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150 episodes

The David McWilliams Podcast, page 2

by David McWilliams & John Davis · English

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. You can also find our early access ad-free episodes on Spotify by searching for the David McWilliams Podcast Premium Feed on the app or by clicking here. Want to join our crew? Join at davidmcwilliams.ie/crew, where you can enjoy ad-free listening, as well as exclusive bonus content such as premium episodes, our macroeconomics course, early access to episodes and pre-sale access to tickets for Dalkey Book Festival & Kilkenomics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All episodes, page 2

20 Years Since the Celtic Tiger: Why the Irish Banking System is Still Broken

The episode argues that Ireland’s “Celtic Tiger” credit-and-housing boom began dying around August 2006 (not just in 2008) and that its banking system never truly recovered.

20 Aug 2026 · 35m · 10 chapters

The Chief Rule Breaker: David Gardner on Beating the Market

Rule-breaker stock investing—how David Gardner of The Motley Fool believes ordinary investors can beat market averages by buying “top dog” companies early, holding for years, and embracing losses.

18 Aug 2026 · 45m · 21 chapters

The Caveman and That Dunsinking Feeling

Irish housing policy and planning objections, using Dunsink (a large Fingal County Council site near the M50) as a microcosm of why Ireland can’t build enough homes.

13 Aug 2026 · 35m · 9 chapters

The Yen Dollar Euro Salad

US intervention in currency markets—selling euros to buy Japanese yen to prop up the yen—framed as a symptom of US debt fragility and the breakdown of coordinated postwar rules (G7-style…

11 Aug 2026 · 34m · 11 chapters

AI Deflation: The New Railway Crash?

The episode argues that AI-driven efficiency will trigger global deflation (falling prices and wages), colliding with record public/private debt and leading to defaults, bankruptcies, and financial…

6 Aug 2026 · 36m · 13 chapters

What Does The Ceuta Incident Mean For Europe?

The “Ceuta incident” (50,000+ migrants breaching a fortified Spanish border in Morocco/Ceuta, with 80–90 deaths reported) and what it signals for Europe—especially “demographic warfare,” EU…

4 Aug 2026 · 35m · 14 chapters

Prometheus Abides

Climate-change wildfires in France (evacuations, burned area, economic disruption), then AI’s risks and job displacement, framed through Greek mythology’s Prometheus/Zeus and the “fire” lesson,…

30 Jul 2026 · 37m · 14 chapters

The €133 Billion Black Hole: Why Ireland Can’t Track Its Spending

Ireland’s public spending “black hole” in procurement—rising budgets (planned ~€133B, nearly double since 2017) but weak data, no central contract register, and no “golden thread” linking tenders to…

28 Jul 2026 · 39m · 15 chapters

Rich Country, Broken State

Ireland’s public-sector “delivery inability” in infrastructure and services despite high revenues, arguing reforms fail due to structural lack of accountability and institutional capacity.

23 Jul 2026 · 45m · 25 chapters

Spain Won Again, 500 Years Later

After the World Cup final (Spain vs Argentina), the hosts use the match to discuss how Spanish vs British colonial economic systems shaped long-run prosperity differences between Latin America and…

21 Jul 2026 · 41m · 13 chapters

Is AI About to Crash the Global Economy?

Whether the AI boom is a sustainable growth wave or a bubble that could trigger a major US/global financial crash, drawing parallels to the 1873 railway-linked crash and later crises.

16 Jul 2026 · 41m · 17 chapters

Mbappé vs Le Pen: The Battle for France

The episode argues that France’s 2027 presidential election is a “ticking clock” driven by economic strain, political disillusionment, and immigration/Islam tensions—set against Bastille Day and the…

14 Jul 2026 · 43m · 24 chapters

England V Norway: A Tale of Two Oil Discoveries?

A comparison of Norway vs the UK (“England”) after North Sea oil/gas discoveries—why Norway built a massive sovereign wealth fund while the UK squandered its windfall, and what that means for…

9 Jul 2026 · 41m · 13 chapters

Alexander Hamilton: How a Caribbean Orphan Built America

The episode argues that Alexander Hamilton was the most consequential founding father because he stabilized the post-Revolution economy and helped shape the United States’ long-term financial power.

7 Jul 2026 · 38m · 12 chapters

Ireland's Silent Sell Off and the Employee Ownership Solution

The episode argues that Ireland is undergoing a “silent sell-off” of Irish businesses to foreign owners, transferring ownership, IP, job security, and profits abroad.

6 Jul 2026 · 32m · 13 chapters

The Death of the American Dream

The episode argues that Alan Greenspan’s legacy helped produce “casino-ization” of the American economy: instead of steady work and upward mobility, many young Americans gamble via gambling, day…

2 Jul 2026 · 33m · 11 chapters

The Man Who Broke the Global Economy

Alan Greenspan’s legacy and “Greenspanism” in the U.S. economy—libertarian/free-market ideology fused with central-bank interventions that, critics argue, fueled inequality and financial instability.

30 Jun 2026 · 42m · 18 chapters

Why Did Brazil Never Make It?

A World Cup dispatch on Brazil’s economic fragility and the long economic/social impact of slavery, including how Brazilian football became a rare integrated space.

24 Jun 2026 · 35m · 13 chapters

The EU Is Cracking

A discussion of “the future of Europe” framed through global power shifts and the World Cup, arguing the EU is a long-running “truce” between Germanic/Teutonic and Roman/Latin cultures rooted in the…

23 Jun 2026 · 40m · 11 chapters

World Cup Series: Haiti

The episode (World Cup Series: Haiti) argues that Haiti’s World Cup qualification is a striking underdog story set against extreme poverty and political collapse.

18 Jun 2026 · 45m · 14 chapters

Could Canada Have A Brexit Moment?

The episode is about Canada’s political and economic response to Donald Trump and whether Canada could face a “Brexit moment,” especially via Alberta’s potential secession.

16 Jun 2026 · 43m · 12 chapters

Inside the World Cup's Narco State

Mexico’s “narco state” and how World Cup-scale infrastructure, politics, and the economy are entangled with drug cartels—contrasted with Mexico’s formal/industrial growth and U.S.-driven trade.

11 Jun 2026 · 41m · 12 chapters

Why Social Democracies Win World Cups

Using the World Cup as a lens on economics and geopolitics, arguing that Western European “social democracies” (e.g., Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain) dominate because municipal, cheap, universal…

9 Jun 2026 · 41m · 22 chapters

The Coming Water Crisis

The economics and politics of water scarcity—why water is a “hidden architecture” of modern life, how it’s priced and allocated, and what solutions (reuse, recycling, efficiency, sponge-city design)…

4 Jun 2026 · 29m · 14 chapters