The David McWilliams Podcast
David McWilliams & John Davis
The aim of this weekly podcast is to make economics easy, uncomplicated and accessible. With the world at a political, technological and financial tipping point, economics has never been so important to all of us and yet, it’s made inaccessible and complicated by so many.I’ve always thought what is complicated is rarely important and what is important is rarely complicated.That will be our motto.Every week we are going to tease out some big economic or political issue facing us, not just here in Ireland but in Europe and further afield. Globalisation has brought us all together. We all face similar challenges whether you live in Dublin, London, Minnesota or Milan.If you would like to enjoy all of our content ad-free and have early access to episodes, subscribe to DMCW+ on Apple Podcast.If you would like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/DavidMcWilliams. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 4, 2021 • 36min
115 - The War on Drugs has failed, stop it.
The War in Drugs is a spectacular failure. It is time to end it and begin to have an adult conversation about legalizing drugs. If you went out to set up a better way to enrich a violent criminal class, it would be impossible to find a better way. We explain the economic case for the legalization of drugs, tax them and use the proceeds to help those small amount of recreational drug takers who become addicts. Treat addiction not as a crime but a health issue. Also don't fear the rise in global bond yields. It's a sign of success and please don't listen to the "austerity hyenas" screeching about large deficits, thats what's supposed to happen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 2, 2021 • 37min
114 - Building back better
The markets are getting their knickers in a twist over inflation and maybe even deficits, we explain why the economics of the 1990s no longer applies and the big shift in global policy is the bias now is towards inflation not deflation for the first time since the 1970s. Plus, the brilliant economist Noah Smith from San Fransisco on three brilliantly practical ideas to make housing work better for everyone. Plus, what happens to an economist trying his hand at radio presenting for the craic gets a bit tongue-tied live on air with the British Foreign Secretary! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 25, 2021 • 56min
113 - Bidenomics, why we should not worry about inflation and embracing economic heres
The USA is embarking on the biggest change in economic policy in decades. Biden is using the economics of the 1930s to avoid the 1930s. This is a big deal. We speak to renowned economic heretic and former Fed economist, Claudia Sahm about Biden's New Deal, being bullied by 1970's thinking and America creating 10 million new jobs. Also, we talk about economic heresy. When only one Federal Reserve economist out of 406 is black, economics has a problem. We discuss about the coming Reformation in economics with Claudia, the woman who called it out! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 23, 2021 • 38min
112 - How Ireland really works!
The upcoming sale of Ulster Bank will reveal how Ireland actually works. We give you the "collars up" view from the West Lower Stand at the Aviva stadium - where deals are done. This corporate finance 101 podcast breaks down the likely carve-up of Ulster Bank amongst the Insiders, and explains why as long as the banking system is joined at the hip to the property market, Ireland will always be a boom/bust economy driving up mortgage rates and down competition. Also why data is important. We break down the demand for housing in Ireland for the next thirty years. we need to build 55,000 housing units a year not 25,000 per year as the government maintains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 18, 2021 • 48min
111 - The future of the City
What will our cities look like after Covid? We talk to renowned urbanist Richard Florida, the man behind the concept of the Creative Class and Creative Cities about what next for our cities. We also outline three "must do's" for cities. The first is a directly-elected Mayor with proper taxation/spending powers, second a tax on land hoarding to make land useful again and third, cities need to issue municipal bonds to finance everything, from housing to great public works, with the aim of making our cities beautiful, livable and magnificent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 16, 2021 • 37min
110 - Going Dutch, London's Brexit losses and what's the story with Bitcoin?
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.
Feb 11, 2021 • 39min
109 - The fallout from economic mania & the conventional thinking trap with Tom Bergin
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.
Feb 9, 2021 • 36min
108 - How to fix the housing market
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.
Feb 4, 2021 • 38min
107 - Wall Street and the Short Selling Revolution Part 2
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.
Feb 2, 2021 • 47min
106 - Wall Street, Game Stop and the Short Squeeze Revolutionaries!
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.
