Broadcast from a wine-soaked table in Italy’s Valle di Comino, ancestral home of Ireland’s chipper dynasties, this episode covers everything from Irish-Italian football matches and Elvis impersonators to the far more serious threat inflation poses to liberal democracy. We chat to political economist Mark Blyth about his new book Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers, unpicking why prices stay stubbornly high, who inflation hits hardest, and how it quietly fuels everything from MAGA to Farage. Is inflation just economics, or is it the force tearing apart the political centre ground? And is the UK a basket case… or just ahead of the curve? Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast.
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41:56
How Canada Became the Anti-Trump Blueprint
This week, we talk about the most unexpected political shift of the year, Canada’s sudden transformation into the liberal world’s new playbook. We unpack how Mark Carney, once a Davos technocrat, won an election by turning it into a referendum on Trump… and won big. Along the way, we explore nationalism (the decent kind), what Trump gets wrong about trade, and why standing up to bullies actually works. Plus, we chat with Evan Solomon, now an MP in Carney’s new government, about what Canadians really want, what’s next for their economy, and how sometimes, all it takes to wake up a country is a common enemy. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast.
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42:34
Slowing Down in an Age of Acceleration with Elif Shafak
This week, we take a breath. In a world spinning faster than a speedcubing final, we step away from bond yields and geopolitics and lean into something more human: imagination. We swap global crises for quiet joys, from a Rubik’s cube competition in Wicklow to the power of storytelling in uncertain times. As we always say, economics is about life and today we are joined by bestselling novelist Elif Shafak, to explore how fiction helps us make sense of chaos, how literature bridges the political and the personal, and why sometimes the most radical act in a crisis-ridden world is to imagine differently. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast.
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34:28
The Art of Taxation: How a Crisis Could Save Your City
Trump’s global chaos might just offer an opportunity. if we’re bold enough to take it. In this episode, we dive into how a crisis can give countries the political permission to reshape their economies, starting with how we tax, who we tax, and why we desperately need to rethink urban financing. From Roman emperors funding the Colosseum with "toilet taxes," to why Dublin (and most Irish cities) are economic engines shackled by a broken funding system, we explore how cities around the world are grabbing the purse strings and financing their own futures. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast.
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34:58
Popeonomics?
We mark the passing of Pope Francis by asking: is there such a thing as "Catholic Economics"? If so, what is it, and what strain of Catholic economics did the Pope represent? We start with a lad stopped by the Italian cops on a Vespa in Rome, and a most unusual and uplifting conversation with the Pope, Bono, and yours truly. Yeah, for real. We explore liberation theology, the roots of Franciscan banking, and the common and deeply embedded DNA of Catholic social teaching in the economic policy of Catholic countries, despite widespread secularism. By the way, I did pay the fine! Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast.
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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.
Portugal