The German Vote Isn't Real Democracy

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Hitler's party gains a one and a half per cent of the vote in germany. The communists are doing badly, and the social democrats have a solid majority. And a centre left government is formed. So even if the united states has checked out, why don't german voters opt for something semi sane? Instead, you get a hyper inflation well past an optimal rate of seniorage extraction,. That just seems irrational by any standard. What we've got to explain is why that is broken aparta....

Adam Tooze is best known for his highly-regarded books on the economic history of Nazi Germany, the remaking of the global economic and political order starting in World War I, and his account of how the economic effects of the 2008 financial crisis rippled across the globe for a decade to follow. Recently, he’s become an influential voice on Twitter documenting the pandemic-induced strain on the world’s financial systems.

Adam joined Tyler to discuss the historically unusual decision to have a high-cost lockdown during a pandemic, why he believes in a swoosh-shaped recovery, portents of financial crises in China and the West, which emerging economies are currently most at risk, what Keynes got wrong about the Treaty of Versailles, why the Weimar Republic failed, whether Hitler was a Keynesian, the political and economic prospects of various EU members, his trick to writing a lot, how Twitter encourages him to read more, what he taught executives at BP, his advice for visiting Germany, and more.

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Recorded April 16th, 2020 Other ways to connect

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