks, professor of public administration and international affairs.