In this episode of Battlegrounds, H.R. McMaster and Yalda Hakim discuss her film “Return of Taliban” which explores the Taliban of today, what they stand for and what is at stake in the unfolding situation in Afghanistan.

H.R. McMaster in conversation with Yalda Hakim on Thursday, September 9 at 9:00am PT.

Massive government-mandated and private-sector debt relief during the COVID-19 pandemic was well-targeted and helped mute economic distress for millions of Americans, finds a paper to be discussed at the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (BPEA) conference on September 9.

A cost-effective stimulus to mend the effects of a 24 percent drop in GDP would cost no more than $1.3 trillion over a 6-month period. The bill that Congress just approved is much bigger because it allocates resources to people who are not necessarily affected and rescuing businesses, like Boeing, that are in trouble for pre-existing reasons.

When we think about mortgages, what often comes to mind is a traditional bank or savings institution. The corner banker is seen as the mortgage lender and people get home loans at the same place where they may hold checking or savings accounts. But such a view does not reflect the real nature of the U.S. mortgage market.