1. What is the Trump administration’s concerns with the economy and trade in particular? Many of the proposed trade restrictions are designed for China. What are the concerns with trade with China? What tariffs have the Trump administration proposed or implemented? Why? What is the purpose of these tariffs? What companies or industries benefit from the tariffs? Who is hurt by the tariffs? How have other countries, particularly China, responded? What are the other choices of dealing with the administrations trade concerns?
2. The number of publicly listed firms has decreased by about half over the last 20 years even though the market capitalization of these firms is up more than 20x. Additionally, the 30 largest firms now account for about half of all public company earnings; in other words, firms are getting much bigger. Why has the number of public companies decreased so much? Are firms just getting bigger or are more companies staying private? Why might a firm wish to stay private? What is the role of private equity and particularly venture capital in fewer public companies? What is the impact on the investors and society of having fewer publicly listed firms? What is the impact of having fewer companies making a greater percentage of all income?