The United States and North Korea are set to continue talks this week in preparation for the second Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi later this month. Thomas Pepinsky, a professor of international politics and an expert in South East Asia at Cornell University, says that while all eyes are on the U.S. and North Korea now, we should not forget the broader regional context, as well as the significance of Vietnam being chosen to host the summit. 

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Lara Skinner, executive director of the Worker Institute at Cornell University, says the Green New Deal plans should include sufficient planning, financial support and inclusion of workers' voices.

Energy, Environment & Sustainability

Law and Policy

Cornell in DC

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Elizabeth Sanders, professor of government at Cornell University who studies American political development, says a Green New Deal could succeed, but will likely dissipate without risk-takers and creative funding solutions.

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North Korea dominated the foreign policy section of Trump’s address to the nation, on Tuesday, with the announcement of a new summit with Kim Jong Un in Vietnam at the end of the month. Sarah Kreps, professor of government at Cornell University, is an expert on international conflict. Her recent research focuses on how matters of foreign policy affect Trump’s approval rating. She says that compared to a Democrat, Trump faces less political risk as he negotiates with North Korea.

Law, Government & Public Policy

International

Arts and Sciences

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New York State is facing a $2 billion deficit, said Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday. Cristobal Young, a sociologist at Cornell University who studies income inequality and the effects of taxation on the rich, comments on Cuomo’s explanation that the deficit was caused by Trump’s federal tax cuts.

New York State

Economics and Business

Law and Policy

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Christopher Dunn, a botanist, ecologist and director of the Cornell Botanic Gardens, comments on what melting Himalayan glaciers means for indigenous peoples.

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President Trump will deliver his re-scheduled State of the Union remarks Feb. 5 and is expected to reiterate his interest in working with Congress to develop a comprehensive infrastructure package.

Law and Policy

Cornell in DC

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Cornell University environmental historian Aaron Sachs, also a fellow at the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, says that a proposed Green New Deal would be similar to the original New Deal in its focus on serving vulnerable members of society.

Law and Policy

Energy, Environment & Sustainability

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The European Union announced it has set up an “International Contact Group,” including members of the EU as well as four Latin American countries, to help find solutions to the ongoing political crisis in Venezuela. The group, set to meet in Uruguay on Thursday, will pressure Venezuela’s current president to set a date for new elections. Lourdes Casanova, academic director of Cornell University’s Emerging Markets Institute, says that on top of the uncertain political situation, Venezuela’s economic realities also do not leave much room for easy solutions.

International

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

Johnson Graduate School of Management

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On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced that it was leaving interest rates unchanged and cautioned that the bank will be “patient” in future action on interest rates. Cornell University economist Steven C. Kyle, an expert in macroeconomics and government policy, says that signs of a slowdown in the current economic climate are behind the Fed’s recent change of approach.  

Economics and Business

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

Dyson School of Applied Economics & Management

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