“This [good economic news] also allows me the latitude and timing to take some of the horrible, incompetent, just terrible trade deals that have been made over the years, and make them great. It’s like “Make America Great Again” — make the trade deals great. I don’t know if I can use the word “again.” Make them great. Period. Because I don’t think they were ever any good. (Laughter.)

. . .

“They passed the disastrous trade deals that encouraged the shuttering of American plants and the offshoring of American jobs by the millions. In short, the failed political class sold out American workers, sold out American prosperity, and sold out the American Dream.

“This was the alarming situation I was elected to end. And ending, it’s never that easy. And you see that. You do have people that want to keep it going that way, but they’re losing and they’re losing now rapidly and fast. Those days are gone, and we’re not going back.

“As you know, one of the key insights of economics is the power of incentives. Unlike past leaders, my goal is to ensure that this power works for America’s favor and for America’s workers and for America’s companies. We want the incentives created by our tax, trade, regulatory, and energy policies to be pro-growth, pro-worker, and 100 percent pro-American. And more is yet to come.”

— Remarks by President Trump at the Economic Club of New York, November 12, 2019

Elizabeth Warren’s Tax Plan Would Bring Rates Over 100% for Some
Wall Street Journal | November 15, 2019 | Richard Rubin

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has unveiled sweeping tax proposals that would push federal tax rates on some billionaires and multimillionaires above 100%.

That prospect raises questions for taxpayers and the broader economy that experts are starting to ponder:

Under which circumstances would taxpayers have to pay those rates?

How might that change their behavior?

And would investment and economic growth suffer?

Russian Specialists May Help Restore Notre Dame in Paris
Interfax | 11/14/19

Specialists from Russia will participate in the restoration of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the Russian president’s envoy for international cultural cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy said, adding that a final decision on this issue will be made in January.

“We will make a final decision in January because we are now awaiting an official request and an official invitation from France. I hope this invitation will arrive before the New Year. And in mid-January, we will meet with the special ambassador of France who is in charge of recruiting foreign specialists to work on this project,” Shvydkoy told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum on Thursday.

A final decision will be adopted after such an invitation is received, he said.

“We need to understand what the French need. We have lots of specialists who work with stone and wood. I mean the specialists who know how such castle-type constructions can be restored,” Shvydkoy said.

According to earlier media reports, specialists from Russia will be invited to France to help rebuild the Notre Dame Cathedral.