Economics Matters with Laurence Kotlikoff

I've known Larry Leamer forever thanks to my close friendship with Larry's recently departed, economist extraordinaire, brother -- Edward Leamer. Ed wasn't bowled over by any economist. But he was in awe of Larry, years before Larry became one of our nation's leading biographers. Much of Larry's work focuses on the rich and scandalous. Warhol's Muses certainty meets that bill. The book, which is fresh off the press, is Larry's umpteenth. The list includes Capote’s Women, Madness Under the Royal Palms, Mar-A-Lago -- Inside the Gates of Power, The Kennedy Women, King of the Night -- the Life of Johnny Carson, and, well, here's the now-outdated Wiki list. I copy below Penguin-Random House's careful description of the book. But, as you'll hear in the podcast, Larry raises a darker question than whether Warhol was a deeply evil person. He questions whether the art world fell for the NFT-artist of the day, specifically whether Warhol's oeuvre, including the $195 million The Blue Shot Marilyn, constitutes works of art or the art of self-perpetuating, financial fabrication.   From the jacket of Warhol's Muses by Laurence Leamer “Now and then, someone would accuse me of being evil,” Andy Warhol confessed, “of letting people destroy themselves while I watched, just so I could film them.” Obsessed with celebrity, the silver-wigged artistic icon created an ever-evolving entourage of stunning women he dubbed his “Superstars”—Baby Jane Holzer, Edie Sedgwick, Nico, Ultra Violet, Viva, Brigid Berlin, Ingrid Superstar, International Velvet, Mary Woronov, and Candy Darling. He gave several of them new names and manipulated their beauty and talent for his art and social status with no regard for their safety, their dignity, or their lives.  In Warhol’s Muses, bestselling biographer Laurence Leamer shines a spotlight on the complex women who inspired and starred in Warhol’s legendary underground films—The Chelsea Girls, The Nude Restaurant, and Blue Movie, among others. Drawn by the siren call of Manhattan life in the sixties, they each left their protected enclaves and ventured to a new world, Warhol’s famed Factory, having no sense that they would never be able to return to their old homes and familiar ways again. Sex was casual, drugs were ubiquitous, parties were wild, and to Warhol, everyone was transient, temporary, and replaceable. It was a dangerous game he played with the women around him, and on a warm June day in 1968, someone entered the Factory and shot him, changing his life forever. Warhol’s Muses explores the lives of ten endlessly intriguing women, transports us to a turbulent and transformative era, and uncovers the life and work of one of the most legendary artists of all time."

In this engaging discussion, Fred Lane, founder of Lane Generational LLC with over 40 years in investment, shares his insights on navigating today's volatile market. He highlights the impact of significant tariffs, specifically the astronomical 30% tariff affecting global trade. Fred emphasizes the emotional aspects of investing, such as fear and confidence, and offers strategies for individuals to hedge against economic uncertainties. With tailored financial planning and smart budgeting, he advocates for resilient investment approaches amid dynamic geopolitical tensions.

I'm just delighted to have Anders Åslund on Economics Matters -- the Podcast. I met Anders in the late 1990s when he asked me to go with him to Russia to discuss pension and other economic reforms with the Russian government. At the time, Anders was working for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is now Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council. This was a period of great hope for Russia, making it the first of many fascinating consulting and research (with the Gaidar Institute) trips to Russia. But the best part of returning to Russia (which my great grandfather had escaped on a stolen horse!) was meeting Anders, who is both a marvelous economist and extremely well informed about the global economy and geopolitics. Please listen to/watch this podcast to learn Anders assessment of the future of Ukraine, what's driving President Trump's policy, and his scary assessment of the world economy. 

Mark and Kara are a 50-50 combination of Top Gun and The Right Stuff. Mark was chosen by the Airforce to fly the U-2 Spy Plane -- at 72,000 feet, in a space suit to keep from compressing to a raison. Kara was picked to fly the Airforce's enormous C-5 cargo plane -- large enough to hold five trailways buses. Mark was Kara's flight instructor years before they accidentally reconnected and ended up getting married. After leaving the Airforce, the two started flying for United. Mark still does, while Kara trains Airforce pilots to fly large military drones. Mark and Kara are avid users of my company's MaxiFi Planner software, which is how we connected. Nicer people you won't meet. And they make "Thank you for your Service" as large an understatement as it gets. They also remind us why we feel safe entrusting pilots. They are that rarest of breed -- people on whom we can really count. Please listen/watch this video to get simply fascinating, insider information on aviation, both military and commercial. Kara and Mark are starting to work with my company -- providing office hours to newbie users of MaxiFi, doing demos for financial advisers, and, shortly, offering concierge financial planning for clients who want real pilots in the cockpit. 

The markets are going nuts for a good reason. The Administration is taking, at random, three steps backwards and 1 step forward on a wide range of issues. These include effectively eliminating trade with China, threatening the independence of the Fed, attacking our nation's comparative advantages in education, scientific achievement, training foreign students, and providing tourists a warm welcome to our country. Now our chosen one is in the process of turning back the best and the brightest, attempting to deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants, denying habeas corpus, knifing Ukraine and NATO in the back, abrogating the rule of law, and fill in the blanks. This is my take. Torsten Slok, whose wiki page is here, is not party one way or the other to my views. He's sticking strictly to the facts in appraising the markets and our national and global economy. In so doing, he provides a stark warning about our economy's near-term economic and financial futures. Torsten is a brilliant economist. But he's also as informed as it gets on what's going on in all corners of our and the rest of the world's markets. Hence, this is a podcast you don't want to miss! 

David Barboza, a Brilliant, Informed, and Thoughtful China Expert, Discusses U.S.-China Relations. The Relationship has gone from Distant to Close and Now to Dangerous as the U.S. Faces Economic Irrelevance

Trump, the German View. A Discussion with Rüdiger Bachmann, One of Germany's Most Influential Economists and Public Intellectuals

Is Musk-Trump's Evisceration of Financial Oversight Sheer Lunacy? Richard Berner, NYU Professor of Finance, Former First Director of the Treasury's Office of Financial Research, and Former Morgan Stanley Chief Economics Sounds the Alarm!I'm delighted to have my long-time friend, Dick (Richard) Berner, on the podcast. Dick is among the most knowledgeable economists in the world when it comes to the workings of U.S. and global financial markets, particularly their risk of collective collapse. Dick is Clinical Professor of Management Practice in the Department of Finance, and, with Professor Robert Engle, Co-Director of the Stern Volatility and Risk Institute. Having served as Chief Economist for Morgan Stanley and the first Director of the U.S. Treasury's Office of Financial Research (OFR) -- our government's financial market watchdog, Dick is perfectly poised to address the risks arising from the Trump Administration's arbitrary termination of top financial-stability officials as well as DOGE data breaches of every American's tax and other financial records. More on Richard BernerProfessor Berner received his bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in Economics from Harvard College in 1968, and his PhD in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1976. Berner was counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury from April 2011 to 2013. Professor Berner was a managing director, chief US economist at Morgan Stanley from 1999 to 2011 and co-head of Global Economics from 2008 to 2011. Berner served as executive vice president and chief economist at Mellon Bank. He also was a member of Mellon's Senior Management Committee (1992-99). Previously, he served as a principal and senior economist for Morgan Stanley, as a director and senior economist for Salomon Brothers (1985-91), as economist for Morgan Guaranty Trust Company (1982-85) and as director of the Washington, DC, office of Wharton Econometrics (1980-82).Professor Berner served on the research staff of the Federal Reserve in Washington (1972-80). He has been an adjunct professor of economics at Carnegie-Mellon University and at George Washington University. He is an advisor to FinRegLab, an innovation center that tests new technologies and data to inform public policy and promote a responsible and inclusive financial marketplace. He is a member of the Milken Fintech initiative, led by former OCC head Tom Curry and former Treasury official Melissa Koide. He is a senior advisor to MacroPolicy Perspectives, an economic consulting firm. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of HData, which helps data companies involved in RegTech and Legal Tech solutions. He is a member of the IMF panel of experts for financial stability. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Alliance for Innovative Regulation.

Terry Savage, our Nation's Brilliant Personal Finance Guru, Returns to Economics Matters to Discuss Roth Conversions

Superb Economist, Moshe Milevsky, Discusses Mitigating Longevity Risks Via Past, Present, and Future Tontines/AnnuitiesMoshe Milevsky is one of my all-time favorite economists. He's a true expert on personal financial economics and when it comes to longevity risk, there is no greater authority. He's also a joy to learn from. Moshe has an uncanny ability to deliver complex ideas in the simplest possible manner with the help of his secret weapon -- his terrific sense of humor. You are going to thoroughly enjoy this Economics Matters podcast. Here's Moshe's wiki bio.  Moshe Milevsky is a professor of finance at the Schulich School of Business at York University, and a member of the Graduate Faculty in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics, in Toronto, Canada, where he has been based and teaching for over 25 years. He earned a B.A. in mathematics and physics from Yeshiva University in 1990, an M.A. in mathematics and statistics from York University in 1992 and a Ph.D. in business finance from York University in 1996. His area of expertise is in mathematical financial economics, pensions, insurance, actuarial science and history of financial products. He has done extensive research on exotic option pricing, quantitative personal financial planning (focusing on investment strategies for retiring individuals), insurance derivatives, pensions, annuities, tontines and stochastic mortality models.[2] He is also the executive director of the Individual Finance and Insurance Decisions Centre (IFID), a non-profit corporation dedicated to generating advanced research at the intersection of wealth management, personal finance, and insurance.[3] For his contributions to the Fields Institute and to the Canadian mathematical community, Moshe was inducted as a Fields Institute Fellow in 2002.[4] Moshe A. Milevsky is the author of 17 books, including the popular Are You a Stock or a Bond, and The 7 Most Important Equations for Your Retirement and the more advanced The Calculus of Retirement Income, which summarizes much of the research that Milevsky has done on quantitative retirement income planning.[5] His recent books include King William's Tontine: Why the Retirement Annuity of the Future Should Resemble Its Past (Cambridge 2015) and The Day the King Defaulted: Financial Lessons from the Stop of the Exchequer in 1672.