Stephen Gottlieb

Professor, Albany Law School and Commentator at WAMC, Northeast Public Radio

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Articles

Market manipulation, inflation and Donald Trump

1 week ago | wamc.org | Stephen Gottlieb

My wife spotted a note in Facebook that Trump’s tariff manipulations were making his billionaire friends much wealthier. The person posting suggested that billionaires had the money to invest when the market goes down and then sell when it goes up. I think there are several more pieces to what is going on. First, raising tariffs predictably lowers market prices by making business more expensive.
Trump's danger to most of us

2 weeks ago | wamc.org | Stephen Gottlieb

Why did Trump’s Air Force try to scrub videos and records of the excellent and celebrated Tuskegee Airmen and Navajo Code Talkers in World War II? Many pilots, sailors and troops were happy to get their support. And why scrub the World War II Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs? My mother-in-law served in the Women’s Army Corps as a nurse. Lot of soldiers were happy to see her. Trump wasn’t a hero and doesn’t understand patriotism. Why’d Trump try to erase Black athletes from military websites?
The Golden Rule

3 weeks ago | wamc.org | Stephen Gottlieb

I’ve been talking a lot about how we get along with each other and with the world. My commentary has embraced teamwork, caring for each other, people who are black, white, brown and yellow, and foreign relations, peoples from different countries. Perhaps some of you realized that I was also talking about shared religious obligations. What the Jews call the Tanakh, Christians call the Old Testament. And Muslims also hold the Torah, the first five books of Moses, as sacred.
Trump's version of executive power

1 month ago | wamc.org | Stephen Gottlieb

Mr. Trump and his Republican allies claim his “executive power” means he can do whatever he wants. To put it simply, that’s nuts. The Constitution’s Article II vests “The executive Power” in the President. They interpret the word “executive” as all encompassing.
Trump's corruption

1 month ago | wamc.org | Stephen Gottlieb

Do you care if presidents are corrupt, take gifts, bribes or benefits for official acts? Think it’s no concern of yours? I’d like to convince you that presidential corruption can hit you very hard. Needing to grease palms makes things more expensive or out of reach. If law enforcement is for sale, you’re competing against higher bidders, criminals and criminal gangs. Undermining dedication to the rule of law invites gangs of thieves.
Yiddish for politicians

1 month ago | wamc.org | Stephen Gottlieb

Let me begin by saying I don’t speak Yiddish or understand more than a few words. My parents did their best to prevent me from learning it – they wanted me to be 100% American. But they spoke it when they didn’t want me to understand what they were saying or with people, like some of my aunts, who’d come from the old country and were much more comfortable with Yiddish than English.
Why WAMC matters to the war in the middle east

2 months ago | wamc.org | Stephen Gottlieb

Let me give an example of why this station matters. I offered a Jewish publication an article based on commentary I delivered to this WAMC audience before the fund drive, that Netanyahu was endangering the future of Israel, doing harm to American Jewry, and we, Americans, should object. John Walbridge calls it The Slow Suicide of the State of Israel.
The Costs of Catastrophe

Jan 14, 2025 | wamc.org | Stephen Gottlieb

Fires and natural disasters in California and the Southeast have made it hard to get homeowners’ insurance which has led people to think about how to provide it. Homeowners’ insurance has outpriced many. But providing insurance can lead people to stay put in unsustainable places. We can do better than that. Don’t ask economists what to do! Some think people should just suck it up – even if they can’t.
Jimmy Carter and family

Dec 31, 2024 | wamc.org | Stephen Gottlieb

First, I wish you all a happy New Year. You’ve heard a lot about former President Jimmy Carter but he and his family are pretty special for those of us who served in the Peace Corps. Carter’s mother, Lillian, was nearly seventy when she joined the Peace Corps in 1966, around the same time we did. My dad, a year older than Lillian Carter, was terrified. The US had been good to us; the rest of the world was recovering from the holocaust and trying to get over racial and religious prejudices.
Who gets a merry Christmas and who doesn't?

Dec 26, 2024 | wamc.org | Stephen Gottlieb

I’d like everyone to have a very merry Christmas and Happy Holidays but I think that will take more than holiday greetings and bags of toys. First, let’s talk about jobs. The FED solves our inflation fears – by keeping interest rates high enough so businesses will lay workers off and drive demand down. If the FED goofs and creates a depression, workers will be hurt most. When government expands trade to benefit business, some workers will lose jobs, at least temporarily.