As the country hurtles toward a presidential election, surprising uncertainty surrounds the specific policy preferences of a possible second Trump Administration. In this episode, the Baron team highlights trends from the firm’s recent Influencer Analytics study of the most important outside influencers around President Trump and his campaign. Based on Baron’s collection and assessment of more than 16,000 reference citations made by former President Trump and dozens of campaign advisors, the conversation explores the information environment around the Trump Campaign as issues critical to American business – especially taxes, trade, and antitrust – hang in the balance.

The Baron team delves into the political stability of Europe and examines the future of the European project. Based on Baron principal Jonathan Baron’s recent trip to the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, the discussion also covers potential scenarios for the revitalization or decline of Europe as an important consideration for America’s approach to geopolitics.

The denizens of “Gucci Gulch” have fallen on hard times. For even the largest lobbying firms, average monthly retainers have declined during the last decade. To add insult to injury, this lobbying recession has occurred amidst unprecedented overall prosperity for Washington, D.C. Episode 22 of the Political Risk Brief podcast explores this curious trend and corporate political competition in an era of lobbying stalemate.