week's edition at barron's.com, and don't forget to follow i on twitter. that's all for us, see you next week on "the barron's round table." ♪ ♪ ♪ >> from the fox studios in new york city, this is maria bartiromo's "wall street." maria: and happy weekend. welcome to program that analyzes the week that was and helps position you for the week ahead. i'm maria bartiromo. thanks for joining us. it's an all texas show this week. coming up in just a few moments, the head of the dallas federal reserve, robert kaplan, is here. then later, one of the most influential figures in pro sports, mark cuban. he is with us as well. this week the white house signaled that negotiations for an initial u.s./china trade deal are in the final stages, but president trump is not ready to sign anything yet. i spoke with commerce secretary wilbur ross about the u.s./china trade deal.

>> so we're really in a win/win position. either the tariffs will continue, or we'll have an acceptable deal with china. so the important thing is to make sure that the deal is what we think it is, make sure that it is consistent with the premises that they've made to us. maria: and there was a lot of back and forth about that this week. also this week we saw signs that the consumer is still strong thanks to great retail sales numbers, better than expected earnings from walmart, among others. all of this led to a texas-sized rally on wall street. and joining me right now to talk about this week and beyond with is the president of the dallas federal reserve bank, robert kaplan. the president of the bank there. and, robert kaplan, it's great to have you this weekend. thanks so much for joining me. >> great to talk to you, maria. maria: how would you assess the economy right now?

we did get some okay numbers on the consumer this week, certainly retail sales and walmart numbers. it feel like the consumer is the best thing going for this economy. how do you see things? >> yeah, i think the economy's solid. we'll grow more slowly in -- for the rest of 2019, but i still believe next year we have a good chance to grow at 2%, and the consumer's the key to that. household balance sheets are in pretty good shape, and the job market's tight. and that's offset by decelerating global growth, mainly due to trade, weak manufacturing also probably due to trade, and weak business investment in the united states. but the consumer's 70% of the economy, so i think if they, if the consumer continues to be strong and the other weaknesses don't intensify, we should have not great, but we should have solid growth next year. maria: and, certainly, when you look at unemployment at a 50-year low and wages up 3, 3.25% year-over-year, that certainly is a strengthening for the consumer. so that's all good news.

i want to ask you about cap ex in a moment, but let's talk about this slowdown in manufacturing and what you've seen in texas, the oil business in terms of manufacturing. how do you assess thatsome. -- that? >> so i mentioned that due to trade, global growth is decelerating, and people have to remember that, a, a meaningful percentage of s&p 500 revenues come from outside the united states. but the energy business is a good example of an industry that is very reliant on global growth because it affects the price of oil. and because the price of oil has been more sluggish, rig count is down, cap-ex here is down, production is down this year over a last year, and we think net production growth is going to be, is going to be down next year. so production's till growing, but -- still growing, but the rate of growth is slowing. and i think if global growth prospects were better, you'd see a healthier energy business and more cap-ex there.

maria: what do you think that's going to mean? i mean, the energy business has been the leadership business. you've got the front row seat there to see really what's going on in this industry. are we going to see job cuts as a result of this slowdown? is it getting that severe? >> yeah, and we've already seen even though job with growth in texas is very positive, energy job growth has been a headwind. and i think, yeah, that's likely to continue. so there's the issue that the price is lower. the other issue is the shale business, the shale boom -- which has been an incredible burst, addition to u.s. production growth and makes us the largest producer in the world -- it's not as profitable as people expected. so you're also seeing capital providers exert more capital discipline. they're saying if you want to spend on cap-ex it's got to come from cash flow. but it all relates to sluggish global demand, slowing global

growth. if global growth stabilized or improved, i think you'd see a healthier energy sector. maria: and yet the federal reserve is on hold the in terms of cutting interest rates. why is the fed on hold? >> reason we're on hold is if you roll back to summer, these weaknesses i just described were present then. and so i felt strongly, as did my colleagues, that we ought to move -- and we did in july, we moved in september, and with some debate we moved in october. and it's my own view that those moves have been sufficient to address these concerns about global growth mainly due to trade, manufacturing and business investment. and also the other thing that we were able to do which i felt was important straighten out the yield curve where we had an inverted curve, we now have an upwardly-sloping curve. i think policy now, the setting about right, and i think we

should stand pat here. maria: the policy is about right, and this market will not quit. what do you make of the dow, the nasdaq, s&p in record territory throughout the week? you know, alan greenspan used to say there's something to that because it's basically showing consumers, it's the wealth effect. it makes people feel rusher, and then they go and spend -- richer, and then they go and spend and it's sort of a cycle of what's going on in the economy. how do you see it? >> well, and in this job i'm careful not to comment too much about the market, but i'll say the following: corporate profit, interestingly, in 2019 pretty sluggish. you know, flattish with last year. but we've had a dramatic rally in, along the treasury curve. the ten-year treasury just a year ago right now was at 3.25, today it's at 1.85 plus or minus. and so that rally, i think has probably provide a big tailwind to financial assets generally,

and i think certainly you're seeing that in the stock market. but i think you're seeing it in real estate and across the board on financial assets. maria: yeah, what a move in rates. that's pretty incredible that it's been a year ago since we saw 3.25%. robert, what is your take on cap-ex? you speak with business managers all the time as you get a feel for what they're seeing as you do your sourcing. what's it going to pay for them to start spending on their businesses again in terms of capital expenditures? >> for some of the uncertainty to alleviate x. this is not just the trade dispute with china. it's, it would help if usmca got approved, which we're on the mississippiic it will in the -- optimistic it will in the next six months. but i think there's enough uncertainty globally and threat of auto tariffs. all those things create uncertainty for businesses. and to some extent, i also hear from businesses shortages of workers, shortages of engineers

is limiting their desire to invests in cap-ex. but i think this broad uncertainty is causing businesses not to cancel projects, but to put them on hold for 2019 and '20. and i, my expectation is unless you get some clarity, better clarity on trade globally, i think that sluggishness is probably going to continue. maria: all right. and, of course, looking for workers, you've got to get the right workers. good to see that the state of texas has gone down the reform of education to arm our workers with the best possible -- >> yeah, critical. more it is critical. and to put them in the best position they can be in. robert kaplan, it is great to see you as always. thank you, sir. >> thanks, maria. maria: don't go anywhere, mark cuban is up next. stay with me. ♪ ♪ ♪ limu emu & doug

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♪ muckmaria: welcome back. the 2020 race for president has turned into a battleground in the argument over capitalism versus socialism. elizabeth warren, for example, and bernie sanders are taking aim at the rich to pay more in taxes to fund their multitrillion dollar programs like medicare for all, the green new deal. my next guest is an added sew candidate for capitalism -- advocate. mark cuban is the owner of the dallas mavericks, and he joins me right now. he started from nothing and worked his way into being a billionaire and an innovator. it is great to have you. >> thanks for having me. maria: so what do you think about this? do people understand the difference, capitalism versus socialism, and do you think that's what 2020 is setting itself up for in. >> i don't think they always do understand the difference, because why would they need to learn, you know? i think in this country the american dream is aalive and well, and even -- alive and well, and even despite elizabeth

warren and bernie sand earth really taking aim at capitalism, i think capitalism always wins. it's the best system. no other system's been able to survive. and so while it's okay to cast aspersions and to discuss alternatives in socialism, this is still the united states of america, and we'll still and will remain a capitalist society. maria: you know, growth has happened once again in the economy, and wages are up. as a result of wages being up, the bottom earners have actually done better in the last couple of years. what is the answer to inequality issue? because that that's what they're standing on -- >> right. measure more -- in terms of making the rich pay more to help those who can. >> i'm a big with believer in lifting people up from the bottom. i am a big believer in the $15 mile-an-hour minimum wage, and i believe -- minimum wage, and i'm okay if everybody plays by the same rules. if everybody's required to pay $15 an hour as a minimum wage, then we all compete the same way, and that's capitalism at

its best. so that's part one. part two is i think we have to find ways to lift people, because if you're working by the hour -- when i was a bartender and getting paid by the hour, there's no way i'm saving a lot of money. i'm living paycheck to paycheck. i'm six guys living in a three-bedroom apartment and i'm sleeping on the floor. it's just one small example that if we allow people to participate with assets that appreciate, then they're going to find ways to increase their net worth and get out of the grind of just living paycheck to paycheck. maria: you agree give people the opportunity to work. >> yeah, of course. i want them to have the opportunity to work, but i also want them to participate because i do think we have an issue where particularly with public company, ceos and boards are rewarding themselves to the, at the expense of the lowest paid workers. so if it were up to me, i would require all ceos to be paid in cash. i wouldn't care if you paid them $100 million a year in cash, but i wouldn't pay them in stock or unless you've made them

available to all employees. maria: all employees have the opportunity to buy stock -- >> not necessarily. if you're living paycheck to paycheck -- maria: oh, i see what you're saying. >> if i'm working as a stock clerk at wal-mart, if we're really going to impact the economy, if we're bale really going to help people rise from the bottom up, they should have the right to get some of those options as well. maria: yeah. big believer in buying into your company. >> right, absolutely. maria: they don't have the mean to do so. >> i've always made the choice, and that's the beauty of capitalism, that i've given stock to everybody. when we sold broadcast.com, 330 employees, 300 became millionaires. when i just sold axis tv, i made sure we had discretionary bonuses given to everybody that was a significant part of the sale. i just think we need more of that, and i think there's ways to encourage it. maria: elizabeth warren is out with a new ad, basically targeting the wealth withiest

americans, putting -- wealthiest americans putting on screen this guy went to jail, this guy was paid $70 million. how do you think that's going to play out? the ad that she's out now with on tv attacking rich. >> yeah. she's playing to the base, obviously. maria: yeah. >> it's very trumpian. you pick a section of people that your base has no problem casting aspersions at, you know, they're not going to turn on her because she's picking on billionaires. and so it's smart from one perspective, but i don't think it plays with america. maria: let's slim in a short break -- slip in a short break. we've got a lot more with mark cuban when we come back. stay with us. ♪ ♪ ♪

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♪ maria: welcome back. we are back with dallas maverick ares' owner mark cuban. want to get into sports. a lot of people talking about load management. where do you stand on that? >> i'm a big fan. maria: you are? >> >> yeah. it's all science-based. i want our players to be as healthy as possible, hopefully the mavs make the playoffs this year, and they're ready to play. we used to have our players playing 40 plus minutes a game, now they're playing 35 minute a game. part of that is because of load management. but what we have to be smart, we have to respect our business partners, you know? and so if you're going to load manage a player and give him a day off, you don't want to do it on the road, you don't want to do it on the night of a national tv game. i think@a great thing for the nba, but we also have to be smart. maria: sports is probably the most highly valued intellectual property that this country has, right? >> yeah. maria: why is that and where is

that going? you've got the major networks making a big deal, fox has a very important relationship with the nfl. you know, we make a big deal of the pregame, the halftime, you know? is that going to be the same if you have some of the tech companies coming in and wanting that market share. >> >> yeah, i think it's going to increase the value of our content simply because when you look at the streaming providers, one of the issues for them is going to be turn. they're going to want to keep their subscribers happy for as long as possible rather than jumping -- you know, they binge watch for a week and and then switch to another provider who has another show. this thing about the nba is our content isn't just nine months a year anymore, it's twelve months a year. so i think those streaming providers are going to find far more value in the nba because we're going to reduce churn significantly and increase subscribers. maria: what about streaming? this week disney plus went live, 10 million subscribers a day. the ceo of netflix just the other day said, yeah, we spent

$13 billion this year on original content, we're going to spend $15 billion. how long can the market give reed hastings this checkbook? >> as long as he keeps on growing globally. remember, traditionally we saw content being american and english-based, right in they've got however many subscribers globally, so they're not just creating content for the american or english markets, they're creating for markets in india and china and wherever else they are and selling subscriptions. and so that number's going to continue to grow, and that's a good thing. the reason i'm really still bullish on netflix is because they know exactly who their customer is. they have one customer, that's the streaming consumer. disney has multiple consumers, they have the streaming consumer, traditional television, the theatrical, theme parks and, yeah, there's support between each one of them, but netflix knows exactly who their customer is. maria: colin kaepernick wants to get back into the game. people are saying he's going to get another job and start kneeling again. how hard is it as a team owner

or a league owner, whatever, to take on the risk of hiring somebody like a colin kaepernick? >> it's not a risk. we're americans first. that's the beauty of this country. you know, i don't get to be where i am, i don't get to sit here, i don't get to have my net worth without living in this country. and i have to accept the things i agree with and the things i disagree with. and i actually like the idea that col listen kaepernick -- colin kaepernick speaks out, that lebron james speaks out. that maria or mark cuban speaks out because that's what makes this country different versus china. and we can't try to belittle free speech, you know, that's the whole china thing. we have to open the door and let people speak. maria: you know what? people worry that other countries are getting ahead of us, in particular a.i. do you worry that china is ahead of us? >> yes, yes. and russia too. simply because we don't have a coherent a.i. strategy in the united states yet x we should be investing heavily not just for

business reasons, not just for political reasons, but for militarily. maria: exactly. does it bother you, for example, google -- i mean, the jewel of google is its a.i., the best in the world at google, and they've got their a.i. lab in beijing. >> yeah. that's not a good thing, and i think that says a lot about our national strategies and also says a lot about our educational system, you know? that we don't, we're not gearing kids up to s.t.e.m., we're not gearing kids up towards becoming engineers. i don't know the exact number, but they graduate more engineers if in a single year than we have in all of our universities, something to that effect. so we're going to have to work harder to compete. and what's even worser, our immigration policies are making it tougher. we educate kids from around the world and then ask them to leave. we need that talented, we need that talented to stay here. maria: these technology companies are more powerful, bigger than we ever expected them to be and, you know, google

was 90% market snare search, and then the censoring of conservative conversations also an issue. you don't think they should be broken up, but what about regulation on technology companies that are too powerful in. >> it's a tough question. a, i don't think they're too powerful, i think, you know, you don't have to use facebook, you don't have to use google search. i don't think they're necessarily tamping down conversations from any political viewpoint specifically because it's so a.i. driven -- maria: tulsi gabbard is suing them, den nuñes -- that doesn't mean they're right. what we just talked about about artificial intelligence, the idea that you're going to have neural networks which are black box-driven just find their way to tamping down -- maria: somebody's got to create that algorithm -- >> no, it doesn't work that way. you use data to train artificial intelligence -- maria: what if the data's biased. >> data can be biased butting again, i don't think it's interpretational because the scale of data that they use, it'd be very, very difficult to

choose one side other the other. maria: mark, great to have you. don't go anywhere, more "wall street" right after this. ♪ ♪ can my side be firm?

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maria: welcome back. coming up next weekend on the program, don't miss it, we have another great show. nyse president stacey cunningham is with me along with alan patricof. and this weekend on fox news channel for sunday morning futures at 10 a.m. live, texas congressman john rat live and georgia congressman doug collins are, they were knee deep in the inpeachment hearings this week. the show is live at 10 a.m. on sundays. plus on fox business channel,

6-9 a.m. eastern for mornings with maria. set the tone every weekday. have a great rest of the weekend, everybody. thanks so much for joining us. i'll see you nex time. ♪ ♪ gerry: hello and welcome to "wall street journal" at large. after weeks of closed door sessions, the house of representatives finally brought impeachment into the open this week. in two days of hearings, the intelligence committee heard from a passing of diplomats about president trump's interactions with the ukrainian government. democrats tried to make the case that the president had abused the power of his office. republicans sought to undermine the witnesses and that case. to no one's surprise, it doesn't really look like any minds were changed. meanwhile, the already congested road to the 2020oc