15 AUG 2020 · This week, Joe Biden announced California Senator Kamala Harris will be his running mate. The Left, Right & Center panel interprets the choice. Dorian Warren says this shows how the party has changed since 2016, she may mobilize more voters (especially as President Trump and the GOP attack her) and it says a lot about Biden’s leadership that he chose someone with whom he disagrees. Megan McArdle says she doesn’t see Harris bringing much to the ticket in terms of her policy stances or her legislative record, but this pick matters more than a normal presidency because she may succeed Biden if he runs for a second term. Congress has settled into a stalemate over coronavirus aid so President Trump signed some executive orders in an attempt to support the economy. What will they do, and what will they not do? And is it even legal? And is it good politics? Indivar Dutta-Gupta (co-executive director of the Georgetown Center for Poverty & Inequality) joins to talk about the mechanics and risks of the executive order for a new unemployment insurance program and the executive order for a payroll tax holiday. Last week, an assessment from the intelligence community reported Russian-linked entities are trying to boost President Trump for re-election and undermine Joe Biden, while China and Iran appear to prefer that Trump be defeated. Why would China prefer Biden over Trump? Patrick Chovanec says there are a lot of reasons, but it could because China has not found President Trump to be a reliable negotiator. What else does China want out of the election?

7 AUG 2020 · It’s August, the enhanced unemployment air ran out in July, and lawmakers in Washington don’t seem much closer to extending that and other aspects of the coronavirus aid. How long will be left in the lurch? And what do we make of the report that shows employment kept growing even as the epidemic got worse around the county? In July, about 1.8 million jobs were added and economist Betsy Stevenson has mixed feelings about it. She says economic recovery is very closely tied to virus control, which is not going very well, but we should also see this jobs report as proof that the first coronavirus aid packages have worked. Speaking of that, Republicans and Democrats are in a stalemate (as of this taping) over the next aid package. President Trump is getting frustrated and is threatening to act via executive order. Can he do that? Should he do that if Congress can’t break the stalemate?  Josh Barro, Dorian Warren, Megan McCardle talk with Betsey Stevenson about the childcare crisis that the pandemic has brought into focus. If millions of American parents are staying home with their children who cannot attend school in person, where does that leave the workforce? And what about the future workforce: children who miss a year of in-person school are going to have big learning gaps to make up. If schools can’t open, is it time for a major federal investment in child care? Data from major American cities show an increase in homicides and violent crime in May and June. Criminologist Richard Rosenfeld talks about what could explain the numbers and what can be done about it.

7 AUG 2020 · Josh Barro, Megan McArdle and Dorian Warren talk about the stalemate in Congress, July jobs report, and what should be done about an increase in violent crime.

31 JUL 2020 · The US economy shrank at a record pace in the second quarter, contracting nearly ten percent. In the real world, that means tens of millions of Americans lost jobs and so many businesses were closed. We knew it wasn’t going to be good, but what’s worse is the recovery we were seeing in the late spring appears to have stalled. On top of that Congress isn’t even close to a solution for the expiring enhanced unemployment benefits that so many Americans are relying on through this crisis. So we wait. On today’s show Josh Barro, Dorian Warren, Megan McArdle and special guest Shai Akabas of the Bipartisan Policy Center talk about the state of the next relief package — is it a stimulus or not? — and the big missing piece of coronavirus economic policy: actually beating the virus. Then: pro sports are back, sort of. Pablo Torre of ESPN talks about the strategies that are working and what’s definitely not working as leagues resume or begin their seasons in our new reality.

31 JUL 2020 · Josh Barro, Megan McArdle and Dorian Warren talk about the state of negotiations for the next coronavirus relief package and how pro sports are successfully and not so successfully resuming their seasons.

25 JUL 2020 · Those enhanced unemployment benefits that have kept many American households afloat through the pandemic? They’re about to run out, and Congress is just now getting around to doing something about it. In the first week of negotiation, Republicans and Democrats are still far apart on another coronavirus relief package. Congress has played a game of brinkmanship with government shutdowns, but during a pandemic with millions of Americans out of work, it’s a different situation. Christine Emba says Americans don’t have the patience for this game when it affects the livelihoods of so many. Megan McArdle says Congress must envision a post-pandemic economy as it considers the appropriate relief efforts now. What else is Congress fighting over in the next bill, and how do we contend with the fact that many Americans won’t get much relief until many weeks or months from now? In Portland, federal agents are throwing protesters into unmarked vehicles. Why? Is there any proper role for the federal government in responding to unrest in cities? Geoff Ingersoll joins the panel to discuss that and if this helps or hurts President Trump with voters. Also, what does New York Governor Andrew Cuomo have against Buffalo wings? He does know they were invented in his state, right?

24 JUL 2020 · Josh Barro discusses the fight in Congress over the next phase of coronavirus aid and the dispatch of federal agents with Christine Emba, Megan McArdle and Geoff Ingersoll.

17 JUL 2020 · The economic recovery appears to be stalling as the coronavirus epidemic intensifies across the south and southwest. How did we get here? What are the policy failures that allow uncontrolled spread to resume? Why is there such a big testing backlog? And where do we go from here? Dr. Kavita Patel joins the panel to discuss. Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump has enjoyed higher public approval on his handling of the economy than on his overall job. Joe Biden released an economic plan last week that aims to dent the president’s advantage, in part by co-opting some of his themes about promoting manufacturing in the United States. He wants an expansive “buy American” program, big public spending on research and development to rely less on international supply chains, and a major public spending plan for the climate and environment. Does this mean that both Right and Left are ready to abandon neoliberal ideals of globalism? And is there a tradeoff between raising labor standards in the United States and raising labor standards in other countries? Biden’s climate action plan is a very progressive proposal — his moderate image might be helping him put forward very left proposals, but would that help him with actual policy making if he is president? Finally, Dorian Warren argues the time is right for a third Reconstruction, a deep structural transformation of institutions in the United States to remedy inequities.

17 JUL 2020 · Josh Barro, Megan McArdle and Dorian Warren talk about the worsening coronavirus pandemic in the US, Joe Biden’s economic platform and the possibility of a Third Reconstruction.

11 JUL 2020 · The coronavirus pandemic crisis is stretching on and the United States is in dire straits. Infections are surging in the south and west and there's doubt about whether schools can open safely for the new school year. Megan McArdle says the lags of this disease are contributing to serious policy disasters and many states are falling victim to normalcy bias, where, if it doesn't look like chaos, it's harder to persuade people and public officials to take appropriate action to prevent the situation from deteriorating. Dorian Warren says it is ultimately shameful that the United States is failing at virus mitigation. Then, Helen Alvare joins the panel to talk about the Supreme Court's final decisions. Was this term a major disappointment for conservatives? Chief Justice John Roberts promised to call balls and strikes, but might he be working towards a more long-sighted goal? Finally: Mexico's president visited President Trump in Washington this week, and Jose Diaz Briseno of Reforma talks about the state of their relationship. Is it correct to call President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador a leftist? And is he, like many other world leaders, doing his best just to appease and not influence President Trump?