"We excel at things that require capital and skill, " says Peter Schott, an expert on international trade at the Yale School of Management.

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We were so happy when both of us ended up after graduate school in Washington DC, launching careers in international trade.

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Despite what the president says, Peter Morici, a professor at the University of Maryland's business school and a former chief economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission, feels that the administration and the Fed are clearly worried about a recession--otherwise the central bank wouldn't have slashed short-term interest rates 1.25% since the beginning of the year.

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Peter Morici, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Business and former chief economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission, accused the Big Three of talking out of both sides of their mouths on trade issues.

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