Every week, I like to tune into the Daily Show with Trevor Noah and Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj to hear what jokes they have to crack about the circus we call the government. I think that that is just a way for me to distract myself from the craziness going on with the impeachment and the abundance of  arguing democratic candidates for the 2020 election. However, I understand that there is more to politics than late night hosts have to share. The table talk regarding the election was a great experience for me to gain a better understanding of what is going on in the world around me.

An interesting discussion we had was around falling interest rates and how in Europe interest rates are negative, meaning that people have to pay the bank to keep their money. This is crazy to me, due to the looming possibility of a recession. Since Trump is so involved with the Federal Reserve (unlike any other President – as the Fed is supposed to be separate from the White House) it’s possible that his decisions could lead to very low interest rates which would trigger a recession and the possibility of negative interest rates. This would be very bad for the economy, especially with the current position the US is in regarding tariffs and taxes with China.

Another topic I found interesting is the fact that democrats are polarizing themselves. The main candidates (Biden, Sanders, Warren, and Harris) are all majority left facing, while Trump is very right facing. This creates a divide for moderate Americans (which a lot of us are). Since there is no candidate that fully represents a more moderate/left audience, it is entirely possible that these people may vote for Trump or may not vote at all. Unfortunately, all of the democratic candidates are stuck in their policies and don’t see the need to possibly appeal to a moderate audience.

Overall, this talk was very educational and taught me what I need to know to formulate my own opinions on modern democracy and the upcoming election.