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
Jun 1, 2021 • 45min
140 - Is Bitcoin a bubble or the currency of the future - or can it be both? Part.1
Bitcoin’s value has gone from 10 000 USD to a whopping 60 000 USD in the last 6 month - before going down to about 35 000 USD now. But what is it? Is it money or an asset? Can a currency so volatile be a reliable replacement to fiat money? Is it even a currency? Or something else entirely? This week we’re doing a 2 part series that aims to untangle all the noise around coins and cryptocurrency. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 27, 2021 • 35min
139 - Boring but radical: How Biden is getting it done
After a quick hit on Bitcoin we join Harvard economist Megan Greene for a deep dive on why MMT is rising in America, how Biden is embracing this new vision of monetary policy and what he’s trying to achieve with these massive infrastructure plans - all while watching out for the inflation risk! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 25, 2021 • 45min
139 - The UK’s new economic approach
Brexit has created a new economic environment for the UK. Robert Lind joins us to untangle what the new business model might be moving forward, how it might diversify the UK economy & how it might affect London and beyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 20, 2021 • 35min
138 - Global panic buying & inflation
If you know anyone in their 20s or 30s, no matter where in the world you are, you’ve been talking about housing. By all accounts the pandemic has turned an underlying condition into a fatal diagnostic for most millennials. Today we look at how the world’s housing markets in a variety of countries before moving onto the return of inflation - its always important to keep things in perspective Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 18, 2021 • 44min
137 - Israel and Palestine, explained, put into perspective and hopefully made more clear with Tom Friedman
Through a unique Broadway analogy, the fascinating three times Pulitzer Prize winner, New York columnist Times Tom Friedman helps us navigate the bigger picture behind the terrible headlines that we've been reading for the last week regarding the conflict in the Israel, Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 13, 2021 • 38min
136 - What the Pope told Mack!
As wages stagnate but house prices rise, a new class will emerge, beneficiaries of the housing boom, an inheritance class. As the younger generation falls behind, they will become more dependent on inheriting wealth, normally via parent's houses. This will create a drone class without the get up an go of previous strivers. We are already seeing it in some countries: you can go backwards. Also a conversation I had with the Pope, yes Francis himself about exactly this! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 11, 2021 • 28min
135 - Vultures, cuckoos, pigeons - what's with all these avian funds?
Can you feel it in the air? The wind is changing for property funds in Ireland, people are realizing how rigged the system is against them and they’re deciding to do something about it. The first step of any battle is to understand what you’re up against. This week we’ll try to breakdown these funds to better understand what they are & how we got here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 7, 2021 • 37min
134 - Lessons from the Great Depression
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it - or so the saying goes. This week, with the help of IG, we’re looking at what happened in the Great Depression and comparing it with Biden’s current economic approach to see if we’ve learned anything from the past economic cycles… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 6, 2021 • 36min
133 - The beauty of discovering numbers
Some argue that great civilized societies are measured by culture, literature or art but what about the idea that real sophistication is statistics? Truly self-confident societies reveal, expose, shine a light and measure. Calculation is purity. Data matters and to fully understand anything it’s often essential to understand numbers. Why do we use a base 12 for months? 60 for seconds? How do we make sense of the latest political stats? The answer: it's all about context. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 4, 2021 • 38min
132 - Pulling up the drawbridge
The biggest barrier to progress is the contented class, driven by their C.A.V.E philosophy: Citizens Against Virtually Everything, they want things to slow down now that they have risen up. they object to almost everything, gumming up the planning process, driving up house costs and house prices. These Cavemen, consumed by the anti-social behavior of serial objecting, are lifting the ladder behind them it in an attempt to further their economic status at the expense of the next generation. We contrast this static, dysfunction with the thrusting dynamic of the tech sector which is creating the future in front of our eyes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
