Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org.

I'm Ian Masters, and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with the disconnect between concerns over debt that led to the sell-off in the bond market

that forced Trump to reverse his tariffs with a 90-day pause.

At the same time, the Republican House passes tax cuts for billionaires that will blow up the deficit,

while Musk cuts to the IRS will mean reduce revenues to service the debt. Joining us to assess an American economy driven by greed,

stupidity, and cowardice is Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, and the best-selling

author of several books, including People, Power and Profits, Progressive Capitalism in an Age of Discontent, Globalization and Its Discontents Revisited, Anti-Globalism in the Age of Trump, and The Road to Freedom, Economics, and the Good Society.

He was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors under President Clinton,

chief economist of the World Bank,

and was named by time as one as the 100 most influential individuals in the world,

and now teachers at Columbia University and his chief economist of the Roosevelt Institute.

Then we'll look into Trump's weakening of the dollar

and how much his chaotic misrule will lead to the rest of the world

looking for an alternative to the dollar as a global reserve currency

and speak with Barry Eichen Green,

a professor of economics and political science at the University of California, Berkeley.

He's the author of several books including Emerging Giants, China and India and the World

Economy, Exorbitant Privilege, the Rise and Fall of the Dollar, and Globalizing Capital,

a History of the International Monetary System. We'll discuss his article at the Financial

Times. Can the Dollar remain king of currencies?

Then finally, we'll examine the hollow nature of Trump's claim that the pain he is causing

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