Episodes

Growing up in the 1980s, the dynamism and rising living standards brought about by America's system of free-market capitalism stood in contrast to Soviet-era communism, where centralized, state-run industries enriched a few while leaving the rest with just enough to survive. For this week's episode...

In the final episode of this season of YDHTY, the Data Monk returns to discuss how easy money policies have created a feedback loop of unsustainable consumption in the United States, contributing to wage stagnation, income inequality, and rising populism. You can listen to the full episode via the...

As we wind down this season of YDHTY, I invited Ben Studebaker on to review everything we've learned since he sent me down a rabbit hole of monetary policy, commodities markets, and food systems in our last conversation on the war in Ukraine. In this conversation, we discuss how the major domestic...

With the Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe v Wade this month, Dan speaks with Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa of New Wave Feminists, a pro-life organization focused on addressing the social and economic inequalities that make motherhood in America so difficult. In this conversation, we explore the...

What impact do agricultural markets have on political stability today, and how might climate change alter that? In this episode, Dan speaks with Cullen Hendrix, Professor at the University of Denver's Korbel School of International Studies, whose work focuses on the intersection of environment,...

The school shooting in Uvalde, Texas has left many of us heartbroken and frustrated with a debate that often breaks down along partisan talking points. Suggestions range from a full ban on assault rifles to arming teachers. Left out of the conversation are the law enforcement officers who deal...

In his book, The Age of Turbulence, former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan noted how a capitalist democracy has never experienced a famine. Many subscribe to the belief that what could be typified as the Western style of liberal democracy and free markets has brought about prosperity by creating the most...

The story goes that, in the aftermath of World War 2, democratic nations created a world order that would set the foundation for democracy and prosperity worldwide. This order would challenge, and eventually beat, the autocratic model laid out by the Soviet Union, feeding this idea. What these...

Over the past few episodes of YDHTY, we've been exploring the foundations of the global economy and the powers that drive it. The main focus has been on the role of dollar dominance among global currencies, what forces might diminish its role, and the role debt could play in all of this. Absent...

In discussing America's growing economic might in the 1930s, journalist Ludwell Denny wrote, "We shall not make Britain's mistake. Too wise to govern the world, we shall merely own it." In 1944, his prediction came true, as the US dollar was officially made the de facto currency of the world via...