The government shutdown may or may not be over by the time this hits the airwaves, but the negotiations process on appropriations bills promises to last for several weeks. Global Head of Public Policy Jennifer Flitton tells us why she believes we’ll get a final appropriations bill by the end of this year. We also explore what’s driven the strong price of gold over the past few years. And we discuss which verb tense is best to use when describing the US economy: “is weakening” or “has weakened.” (Invesco Distributors, Inc.)