peter morici? i don't know that macy's has a future.is squeezed between target, which is very effective. they have the lowest prices on toys this christmas, even lower amazon. and nordstrom's which is for men and women in households over $100,000 a year. what is between those? jcpenney's and macy's. is there room for both of them? i don't think so. macy's has a network of large stores. if you go to the one near my home in pentagon city, it is disorganized and hard to get help. of the comprehensive department store is over. some plays where you can buy pipe tobacco and a smoking jacket is gone. the second is that when a lot of the companies when they get in trouble, sears roebuck is the classic case, the ceos pay themselves handsomely well. as they go through one turnaround program to another. .hey sell off the assets that is what macy's is going to do. they're going to sell off the assets to keep the salaries going. in the end, the shareholders will have very little. they will have ups and downs, good news and bad news, but things don't

hold on a second, peter morici. i've got peter kiernan with me, what's your reaction?now what -- >> oh, please, don't start. no, no, no, i live in the real world too, okay? >> i'll grant you that. if you look at it, there are 57 countries that have usa as their number one trading partner. china has over 100. and if you look at china's plan, they're going to spend a trillion dollars on infrastructure in the next ten years outside their borders. they create trade benefit with their checkbook. they are better at this than we are. and if you're going to go up and negotiate it, you should realize china is a big player. if you look at the top ten trading ports in the world, the united states has zero. not one of the top ten trading ports is in the usa. china has six. china is a trading and export behemoth. and to go in -- both these presidents are coming in very strong. president trump has got a superb stock market. president xi has just come off a magnificent reappointment from his congress, and he's looking like he's going to have the same kind of money -- run mao does. it

here to way it is economist peter morici. we had a good taste of the house plan so far.a good idea what is in that. tell me about the senate plan and how it is different and if it is better. >> i would not say either is better than the other, the senate bill restores deductions for catastrophic illnesses but tougher when it comes to state and local taxes, how you juggle the deductions and exemptions. the senate bill is tougher on small businesses than the house bill and both need to be improved. rob: let's check out the senate tax reform bill. we have a full-screen. corporate tax rate at 40%, nobody wants to give on that, they want to lower that, keep all 7 tax brackets for income, expand the child tax credit, no change to 401(k), repeal state and local tax deductions, that will hurt a lot of people in high text blue states and keeps the estate tax, which doubles the exemption. i don't think the president will be as crazy about this but the corporate tax rate. >> you got to remember by having state and local tax deductions a waitress in mississippi making $30,000 a year

joining us now is peter morici, thanks for joining us. good thing, bad thing?ed it passed overwhelmingly? >> not surprised it passed overwhelmingly, the house is more vulnerable to take over in the next election than the senate and my feeling as i wrote in the washington times if they don't deliver they are out of business, they will go the way of new jersey and be replaced by democrats. moon jae-in four tax brackets, personal exemptions, standard deduction double, child tax credit expanded, all of these things you and i discussed, not a huge surprise with any of that. >> lower taxes, with high state local taxes, in illinois and california. some of those people with large mortgages and high property taxes may see their tax plan go up a little bit. financing, what comes down to legal corruption in new york, more layers of government -- the library board, all of seventh grade to learn who these people were. heather: let's look at the different between the house and senate bill. this tax bracket, the house down four brackets when it has 7 and the corporate tax, 20

for those waiting on tax reform, panel economist peter marie chi chi -- peter morici. when you start with you on that issue of the economy. so much of the plan is dependent on the economy growing. they can make the cut that they're trying to get revenue nature of that they've got to get 3% gdp growth. you think that's happening? >> we have to get stronger gdp growth this year. the question is will the tax cuts pay for itself and i don't think so. we are going to cut taxes three quarter 1%. that's what $150 billion is. somehow that translates into 3% or 5% gdp growth or spelling. its own research before becoming the white house chief economist indicates that. we are going to get benefits out of it at likewise the critics on the left is just a tax cut for the wealthy and not a positive effect on investment just being political. turning to you gynecologists want because you still got a lot of lawmakers like new york, new jersey and california still not on board. the state and local tax deduction getting rid of that has been so controversial as well as the issue of 401(k)s

let's ask peter morici, university of maryland economist. gles day today, you look at the economic muscle around the world particularly the burgeoning middle class there, and you wonder what leverage does america have if we try to change these trade deals dramatically? >> well, i don't think we can change all the trade deals, and that's mr. trump's mistake. he's picked a fight with south korea, with canada and mexico, and today he was picking a fight with apec in china. when he was there, he was apologizing for the trade sur miss. it's hard to get the allies that he needs to fix the system, to put pressure on china, because that's where the problem is if he's going to pick a fight with everybody. you can't pick a fight with every kid on the playground, they'll just jump on you. charles: but you do pick a fight with a bully, don't you? >> that's right. charles: i don't see where he was apologizing in china, he said, listen, they did what he would have done, took advantage of feckless administrations, and they've made a lot of money from americ

economy, including the potential impact of tax reform with economics professor peter morici and directoror research joseph minarik. be sure to watch c-span's washington journal live at 7:00 eastern things giving morning. join the discussion -- thanksgiving morning. >> michelle obama took part in the annual pennsylvania conference for women in philadelphia. here's a look. think that women in general have less chances to fail? you fill once, people -- fail once, people certainly billing you faster than they would label a man ever. >> absolutely. i think that is true for women, minorities. i think thae bars are different. we experienced that over the last eight years. i just that when i was on the campaign trail, the bar just kept moving. you would need it and then the bar would change. we are seeing that now, quite friendly. the bar is -- [laughter] [applause] >> i mean, that bar is going places. amazing, amazing to watch. by want women to watch this -- but i want women to watch this. i want you all to pay attention because this is what happens when we do not stand up. >> for my first lady

. >> reporter: conservative economist peter morici is even more blunt. >> we'd all be very irritable by 10:00 on monday morning. where would we get our coffee? we grow a little bit of it in hawaii, but largely we are dependent on imports and can't grow it here. >> reporter: but coffee? i mean, how big a deal is coffee? >> really? there are a lot of things that are not that big a deal but americans are accustomed to them. what i'm trying to say is that we'd have a much lower standard of living if we wholly went it alone. there would not be the incentive to be competitive. there would not be the incentive to innovate. so on many fronts, america would be simply backward. >> reporter: consider the old soviet union, says morici, satirized in this 1980's wendy's commercial >> is next: eveningwear! >> having a choice is better than none. >> is next, swimwear! >> it's a classic example of what happens when you try to limit trade with the outside and do it all yourself. it's one of the reasons that the standard of living, even today in russia, is so low. once you fall behind, it's very diffic

stuart: peter morici, are you buying ge at 17?that pick stocks i i think that buying in slowly with ge is a good idea. i wouldn't put my entire allocation for ge there right now, but i think, you know, 10% now, 10% in two weeks and see how it goes. >> we are seeing a major rotation into beaten-down stocks. foot locker up 35% in one week, amazing stuff. so there is money rotating into some of the losers. >> one final point. more than half of the year to date return on the s&p 500 comes from 21 stocks. that's it. >> that's right. >> so that's kind of weak there. >> it is weak, but i loved that last week on friday, for instance, the market was down, there were more winners than losers. so that means the winners are coming out those few names into broader names. stuart: i just thought there'd be more people buying with ge on the -- >> well, it's an awfully big cultural problem -- [inaudible conversations] stuart: okay, all right. i'm in the minority again. here we go. >> it isn't clear what that new company is going to look like. stua

economy including the potential impact of tax reform with economics professor peter morici. washington journal live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on thanksgiving morning. join the discussion. >> next a look at american food culture. -- cooking injurious and cuisine for sauce -- let's face and integrating food into school curriculum. this is just over an hour. >> please welcome marybeth albright in today's guess. -- today's guests. >> there he is. [applause] all right. welcome. what a great day and a packed room. not surprisingly. good morning, everyone. i am marybeth albright the foot -- the food anchor here at the washington post. world biggest names, jose andres and alice waters. we will be taking questions for alice and jose on twitter. please use the #food for thought. alice waters is the author of this new memoir called coming to my senses. i think the book is mesmerizing because of the subtitles, the making of a counterculture took. counterculture cook. today we will talk about food as a tool for change. and we will talk about her

stuart: peter morici is with us, university of maryland economics professor. e and more positive that we do get some kind of tax cut deal. we've got ron johnson, wavering back the other way. rand paul doing the same thing. what kind of growth rate do we get next year? you're an economist, tell me the growth rate if we get this thing done. >> better than 3%. i think the economy is on the verge without -- in a policy-neutral situation, of breaking through to 3% growth. we're going to get it in the third quarter, that'll be three quarters in a row for the first time since '04. winter will be softer, it always is, but overall i think the we're looking at 3 president growth. -- 3% growth. in the second half it starts to bite, my concern is not that it's going to slow the economy down initially; but, rather, it's going to take some time to get some traction and to do the republicans some good in the midterm elections. i think we're looking at the stock market moving up about as much this year as it did this year. stuart: whoa, whoa, whoa. >> i see the risks -- don't

peter morici is with us now, economist at the university of maryland. china. did he come away with anything concrete? because i know that you want him to be tough on china. did he get anything? >> not a whole lot. i mean, a lot of those deals that were advertised would have happened anyway, and the trade deficit keeps getting bigger and bigger. now we have to see what happens when the next shoe falls. likely a lot was said in private that wasn't said in public. tillerson's in favor of a much harder line. and, you know, it is telling that the southeast asian nations, while they're not lining up behind this bilateral business, are coalescing into their own trade zone to offset the influence of china and, you know, people like the philippines and so forth are and japan and what not. they're kind of lining up with the united states on strategic issues. stuart: is that bad, peter, if we're excluded from this new trade grouping in asia, we're not part of it, is that bad? >> it's absolutely bad. it's make sense to produce stuff in mexico, canada or japan becaus