About this episode
The upcoming election will likely mean changes in policy and regulation. What shifts can we expect and how could they impact key markets?
Join Head of Public Policy Jason Cole and Chief U.S. Economist Lara Rhame as they offer insight into the presidential race, Senate and House contests, and key policy areas such as tax reform, debt, deficit dynamics, trade and regulation.
*This episode was recorded on June 18, 2024.*
Transcript excerpt
Lara Rhame: Welcome back to FireSide, a podcast from FS Investments. I’m Lara Rhame, Chief U. S. Economist, and I am so excited to welcome back Jason Cole here in the studio. Jason is our head of public policy and has over 25 years of experience on Capitol Hill.
He’s an expert on the politics, but what I always appreciate, and I think we’ll be able to draw out for you, is he understands that connection between politics and markets. And I think that’s, you know, at the end of the day what’s so important for investors. Jason, welcome.
Jason Cole: Thanks, Lara. It’s great to be here again.
Lara Rhame: Love having you on. And I’m going to start with the basic question. Who’s going to win in December?
Jason Cole: I have no idea. And, you know, that’s something the American people will decide on November. One day, you know, maybe on November 4, you can have me back and I can give you a spoiler alert, but not right now.
[00:01:00] No, look, it’s hard to tell. It’s what I, what I can say, it’s going to be yet again, an incredibly close election at all three levels, the presidential level. There’s an election for the U.S. Senate, an election for the U.S. House and they’re all going to be very, very close, I mean, which is reflective of a nation that’s really divided along partisan lines, almost 50-50 down the middle, and so we’re going to have a very close election.
I mean, I think if we want to turn to the presidential election first, maybe it’s important to date-stamp this. We’re about two weeks after the New York City conviction of former President Trump.
Lara Rhame: Oh good, the elephant in the room. We gotta address it. Yeah.
