Episodes

In 1944, 44 nations came together to create a set of economic reforms designed to promote economic stability and a lasting peace. Almost 80 years later, this order has given way to a runaway financial sector that has destabilized the world economy with repeated financial crises and asset bubbles,...

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...

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...

The Saudi government made headlines in March when it hinted it might accept payment for oil in China's currency, the renminbi. This breaks with the longstanding tradition of OPEC buying and selling oil exclusively in US dollars, and is thought to be a move towards creating an alternative system of...

In the last episode of YDHTY, we explored China's plan to replace the dollar as the dominant global currency with Zoe Liu of the Council on Foreign Relations. In it, we learned the measures China is taking to internationalize the renminbi and create an economic sphere independent of US influence. ...

Sanctions have proven a valuable weapon against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, allowing Western nations to cripple the country's economy and target the oligarchs who run it. They've also accelerated a trend to move away from the dollar as the chief currency for international...