Slowing Down in an Age of Acceleration with Elif Shafak

The David McWilliams Podcast

#Economics #Business #Business Disciplines #Europe #Ireland #Davidmcwilliams #David McWilliams #News #John Davis #Politics

1:36:55

What’s up, Tribe, and welcome back to Good Moms Bad Choices! January was amazing, but its time to turn the page on the calendar and embrace beautiful new energy as we enter ‘The Journey of Love February.’ This month is all about the heart - join Erica and Milah to catch up and discuss what’s new in the world of motherhood, marriage, and amor! In this week’s episode, the ladies offer witty and sharp perspectives about personal growth in love, supporting your kids through their friend drama, and how to honor your true needs in a partnership. Mama Bear to the Rescue! The Good Moms discuss protective parenting and helping your kids fight their battles (8:00) Bad Choice of the Week: Help! My kids saw me in my lingerie! (20:00) My Happily Ever After: Erica and Milah discuss the prospect of marriage, dreams of becoming a housewife, and the top 5 ways to be confident in love (32:00) Yoni Mapping: Releasing Trauma and Increasing Pleasure (57:00) Its OK to fuck up, but also, what do you (really) bring to the table: The Good Moms have an honest discussion about finding accountability and growth before love (1:03:00) Watch This episode & more on YouTube! Catch up with us over at Patreon and get all our Full visual episodes, bonus content & early episode releases. Join our private Facebook group! Let us help you! Submit your advice questions, anonymous secrets or vent about motherhood anonymously! Submit your questions Connect With Us: @GoodMoms_BadChoices @TheGoodVibeRetreat @Good.GoodMedia @WatchErica @Milah_Mapp Official GMBC Music: So good feat Renee, Trip and http://www.anthemmusicenterprises.com Join us this summer in paradise at the Good Vibe Rest+Vibe Retreat in Costa Rica July 31- August 5 August 8 - August 13 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

about a year ago 34:28

MP3•Episode home

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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

571 episodes

The David McWilliams Podcast

Slowing Down in an Age of Acceleration with Elif Shafak

The David McWilliams Podcast

1,182 subscribers

published about a year ago

MP3•Episode home

Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

571 episodes

#Economics #Business #Business Disciplines #Europe #Ireland #Davidmcwilliams #David McWilliams #News #John Davis #Politics

All episodes

The David McWilliams Podcast

1
The Hanseatic League: Europe’s First Free Trade Zone 36:54

3 days ago36:54

36:54

Forget Brussels, the first European Union was built by medieval merchants, not politicians. This week, we dive into the Hanseatic League: a loose alliance of 200 city-states that dominated trade across the Baltic and North Seas for 500 years. They pioneered free trade, built Europe’s first banking networks, and forged a multilateral model that still shapes today’s EU. Their story is also a warning. The League eventually lost out to land-based nation-states, a tension that’s alive again in today’s battles between globalists and nationalists, city-states and populist powers. Along the way, we also explore the unlikely African roots of Russia’s greatest poet, medieval slave routes linking Dublin to Iran (!), and why the architecture of Lutheran cities tells the story of global trade. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

The David McWilliams Podcast

1
Will America’s Debt Crash the Global Economy? 36:34

5 days ago36:34

36:34

When Jamie Dimon warns that the U.S. bond market could "crack," it’s time to listen. This week, we dive into America’s mounting debt crisis, with U.S. debt now surpassing $34 trillion, deficits running at $2 trillion a year, and interest payments exceeding military spending. We unpack how Trump’s tax cuts, tariffs, and spending splurges are pushing the system to breaking point, and why a bond market crack could trigger a global dollar crisis. Then we turn the lens to Ireland, where the economy is running too hot: clogged roads, soaring rents, and an influx of investment we can’t absorb. Should Ireland slow down before the next global downturn forces us to? From bond yields to blocked-up Westland Row, this episode connects the big macro shifts to the everyday pressures you feel on your commute. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

The David McWilliams Podcast

1
From Bolsheviks to Bolt: The Tallinnovation Nation 35:55

10 days ago35:55

35:55

We’re on the road again, this time reporting from Vilnius, Lithuania, in the heart of Europe’s Bloodlands . Don’t be fooled by the history of war and trauma, this episode is all about how the Baltics are sprinting into the future. Estonia, with just 1.3 million people, has produced 10+ tech unicorns and collects 99% of its taxes online. Lithuania, home to 50,000 people living in Ireland, is building Rail Baltica , a €6 billion high-speed line connecting Finland to Poland. We chat with economist James Oates to unpack how these small nations became some of the most advanced societies on earth, all while keeping one wary eye on Moscow. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

The David McWilliams Podcast

1
Creativity in the Cul-de-Sac: Why the Suburbs Won 40:07

12 days ago40:07

40:07

Back home at HQ, we stretch our legs and dive into something huge hiding in plain sight: Ireland is now the most educated country in the world . But what does that really mean? From the Inhaler gig in St. Anne's Park to the brilliance of Roddy Doyle and camogie skirts, this episode celebrates the often-overlooked power of the suburbs, not just as a creative hotbed, but as the epicentre of Ireland’s education revolution. We trace how the children of small farmers became the middle class, why suburban snobbery is intellectually bankrupt, and how “kitchen table capital” helps some students stay the course. With fascinating data on dropout rates, international comparisons, and that ever-looming brain drain, this is a fresh and hopeful take on the biggest shift in Irish society since free education was introduced in 1967. Plus: why middle-class people think in years and working-class people are forced to think in minutes, and what it means for building a better Ireland. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

The David McWilliams Podcast

1
Spain’s Miracle Economy: What They Got Right (That We Didn’t) with Joe Haslam 43:38

17 days ago43:38

43:38

We're back in Spain, and I’ve got questions. Why is Spain growing faster than Germany, France, and even the US? Why can they build high-speed rail for a fraction of the cost, and why are they the only major EU country where immigration is boosting GDP without blowing up politics? This week, we talk to Professor Joe Haslam in Madrid about what’s being called Europe’s miracle economy. Since COVID, Spain’s growth has outpaced every major European economy, driven by smart immigration (nearly 1 million working Latin Americans), a tourism boom (especially in the cooling north), and €160 billion in EU funds that they’ve actually used. But it’s not all cerveza and sunshine. Spain’s power grid recently collapsed for nine hours, revealing the fragility of the green energy transition. Despite the boom, Spain’s productivity and housing market are heading the wrong way. Public servants now outnumber private sector workers, and even El Guapo himself, PM Pedro Sánchez, is afraid to touch buy-to-lets. We also dig into what Spain’s infrastructure success says about Ireland’s failure. Is it Napoleon vs. Wellington all over again? Because if you inherited the Napoleonic state, like Spain did, you can build metros, fast trains, and affordable housing. If you inherited British common law? You get planning objections and overpriced shoeboxes in Drimnagh. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

The David McWilliams Podcast

1
The Bilbao Blueprint 31:37

19 days ago31:37

31:37

We're in Bilbao this week, and it’s got us thinking. How does a football club that refuses to sign non-Basque players manage to qualify for the Champions League, raking in close to €100 million from TV rights, match days, and UEFA money, while Dublin’s best bet is a few fivers from the Conference League? The answer is in economics. The Basques were Europe’s forgotten industrialists, the only region in Spain to undergo a full-blown Industrial Revolution, powered by local iron ore, steel production, and a shipbuilding boom that made Bilbao Spain’s biggest port by 1900. Then they lost it all. Globalisation, China, and the EU opened the floodgates. Unlike post-industrial towns in the UK or Ireland, Bilbao didn’t roll over. They moved the port. They built the Guggenheim. They chose ambition. And they proved that even a small, isolated, ancient people, who speak a pre-Ice Age language with no known relatives, can build a modern economy with global reach. What’s our excuse? Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

The David McWilliams Podcast

1
The Moody Blues: No More Finance Bros in LA 32:40

24 days ago32:40

32:40

This week, we’re keeping one eye on Wall Street and the other on a canal in Dublin. Moody’s just downgraded the United States' credit rating, a move that quietly confirms what most won’t say out loud: America’s debt-fuelled growth is unsustainable, and interest payments are now outpacing military spending. Meanwhile, back home, a row of cottages literally collapsed, not abandoned, but owned by the very people lobbying to fix Ireland’s housing crisis. In a country where average rents just passed €2,000. In this episode, we tie it all together: the real consequences of debt, the performative hypocrisy at the top, and how property in Ireland has become a parasitic asset, not a social good. From Donald Trump’s inflationary tariff plans to the Irish State’s inability to enforce basic upkeep, we’re watching the scaffolding of credibility, financial and moral, fall away. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

The David McWilliams Podcast

1
The Battle for Africa with Pumi Mashigo 42:43

26 days ago42:43

42:43

From wine valleys to White House stand-offs, we’re in South Africa as the continent’s biggest economy finds itself caught between China, Russia, and a sulking Uncle Sam. Reporting from Franschhoek, we trace the Huguenot legacy, the Dutch East India Company, and how South Africa became the West’s favourite refuelling stop, until now. With President “Cupcake” Ramaphosa headed to the White House this week, US aid frozen, and Afrikaner “refugees” granted asylum, tensions are flaring. South African podcaster Pumi Mashigo joins us to unpack the realignment: BRICS, Palestine, misinformation campaigns, and why the Global South is finally saying: enough. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

The David McWilliams Podcast

1
Trump’s New Enemies: Billionaires, Big Pharma & Bibi? 31:29

4 weeks ago31:29

31:29

Trump is stealing Bernie’s manifesto. In this episode, we dive into why Trump is suddenly talking about taxing the rich and slashing the cost of prescription drugs, policies lifted straight from the progressive left. Is he turning on the billionaire donors funding his campaign? And is Israel, long a pet cause of those donors, being quietly edged out of Trump’s new MAGA calculus? We unpack a flurry of recent deals, from a largely meaningless UK–US trade agreement , to an urgent truce with China after Chinese exports to the US through the Port of LA fell by 50%. Behind the white smoke: a looming summer of empty shelves, rising inflation, and a reminder that America’s economic dominance isn’t what it used to be. Meanwhile, Ireland exports more to the US than the UK does, despite being 12 times smaller, but could soon find itself caught in the crossfire if the US starts attaching China-related conditions to EU trade. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

The David McWilliams Podcast

1
A Letter from Africa with Simon Kuper 51:16

5 weeks ago51:16

51:16

This week I'm in South Africa on a book and speaking tour and am chatting at the Franschoek Literary Festival, so we are all South Africa today. A country of contradictions, rich in resources, vibrant in culture, yet S.A. is held back by inequality, corruption, and the long shadow of apartheid. In this episode, we explore its uneasy present and remarkable past: from Mandela’s legacy to Elon Musk’s childhood, from empire and race to why Donald Trump has fixated on white Afrikaners. We travel through Cape Town and Johannesburg, unpacking it all with FT journalist Simon Kuper, and along the way, we encounter pencil tests, Springboks, slabs of the Berlin Wall, and the political ghosts of the Cold War. Is South Africa being used, once again, as a pawn in someone else’s game? Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

The David McWilliams Podcast

1
Inflation for Losers with Mark Blyth 41:56

5 weeks ago41:56

41:56

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 . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

The David McWilliams Podcast

1
How Canada Became the Anti-Trump Blueprint 42:34

6 weeks ago42:34

42:34

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 . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

The David McWilliams Podcast

1
Slowing Down in an Age of Acceleration with Elif Shafak 34:28

6 weeks ago34:28

34:28

The David McWilliams Podcast

1
The Art of Taxation: How a Crisis Could Save Your City 34:58

7 weeks ago34:58

34:58

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 . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

The David McWilliams Podcast

1
Popeonomics? 45:41

7 weeks ago45:41