
The King’s Gambit: DIY Declan, Trump’s Market Meltdown & Musk’s 18th-Century Twin
The David McWilliams Podcast
Navigating the DIY Jungle: A Tale of Confidence and Composure
This chapter features the hosts' lighthearted anecdotes about their experiences in DIY projects and the intriguing social dynamics at home improvement stores. Through the character of DIY Declan, they explore themes of masculinity and confidence, all while injecting humor into their relatable narratives.
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Speaker 1
To understand the economy, you have to understand human nature. This
Speaker 2
podcast is powered by Acast. How
Speaker 1
are you doing there? It is time for the podcast. I have a question to ask you. What do you do when an old mate says to you, you'd have made a great queen? So John and I are sitting here. I'll just, I'll give you the backdrop. I'll give you the backdrop. We're sitting here in the new HQ. I've spruced it up, right? Yes, looking very, very nice. I've spruced it up in the basement, right? I've spruced it all around. And I'm admitting to John that yesterday I had a sort of a baptism of fire because I'm trying to do bits and pieces of DIY in the house, John. And that's not really me, right? It's not at all. It's not me. I found myself in a place, a very strange tabernacle called Screwfit, which is a real DIY man's place. And I broke out in a cold sweat, right? And I realised that not only was I out of place, but I hadn't a rash as what was going on. A, but B, more importantly, they knew that I hadn't a rash as what was going on,
Speaker 2
right?
Speaker 1
There's a kind of a language
Speaker 2
that you have to use in those places. You're absolutely right.
Speaker 1
So, of course, as a result of this, I was saying, John, I was explaining this to John, I said, actually I wrote a chapter about being lost in woodies in the Pope's children, right? Yeah. Because, again, this was a character I'd created called DIY Declan. That's right. And we all know he's, and now I've just got out the Pope's children, right? And I'm reading it. And it's exactly this, right? Yeah. I said woodies, but I should have been screw fit. Yeah. In woodies, he, DIY Declan is at home. He has a mission. The gazebo that he's about to build will be built raised above the existing cedar wood deck. He'll make it with tropical hardwood. The contrasts will show off his fine workmanship, which, like his internal audit skills at work, is meticulous. Only after he's bought the wood, talked knowledgeably about the designs, the curves, the railings, only after he's mentioned fast-setting concrete. At least a dozen times, establishing his bona fides with other deckmen who hang out in Woodies on Sundays, he will choose something as frivolous as a grill. The key to a successful and enriching day at Woody's is never to come looking for something assembled. It is also crucial to be seen as a DIY man of substance. You have to be pitching roofs, making furniture, laying blocks or putting down railway sleepers. Merely buying grills, patio heaters and grass seeds doesn't count. Real DIY men are confident and always calls the sales assistants loudly by their name tags in that overtly chummy DIY way. Now, to which John said, you're very bitchy, Mac. You would have made a great queen. So I was queening around. It's fucking screw fit yesterday. Feeling, where is the library? I just want to read a book. Have you any literature on four by fours? Exactly. So that was a chapter on DIY Declan. In the Pope's Children, I also said, only woody aficionados are here. You are now in the zone, which is for men only, men who work with their hands and subscribe to Power Tools Monthly. Ooh, ouch. Now, so John has changed my entire personality. He's taken the bitchiness out of me, the cattiness, the queen out of me. The straightest queen you've ever met. Yes, there you go. Anyway, it is lovely to have you at the podcast. We are now luxuriant in our new basement. And we want to talk about the Trump dump, John. Right,
Speaker 2
okay.
What do DIY stores, French financial bubbles, and Elon Musk have in common? Kicking off with a detour into The Pope’s Children and the perils of being a DIY impostor, we quickly shift gears to the real story: the Trump Dump. As financial markets recoil from the chaos of MAGA economics, we dive into history for a striking parallel: John Law, the 18th-century financial mastermind who convinced France to bet everything on his wild vision of a new economic order. Law promised a dazzling future, just as Musk does today, but his empire of speculation collapsed, taking the French monarchy down with it. What happens when the richest man in the world gets inside the head of a leader hungry for power? Are Trump and Musk unwittingly following the script of Law and the Duke of Orléans? Are we on the brink of a modern-day financial reckoning? With markets tanking, Bitcoin crumbling, and the spectre of stagflation looming, we explore the dangerous dance between speculative hype and economic reality. Will history repeat itself, first as tragedy, then as farce? Buckle up.
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