Economics Explained

The long-suffering generation of millennials are now set to be significantly poorer than both baby boomers and Gen X'ers. Having entered the workforce during the fallout of the 2008 mortgage crisis and then being hit particularly hard during this current crisis has meant that today millennials only account for 3% of national wealth, where boomers at the same point in their lives accounted for 27%.This trend is more than just another pity party for our fellow latte-sipping millennials. On a wider level, the share of wealth owned by people under the age of 40 has shrunk from 13% to just under 7% over the past 3 decades. Even if we ignore the social issues of younger families having to make do with half that of what their parents did this can have some serious Therefore if this trend continues businesses around the world might start to lose out on their Goldilocks zone of consumer spending.  What is causing this downward pressure on wealth in younger generations? What will this mean for the future growth of nations like the USA? And could this just be a waiting game of wealth, inevitably getting passed down?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is California, the Golden State and one of the largest economies in the world in its own right. If California was counted as a sovereign nation it would be the fifth-largest in the world by GDP, with a 3.2 trillion dollar gross state product putting it just behind Germany and just ahead of India. In this episode of Economics Explained, we'll explore the following questions: What made the state so prosperous before the 2020 downturn? What were the underlying issues impacting the economy? How will these issues be impacted by this decline? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Communism vs Laissez-Faire CapitalismBoth of these opposing theories are very extreme and, for what it's worth, don’t exist in any modern economies anywhere around the world today, despite what some nations might have you believe. In this episode of Economics Explained, we'll explore the following questions:So what are the economic arguments for and against a communist economic system? What are the economic arguments for and against a completely free market?Are there any examples of these extreme systems actually working throughout history? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The bottom line is the most important part of any functioning business.Profit after costs, expenses, and taxes. The money that the founders and investors in companies get to put back into their pockets for the risk and effort they put into a business. Sounds like business 101 right? And it kind of is.A business that doesn’t turn a profit is like a freezer that kind make ice, it’s more or less pointless. And sure there are things like non-profit charity organizations out there but most businesses exist to make money!So why is it that some of the biggest companies in the world are not turning profits? Why is it that they don’t even plan to? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Exploring the economic impact of prisons on national economies. Discussing the high costs and negative externalities of non-violent crimes. Examining the advantages and drawbacks of prisoner employment and the role of private prison companies.

Inflation is something we more or less take for granted these days. The idea that 5 dollars today is not going to be able to buy 5 dollars worth of stuff in the future, and the fact that you used to be able to buy a family home for 10 grand, are all the result of inflation. The idea that over time money becomes worthless and less influences a lot of decisions in out lives. Everything from retirement planning to salary negotiations take this relatively benign and constant force into account. But it is something that should be feared.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Taiwan, or officially, the Republic of China, a country in east asia, which if you can’t tell by how delicate I am being with these titles here is consistently under a bit of ehh let’s call it scrutiny. So contentious in fact that any country that is doing business with the people's republic of china, you know China, has to officially declare that they recognize the island of Taiwan as the sovereign territory of China.While this is all very confusing, the fallout is that the nation of Taiwan is only officially recognized by a tiny selection of countries from around the world. These countries include economic superpowers like Guatemala, Haiti, the Marshall Islands and Vatican city collectively making up only accounting for around 50 million people and covering a tiny portion of world trade.So it's not exactly like they have brought their A team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This podcast explores the limitations of GDP as a measure of economic prosperity and discusses potential alternative indicators. It discusses the challenges in calculating GDP, including the exclusion of the informal economy. Additionally, it delves into the shortcomings of GDP as an indicator of economic growth, and advocates for considering factors beyond economic output in measuring living standards.

The Fire movement is a growing trend amongst young workers which is growing in popularity thanks to its very enticing goal which is spelled out in the name.FIRE is an acronym of Financial Independence and Retiring Early. The idea is that by following a very aggressive saving and investing strategy people can get to a point where they are effectively retired at a very young age, sometimes younger than 30. Getting to that point is harder for some than others, but advocates of the movement argue that this difficulty has more to do with personal lifestyles rather than personal incomes.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The podcast explores the challenges of hustle culture and overworking in today's workforce. It discusses the historical changes in working hours and the impact of longer working hours on the economy. The correlation between working hours and wealth in OECD nations is also explored.