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. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Liberal democracy in the western world is all too often taken for granted. But its enemies, nationalists, theocrats, Marxists and isolationists - are rising. Will Israel become a "wedge" issue? Also, why we should defend it and what the erosion of commercial liberalism in China is doing to its economic performance. What does 2024 has in store for the best political idea we've come up with yet, liberal democracy. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
After the riot, the analysis. We look at the power of crowds, why crowds love destruction, why they grow and how they the dissipate. Plus, of course the economics of the Irish far right, we look at the numbers, who are they and why they are here to stay. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
From tantric sex expert to President, Javier “chainsaw” Melei is a new type of populist - and anarchy-capitalist one! What does this mean, is this guy libertarianism’s answer to Che Guevara? And where will “dollarisation” take this beautiful but profoundly dysfunctional country? Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The board of Chat GPT may be firing its CEO, but that doesn't mean this revolution is slowing down. A whistle wind tour from the dawn of time with Stanley Kubrick, to Gutenberg in 1453, and up to now, we look at the economics of innovation. With AI are we now facing catastrophe or a creative surge? Listen up, as we explore the economics of AI. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Anti-semitism, inflation, threats to democracy, despotic leaders and fragile governments, if you thought it was today, its is - but hold on. It's happened before... This very month 100 years ago, German hyperinflation peaked, Adolf Hitler announced himself with a putsch and anti-semitism was rife. History is repeating itself, or is it? Join us on this epic journey back in time to see what we can learn and whether we can apply any historical remedies to today's global problems. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today we kick-off a new three part series that looks at the state of the big economic blocs in the world. Part one is the state of the US as it enters an election year. Plus we scan the UK and the EU, briefly. We call this world the NATO-sphere for obvious reasons. Next up in this series, we will deal with the impact of AI and third we will look at China the link between economics & liberalism. Our first conversation is around US economy, the rate of interest, inflation and the miracle of recent US economic performance, which is challenging our understanding of macroeconomics. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
How is the Israeli tail is wagging the American dog? America's election is exactly one year from now and Joe Biden is in bed with Netanyahu, but his own party, the Democratic Party is deeply divided by his embrace of Israel. He has given Netanyahu his blessing, but he can't influence the outcome in Gaza. This emasculation, combined with the end of the 0% interest rate days where previous "stars" are falling to earth - WeWork goes bankrupt, NFTs blinds people and SBF gets convicted - and we have a perfect storm, economically and geo-politically, raging. All this before we talk about Donald Trump. Strap up! Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
John and I sat down at the Watergate Theatre in Kilkenny and had a natter, covering all classes of topics from economics, to James Joyce, WB Yeats and a whole host of other topics, focussing on Europe's economic policy dilemmas. We chatting about unconventional thinkers, how the artist & the entrepreneur are much more similar than meets the eye, both being unconventional dissenters.And If you’d like to hear my full TED talk on unconventional thinking, simply click here: https://www.ted.com/talks/david_mcwilliams_the_power_of_unconventional_thinking Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We go way back to 70 AD before coming bak to today. Demography demands a two state solution, and the Israeli's know this. But a trap has been set for America, into which it is sliding. The Kremlin has its "wedge' issue and the battle for the West continues, Putin can't believe his luck. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It's not world shattering to announce that there is a pay discrepancy between men and women - but it's important to note that this gap has been maintained despite numerous laws and financial requirements that have been implemented to remove said gap. So why is is still here? Join us as we talk about the underlying issues that laws can't address! Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In the third instalment of our series we explain the period of 1993 to the present in the Middle East. Why the peace accords floundered, the impact of 9/11, why the middle ground gave way to the extremes, and the rise of the Israeli tech industry. Don’t miss it! Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The commercial property market is struggling to swallow the interest rate hikes aiming to bring down inflation. Can the mass building of the last decade, built on the back of very low interest rate, survive this new economic landscape? Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Part 2 of our overview of the Israel-Palestinian conflict brings us from the Six Day War to the Oslo Accords. Key things here are the change in the image of Isreal in the world imagination from defiant fighter to oppressive bully and the emergence of Iran, fundamentalism, settlers and economic stagnation. We end with Soviet Jewry emigrating to Israel, the Palestinian Intifada, chaos in Lebanon and the road to, a short-lived, peace. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The budget, despite all the posturing, should make you be afraid, very afraid. It reveals a complete lack of Leaving Cert economic thinking. Today we interrogate just one aspect to see if there is any logical and consistent economic heft behind all the political tinkering. We look at housing. Stay tuned for the verdict! Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
To understand where we are, you have to appreciate the history - economic, political and social - and that’s what we’re setting out to do! Starting in Dorset St Dublin in 1904 with Leopold Bloom in Jame Joyce's Ulysses, we explore the history of Zionism and make our way from Bloom to the 6 Day War 1967. Stay tuned for part 2 next week when try to bring events from then up to the the current catastrophe. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We're in North America this week thinking about the US economy. How come the USA is creating so many jobs, why are interest rates not biting, does macroeconomics have to have a massive re-think about monetary policy and if so, what does this all mean for you? Is the Fed flunking it? Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brexit was supposed to be simple, that was the promise! The reality however is a world of complex costs & frictions which has backed the UK into a structural cul-de-sac. Where does it go from here? Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Long term interest rates spiked up in September. This will have an impact. Mortgage rates everywhere are up dramatically. Could it be time for the debt crunch? We know that there’s a delay between raising rates and the impact of those new rates, but no one knows exactly how long - while the economy appears to be doing fine, are we missing something, something big? A day of debt reckoning? Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
How does one of the richest economy of the 19th century blow it? What are the lessons for the rest of us? As the saying goes, “The road to ruin is shorter than you think”. How does a good country go bad? And now that Argentina has completely come off the rails, can its be saved or is it about to become a "failed state"? If it does, could the Argentinean virus spread to the rest of Latin America? Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Vienna, one of the world’s most liveable city, was created through a strong vision for its future and targeted taxes. Today, housing costs in Vienna are a third of its Irish counter part, we should be taking notes! Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today’s episode is a unique discussion with the writer Neil Howe about a completely different way to look at history, in chapters over decades and how history tends to repeat itself over given periods of time… and spoiler alert: Neil thinks we’re about to change chapter VERY soon! Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The ECB has raised interest rates ten times in two years but the Euro is not getting stronger, it is getting weaker. What does this tell us about the European economy and inconsistency at the heart of European policy making. We head to Frankfurt and put the ECB in the dock. I rest my case! Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The euro-tour continues as we dive into what makes Sweden tick - but not before one of our usual tangents on skin differences! Nevertheless, today is about the libertarian/socialist contradiction that is Sweden and how it always manages to punch above its weight. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What does the latest G20 accord tell us about the new Cold War and speaking of wars, we examine the Rugby World Cup and more interestingly the Economics of Rugby. Will Saudi Arabia do to rugby what it’s trying to do to football, golf, F1 and probably tennis? Imagine Munster owned by a Sheik? Could it happen? As it spends billions in sports-washing, the RWC is surely a shop window event for potential buyers of the game! Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
With the coming G20 summit in India we take a look at how the rise of india came to be, how it went from colonialism, to socialism and now to capitalism. Now a significant player on the international stage, will India succeed at becoming rich before it becomes old? Join us as we find out how its going to try Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
If we are to prepare a future that welcomes 10 million people in Ireland, we need take back control of public infrastructure project costs because these runaway costs are hindering our growth and reducing public confidence in the state. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Portugal’s current economic situation can only be explained through its rich & expansive history. As we tease out the various chapters of Portugal we uncover another nation that although is supposed to be rich, feels poor. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ireland is an outlier within the European demographic, how can it shape it’s growth in a bloc that is going to be managing for an aging population? Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The economy has two main levers: fiscal policies & monetary policies. Through these mechanism we have the means to ensure that our infrastructure keeps up with the population growth while simultaneously keeping the “far” parties of politics at bay… if we use them! Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
China’s economic growth is far from what it used to be and cracks are currently appearing in a variety of sectors. Has China’s heroic growth in the last decades finally come to an inflection point? Join us as we break down what is currently happening and where it might go. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
