Money & Macro Talks

Frank Braconi is one of the few economists willing to argue that rent control, properly designed, can work. But what does "properly designed" mean? When should it be used, where, and how? We discuss San Francisco's decontrol-recontrol model and whether it can blunt the harms of gentrification.

As China's star rises, people like Ray Dalio think we may see the emergence of a new tribute system. In this podcast, I discuss with tribute system expert Dr. Dave Kang what the tribute system actually was and whether or not we can anticipate seeing it return.

Prime downtown land sits empty while cities run out of housing. Tax buildings and you punish building; tax land and you punish sitting on it. In this episode, Lars Doucet, author of Land is a Big Deal, discusses the history and relevance of land value taxes to prevent land speculation and address the housing affordability crisis.

What does sixty years of evidence actually say about rent control? Konstantin Kholodilin (DIW Berlin) read 112 empirical studies to find out. We go through the results.

Fertility rates are falling in the Europe and the US, but also in places China, Tunisia and Colombia. What can explain this global trend, and what are the political and economic consequences of low birth rates societies? In this episode, we bring FT chief data reporter John Burn-Murdoch to make sense about these trends.

https://unanchoredcentralbanker.com/

What do we mean when we label economics a a science? Can social sciences ever develop a paradigm? In this interview, psychologist Adam Mastroianni discusses the state of psychology as a science and how paradigms improve scientific progress.

This is an update to my conversation with Gulf economy expert Prof. Steffen Hertog. We are already five months into the Iran war now: How much longer will the strait of Hormuz remain closed? and what could that mean for the Gulf countries?

Takuji Aida, advisor to prime minister Sanae Takaichi, explains Sanaenomics.

Is inequality harmful, or should economist focus more on absolute poverty? In this interview, prof. Morten Nyborg presents inequality as an externality and discusses the different policy tools to reduce it.

In this episode, I sat down with Professor Keen to ask him about his views on inflation, public debt, and how governments should respond to global shocks.

Wealth taxes are the key policy proposal to prevent wealth from concentrating at the top, and they're now being discussed in both the US and the UK. In this episode, we dig into the recent Norwegian experience with wealth taxation. How big was the response from the wealthy? Did the tax raise enough revenue to compensate for the capital flight? And what are the lessons for other countries considering a wealth tax of their own?

ECB Director general economics on how Europe's economies are responding to the Hormuz energy shock. Publications mentioned by Oscar below: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2026/html/ecb.blog20260603~3015f38292.en.html https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2025/html/ecb.blog20250508~897078ce87.en.html https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2026/html/ecb.blog20260309~3a4841b028.en.html

This is the first part of our interview with prof. Keen, where we talk about the economic consequences of the Iran war and what to expect after the reopening of the strait of Hormuz.

For decades, productivity and wages grew together. Then they didn't. Since the 1970s, workers across the developed world have become significantly more productive, yet their wages have largely stagnated. Where did the gains go, and what can policy actually do about it? In this episode, we examine the central argument of The Wage Standard , the new book by labor economist Arindrajit Dube. Dube argues that the decoupling of wages from productivity is not an inevitable consequence of technological change or globalization, but a political and institutional failure, one that can be reversed. We walk through the mechanisms behind wage stagnation, the role of market power in labor markets, and the policy levers Dube proposes to restore the link between work and prosperity.

Are governments finally hitting their debt limits? In this interview, Professor Dirk discusses the role of bond markets and central banks on government borrowing

Interview with prof. Paul Poast from University of Chicago

Economics professor John Cochrane discusses the limits of government borrowing. Is public debt sustainable? What caused the latest inflation episode?

Columbia Professor Wojciech Kopczuk discusses progressive taxation. Is the US tax system less progressive than European systems? What are the potential and the limitations of a wealth tax?

Interview on the book why we are getting poorer with Dr. Cahal Moran the man behind the YouTube channel Unlearning Economics.