Donald Trump rose to the presidency in part thanks to his experience as a businessman. A skilled manager, the argument went, could impose order and discipline on government. Instead, chaos and dysfunction have characterized Trump’s first month in office, leading Sen. John McCain to muse whether anyone’s actually in charge. Yesterday’s freewheeling press conference during which he described his administration as a “fine-tuned machine” is unlikely to dispel such concerns. So why the disconnect? Trump isn’t really a CEO, argues Bert Spector, an expert on leadership. Running a family business teaches a very different skillset than that of running a public corporation.
In another story consuming Washington, Jordan Tama from American University’s School of International Service examines whether Congress or an independent commission should investigate Russia’s links to the Trump campaign.
And Andrew Boyd from the University of Illinois looks at the potential downside of sharing personal health data from wearable fitness devices with insurance companies.
|
Trump poses with his brain trust.
Mark Lennihan/AP Photo
Bert Spector, Northeastern University
He campaigned on the notion that his business experience would equip him to 'make America great again,' but running a family company is poor training for the presidency.
|
Politics + Society
|
-
Jordan Tama, American University School of International Service
Research on more than 50 government investigations reveals how partisanship can get in the way of finding answers we all agree on.
|
|
Science + Technology
|
-
Andrew Boyd, University of Illinois at Chicago
Soon, wearable fitness devices will be able to diagnose diseases. Could that lead insurers to deny coverage to people based on their data alone?
|
|
Ethics + Religion
|
-
Rosalyn R. LaPier, Harvard University
Pope Francis appears to have defended Native American protests on the North Dakota pipeline issue. Indigenous cultures have a right to defend 'their ancestral relationship to the Earth,' he said.
|
|
Environment + Energy
|
-
Jonathan Rosenbloom, Drake University; Keith Hirokawa, University at Albany, State University of New York
A new federalism? Trump's decision to green-light the Dakota Access Pipeline and early battles with states show a disregard for the sovereignty of domestic government bodies.
|
|
Arts + Culture
|
-
Ronald Hall, Michigan State University
With the number of multiracial Americans growing, there's a fierce debate in the black community over who's black – and who isn't.
|
|
Economy + Business
|
-
Daniel M. Knight, University of St Andrews
Before the financial crisis struck, you could breathe the overwhelming air of prosperity on the bustling streets of Trikala.
|
|
Rest of the World
|
Australia
Patrizia Furlan, University of South Australia
Health reporting requires asking the right questions and doing quality research. But specialist skills are also handy, especially when it comes to knowing the language and processes of science. Africa
Jennifer Fitchett, University of the Witwatersrand
In southern Africa there's been a southward shift in the occurrence of tropical cyclones in the region. This is due to sea temperatures increasing as a result of global warming. United Kingdom
Magnus Linden, Lund University
After World War II, psychologists identified character traits that explained why so many people were complicit in Hitler's crimes. Are we seeing something similar now?
| |