WashU Experts

Puerto Rico filed for bankruptcy protection May 3, the largest-ever American municipal debt restructuring in history. As the U.S. territory seeks forgiveness in $73 billion to assorted creditors, an expert at Washington University in St. Louis says the situation should serve as a dire wake-up call to the municipal bond market.

President Trump has revealed his proposed tax plan, which involves, among other things, cutting the corporate tax rate and reducing tax brackets to three, down from seven. What do the proposed changes mean? Adam Rosenzweig, professor of law and tax law expert, explains.

While courts around the United States have found President Trump’s travel ban on Muslim-majority nations unconstitutional, the courts may have overlooked an important point, says an expert on law and religion at Washington University in St. Louis.

Although one can fault the Obama administration for its tepid policy towards Syria, President Donald Trump’s April 6 air strikes against a Syrian military base take the U.S. policy towards Syria to a new low, said an expert on international war crimes at Washington University in St. Louis.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has heard arguments on Mississippi HB 1523, which allows people with certain religious beliefs to refuse goods and services to LGBTQ and unmarried people. The bill is a textbook example of an unconstitutional law, says a law and religion scholar at Washington University in St. Louis.

As a European-based conglomerate prepares to buy U.S. restaurant chain Panera Bread, a finance professor at Washington University in St. Louis says the move points to the growth of the private equity industry as a viable alternative to the public market.

As the EPA takes next steps to replace the Clean Power Plan, an engineer at Washington University in St. Louis who studies fossil fuel combustion says this week’s move will make it difficult for power providers to plan for the future.

Opioids, including heroin and prescription drugs, killed more than 33,000 people in 2015, more than any year on record, according to the CDC. President Trump’s proposed budget aims to address the crisis with a $500 million increase in prevention and treatment, but it isn’t enough to address the issue, says an expert on substance use disorder treatment.

Chuck Berry, who died March 18, embodied the sound, attitude and mythology that defined the early days of rock and roll, says Patrick Burke, head of musicology in Arts & Sciences.

Proposed federal budget cuts to two major programs could translate into fewer treatments, fewer cures, fewer drug findings, fewer researchers and fewer breakthroughs in areas where the United States is a world leader, say science and health experts at Washington University in St. Louis.