Tax is an essential element of U.S. national security. The U.S. tax code can drive investments in strategic industries, and of course the U.S. has to pay for its defense and national security apparatus somehow.

Georgetown Law Professor Itai Grinberg joins Security Economics to talk about why tax matters, his advice on how to use the tax code to drive industrial policy, and whether the tax code actually sends manufacturing offshore.

No discussion of tax policy would be complete without talking about President Trump's favorite taxes, tariffs, as well as his new export taxes on computer chip sales to China. (Itai's historical analogy is both interesting and very funny).

It is an interesting episode. And as a bonus, the last question is free personal tax advice for podcast listeners.

Security Economics Host Peter Harrell and CFR's Brad Setser break down Trump's August 1 tariff blitz, setting in place many of the higher tariff rates Trump initially threatened in April. We also talk Trump's recent "trade deals"--what is real, and what is not--and gaze in the trade crystal ball to talk about what is still to come. Episode recorded August 1, 2025.

With President Trump's announcement that he will let Japanese company Nippon Steel buy storied U.S. steelmaker U.S. steel, Security Economics dives into investment screening--how it the process works, what it looks at, and where it might be headed. And of course we talk about the "golden share" that the U.S. is getting in U.S. Steel as part of this deal.

Security Economics is joined by Jim Secreto, an alum of Capitol Hill, the White House, the Treasury Department, and the Commerce Department. It's a great interview.

Questions, comments, or topics you'd like to see covered? Email me at pharrell@gmail.com.