The David McWilliams Podcast

Hundreds of years ago, the Dutch were Europe's moneymen and it looks as if they are at it again. We look at new alliances & digital trade routes emerging in the post-Brexit era. Looking at Hindu parables, what's the elephant in the room? What's the story with Bitcoin, digital Gold or digital Tulips, plus the logic in Elon Musk's big bet. If Bitcoin is a hedge against catastrophe, are we missing something? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

we start off by taking a look at the fallout of the Gamestop fiasco before tackling the bigger issue: Conventional thinking. In many ways the world is still pushing “zombie” ideas - ideas that have been proven to be false but that are still being pushed as policies. With the help of Tom Bergin we look at a few conventional ideas and explain why they’re nothing more than a popular myth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Public housing should be addressed with the same urgency as public health. If we can close down the economy, borrow billions, furlough millions and stop the world in the name of public health, we should be able to tear up the rule book when it comes to housing. The property market in Ireland and the rest of the English speaking world is a scam, rigged to push prices upwards, indenturing working families and exacerbating the wealth divide. Here's how to fix it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We take another look at the "day-trading" insurrectionists to examine who is actually in control, what human emotions are unleashed by the markets and what it all means for politics and economics. We are joined by the authors of the wonderful book Angrynomics political scientist Mark Blyth and hedge fund manger Eric Lonergan. Things are rarely as they seem to be! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Something unusual is happening in the stock market: the little guy - or in this case, guys - are beating up the big multi-billionaire hedge-fund managers. This is in stark contrast to the usual market hegemony and might signal a deep change: the little guy is slowly recognizing their power in numbers. If short selling, margin calls, put options, short squeezes are all Double Dutch to you, fret now we have you covered. Join us as we explain it all with Twitter comedy sensation Avalon Penrose & the markets editor of the Financial Times, Katie Martin Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ireland, like many economies is hostage to the rentiers, companies that sidle up to governments to get a licence to provide some product or service that the government used to provide. This is a licence to print money, because the rentier company has a monopoly to hoover up rent rather than make anything. They dominate the property market, utilities and have led to the infantilization of the public sector. At every stage prices rises because these are the opposite of competitive companies. Given that rentiers drive up property prices, sanctioned by government, is it any surprise the young are voting radical? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The arrival of Joe Biden has led to a profound change in tone, with America quickly re-signing back up to the Paris Accord. The planet is back on the agenda and the mantra of growth at all costs irrespective of the environmental costs, is being reappraised. We talk to Kat Raworth, author of "Doughnut Economics" about a different way of looking at the world, the economy and how we understand our relationship to the world around us, our priorities and the need to re-frame economics for the 21st century. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We explain by way of the SFX and Doc Martins how financial markets create inequality. Late stage financial capitalism generates super normal profits for owners of capital and debt by way of IPOs, and forces wage moderation on ordinary workers. We explain how understanding the credit cycle is key to understand the modern economy through the prism of the glorious Doc Martin, focusing on trickle down economy, opportunism and leveraged profits and market booms and busts. What does this mean for the economy? Unfortunately: most likely - further wealth division. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trump is gone but what next for Trumpism? The saga is far from over. While the armed Boogaloo boys are mobilizing across the United States we talk with Professor William Black to get a thorough understanding of what’s going on in America and what the future holds for Donald J. Trump. Also a quick hit on how China has emerged unassailable from both Trump and Covid, plus America's first internal rebellion and the vision of Alexander Hamilton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We still have time to do a New Zealand, with the vaccine roll out going so slowly, can we do a Taiwan and be out and about my St Patrick's Day? We talk zero Covid with Prof Aoife McLyset: How we can administer an economic vaccine while we wait with a bit of imagination, plus what the new biotech revolution - ushered in by the mRNA vaccine - means for all of us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trump is over, Trumpism is not. The great American experiment is only starting, as the Republicans become the party of the anxious while, the Democrats - the party of the satisfied. As the world's economic power shifts to Asia, we should try to understand people's real fears. Also, why the world need fewer "blackboard" economists and more "kitchen table" economists and will America's next president, Joe Biden lead the charge of change? All that teased out with the help of the extraordinary writer, thinker & author of "The people, no" - Tom Frank! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Interesting times! As the US is engulfed by a culture war, we look at a culture war closer to home. Here’s why Brexit provides a once in a generation opportunity and how we can seize it. Brexit is a change and change is the one thing that is constant. Embrace it. Economically, there’s huge upside. Politically, it makes constitutional change on this island more likely. We are chatting to Andrea Catherwood on the future of Ireland, how to avoid our own culture war and how we best negotiate it from here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to the podcast 2021! During the height of the civil rights campaign when people were dying needlessly, Martin Luther King deployed this expression “the extreme urgency of now” to describe the urgency of achieving civil rights immediately, not sometime in the future. Precisely the same can be said about the vaccine. Every day is crucial and the roll out of the vaccine will be the litmus test for how serious your country is! . Join us as we kick off the year by talking about the importance of moving fast, trusting institutions and learning from other parts of the world in order to get our economy (and life!) back on track Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks for your support all year. This week we take stock of Ireland after the year we’ve just had and how your view on COVID actually tells much more about who you are and what you think than you might originally think. Happy Christmas!! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Technology changes the world - but not everyone who bets on technology wins. With the recent boom in tech IPOs we take a look at what the market with the help of FT’s John Thornhilll and explore a short history of market mania, from AirBnB, to canals, railways, Irish Navies, Homer Simpson plus a cameo from Ken Clarke late night in bar in Hong Kong Halloween night 1997. A few thoughts on global monetary policy too! What’s not to like? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first casualty of Brexit will be Britain. Scotland is on its own path for the first time since 1707. When Scotland becomes independent, it will trigger enormous economic and political changes up here in the North West Atlantic. Mark Blyth, Professor at Brown University helps us to tease out the economics of Scottish Independence and what’s ahead for Scotland, Ireland and England. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The British are gone - well almost - and the EU will change. The face of that change is likely to be Emmanuel Macron. So we examine France, by way of a small tour of European monetary history, French diplomacy, a quick trip to Paris, a bit of Albert Camus, the Cure, Algeria, Sudenten Germany and Ireland’s coming “Viking Alliance” with Scandinavia. Lots to marinade on. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we review our Tuesday conversation with Andy Haldane and go through some of the most interesting aspects of the discussion, including the merits and pitfalls of meritocracy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s Brexit week, last throw of the dice allegedly, so what better week to talk to the man from the Bank of England - an institution that will have to deal with the economic, financial and political fallout of leaving Britain’s leaving the EU? You will love this chat with Andy, talking about Brexit, inequality, the tyranny of meritocracy, why banks fail, crypto currency, Roy Keane’s man management skills and the future of Sunderland FC! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not all ideas are timeless - this week we look at how we can take dead space and turn it into living spaces through economic incentives Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We go to Argentina to gauge the reaction to the death of the Diego. Plus we explore with the former economics minister of Argentina, Martin Lousteau, what went wrong in Argentina - a country that was once the richest in the world to now being the 77th richest. Its a cautionary lesson on how good countries can go bad, how strong economies can become enfeebled and ultimately why good economics matters! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Thanksgiving, with the Dow hitting 30,000 and Janet Yellan taking over at the US Treasury, we examine the short and medium terms health of the US economy with David Rosenberg - Warning: it doesn’t look too pretty. We also look further out to assess the demographic, budget and debt arithmetic for the US and the West and how China goes from strength to strength. All this, plus a bit of Leviticus and Deuteronomy if you are feeling all biblical! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s light at the end of the tunnel - for the first time it seems that people are starting to see the end of this mess. As we look to the return of some level of normality, we know that the new normal won’t look like the old normal: both companies & cities will have to adapt to the end of business travelling. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Optics and execution are two profoundly different things. All over the world politicians talk and entrepreneurs walk. Small businesses have been promised help by people who have never taken a risk in their lives, who don't understand the game because they’ve never had skin in the game. The result is a mess, good firms will shut, their loans bought by vulture funds and the process of the financialization of our economy, governed by spreadsheet spivs will take one further big step forward. We care about this. So should you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Is Boris Johnson England’s Eva Peron? All through my wild days, my mad existence…..and all that stuff, anyway we get to this point following an amazing conversation with economist Adam Posen about the USA. imperial delusions, NASCAR and the commercial fairytale that is Brexit. There’s lots in here from economic gravity, the “Great Patriot/Shit Citizen” dilemma & Northern Irish football melodies to a bit of Picasso, Joyce & early 20th century modernism.Don't forget to join us on Patreon for exclusive weekly Q&As, tutorials and more - all ad free! patreon.com/DavidMcWilliams Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Behind every statistic is a person and a family. As unemployment sky-rockets, we need to put employment front and centre for the economy in 2021. We look a trends in employment, what type of companies are creating jobs and why the rise long term unemployment in the middle aged and older workers could support populism here. Plus lots more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Joe Biden’s victory means and what it does not. We examine the US economy with a former US cabinet member and Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors. Plus what can be done and what won’t - why the Democrats have won the popular vote in six out of the last seven elections but have more or less shared the Presidency with the Republicans! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Biden just about, but Orange is the new Red. The Trump family business has taken over the GOP. What does this mean? Why the Democrats need to find their inner Roosevelt and why pollsters give economists a good name. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re avoiding America, (well mostly) today as we can’t add much more. We’re going all Covid. There might not be a right answer for how to tackle the pandemic, but there’s certainly a wide array of approaches. We head to Israel, who are about seven weeks ahead of Western Europe, just lifting a successful Lockdown and Sweden, a country that has had no Lockdown at all! Two countries, two scientists, two different conclusions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode, we look at the relationship between politics and money through the lens of the US elections. We try to make sense of what you should be looking out for and what each candidate is signalling - hope you enjoy!The episode is brought to you in partnership with IG. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

3 Mile Pubs, why public servants don’t get business, why cashflow is King, the Grantocracy, Hydraulic economics, and what Flann O’ Brien had to say about PhDs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This was the week austerity died. We explore the timely end of a bad idea and look forward to a new era for economics. Plus what the Modh Coinníollach tells us about economics . Also, an in-depth conversation on what the latest Brexit drama means (spoiler alert: there will ALWAYS be a deal), plus uncomfortable jockeys and lots more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why dereliction is vandalism in Ireland and then off to Kansas with the author of NYT’s mega best-seller, “What’s the Matter with Kansas”, American journalist and historian Thomas Frank. This conversation is critical if you want to understand the American culture war and how the Republicans and Democrats flipped sides, delivered with great humour and humanity. Speaking of humour an humanity, Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw, and why Wilde told Shaw that socialism will never catch on! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The legend that is Professor Bill Black on the USA. This is the man who put more white collar criminals behind bars than any other. He’s an economist, lawyer and criminal psychologist and he brings this laser-like clarity to the US, four weeks from the election. We talk economics, Proud Boys, abortion and the culture war. Plus, back home why Ireland should use the budget to build houses, show vision and understand that we have the highest young population in the EU, make the budget about them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Economics is at a tipping point, as we lockdown again, how can we remain solvent, avoid national and international bankruptcy and deploy all the possible economics tools at our disposal. We are facing a 1930s style Depression and need 1930s style policies to get us out. Listen to one of the best macroeconomists in the world: Paul McCulley navigate the path to prosperity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s been a monumental week - with the help of American policy analyst Pippa Malmgren - we look at what might be the unintended consequences of Boris Johnson’s action and why all eyes are on African American women for a second Trump term. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Once again the British government uses Ireland as a hostage in its Brexit theatre with the EU. The record is on repeat. Brexit has now returned and this time its even more mental. We breakdown the latest carryon, talk about the implications for the future. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any weirder, it does! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Less than 2 months away from what will inevitably be a historic election we take a look at the American landscape - how we got there and what might happen depending on election results. We then move on to talk about Eurozone, and how the rising tensions between Germany and Italy could potential reshape the fundamentals of how the zone operates. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we tackle one of the most requested topics: Cryptocurrency. We’re going to try and explain what Bitcoin is, where it came from and what it might mean for the future of money. To help get to the bottom of this topic, we enrolled the help of Peter McCormack, host of the podcast “what bitcoin did” to guide us on some of the more technical aspects of this new monetary movement. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we ignore the political shenanigans in Ireland (as it’s so pathetic) and look at what we can learn from ancient Mesopotamia and its approach to pandemics. Plus, staying in the region: how to make sense of the Middle East by understanding a coup in Iran in 1953 and how it set the tone for everything that came after! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cities are at a crossroads. The decisions we take now will dictate a new urban future. The office as we know it is over and its main enemy is not COVID, it’s Zoom. This can lead to a renaissance of our urban centres and a repopulation of our rural towns - the choice is ours! Hope you enjoy!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we talk with two brilliant economists Mark Blyth and Eric Lonergan on this fantastic new book - Angrynomics. We analyze why people are angry, how it's affecting economics and politics and what we can do about it. There are some obvious solutions and this conversation sets them out. You’ll love it! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we mark the death of John Hume, a great Irish patriot. We explore one of his unheralded achievements, the Credit Unions and how these small “community banks” transformed Ireland and led to the success of the Derry punk band the Undertones. However, in using financial innovation, Hume was part of a long tradition in Ireland of financing social and political reform. We explore the “magic of the bond market” in making the impossible, possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Four massive economic changes are going on right now under our noses, yet we are unaware of their magnitude because we increasingly value short-term thinking at the cost of long-term thinking. Today we explore those changes, make a case for thinking long-term and tease out how we can escape “the tyranny of now” with the help of Roman Krznaric, Author of: “The Good Ancestor”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we take a rather unconventional look at the Apple ruling - taking the time to look at the many ways that countries around the world have created wealth. We follow that chat with another conversation with Luke O’Neill who gives us a breakdown of the medical breakthroughs that COVID has accelerated and a quick update on what might be on the horizon from a vaccine point of view Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Another week, another episode where we look at the world and try to make sense of it. This week we explore how language evolves, the idea of "the craic economy" and have a chat with Stav Shaffir, the leader of the green party in Israel Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we explore black swans and black lists. First, we explain why the economy behaves more like a complex adaptive system rather than a giant machine. This means we, in the West are exposed to “black swan” events which disrupt the economy. From black swans we move on black lists and black lives with Trinidadian economist Marla Dukharan talking about EU racism, neo-colonialism, bullying and double standards when dealing with small, largely non-white countries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How the ECB is turning into the Fed. What Austria issuing a 100 year bond means for Irish economy policy. Why a new EU philosophy is changing the rules of the game! We also talk with Harvard economist Megan Greene about the United State’s future, outlook and why a V shaped recovery might not be on the horizon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we talk about the youth & money - because if you lose the youth, you lose the future - something our new government doesn’t seem to be giving much thought to. We also have a chat with renowned international diplomat and former Under Secretary-General of the UN Shashi Tharoor about Ireland winning a seat on the Security Council Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we discuss options for a New Ireland, building sovereign wealth finders to underwrite a start up nation and why the evolutionary battle between two vitamins explains a lot! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.