Maxwell School News and Commentary

Peer to Peer reflects the diverse professional experience and interests of Maxwell’s midcareer professionals, says Margaret E. Lane, Executive Education's assistant director. “Our students are leaders of organizations and agencies from around the globe who are dedicated to public service and have insights to share,” she says. “In sharing their insights, they enrich us all.”

"A lot of communities now are very committed to dealing with issues of racism, but the fact is their own history is problematic," says Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science. "They’re beginning to confront their own racism, and their own complicity in the racism of the past."

"Obama can say things that will be heard differently from the Democratic candidates for president," says Professor Grant Reeher. "He has the role of former president and that de facto gives you a statesmanlike role. And he fills that role in the way he expresses himself."

University Professor James Steinberg explained how the parties involved were able to come to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, which allowed all of them to preserve their most important positions while finding space for compromise in order to end the violence.

Grant Reeher was interviewed on USA Today regarding President Trump coming to the aid of rapper A$AP Rocky, after facing assault charges in Stockholm, Sweden. "We're headed into a campaign year, and it may be no coincidence that the person Trump is advocating for is a popular African-American rapper," Said Reeher.

"This new bundle of taxes falls heavily on final goods, such as clothing, shoes, household goods and baby products. If the tariffs start on September 1, as suggested by the president's tweet, shoppers will see the impact immediately, as they begin their back-to-school shopping," writes Professor of Economics Mary Lovely. 

"The President, like every actor in our national government, is bound by the Constitution. Article II of the Constitution allows the President to take certain actions, but the list is quite short, especially compared to the long list of Congress's Article I powers," says William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs.

Fears of recession are growing, especially in the business community, and the question is whether that uncertainty will spread to consumers. "We won’t see that until we start to see a real slowdown in hiring," says Professor of Economics Mary Lovely.