The News
March 14, 2018
It’s mid-March and the madness is upon us, both in the form of college sports and changing public policy. In the nation’s capital, the month kicked off with a series of resignations, firings, and denials from the White House over payments for past sexual improprieties and disagreements on policy. Yesterday, the tensions in the White House culminated in the abrupt ouster of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson by presidential tweet during the secretary’s diplomatic trip to Africa. President Trump swiftly named CIA Director Mike Pompeo as Tillerson’s nominated successor in a scenario previously outlined by The New York Times back in November.
In other top news, the Trump administration issued new tariffs on aluminum and steel imports by citing national security concerns and could result in taxes levied as high as 25% on imported steel products — with exceptions made for imports from Mexico, Canada, and Australia. The measures drew widespread condemnation from both political parties and could spur retaliatory measures from the European Union and other countries on U.S. exports such as jeans, motorcycles, and produce. Meanwhile, the president announced that he was open to accepting overtures from North Korea to sit down with the country’s leader Kim Jong-Un in May and discuss the future of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
Elsewhere, the 2018 midterm elections kicked off with primary elections in Texas and a special election for the a House seat in Pennsylvania; Italy held is parliamentary elections; public school teachers in West Virginia reached a deal with the state for a five percent pay raise after striking for two weeks; three separate parcel explosions in Austin, Texas killed two people while injuring two others and are under investigation as possibly racially-motivated attacks; the British government debated issuing sanctions against Russia for the suspected assassination of a former Russian spy and his daughter living on U.K. soil; and quarterback Kirk Cousins set a new precedent for NFL players seeking greater guarantees from NFL teams in free agency.
As per usual, thanks for reading the newsletter and happy pi day!
Cheers,
The Wonks Team
Politics and Public Policy
- The Upshot estimates the economic costs of President Trump’s proposed tariffs on aluminum and steel imports as well as what the proposal affirms about the president’s agenda on trade policy along and its impact on the stock market.
- FiveThirtyEIght analyzes the flaws of scholarly presidential rankings, noting the partisan leanings of presidential scholars as well as noteworthy blind spots by historians on the issues of race and economic crises.
- The Washington Post reports on President Trump’s rollback of consumer protection laws created under the Obama administration, including policies that enable individuals to sue companies for predatory lending practices.
- NPR assesses the staffing turnover at the Trump White House, comparing the number of resignations of major staff members in the first two years to previous presidents.
- FiveThirtyEight compares the political climate of Barack Obama’s nuclear negotiations with Iran to the current situation of President Trump with North Korea, describing the potential threats and commitments to nuclear armament of both regimes.
Business, Science, and Health
- Quartz Obsession explains the Peter principle, the theory behind why high-performing employees make such poor managers and why incompetent people receive promotions at the expense of their more qualified peers.
- The New York Times reports on the development of fake videos known as “deepfakes,” which can convincingly superimpose the faces of one person onto another, and how this new technology further complicates the proliferation of fake news.
- The Verge writes about the push for a universal flu vaccine following the unusually deadly flu season, remarking on the difficulties of defining “universal” in a market of pharmaceutical companies simultaneously developing vaccines on a yearly basis.
- The Verge profiles Know Your Meme, the Brooklyn-based internet company that chronicles internet memes, detailing the company’s place documenting the history of the internet and culture.
- Gizmodo investigates the “catfishing” operations of James O’Keefe and Project Veritas in Silicon Valley, where conservative activists lured engineers with false job offers in order to secretly record video evidencing biases against conservatives.
- The Atlantic writes about the differences between psychopaths and regular people for interpreting the world, notably how psychopaths are slower to consider the perspectives or feelings of other people.
Sports and Culture
- The Ringer writes about the shallow bullpen for talent at Comedy Central, explaining how recent standouts from “The Daily Show” have signed with Netflix or HBO rather than receiving offers from the network to create their own original programming.
- FiveThirtyEight inspects the baseballs used during the most recent MLB season for evidence of juicing, finding increased buoyancy in balls tied to the rising number of homeruns hit last season.
- David Roth of Deadspin reflects on the continued underemployment of star baseball players at the start of spring training, remarking on how players finally receiving offers took significant pay cuts compared their previous salaries.
- Zach Lowe of ESPN evaluates the Toronto Raptors, recounting how the team’s coaching staff “reset” the culture to convince players to change their style of offense and whether or not the team can truly contend for an NBA title.
- The A.V. Club writes this obituary for theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, memorializing him not only for his contributions to physics but also for his influence on pop culture and his guest appearances on The Simpsons among others TV shows.
