President Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff announcements sent stock markets plunging. On this week’s On the Media, how to make sense of the ever-changing news about the economy. Plus, the policy behind the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ rhetoric.

[01:00 ] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Gordon Hanson, an economist at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, about President Trump’s “America First” vision and the potential consequences of his chaotic tariff scheme.

[17:22 ] Micah sits down with Mark Blyth, a professor at Brown University, who explains the rhetoric about short term pain for long term gains, and what to make of the economy right now. 

[35:07 ] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Helena Bottemiller Evich, Editor-in-Chief of Food Fix, to trace the complicated relationship between Republicans and food policy, from the Obama era to RFK Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” plan.   

Further reading:

• “Track One Car Part’s Journey Through the U.S., Canada and Mexico—Before Tariffs” by By Vipal Monga Follow and Santiago Pérez
• “Washington’s New Trade Consensus (And What It Gets Wrong),” by Gordon Hanson
• “Austerity Is Back – and More Dangerous Than Ever,” by Mark Blyth
• “Republicans propel MAHA agenda with wave of state legislation,” by Helena Bottemiller Evich

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