A Vision for Trade, Learning from Eleanor, New Fellows, and More

March 17, 2017

The Roosevelt Rundown is an email series featuring the Roosevelt Institute’s top 5 stories of the week.


1. A New Vision for Trade

In a new report, highlighted by Politico, Roosevelt Fellow Todd Tucker presents the Sustainable Equitable Trade Doctrine – an approach to trade policy that emphasizes progressive international cooperation and democratic participation in order to counter the right-wing economic nationalism that helped bring Donald Trump to power.

2. What Would Eleanor Say?

Roosevelt Board Chair Anna E. Roosevelt was interviewed by Glamour about what her grandmother Eleanor was like, what the former First Lady would think about Trump’s immigration ban and anti-Muslim fear-mongering, and the ways that online communication tools might break down borders.

3. Welcoming New Fellows

This week Roosevelt welcomed two new fellows to its roster of progressive policy thinkers: Michael Linden, Policy and Research Director for the Hub and former senior policy adviser to Senator Patty Murphy, and Maya Wiley, Senior VP and professor at the New School and Chair of the NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board. Learn more about Michael and Maya here.

4. Follow Us on Medium

Our blog posts are now available on Medium. Follow Next New Deal and Roosevelt Forward for smart policy ideas and politically relevant analysis. This week, Roosevelt Fellow Mike Konczal explained why leverage requirements alone aren’t enough to replace Dodd-Frank, and Senior Economist Lenore Palladino examined the hidden cost of the Fed’s rate hike.

5. History Lessons

In Jacobin, Roosevelt Fellow and Senior Economist Marshall Steinbaum debunks the claim that aggressive progressive economics would produce more racial discrimination by examining what really undermined European social democracy over the last few decades. Plus, MuniNetworks recommends Steinbaum’s paper on telecommunications policy with Andrew Hwang.

What We’re Reading:

Vox and The Washington Post have written up the key findings of a Roosevelt Institute/Democracy Corps focus group conducted with Obama-to-Trump voters in blue-collar Macomb County, Michigan, noting that while these voters have put their faith in Trump himself, they deeply distrust the mainstream Republican Party.

What We’re Watching:

Appearing with President Trump at the White House yesterday, Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny spoke about the millions of Irish immigrants who came to America as “the wretched refuse on the teeming shore,” seeking liberty and opportunity.