Author: The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

  • No Mercy / No Malice: Breaking the Silence

    AI transcript
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    0:01:02 I’m Scott Galloway,
    0:01:04 and this is No Mercy, No Malice.
    0:01:06 What is corporate America’s response
    0:01:08 to Donald Trump’s policies been?
    0:01:10 Cowardice.
    0:01:13 Breaking the silence.
    0:01:14 As read by George Hahn.
    0:01:28 At different points,
    0:01:31 I’ve worked with 30 Fortune 100 CEOs.
    0:01:34 I believe 90% of them wake up in the morning,
    0:01:35 look in the mirror,
    0:01:35 and think,
    0:01:37 hello, Mr. President.
    0:01:39 These are talented,
    0:01:40 confident,
    0:01:41 tall people.
    0:01:43 We’re a highly luxest nation.
    0:01:48 who surround themselves with supporters who are damn impressed with their genius.
    0:01:55 But the key attribute of leadership is doing the right thing when it’s hard.
    0:01:56 really hard.
    0:02:04 It’s difficult for CEOs to speak out as the president demonstrates a willingness to declare war on everyone all at once.
    0:02:09 Best just to keep calm, i.e. quiet, and carry on.
    0:02:13 There’s a powerful quote attributed to a German theologian.
    0:02:14 Quote,
    0:02:18 silence in the face of evil is itself evil.
    0:02:21 Not to speak is to speak.
    0:02:24 Not to act is to act.
    0:02:26 Unquote.
    0:02:28 In this case,
    0:02:33 business leaders are saying their fear and idolatry of the dollar trumps all.
    0:02:37 Their silence is cowardice.
    0:02:39 Similar to a mob boss,
    0:02:43 the president has created an incentive system to keep everyone in line.
    0:02:46 Donating $1 million to his inauguration fund,
    0:02:48 nodding politely,
    0:02:53 publishing a bullshit press release about a massive investment in domestic manufacturing,
    0:02:56 and staying quiet is the way to go.
    0:02:59 If you know what’s best for you and your economic interests.
    0:03:04 I’ve heard firsthand that CEOs at the biggest companies agree,
    0:03:05 in private,
    0:03:08 that Trump’s policies are dangerous and stupid.
    0:03:10 In public,
    0:03:10 they cower.
    0:03:13 They keep their heads down and their knees bent,
    0:03:16 fearing retribution or hoping to profit.
    0:03:21 The fastest-growing and possibly most dangerous class in America
    0:03:25 is what I’d label the transnational oligarchs.
    0:03:27 Togarchs.
    0:03:32 The Togarch has no use for the government once Uncle Sam’s check has been cashed.
    0:03:34 The charging stations are built,
    0:03:38 and the government-sponsored technology is already stitched into their offering.
    0:03:44 The rule of law, regulation, tax system, and public infrastructure
    0:03:46 that paved the way for their billions
    0:03:49 is now a liability for their genius,
    0:03:52 an obstacle to paying no taxes
    0:03:56 or worrying about the damage their products levy on others.
    0:04:00 They have little vested interest in the things the government does
    0:04:02 or why it requires their tax dollars.
    0:04:03 Their wealth,
    0:04:06 comparable to that of a nation-state,
    0:04:08 yields its own sub-infrastructure.
    0:04:09 Private schools,
    0:04:10 health care,
    0:04:11 security,
    0:04:12 and rights.
    0:04:14 Overturning Roe v. Wade
    0:04:15 or rounding people up
    0:04:17 poses no threat to them.
    0:04:18 If shit gets real
    0:04:20 and someone in their life becomes pregnant
    0:04:21 or people show up with pitchforks,
    0:04:22 no bother.
    0:04:26 The Togarch will always have access to Mifepristone
    0:04:29 or residency in Dubai, London, or Milan.
    0:04:40 The Togarch class is growing and slowly co-opting Fortune 500 CEOs to join their ranks.
    0:04:44 These corporate titans are not only doing the wrong thing,
    0:04:47 but bypassing an economic opportunity.
    0:04:53 The first CEO who forcefully and publicly resists Trump
    0:04:55 could reap significant benefits,
    0:04:58 both reputationally and commercially.
    0:05:02 Leadership springs from unexpected places,
    0:05:05 but from a pure brand perspective,
    0:05:07 the biggest commercial opportunity rests
    0:05:11 with the CEO of an iconic American brand,
    0:05:14 like Apple, Nike, P&G, Walmart.
    0:05:16 You can make a case for Walmart,
    0:05:20 which gets about 60% of its imports from China,
    0:05:22 down from 80% pre-COVID.
    0:05:26 But Nike is even better positioned to push back.
    0:05:29 Tariffs are threatening to hobble Nike’s effort
    0:05:31 to revitalize its brand
    0:05:33 and reverse a decline in sales,
    0:05:35 with the company making a large share of its footwear
    0:05:37 in China and Vietnam.
    0:05:40 Nike, famous for innovation,
    0:05:42 high-profile endorsements,
    0:05:45 and breaking barriers is suddenly uncool.
    0:05:49 Its market value has tumbled more than 60%
    0:05:50 from a 2021 high.
    0:05:53 Nike is especially well-positioned,
    0:05:55 as it has less to lose.
    0:05:58 This is not a time for the swoosh
    0:06:00 to be timid and stay the course.
    0:06:03 Being bold is in Nike’s DNA.
    0:06:05 Exhibit A.
    0:06:06 Colin Kaepernick,
    0:06:09 the former San Francisco 49er
    0:06:12 who refused to stand during the national anthem
    0:06:15 to raise awareness about police brutality
    0:06:16 against black Americans
    0:06:19 and racial injustice more broadly.
    0:06:22 Conscious of the potential brand damage,
    0:06:25 Nike reportedly almost dropped him.
    0:06:26 Instead,
    0:06:28 the company in 2018
    0:06:31 chose the outcast quarterback
    0:06:32 as its spokesperson
    0:06:34 for the 30th anniversary
    0:06:36 of the Just Do It campaign,
    0:06:39 thrusting it into the national spotlight,
    0:06:40 sparking an outcry,
    0:06:42 and driving some sports fans
    0:06:45 to set fire to their sneakers in protest.
    0:06:48 It was a disaster
    0:06:50 for Nike’s critics.
    0:06:52 The company’s sales
    0:06:54 surged by more than 30%.
    0:07:01 Nike did the math.
    0:07:03 They knew they’d piss off
    0:07:04 right-wing conservatives,
    0:07:05 but they also knew
    0:07:06 they didn’t matter.
    0:07:08 Non-whites made up
    0:07:09 a greater share
    0:07:11 of Nike’s customer base
    0:07:12 than of the population at large.
    0:07:14 Most of the company’s consumers
    0:07:16 were younger than 35
    0:07:18 and lived outside the U.S.
    0:07:20 Few of these people
    0:07:20 thought America
    0:07:22 had race relations right.
    0:07:24 Nike shrewdly concluded,
    0:07:26 that gains to its brand
    0:07:28 would dwarf any downside.
    0:07:30 The people who burned Nike’s
    0:07:31 likely had to go out
    0:07:33 and buy their first pair.
    0:07:34 Nike’s CEO
    0:07:36 shouldn’t bring a knife
    0:07:37 to a gunfight.
    0:07:38 He should weaponize
    0:07:40 one of the great creative teams
    0:07:41 in consumer history
    0:07:42 and fire up
    0:07:43 the company’s
    0:07:44 storytelling machine.
    0:07:46 Outstanding marketers
    0:07:47 supported by
    0:07:48 world-class creative firms,
    0:07:50 including Whedon and Kennedy.
    0:07:53 What could be more effective
    0:07:54 than a message
    0:07:54 than a message
    0:07:55 of resistance,
    0:07:57 showcasing American values
    0:07:59 through the lens of sport,
    0:08:00 the role of immigrants,
    0:08:01 teammates,
    0:08:02 fair play,
    0:08:03 and international competition.
    0:08:05 The first large
    0:08:06 American company
    0:08:07 to go out on a limb
    0:08:09 and do this successfully
    0:08:10 will attract
    0:08:11 huge amounts
    0:08:12 of goodwill
    0:08:13 from consumers,
    0:08:14 manufacturers,
    0:08:15 and partners
    0:08:16 at home and abroad.
    0:08:18 This is Nike,
    0:08:19 Walmart,
    0:08:20 or Apple’s prize
    0:08:21 to lose.
    0:08:23 But it could be captured
    0:08:24 by other leaders,
    0:08:24 including such
    0:08:26 in Adela at Microsoft
    0:08:27 or Mark Benioff
    0:08:27 at Salesforce.
    0:08:29 Their iconic brands
    0:08:30 are built
    0:08:31 on American values.
    0:08:33 They shouldn’t wait.
    0:08:34 The advantage
    0:08:35 will erode sharply
    0:08:36 for the second
    0:08:37 and third CEOs
    0:08:38 who follow.
    0:08:39 The risk
    0:08:41 has been overstated.
    0:08:42 The Trump army
    0:08:43 is divided
    0:08:44 and it’s got
    0:08:45 more bark than bite
    0:08:46 snapping at every dog
    0:08:47 in the park.
    0:08:49 Does anybody
    0:08:49 take him
    0:08:50 or his threats
    0:08:51 seriously anymore?
    0:08:54 Given the rising
    0:08:55 stress levels
    0:08:56 in corner offices
    0:08:57 across America,
    0:08:58 we may be nearing
    0:08:59 a turning point.
    0:09:01 Citadel CEO
    0:09:02 Ken Griffin
    0:09:04 noted on April 23rd
    0:09:05 that no brand
    0:09:06 in the world
    0:09:07 could compare
    0:09:08 with U.S. Treasuries
    0:09:10 given the strength
    0:09:10 of the dollar
    0:09:11 and the nation’s
    0:09:12 creditworthiness
    0:09:13 but that Trump’s
    0:09:14 tactics
    0:09:15 had eroded
    0:09:16 America’s reputation
    0:09:18 a point I’ve been
    0:09:18 making for weeks.
    0:09:21 And Jamie Dimon
    0:09:22 one of Wall Street’s
    0:09:24 most influential figures
    0:09:25 has raised concerns
    0:09:26 about tariffs
    0:09:27 warning about
    0:09:28 long-term damage
    0:09:29 to America’s credibility
    0:09:31 but dancing
    0:09:32 around the issue
    0:09:33 and feebly highlighting
    0:09:34 the considerable
    0:09:34 turbulence
    0:09:36 facing the economy
    0:09:37 Dimon looks like
    0:09:38 he’s auditioning
    0:09:39 to become the next
    0:09:40 Treasury Secretary
    0:09:41 rather than
    0:09:42 filling the leadership
    0:09:42 vacuum.
    0:09:44 For now,
    0:09:45 the most meaningful
    0:09:46 conversations are
    0:09:47 happening behind
    0:09:48 closed doors.
    0:09:50 On the public stage,
    0:09:51 CEOs are shrinking
    0:09:52 from the fight.
    0:09:54 Disney’s settlement
    0:09:55 in December
    0:09:56 in Trump’s
    0:09:56 defamation case
    0:09:58 against ABC News
    0:09:59 approved by CEO
    0:10:00 Bob Iger
    0:10:01 had a chilling
    0:10:02 effect.
    0:10:04 The company
    0:10:05 agreed to donate
    0:10:07 $15 million
    0:10:08 to Trump’s future
    0:10:09 presidential foundation
    0:10:10 and museum
    0:10:11 and an additional
    0:10:12 $1 million
    0:10:14 for his legal fees
    0:10:15 instead of fighting
    0:10:15 a case
    0:10:17 they would have won.
    0:10:19 They were afraid
    0:10:20 of Trump
    0:10:21 not the law.
    0:10:25 Goldman Sachs CEO
    0:10:26 David Solomon
    0:10:26 meanwhile
    0:10:27 referred to
    0:10:29 landscape changes
    0:10:30 and quote
    0:10:31 uncertainty
    0:10:32 about how
    0:10:33 certain things
    0:10:34 that are close
    0:10:34 will proceed
    0:10:35 forward
    0:10:36 unquote
    0:10:37 among other
    0:10:38 euphemisms
    0:10:39 in discussing
    0:10:39 the bank’s
    0:10:40 financial results
    0:10:41 and outlook
    0:10:42 earlier this month
    0:10:43 as the New York
    0:10:44 Times reported.
    0:10:45 Executives steered
    0:10:46 clear of mentioning
    0:10:47 Trump directly
    0:10:49 or using the word
    0:10:49 tariff.
    0:10:51 This marks
    0:10:51 the end
    0:10:52 of an era
    0:10:53 that never was
    0:10:54 the era
    0:10:55 of stakeholder
    0:10:56 capitalism
    0:10:58 the notion
    0:10:58 that businesses
    0:10:59 have a responsibility
    0:11:00 that extends
    0:11:01 beyond their
    0:11:02 shareholders
    0:11:03 to society
    0:11:04 at large.
    0:11:06 I’ve served
    0:11:07 on seven public
    0:11:08 and dozens
    0:11:08 of private
    0:11:09 company boards.
    0:11:11 Spoiler alert
    0:11:12 this is
    0:11:13 and always
    0:11:14 was
    0:11:14 bullshit.
    0:11:16 The CEO
    0:11:17 and board
    0:11:17 has only
    0:11:18 one group
    0:11:18 of stakeholders
    0:11:19 in mind
    0:11:21 shareholders.
    0:11:22 If Nike
    0:11:23 or any other
    0:11:23 corporation
    0:11:24 needs inspiration
    0:11:25 they should
    0:11:26 look at
    0:11:26 Harvard
    0:11:27 which ought
    0:11:28 to win
    0:11:28 the award
    0:11:29 for best
    0:11:30 brand decision
    0:11:31 of the year
    0:11:31 after becoming
    0:11:32 the first
    0:11:33 American university
    0:11:34 to officially
    0:11:35 resist
    0:11:35 Trump’s
    0:11:36 vow
    0:11:37 to reclaim
    0:11:38 elite schools.
    0:11:39 Harvard
    0:11:40 sued
    0:11:40 the Trump
    0:11:41 administration
    0:11:42 earlier this week
    0:11:43 fighting back
    0:11:44 against its
    0:11:44 threats
    0:11:45 to cut
    0:11:45 billions
    0:11:46 of dollars
    0:11:46 in research
    0:11:47 funding
    0:11:48 after the
    0:11:48 institution
    0:11:49 said it
    0:11:49 would
    0:11:50 defy
    0:11:51 the
    0:11:51 White
    0:11:51 House’s
    0:11:52 demands
    0:11:52 to
    0:11:52 limit
    0:11:53 activism
    0:11:54 on campus.
    0:11:56 Alan Garber
    0:11:57 its president
    0:11:58 wrote in a
    0:11:58 public letter
    0:11:59 that quote
    0:12:00 no government
    0:12:02 regardless of
    0:12:02 which party
    0:12:03 is in power
    0:12:04 should dictate
    0:12:05 what private
    0:12:06 universities
    0:12:07 can teach
    0:12:08 whom they can
    0:12:09 admit and hire
    0:12:10 and which
    0:12:11 areas of study
    0:12:12 and inquiry
    0:12:12 they can
    0:12:13 pursue
    0:12:15 unquote
    0:12:17 the only
    0:12:17 testicles
    0:12:18 in sight
    0:12:18 in the
    0:12:19 government
    0:12:19 appear to
    0:12:20 be possessed
    0:12:20 by women
    0:12:21 you know
    0:12:21 what I
    0:12:22 mean
    0:12:23 Senator
    0:12:23 Lisa
    0:12:24 Murkowski
    0:12:25 the Alaska
    0:12:26 Republican
    0:12:26 who hasn’t
    0:12:27 been shy
    0:12:27 about challenging
    0:12:28 Trump
    0:12:29 showed how
    0:12:29 it’s done
    0:12:30 last week
    0:12:30 at an event
    0:12:31 in Anchorage
    0:12:32 she said
    0:12:33 quote
    0:12:34 we are all
    0:12:34 afraid
    0:12:36 I’m oftentimes
    0:12:37 very anxious
    0:12:38 myself
    0:12:38 about using
    0:12:39 my voice
    0:12:40 because
    0:12:41 retaliation
    0:12:41 is real
    0:12:42 and that’s
    0:12:43 not right
    0:12:44 unquote
    0:12:45 but she
    0:12:45 added
    0:12:46 quote
    0:12:46 that’s what
    0:12:47 you’ve
    0:12:47 asked me
    0:12:47 to do
    0:12:48 I’m going
    0:12:49 to use
    0:12:49 my voice
    0:12:50 to the
    0:12:50 best
    0:12:50 of my
    0:12:51 ability
    0:12:52 unquote
    0:12:54 Janet
    0:12:55 Mills
    0:12:55 the governor
    0:12:56 of Maine
    0:12:57 who has
    0:12:58 consistently
    0:12:58 classed
    0:12:59 with Trump
    0:13:00 over a
    0:13:00 state
    0:13:01 anti-discrimination
    0:13:02 law that
    0:13:02 allows
    0:13:03 transgender
    0:13:03 athletes
    0:13:04 to participate
    0:13:05 in girls
    0:13:05 and women’s
    0:13:06 sports
    0:13:07 has also
    0:13:07 refused
    0:13:08 to give
    0:13:08 in
    0:13:09 when
    0:13:09 Trump
    0:13:09 threatened
    0:13:10 to pull
    0:13:10 funding
    0:13:11 from her
    0:13:11 state
    0:13:11 earlier
    0:13:12 this
    0:13:12 year
    0:13:13 Mills
    0:13:13 responded
    0:13:14 quote
    0:13:15 see you
    0:13:16 in court
    0:13:17 unquote
    0:13:19 the markets
    0:13:20 are in
    0:13:20 turmoil
    0:13:21 and we’ve
    0:13:22 turned on
    0:13:23 our allies
    0:13:23 for no
    0:13:24 discernible
    0:13:24 benefit
    0:13:26 but thank
    0:13:26 God
    0:13:27 a 14
    0:13:27 year old
    0:13:27 transgender
    0:13:28 girl
    0:13:28 isn’t
    0:13:28 playing
    0:13:29 volleyball
    0:13:29 in
    0:13:29 rural
    0:13:30 America
    0:13:32 when
    0:13:32 did
    0:13:32 America
    0:13:33 get
    0:13:33 this
    0:13:33 fucking
    0:13:34 stupid
    0:13:34 and
    0:13:34 cruel
    0:13:38 the
    0:13:38 pursuit
    0:13:39 of
    0:13:39 money
    0:13:40 at the
    0:13:40 expense
    0:13:40 of
    0:13:41 freedom
    0:13:41 is a
    0:13:41 common
    0:13:42 thread
    0:13:43 that runs
    0:13:43 through some
    0:13:43 of the
    0:13:44 darkest
    0:13:44 periods
    0:13:45 in history
    0:13:46 the first
    0:13:46 year of
    0:13:47 Adolf Hitler’s
    0:13:48 reign was a
    0:13:48 crucial period
    0:13:49 in which
    0:13:50 German
    0:13:50 businesses
    0:13:51 could have
    0:13:52 resisted
    0:13:52 his regime
    0:13:53 instead
    0:13:55 as scholars
    0:13:55 have documented
    0:13:56 some
    0:13:57 provided
    0:13:57 key
    0:13:58 financial
    0:13:58 support
    0:13:58 for the
    0:13:59 Nazi
    0:13:59 party
    0:14:00 others
    0:14:01 became
    0:14:01 complicit
    0:14:01 in
    0:14:02 Hitler’s
    0:14:02 crimes
    0:14:03 driven
    0:14:04 by fear
    0:14:05 greed
    0:14:05 or
    0:14:06 anti-semitism
    0:14:08 few
    0:14:08 leaders
    0:14:08 took
    0:14:09 Hitler
    0:14:09 seriously
    0:14:10 and those
    0:14:10 who worried
    0:14:11 about
    0:14:12 anti-semitism
    0:14:12 believed
    0:14:13 it wouldn’t
    0:14:13 affect
    0:14:15 the kind
    0:14:15 of people
    0:14:16 I know
    0:14:17 as
    0:14:17 Northwestern
    0:14:18 professor
    0:14:18 Peter Hayes
    0:14:19 told Fast
    0:14:19 Company
    0:14:20 last month
    0:14:21 Hayes
    0:14:22 is skeptical
    0:14:23 American
    0:14:23 businesses
    0:14:24 will behave
    0:14:25 any differently
    0:14:25 today
    0:14:26 in response
    0:14:27 to Trump
    0:14:28 based on
    0:14:28 the lack
    0:14:29 of courage
    0:14:29 we’ve seen
    0:14:30 so far
    0:14:30 from corporate
    0:14:31 America
    0:14:32 it’s difficult
    0:14:33 to rebut
    0:14:34 that point
    0:14:36 leadership
    0:14:37 is doing
    0:14:37 the right
    0:14:37 thing
    0:14:38 even when
    0:14:39 it’s hard
    0:14:41 not becoming
    0:14:41 another brick
    0:14:42 in the fascist
    0:14:43 wall
    0:14:44 standing up
    0:14:44 to the
    0:14:45 administration’s
    0:14:46 policies
    0:14:46 may be
    0:14:47 painful
    0:14:47 in the
    0:14:48 short term
    0:14:48 drawing
    0:14:49 rage
    0:14:49 from the
    0:14:50 president
    0:14:51 and his
    0:14:51 team of
    0:14:52 clowns
    0:14:52 and enablers
    0:14:53 but it
    0:14:53 presents
    0:14:54 an enormous
    0:14:55 opportunity
    0:14:55 over the
    0:14:56 longer
    0:14:56 term
    0:14:56 for
    0:14:57 Nike
    0:14:58 Walmart
    0:14:59 Microsoft
    0:15:00 Apple
    0:15:01 or some
    0:15:02 other
    0:15:02 household
    0:15:03 American
    0:15:03 brand
    0:15:04 it’s
    0:15:05 never
    0:15:05 the wrong
    0:15:06 time
    0:15:06 to do
    0:15:07 the right
    0:15:07 thing
    0:15:09 when do
    0:15:10 we stop
    0:15:10 being so
    0:15:11 stupid
    0:15:11 and afraid
    0:15:13 when
    0:15:14 do we
    0:15:14 show some
    0:15:15 courage
    0:15:15 even if
    0:15:16 it involves
    0:15:16 risks
    0:15:17 to shareholder
    0:15:18 value
    0:15:19 when do
    0:15:20 we nod
    0:15:20 to the
    0:15:20 sacrifice
    0:15:21 others
    0:15:22 before us
    0:15:22 have made
    0:15:24 when
    0:15:25 do the
    0:15:25 Americans
    0:15:26 show up
    0:15:30 life
    0:15:31 is so
    0:15:31 rich
    0:15:31 you
    0:15:31 you

    As read by George Hahn.

    Breaking the Silence

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • Why Women Still Struggle for Real Power — with Melinda French Gates

    AI transcript
    0:00:06 if you’re feeling bummed about the future of climate change under our new administration
    0:00:12 we’ve got a podcast for you the headlines can sound really bad but putting those in context
    0:00:17 often like they don’t play out the way that they’re first portrayed listen to explain it to
    0:00:23 me for reasons to actually be optimistic about the environment new episodes every sunday morning
    0:00:25 wherever you get your podcasts
    0:00:40 episode 345 345 is the area code belonging to the cayman islands in 1945 the first microwave oven
    0:00:46 was invented i like my girlfriends like my microwaves cool on the outside hot on the inside
    0:00:57 and kills every baby i put in them oh that was wrong that was so wrong go go go
    0:01:10 welcome to the 345th episode of the prop juke pod everyone is freaking out at that joke is this
    0:01:16 the end if we’re gonna go down let’s go down with all guns blazing all right what’s happening i am
    0:01:24 back in london and it feels alien because the sun is out it hits 62 degrees today um we’ve have a
    0:01:29 fantastic episode today we speak with melinda french gates a philanthropist businesswoman and global
    0:01:35 advocate for women and girls probably the wrong joke for that anyway as we discuss with melinda her new
    0:01:41 book the next day transitions change and moving forward we also get into her philanthropic efforts
    0:01:46 what she learned from raising a son and why women still face barriers to claiming real power today
    0:01:49 so with that here’s our conversation with melinda french gates
    0:02:12 melinda where does this podcast find you in seattle seattle that would make sense yeah home for me
    0:02:17 home for you what percentage of your time do you spend there and where what’s your second favorite
    0:02:22 place i’m probably half the time in seattle and my second favorite place is being with my
    0:02:27 granddaughters somewhere on the east coast new york or florida that’s nice where in florida
    0:02:33 uh they’re down in this sort of palm beach area but inland from that yeah i have a home in uh delray
    0:02:39 beach i really enjoy it down there and i miss it uh so let’s bust right into it in the opening of your
    0:02:45 new book the next day you write that you’ve organized a book around transitions that were formative in your
    0:02:51 life you mentioned leaving home becoming a parent losing a friend ending your marriage and leaving the
    0:02:57 gates foundation walk us through if you can each of these pivotal moments and highlight some of the key
    0:03:03 insights well i wrote this book because i think you know we all go through transitions in life and i’m
    0:03:08 very honest in the book that i’ve turned 60 and so by now i’ve gone through lots of transitions as you
    0:03:15 said leaving home for me that one was really exciting to go to college but then i got there and as i
    0:03:20 described in the book i felt like a fish out of water as a woman in computer science and i had to
    0:03:26 adjust to that i talk about joining microsoft that was again a very exciting time in the computer
    0:03:32 industry i loved it but again i was there weren’t very many technical women i leave my career to start
    0:03:38 raising my children uh knowing i would go back but that was an enormous transition for me to leave the
    0:03:44 workforce and raise children and then you know we started the gates foundation and i chose to leave
    0:03:50 that last year and strike out on my own in philanthropy so big big transitions some exhilarating
    0:03:56 some scary but i think they’re things we learn and we gain resilience by going through lots of
    0:04:02 transitions so obviously you’re playing at an entirely different altitude but my family is
    0:04:05 blessed with a certain level of economic security and i constantly get questions around how do you
    0:04:13 maintain your children’s grit and the answer is i’m not sure we have um you obviously your kids i would
    0:04:19 imagine this is an issue that that you face how do you try and instill a certain level of values
    0:04:25 and grit and an appreciation for work in in your kids given obviously the extraordinary opportunities
    0:04:34 and privilege they have sure and my three children are all now adults ages 22 25 and 28 but what i would
    0:04:43 say is i was incredibly purposeful about it from the day they were born and i knew they were being born into
    0:04:50 a life of incredible privilege but i grew up in a middle-class family and i knew that if i could instill
    0:04:59 those values and make our life as normal as i could for them and constantly live out my values in the home and through
    0:05:04 the work we were doing in the world and bring the work home and talk about it around the dinner table
    0:05:09 as well as i took them out on age-appropriate field trips even when they were very young
    0:05:15 we went and visited places around seattle that they could give their time and eventually when they were
    0:05:21 old enough i took them to pretty rough places in africa because so they could see that seattle was one
    0:05:28 pinprick on the globe and that if you have some level of wealth and privilege there is something
    0:05:34 you can do with your life to give back and i believe that’s true for everybody who’s born in the united
    0:05:41 states no matter what their wealth income you have time and energy and talents and sometimes even money
    0:05:47 to give back so in addition to taking them and exposing them to people aren’t less fortunate did you have
    0:05:57 any more pedestrian tactics like chores or athletics anything like that absolutely first of all i felt
    0:06:02 like my kids should not be homeschooled they should be in a school environment so that we were working
    0:06:06 through all the issues the kids work through with their peers and that i needed to work through with
    0:06:14 other parents we absolutely had chores they had an allowance and we had an agreement about their
    0:06:20 allowance they got it weekly it wasn’t for specific chores it was for it was an allowance but they were
    0:06:26 expected to do their chores and the agreement i had with them is that became their budget for buying
    0:06:32 clothing uh for buying things they wanted anything else went on their christmas wish list or their
    0:06:38 birthday wish list from our extended family um and the other agreement i had with them is because of who
    0:06:45 we were neither they nor i were ever allowed to tell how much it was per week because everybody would
    0:06:51 have an opinion oh that’s all the gates kids gets or oh my gosh that’s so much money that they get
    0:06:59 but it turned that it i think it taught them to budget early and learn the value of money one of the
    0:07:04 things or i think one of the reasons are common themes through the accolades or the positive reception
    0:07:10 your book is that you are pretty strikingly vulnerable and raw and out there with pretty sensitive topics i
    0:07:16 you know when you read memoirs quite frankly you’re usually reading kind of the starched version of their
    0:07:21 life written by someone else that they’re the hero in everything and everything’s for the better and ends
    0:07:27 well and there’s some life lesson in it and you seem pretty vulnerable in it you talk a lot about
    0:07:34 dealing with panic attacks and anxiety and we are raising a generation of people who are
    0:07:40 suffering more from anxiety or greater levels of anxiety than any previous generation you have kids
    0:07:46 you struggled or been open about your struggles with anxiety what advice can you give to young people
    0:07:53 who might be struggling with anxiety pretty much every human being has anxiety at some level
    0:08:01 and i know many business leaders that i have been around i’ll say many of them male or even prime
    0:08:07 ministers i was i was uh practicing backstage for something and i saw this prime minister going into
    0:08:13 q a session and he was practicing with his team because he knew there were going to be anxiety provoking
    0:08:21 questions and the only reason i even say that is because i think we have to realize all of us deal with it
    0:08:29 and the more we can be honest about it and bring it forward and name it and then reach for support
    0:08:37 and other people and resources the more we can overcome it and partly you do have to lean forward
    0:08:43 into it i often say to myself in the back of my mind and i’ve said this to my three children both when
    0:08:48 they were in middle school high school and now adults just when anxiety makes you feel like you want to
    0:08:55 fall backwards as soon as you start to feel that falling backwards you have to push yourself to lean
    0:09:01 forward and say what can i do in this moment who can i reach out to on text how do i reach you know a
    0:09:09 trusted friend a parent a therapist a counselor and that the more you practice going through those anxious
    0:09:14 times the more you’re going to get better at it and push through even some of the bigger ones
    0:09:21 yeah i love the statement of dan harris that action absorbs anxiety and something that gives me
    0:09:27 anxiety i don’t know if you’ve ever felt this way as a parent i have huge fears that i have sons 14 and
    0:09:34 17 that they’re going through something and don’t tell me or anybody that’s my fear that they’re in the
    0:09:40 room and if i felt the same way when i had problems at school i wasn’t going to talk to my mom about it i was
    0:09:45 a single mother i just wasn’t going to come to her and that’s always been my biggest fear is that
    0:09:53 um well anybody doesn’t reach out but especially with my kids like how do i create some level of
    0:09:59 comfort or fluidity around communication because i i do worry that you know i would bet the majority of
    0:10:05 the stuff they’ve dealt with i never knew about and anyway any more of a statement than a question but
    0:10:10 any thoughts on trying to make sure that people close in your life reach out when they’re struggling
    0:10:16 well i would say you know scott you and i grew up in a different generation right and luckily this
    0:10:22 generation is talking much more about anxiety depression mental health disorders so that’s fantastic
    0:10:31 and all i can say is what i tried to do as a parent i definitely had times when i worried substantially
    0:10:36 about two of my three children the third one not so much because she was so verbal i kind of always knew
    0:10:43 what was on her mind but the older two and what i learned over that time was the more i could be
    0:10:50 venerable and name what i was afraid of or what i dealt with at their age i think the more it caused an
    0:10:58 opening for a conversation i will say i hear from more parents of boys or i did when my girls and my son
    0:11:04 were in middle school high school that boys tend to not be in general um as verbal about naming their
    0:11:09 emotions especially because they’re maturing a bit later than girls and so i think in those cases you
    0:11:15 have to create more openings and opportunities so i learned with two of my three that they would talk
    0:11:20 over a dinner alone with me and we just made a regular routine of dinners alone another one talked to
    0:11:26 me more when we would go out walking so we made a regular routine of going out walking and guess what
    0:11:31 i still employ those tactics now that they’re adults we’ll be right back after a quick break
    0:11:42 support for prop g comes from vanta starting a company is incredibly gratifying it can also be
    0:11:46 one of the hardest things you’ll ever do and one of the most challenging parts of it is making sure
    0:11:50 that you’re meeting all the security compliance standards you need to meet vanta makes the whole
    0:11:55 process easier vanta is a trust management platform that helps businesses automate security and
    0:12:00 compliance enabling them to demonstrate strong security practices and scale that means that a
    0:12:06 whole bunch of tasks that used to be expensive time consuming and complex can now be automated and
    0:12:11 streamlined simply put your company can’t grow if it can’t prove that it’s meeting security standards
    0:12:19 including soc 2 iso 27001 and hipaa vanta can get you audit ready in weeks instead of months saving you up
    0:12:25 to 85 of associated costs and vanta scales with your business helping you continuously monitor compliance
    0:12:31 unify risk management and streamline security reviews all in one place starting a business is hard
    0:12:37 let vanta make the process a little bit easier go to vanta.com slash prop g to meet with a vanta expert
    0:12:50 support for the show comes from nerd wallet we’re all juggling a lot in our day-to-day but you want
    0:12:56 to spend your energy on the right things so let me share a genius hack the nerds at nerd wallet they’ve
    0:13:00 already crunched the numbers so you don’t need to waste your time searching for better financial products
    0:13:06 things like auto insurance they’ll find it for you because sure you want a lower auto insurance rate but
    0:13:10 also you don’t want to get sucked into the research black hole of navigating providers websites and
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    0:13:20 you just answer a few questions and boom the right auto insurance provider right there you just saved a lot
    0:13:26 of time and a lot of energy using your brain power to what matters most to you smart letting the nerds
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    0:13:53 three support for the show comes from mercury the banking product that feels extraordinary to use
    0:13:56 when you’re a startup founder getting your business off the ground the last thing you want to be doing
    0:14:01 is toggling between a dozen apps and clunky banking services that can barely keep up with your needs
    0:14:07 enter mercury mercury is the banking product made by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs what makes it so
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    0:14:47 io card is issued by patriot bank member fdic pursuant to a license from mastercard
    0:15:09 you’re raising a son i’m writing a book on masculinity and i have two sons so i can’t compare and contrast
    0:15:16 what it’s like to raise girls versus boys but what have you been your observations and how or if and
    0:15:22 how you’ve changed your approach to parenting between your son and your daughters well first of all for
    0:15:29 me at least it was more about personality i mean kids come into the world with a good chunk of their
    0:15:34 personality i think developed and we can only i think affect what my mom used to say were the two ends of the
    0:15:41 spectrum help them you know raise up their good sides and try and keep the low sides down so my kids all
    0:15:47 three were quite different personalities but i will say you know i that my son and he and i were just
    0:15:53 recently talking about this he matured a bit later than the girls did you know at those ages and so i did
    0:16:00 have to talk with him more about his friends even later than i talked to my girls like you want to make sure
    0:16:06 your kids are surrounded by a good community and good friends and if you see a bad one you you know
    0:16:11 in middle school you get to help them more on that in high school you know it gets trickier right
    0:16:17 and so um i did have to have more conversations with my son about you know what are you noticing about
    0:16:22 this friend what do you like about this friend or what don’t you like about that friend so he could
    0:16:27 compare and contrast good friendships to be able to really see who was true in his life
    0:16:37 so you also talk a lot about how difficult it is still for women to get real power what do you mean
    0:16:44 by real power and what still gets in the way i mean there’s a lot of data showing that women are doing
    0:16:49 quite frankly just really well right women under the more college attendance from women women under the
    0:16:52 age of 30 and urban centers are making more money more single women own
    0:16:59 homes the graduate schools are chock full of women now more women seeking tertiary education than men
    0:17:06 but you say that or that women still have a difficult time seizing real power define real power and what
    0:17:13 you think uh are still some of the obstacles facing women sure i think we all have power inside of us
    0:17:21 boys and men women and girls you’re absolutely right at the statistics you’ve talked about where women are
    0:17:29 starting to thrive at those levels but when we send them out into society into their careers there’s a
    0:17:37 noticeable shift and you are not seeing women at the very top of professions they’re starting to make it in
    0:17:44 middle management you’re seeing more female cfos and and chief legal officers or head of hr but you know
    0:17:54 how many ceos in the fortune 500 are women how many entrepreneurs are women how many at the top of the
    0:18:02 medical profession how many of those are women and so what i’m seeing is that women are stalling at certain
    0:18:07 levels for all kinds of reasons and partly though there are barriers in society that are holding
    0:18:13 women back and we need to break down those barriers because to me real power is when a woman can use
    0:18:20 her voice and advocate exactly the way she wants she has full decision making authority authority over her
    0:18:29 resources and she’s setting direction so when i look at who creates our public policy i still don’t see
    0:18:35 enough women at the head of the senate or the u.s house of of representatives i don’t see enough women
    0:18:42 in state legislatures that’s where we’re making policy when i look at who are the heads of studios and what
    0:18:49 movies are being made those tell our stories how many female directors do you see so we’re still stalling
    0:18:55 out in society and that’s why i feel at least for me my work is how do we make sure we continue to break
    0:19:03 down the barriers and lift women up all the way as we also bring along boys because you have great
    0:19:09 statistics which i’ve read and i see and i see it anecdotally of boys now struggling more at the sort
    0:19:16 of middle and high school level and college level right so we actually need to do both so there’s there’s
    0:19:22 no getting around it you know the data i’ve seen is that while young women are thriving where women
    0:19:27 really take a hit professionally quite frankly is when they have kids and that is the corporate world
    0:19:32 still hasn’t figured out a way to maintain a woman’s trajectory and the corporate world is very
    0:19:39 unforgiving of people who leave for even a year so i guess moving to and also i think it’s like 80 or 85
    0:19:45 of the fortune 500 at one point i think there were more ceos named john than women like not that long
    0:19:50 ago three or four years ago so there’s clearly i mean there’s clearly some nuance here clearly there’s
    0:19:57 still really big obstacles for women around as you put it seizing real power i i believe that the
    0:20:02 quality of opportunity doesn’t always mean a quality of outcome i’m not sure there will ever be 250 women
    0:20:07 uh fortune 500 ceos uh and that’s a longer conversation as to why but there should definitely
    0:20:16 be more than 80 but what can we do because is it laws is it a different approach is it it doesn’t
    0:20:20 appear i mean is it is it going to be a naturally occurring phenomena because there’s more women in
    0:20:25 college and college is a strong predictor of senior leadership is it that young women aren’t as risk
    0:20:30 aggressive for whatever reason and they need different upbringing about risk and entrepreneurship like
    0:20:36 if you had a magic wand you have a lot of resources you have a big voice you’ve identified the problem
    0:20:40 what do you think of the two or three things we can do as a society to try and help
    0:20:46 women at those senior levels get over the hump okay so one of the biggest barriers for women in the
    0:20:55 workplace is caregiving even in the private sector less than 27 percent of women have access to paid
    0:21:04 family medical leave we are the only the only high income country in the world that doesn’t have a
    0:21:11 federal paid family medical leave policy and i don’t believe it should be maternity leave i believe it
    0:21:17 should be paid family medical leave because if you look at societies take the nordic countries where
    0:21:26 they’ve had paid family medical leave for a long time say 30 years what happens both the women and the men
    0:21:34 take it and what it does is the man participates longer in the rearing of the children he appreciates
    0:21:40 his wife’s role more and you break down the norm in society that oh the woman should go take care of the
    0:21:46 kid and and then there’s not also a career penalty for her taking that time off because the man’s doing
    0:21:53 it as well when we get to that point of really waking up to having a paid family medical leave
    0:22:00 policy at the federal level we will change society and so one of the things i am doing with many many
    0:22:06 partners is pushing on this we got very close in the last administration we missed it at the federal
    0:22:12 level by one vote it was a senator a male senator but we have it in 13 states and the district of
    0:22:18 columbia now and so we’ve got to keep that’s one barrier we have to break down and keep pushing forward
    0:22:25 again i believe if you have more women in state houses and you have more women in on the hill in the
    0:22:31 in dc we’ll get that policy passed but we’ll get it passed even before that because we do have to have
    0:22:37 like-minded men and boys who believe in these things in terms of women just take i’ll take one example
    0:22:43 risk which you brought up i don’t believe women are less risk averse i really just don’t we talk about
    0:22:49 that a lot but when you look at the statistics if you want to start a new business as a female
    0:22:58 entrepreneur four percent four percent of venture capital funding goes to women and so when you talk
    0:23:04 about when you actually do the surveys of the women who’ve run run the gauntlet take it on sandhill road
    0:23:10 in silicon valley they hear they’re too risk they won’t take enough risk they’re not taking enough
    0:23:15 risk they’re taking too much risk they haven’t thought of their business plan when you put a male next to
    0:23:21 them they run the gauntlet and they do much better so to me it’s a bias we have in society that men
    0:23:28 and women have so what do we need to do we need to make sure more limited partners are looking at
    0:23:35 women-led businesses and quite frankly people of color businesses because i believe women have a
    0:23:41 different lens on society than men it’s not good or better it just is different and i believe they have
    0:23:47 good business ideas and we shouldn’t as as an investor and i am moving money in this direction i don’t
    0:23:50 believe we should leave money on the table i think those are good businesses that will help us get
    0:23:57 through some of these caregiving struggles that we are facing now as a nation especially with an aging
    0:24:06 population yeah i would say the greatest exposure to inequality i registered or witnessed was in the
    0:24:11 90s i came of age the dawn of the internet i graduated in business school in 92 and i raised a bunch of
    0:24:17 money i lived in san francisco starting internet companies and i i’m embarrassed to admit this
    0:24:23 i never dawned on me that every one of us that was raising tens of millions of dollars in venture capital
    0:24:30 we were all white dudes you weren’t even allowed to be gay i mean you couldn’t be or outwardly gay
    0:24:40 you couldn’t it was all the same person it was all uh white men typically in their 30s
    0:24:48 who had great credentials stanford or berkeley i went to berkeley and all of that risk capital was
    0:24:54 crowded into what is that you know 11 percent of the population you know that’s fragment and it just
    0:25:01 never dawned on me that why aren’t you know non-whites getting funded why aren’t women getting
    0:25:07 funded and things have gotten better i remember katherine dylan i mean granted it started from a
    0:25:11 terrible place but katherine dylan who’s my business partner here i remember we raised money from general
    0:25:18 catalyst to kind of arguably one of the better venture capitalists east of the mississippi and we
    0:25:22 went in there for the last round and it was part of the last round of funding we raised i think 17 million
    0:25:26 bucks or something in a a round for one of my companies and we had to meet with all the partners
    0:25:32 and all 27 of the partners granted this was 15 13 years ago all 27 of the partners were men
    0:25:39 and it didn’t even dawn on me and katherine and maureen basically they said to me what the fuck i’m like
    0:25:44 what’s wrong and they’re like they couldn’t find one woman but i do think it’s gotten a lot better
    0:25:50 but where do you see the the friction we know the problems where do you see the friction and how do we
    0:25:58 address it yeah so in addition to my philanthropic dollars i also have a large investment fund because
    0:26:06 i believe it’s so important to put my money where my mouth is and to role model what’s right do i expect
    0:26:13 and so it is it’s going that funding is going to limited partners who are over indexing on women
    0:26:20 and people of color businesses because i believe if i can prove that i can get a good return from that
    0:26:25 then people won’t leave you won’t you’ll have men saying oh wait a minute i want to crowd in on that
    0:26:30 business i don’t want to leave funding on the table right there’s a great opportunity now with female
    0:26:36 sports you’re seeing those sports teams finally coming up and doing better billy jean king has been on
    0:26:42 this you know forever but now you’re seeing people like serena williams has a great investment fund
    0:26:48 there’s monarch collective so you’re seeing the rise of women’s nba and i believe you’re going to start to
    0:26:54 see the rise in more other sports for women that is a fantastic place to put money down just as one
    0:27:01 example there are many more types of businesses so i’m funding limited partners who are funding many
    0:27:08 others again with this thesis that i have and we’ll see if it proves out to be right so you’ve um
    0:27:11 speaking of philanthropy you’ve committed a billion dollars towards women’s health
    0:27:21 and uh so just first off uh i i just want to say thank you and uh and that is i i talk a lot about
    0:27:26 and i’m very passionate about the struggles that young men face in our society and the inspiration
    0:27:33 for me focusing on this area was data i started getting from this um brooking scholar named richard
    0:27:38 reeves he’s literally my he’s literally my yoda on the topic and he called me and he said i’m going to
    0:27:45 start my own institute and despite the fact that your billion dollars is geared towards women’s health
    0:27:51 the american institute for boys and men headed by this this person that’s literally changed my life
    0:28:00 uh richard reeves you gave him uh or pledged 20 million dollars and well so first thank you and
    0:28:04 and and the second is why did you decide given that the billion dollars is focused on women’s health
    0:28:10 to give 20 million dollars to the american institute for boys and men okay so yeah just to clarify a
    0:28:20 little bit i put down a billion dollars on behalf of lifting up women and others in society 250 million
    0:28:26 of that is going to women’s health we have a something called the action for women’s health so 250 million
    0:28:35 a quarter of the billion then i took 12 global leaders and gave each of them 20 million they can spend a
    0:28:41 small portion of it on their own organization but the goal is really for them to find other organizations
    0:28:48 doing like-minded work so richard reeves was one of those 12 global leaders because i absolutely believe
    0:28:56 that boys need to be doing better and men in society we have to have good role models for them as he talks
    0:29:04 about teachers coaches men need good places to say hey i can fit in society even though society is
    0:29:10 changing and so to me he’s on the forefront of that with his men and boys institute and i wanted to fund
    0:29:16 that and see also who else does he choose to fund we’ll be right back
    0:29:26 the regular season is in the rear view and now it’s time for the games that matter the most
    0:29:31 this is kenny beecham and playoff basketball is finally here on small ball we’re diving deep into
    0:29:37 every series every crunch time finish every coaching adjustment that can make or break a championship run
    0:29:43 who’s building for a 16 win marathon which superstar will submit their legacy and which role player is
    0:29:48 about to become a household name with so many fascinating first round matchups will the west
    0:29:53 be the bloodbath we anticipate will the east be as predictable as we think can the celtics defend their
    0:29:59 title can steph curry lebron james koat leonard push the young teams at the top i’ll be bringing the
    0:30:04 expertise to pass and the genuine opinion you need for the most exciting time of the nba calendar
    0:30:10 small ball is your essential companion for the nba postseason join me kenny beecham for new episodes
    0:30:15 of small ball throughout the playoffs don’t miss small ball can you beecham new episodes dropping
    0:30:18 through the playoffs available on youtube and wherever you get your podcasts
    0:30:30 right now in courtrooms across the country but mostly in and around dc the future of the tech industry
    0:30:36 is on trial that sounds hyperbolic but it’s true google just lost a case that will change the way that the ad
    0:30:41 business works on the internet and maybe change google forever and meta is on trial about whether
    0:30:46 it’s going to have to spin off instagram and whatsapp some of the most important parts of mark zuckerberg’s
    0:30:52 empire on the verge cast this week we discuss why this is happening where it might go and what the new
    0:30:56 internet might look like all that on the verge cast wherever you get podcasts
    0:31:06 this week on prof g markets we speak with ryan peterson founder and ceo of flexport a leader in global supply
    0:31:12 chain management we discuss how tariffs are actually impacting businesses and we get ryan’s take on the
    0:31:18 likely outcomes of this ongoing trade war if they don’t change anything in this 145 duty sticks on china
    0:31:26 it’ll it’ll take out like mass bankruptcies talking like 80 percent of small business that buys from china will just die
    0:31:30 and millions of employees will go you know as will be unemployed i mean it’s sort of why i’m like
    0:31:35 they obviously have to back off the trade like that can’t be that they just do that
    0:31:42 i don’t believe that they’re that crazy you can find that conversation exclusively on the prof g markets podcast
    0:31:51 we’re back with more from melinda french gates
    0:31:58 so this is a loaded question but i’ll ask it anyways uh i believe that the biggest problems in our society
    0:32:03 can be somewhat reverse engineered to income inequality you’re one of the wealthiest i would imagine one of
    0:32:07 the wealthiest women in america what are your thoughts on income inequality and how we address it
    0:32:15 i absolutely see the income inequality in the united states and i do not think it’s good for us
    0:32:22 as a nation and i think you have too many people low-income people who are really struggling and
    0:32:30 struggling in their communities you know my dad grew up at a time that his dad ran a small machine shop
    0:32:35 in new orleans got turned over to the war effort after that it got turned back into a machine shop
    0:32:44 but my dad grew up in a family where there were not a lot of resources and yet because of georgia tech
    0:32:49 he was able to do a work study program and still become an engineer and then he got a scholarship
    0:32:56 to stanford right but you’ve pointed out which i think is true it is far harder to get into university
    0:33:04 these days than when i grew up or you grew up or my dad grew up and it’s far harder to find a good
    0:33:12 living wage to be able to purchase your first house so i don’t have all the policy solutions for that but
    0:33:17 i do think there are some policy solutions for that and i particularly my heart goes out to black people
    0:33:24 the redlining that we did in our country made homes unaffordable to them and they couldn’t even live in
    0:33:29 certain neighbors neighborhoods that absolutely those disparities need to be reversed
    0:33:35 when i look at you and your ex-husband’s approach right extraordinarily successful extraordinary
    0:33:44 beneficiaries of a capitalist economy you know unprecedented wealth but my sense is like and
    0:33:50 like a lot of your colleagues of your generation i’ll say our generation you do take civic responsibility
    0:33:57 seriously you know trying to advance women’s health trying to cure malaria i mean these are
    0:34:05 you know for lack of a better these are good things and i worry or what i witness is this new generation
    0:34:12 of tech leaders who are even aggregating arguably more wealth and in my view have more have a bigger debt
    0:34:20 to america and the world i don’t see that same level of like a comity of man it seems as if what they want
    0:34:27 is to get tax credits or subsidies from the government or reduce regulation once they’re kind of over the
    0:34:33 hump they want to be protected by the law but not bound by it and i get the sense they just don’t have
    0:34:40 the same even in the gilded age the you know the carnies of the rockefellers you know full body contact
    0:34:47 violence to get to that point of wealth but once they got to that point of wealth really took you wanted
    0:34:52 to build big beautiful works and give back and kind of cement their legacy as people who were seen as
    0:34:59 patriots and i don’t get that sense from this next level of tech leadership one do you agree with that and
    0:35:08 why do you think that is i don’t think tech leadership is a monolith i think you’re seeing
    0:35:16 certain ones being held up in society right now all i can say is that i believe if you are wealthy
    0:35:23 you know this extreme level of wealth anybody who has you know 500 million dollars my gosh you have
    0:35:30 more than enough wealth you you have a moral obligation to give it back and you have benefited
    0:35:36 if you started a business in this country you have absolutely benefited from this country i’ve traveled
    0:35:41 the world where people say my gosh you know i couldn’t begin to start a business like that in my
    0:35:49 country so you have something to give back and all i can say is that you know warren and my ex-husband
    0:35:56 bill and i set out with this giving pledge to really try and role model for society that if you
    0:36:02 have gotten great wealth you should be giving it back have has everybody started to give back
    0:36:10 absolutely not but do we have a group of them who are yes for sure and um what i can say is that the
    0:36:15 community that of that that are giving back they’re talking to one another they’re learning they’re trying
    0:36:20 to figure out how to do it well they’re trying to figure out how even with their kids we now have a
    0:36:26 whole next generation of the giving pledge of their adult children and adult grandchildren who are giving
    0:36:32 back so i think we have to role model that this is what’s right for society and that hopefully over time
    0:36:39 will put pressure on those who are not it even goes beyond that though i’ve just been so disappointed i see
    0:36:44 these some of these tech bros or some of those i don’t call it right wing i don’t even know how to
    0:36:51 but they attack someone like mackenzie bezos i’ve seen them attack you i’ve seen them as if your
    0:36:59 your philanthropy and your efforts are somewhat you know that there’s something mendacious or malicious
    0:37:05 there and it’s sort of like you you might be wrong but your heart’s in the right place i think that’s
    0:37:11 the worst thing you could say and yet they take it to this and some of these people have really big
    0:37:20 platforms and they want to create this sort of conspiracy that you’re up to harm and i don’t know
    0:37:24 it’s interesting they seem to have really centered in on mckenzie for some reason which it just makes no
    0:37:33 sense to me at all isn’t that incredibly upsetting for you i don’t get it i ignore it so i can you
    0:37:39 really can you really ignore yes yes i know who i am and i know what i’m doing and i know what my
    0:37:46 values are and why i’m giving back i mean sure i’m not sitting on the sidelines i mean to me it’s like
    0:37:51 it’s so easy to sit on the sidelines and as roosevelt used to say you know criticize from the
    0:38:00 sidelines i’m in the arena doing the work i’ve have visited my gosh probably more low-income countries
    0:38:06 certainly than i ever thought i would in my lifetime i see the difference that you know these health
    0:38:13 tools make in low-income countries i see the difference when a woman has access to a good paid
    0:38:20 family medical leave policy it changes society so you know i think when you’re not doing the work and
    0:38:26 you’re not in the arena it’s easier to criticize others and to project onto others or make them
    0:38:32 look bad because you don’t want to go do that work that’s you know that’s up to them if that’s how they
    0:38:38 want to act fine but it doesn’t bother me my work goes ahead so we’re pretty much exactly the same age
    0:38:44 and turning 60 was sort of maybe it’s because i’m a man i’m going through a midlife crisis but
    0:38:53 i have the last few years especially my 60th was like pretty seminal for me and has changed a lot of
    0:38:59 my perspective and the way i think i approach life you know we’re sort of on the back nine and i don’t i
    0:39:02 don’t know if you’re religious i’m not i think at some point i’m going to look into my kids eyes and
    0:39:08 know our relationship is coming to an end and i’m and that end is barreling faster than i’d like
    0:39:14 it’s weird that time is just i mean decades are becoming years years are becoming months you know
    0:39:21 and i’m curious if you’ve registered any difference in your approach to life or your perspective as you
    0:39:27 know now that you have a six handle on your on your birthday cake absolutely and i actually think
    0:39:33 i crossed this when i turned 50 i said to myself outright i’m on the back half of life now at 50
    0:39:41 and i knew it hopefully and i yeah and i so i said to myself is at 60 if i’m not living my life the way
    0:39:47 i want to live it now something is wrong like i am fortunate enough that i don’t have to work right
    0:39:54 that’s an enormous privilege and that look i get to organize my time and somebody once said to me you
    0:40:00 have to paint on the canvas of your own life and i thought isn’t that true no one else can paint on my
    0:40:06 canvas so if i’m not organizing my life in the way i want to see my parents or to see my children or my
    0:40:14 two now granddaughters and do the work that i believe in in the world that’s on me and um i you know you
    0:40:21 enter a point where i think you i hope i hope i’m in this generative stage of life right and really
    0:40:27 thinking about my adult children what have i passed on to them what would i like to continue to pass on
    0:40:32 are there words i haven’t sent to them or things regrets i have that i’d like to go back and tell
    0:40:38 them i’m sorry that on that particular day i wasn’t my best self with you but look if we don’t do it now
    0:40:46 we could be gone easily tomorrow so easily so you’ve checked a lot of boxes right you’re professionally
    0:40:52 hugely successful you’ve aggregated huge wealth it sounds as if you have nice kids and a good
    0:40:59 relationship with them it sounds as if you have good friends but go five years out what does success
    0:41:04 look like for you in five years and what boxes that aren’t checked are you looking to check
    0:41:11 well i really set my horizons on a 10-year horizon because look we are taking i’m trying to take big
    0:41:19 swings at what warren buffett would say are the hard problems society has left behind for better or for
    0:41:25 worse and so those will take 10 years to play out but i certainly in the five-year horizon hope to see
    0:41:31 far more states with a paid family medical leave policy i we are beginning to turn the crank on that
    0:41:38 and change the momentum on that i hope we are doing far more basic science on women’s health
    0:41:46 so that we can come out with more drugs that help women over time both in the u.s and globally and i do
    0:41:53 hope that we can see more women in state legislatures in five years because that will signal that we’re on
    0:41:59 our way to getting more women up on capitol hill if i could accomplish those three big things and see
    0:42:06 progress on those i will feel like wow we’re on the right track in a superficial question but i’m curious
    0:42:13 so i assume some of my listeners might be curious when you have the type of wealth you i’ve always
    0:42:17 said that there’s people that spending you can be good at money or you can be bad at spending money
    0:42:22 and then i know a lot of people who don’t have a ton of money but are better at spending it and i know
    0:42:25 a lot of people that have a crazy amount of money and i just don’t think they’re very good at spending it
    0:42:31 what do you spend a lot of money on what do you spend less money on than people would expect
    0:42:41 um that’s funny question let me think i probably spend more money on travel i learned through travel
    0:42:49 um i was just in southeast asia gosh i learned so much in a place i’d never been and then i would say
    0:42:54 i also travel to see my loved ones because my loved ones are across the country right and so it’s the
    0:43:00 experience of being there and the joy of those moments so i’d say that’s something i spend more
    0:43:08 money on what do i spend less money on um i don’t know probably groceries because i’m a terrible
    0:43:14 terrible cook i just got an air fryer and my brothers were like why you eat out so much
    0:43:19 so i probably spend less money on groceries all right just as we wrap up here i want to do just
    0:43:24 a quick uh kind of rapid fire so last piece of media you consumed that sort of moved you
    0:43:32 a book by tim snyder called on tierney that’s too deep last piece of streaming media you really enjoyed
    0:43:39 oh streaming media um i went back well i’m watching you may think this is too deep too i’m i’m watching
    0:43:46 pachinko i love cultural fiction and it’s about the korean and japanese and the cultural tension there
    0:43:56 after world war ii i love it uh biggest fear or phobia biggest phobia is claustrophobia um biggest fear
    0:44:00 and it plays out when i’m scuba diving put it that way so that’s where it still comes up but i’m
    0:44:06 working on it one place you could vacation the rest of your life what would it be australia
    0:44:13 oh no kidding best piece of advice you’ve received set your own agenda or someone else will
    0:44:19 that’s for my mom biggest influence on your life up until say the age of 25
    0:44:29 my father he really believed in me i write about this in the book and he saw me that i could be good
    0:44:36 in math and science and he made sure at every step of the way i knew that three words on your tombstone
    0:44:44 what would you want them to be loved by family and friends made a difference in the world had a big
    0:44:50 heart i like that melinda french gates is a philanthropist businesswoman and global advocate
    0:44:55 for women and girls she’s the founder of pivotal an organization committed to accelerating women’s
    0:45:00 power and influence worldwide and previously co-chaired the gates foundation melinda is also
    0:45:07 a best-selling author whose latest book the next day is out now she joins us from her home in
    0:45:12 seattle melinda thanks so much for your good work especially your support of the american institute
    0:45:17 and boys and men it makes a huge difference and i’ve really enjoyed the conversation
    0:45:20 thank you scott thanks for having me
    0:45:39 positive of happiness what will mark my trip to london what will be the thing i want to remember when
    0:45:45 i’m at the end and i say all right let’s dial up the heroin and i play apple memories on large screen tvs
    0:45:51 one of the things i want to remember i want to come through my head is what will be the iconic moment for
    0:45:59 me um that happened on when was it i think it was saturday sunday night and that was at the royal albert hall
    0:46:03 which is arguably one of the most beautiful venues in the world and one of the things i love about it
    0:46:10 is that you can only play there once so instead of just rolling through a city and then the lead
    0:46:15 guitarist has to have a cheat note saying where the fuck are we now oh it’s great to be here at you know
    0:46:20 the great western forum in los angeles by the way that was from the 70s it’s been rebranded several times
    0:46:25 they say this is it i’m playing one of the most beautiful venues in the world and this is the first
    0:46:30 and last i’m ever going to play this venue so they show up and they practice and they’re given access
    0:46:37 to the royal albert hall orchestra which is incredible unbelievable venue stagehands and uh the last thing
    0:46:41 i saw there was surfe de soleil and they just did an amazing job with it anyways i went and saw one of
    0:46:45 my favorite artists and an album that sort of changed my life i just thought it was so beautiful and gives
    0:46:51 me so much peace when i listened to it i went and saw beck and the album is morning phase and uh when
    0:46:58 i first moved to florida i moved there because i was escaping new york in the sense that it was 2008
    0:47:05 i had lost everything i was i had that point from all exterior metrics that had a quote-unquote successful
    0:47:10 career and yet i woke up because i was so concentrated in tech specifically in a company called red envelope
    0:47:17 which went chapter 11 in the great financial recession i kind of woke up and had very little
    0:47:21 money and kind of negative net worth and it was really humiliating to have taken all this risk and
    0:47:25 had all this curb success and end up uh in a financially strained environment and of course about that
    0:47:31 moment mild son decided to come marching out of my partner at exactly the wrong moment and then
    0:47:37 uh fast forward three years we’re applying to get him into preschool in manhattan and we applied to
    0:47:40 seven schools and we got into zero because it was speech delay and i thought fucking i’m out of here
    0:47:45 i’m i’ve been an entrepreneur and single my most of my life i’m used to rejection but i’m not used to it
    0:47:52 for my three-year-old and so we decided to move to florida and when we were in florida i thought okay it’s time
    0:47:59 to buy a house we got a second kid just had our second son and i thought need a home need to stop renting
    0:48:05 and found a great home that we could fix up exactly what we wanted in this lovely little hamlet called
    0:48:12 gulfstream and bought a home on the water just perfect brought in a general contractor that we
    0:48:17 knew and we were going to make it into our dream home and uh goldman sachs had this group that would
    0:48:21 manage the money of small business people hoping that someday our company will get bought for a lot
    0:48:25 of money and that we’d someday be rich such that they would have a built-in network of wealthy
    0:48:29 high net worth people even though i didn’t have a lot of money i was running with goldman and i said
    0:48:33 okay i have this home i think it was two and a half million dollars and i said i have the down which is
    0:48:39 about half a million and i need a mortgage for two million and i said no problem and then we’re getting
    0:48:43 towards closing where i’m supposed to show up with the two million dollars the two and a half million
    0:48:47 dollars and goldman calls me and says we can’t give you a mortgage and i said well why is that and
    0:48:54 i said well you own 40 of your company l2 and l2 last year lost three million dollars so we have to
    0:49:00 take 1.2 million dollars away from your annual income and you have negative income and we can’t
    0:49:05 get you a mortgage i’m like well it’s great to work with goldman who allocates the losses of my company
    0:49:09 which you’re supposed to do on a venture-backed company to grow and by the way we ended up selling
    0:49:14 the company i don’t know six years later for 160 million bucks but i couldn’t get a fucking
    0:49:20 mortgage and i couldn’t buy this home that my family had my partner had just fallen in love with
    0:49:25 and that made for a really uncomfortable ugly conversation going home and saying i’m not only
    0:49:30 not a provider but i can’t get a fucking mortgage for our dream home and then called the real estate
    0:49:36 agent and the sellers and say we lost our financing i can’t afford this home and then finally we got
    0:49:41 another home uh about a year two years later built a beautiful home in delray what was beautiful for us
    0:49:47 on a quarter acre small piece of land but we said we have boys we have to have a pool and we used to
    0:49:56 get up in the morning and we would turn on my favorite album morning face and we had a dog most
    0:50:00 beautiful dog in the world sweetest dog in the world a vishla named zoe and she would we would try
    0:50:05 and throw the tennis ball into the pool to try to get her to go in the pool because our youngest would only
    0:50:10 go in the pool the dog was in the pool and we kept throwing balls in there and she wouldn’t go in
    0:50:14 and our youngest nolan would see that and then finally he would just jump in the pool
    0:50:20 uh to get zoe to jump in anyways it became this pavlovian reaction where on weekends when we turn
    0:50:25 on morning phase our youngest would come bounding down the stairs and jump in the pool and then the
    0:50:30 dog would jump in after him and it was just such a nice moment of joy anyways the royal albert hall
    0:50:34 orchestra opens and then beck comes out and he’s playing the kind of the opening song for morning
    0:50:40 phase and my partner just starts weeping and i know why she’s weeping we go back and music can
    0:50:42 do this like nothing else we go back to this moment
    0:50:53 when our our little boy who could barely walk would jump in the pool when hearing that song on weekend
    0:50:59 mornings and get the dog to jump in behind him and i believe like what gloria vanderbilt said that the
    0:51:03 happiest moments in your life or the happiest period in your life will be when you look back
    0:51:08 on when you had little kids and that’s definitely true for me those are the moments i really miss and
    0:51:13 a lot of it is not just because they were wonderful moments but because they’re gone forever because that
    0:51:18 little boy is no longer around he’s now on you know on tick tock all day and you know talking about
    0:51:26 girls and starting to smell funny and he’s got underarm odor jesus christ that’s a thrill anyways this was such a
    0:51:31 wonderful moment for us uh that uh to be at such a beautiful venue and to be thinking about
    0:51:37 you know that wonderful time with our with our boys uh also are not okay but wonderful to lean in
    0:51:44 to when things move you what is it about something that inspires you or makes you emotional because you need
    0:51:51 to register these things to inform your life what’s important to you what has registered what have you
    0:51:55 noticed in your life what are you going to miss what are the things you’re going to think about
    0:52:03 at the end and to not really lean into these things it is a tragedy and it’s also not a given you need
    0:52:09 to learn how to lean into these things you need to practice you need to laugh out loud you need to register
    0:52:27 your sadness when something moves you stop and let it move you feel it lean into those emotions
    0:52:57 this episode was produced by jennifer sanchez our intern is dan shallon drew burrows is our technical
    0:53:02 director thank you for listening to the property pod from the box media podcast network we will catch you on
    0:53:08 it’s saturday for no mercy no malice as read by george hahn and please follow our property markets pod
    0:53:16 wherever you get your pods for new episodes every monday and thursday

    Melinda French Gates, a philanthropist, businesswoman, and global advocate for women and girls, joins Scott to discuss her new book The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward

    They also get into Melinda’s philanthropic efforts, what she’s learned from raising a son, and why women still face barriers to claiming “real power” today.

    Follow Melinda French Gates, @melindafrenchgates.

    Algebra of Happiness: Morning Phase by Beck.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • Scott on Hotel Brands, Netflix’s Adolescence, and Theranos Takeaways

    AI transcript
    0:00:04 Support for the show comes from Panerai for more than 150 years.
    0:00:10 Panerai’s watches have showcased the perfect balance of pioneering innovation and the brand’s storied legacy.
    0:00:19 And now the newly unveiled Luminor Marina timepieces celebrate the evolution of one of Panerai’s most emblematic and enduring collections, the Luminor.
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    0:00:42 Discover the world of Panerai at P-A-N-E-R-A-I dot com.
    0:00:48 Support for the show comes from ServiceNow.
    0:00:50 Who are enabling people to do more fulfilling work?
    0:00:52 The work they actually want to do?
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    0:00:55 Boring, busy work.
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    0:01:22 Hey, this is Peter Kafka.
    0:01:27 I’m the host of Channels, a show about media and tech and lots of other stuff.
    0:01:34 And this week, I learned about how to make money in media, and specifically how to do that in Washington, D.C. in 2025.
    0:01:39 My guest, Jake Sherman, the co-founder of Punchbowl News.
    0:01:45 That’s the fast-growing, super-inside, the Beltway Pub that covers Congress and Congress and nothing else.
    0:01:46 And it’s working.
    0:01:49 That’s on channels, wherever you hear your favorite pods.
    0:02:01 Welcome to Office Hours with Prof G, where we answer your questions on business, big tech, entrepreneurship, and whatever else is on your mind.
    0:02:08 Today, we’ve got two great listener questions, then after the break, we’ll hit the Reddit hotline, pulling questions straight from Reddit.
    0:02:09 Want to be featured?
    0:02:14 Send a voice recording to officehourswithprofgmedia.com or post on the Scott Galloway subreddit.
    0:02:15 Let’s get into it.
    0:02:16 First question.
    0:02:19 Hi, Prof G.
    0:02:21 Ray from San Jose here.
    0:02:24 Love the podcast and other teachings you provide.
    0:02:28 Speaking of teachings, I’m an adjunct professor here in the Bay Area.
    0:02:31 I teach entrepreneurship in the College of Engineering.
    0:02:36 You seem to know a thing or two about brands, and you often talk of your favorite hotels.
    0:02:41 My question is around branding stratification in the hotel industry.
    0:02:47 There are just so many brands owned by the top three hotel groups that it just seems a bit much.
    0:02:51 Is having so many brands a good thing for the market?
    0:02:57 Or does it add to consumer confusion and a hotel’s inability to differentiate?
    0:02:59 Would love your take on the situation.
    0:03:01 Hope to meet you live one day.
    0:03:02 Thanks for all you do.
    0:03:05 Thanks, Ray.
    0:03:07 I love this question because my hobby is hotels.
    0:03:08 I know that sounds stupid.
    0:03:10 People say, what are your hobbies?
    0:03:11 I love hotels.
    0:03:13 I travel to hotels, not to cities.
    0:03:18 I get all of those surveys on Instagram or whatever.
    0:03:21 And if I see a cool new hotel, I’ll travel to that.
    0:03:24 So I know a lot about hotels, or at least I think I do.
    0:03:28 Anyways, today there are more than 1,200 hotel brands worldwide.
    0:03:30 However, many of these brands are owned by conglomerates.
    0:03:37 The six largest hotel corporations, Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Wyndham, Accor, and Hyatt, own more than 150 brands.
    0:03:39 And they operate nearly 40,000 properties.
    0:03:44 The industry hasn’t always been this consolidated due to a series of major mergers and acquisitions.
    0:03:46 The number of large hotel groups was cut in half in the 90s.
    0:03:51 Nowadays, just 10 companies control over 65% of hotel room supply.
    0:03:57 That’s not even counting Airbnb, which I think has more rooms on its platform than any hotel company.
    0:04:03 Consolidation allows hotel companies to diversify their brand portfolios, access economies of scale, and centralized operations,
    0:04:06 all without sacrificing the perception of their flagship brands.
    0:04:08 Okay, so there’s a couple things.
    0:04:16 I understand the notion that, okay, one brand, you get scale, one advertising campaign, one set of associations.
    0:04:22 What you need is scale on the back end, but in an era of weapons of mass diligence,
    0:04:30 where people can find out that the best gym in a hotel in Berlin is the Soho House,
    0:04:36 and they can find that the coolest new hotel in Sao Paulo with the best restaurant is the Rosewood,
    0:04:47 or they can find that the coolest kind of hippest place for a romantic getaway with really unusual architecture in Cabo is Las Ventanasal Paraiso, also a Rosewood property.
    0:04:48 You can find your exact brand.
    0:04:50 You can find your exact brand.
    0:04:52 You no longer need to defer to the brand.
    0:04:53 What does that mean?
    0:05:01 It means that a series of niche brands have been able to evolve that sometimes have a back end that they can consolidate around reservation systems.
    0:05:04 Because basically, the hotel industry is the following.
    0:05:09 It’s a wealthy person locally wants to own all the Four Seasons.
    0:05:11 Michael Dell in Hawaii owns all the Four Seasons.
    0:05:20 And the Four Seasons runs the flag, the standards, the service, the reservation system, and they take 8% to 12% top line.
    0:05:21 You think, well, that’s not a lot.
    0:05:29 Actually, that is the best thing to do because that’s high margin revenue, and they aren’t subject to the economic whims of our economy.
    0:05:41 So, in 2008, basically, I think the Four Seasons of Midtown went bankrupt, but the Four Seasons out of Toronto, which only owns one of its hotels, I think it’s flagship in Toronto, still gets that 8% or 12%.
    0:05:51 And the guy who owns the thing has to hemorrhage money because the Four Seasons in their ownership partnership contract says, okay, you have to maintain a certain level of standards.
    0:05:53 You can’t, you have to have, you know, three check-in people.
    0:05:55 You have to clean the room twice a day.
    0:06:03 And so, even in bad economic times, these companies just, the flag itself, which is a management company, doesn’t take any capital risk, just prints money.
    0:06:09 And then they found this other kind of gangster way to make a shit ton of money, and that is they sell residences.
    0:06:18 So, the Almond will sell residences in Miami, and instead of, call it $2,000 a square foot, they can charge $4,000 because it’s an Almond-branded residence.
    0:06:25 And then when the very wealthy person who wanted to be in an Almond residence isn’t there, they put it back into the rental pool, and Almond rents it out.
    0:06:28 Or as a hotel room, and they split the revenue.
    0:06:35 So, they not only get a much bigger gross dollar volume for selling what is a $7 million condo, they get $14 million for it.
    0:06:42 They also get incremental recurring revenue from someone else who has sponsored and took all the capital risk.
    0:06:46 So, if you can develop an amazing niche brand, you can do really well.
    0:06:51 And some amazing niche brands have developed specifically based on demographics.
    0:06:52 What do I mean by that?
    0:06:56 The fastest growing cohort in the world is the super wealthy.
    0:07:02 And the number of people who are worth more than $10 million has absolutely exploded globally.
    0:07:07 And so, it used to be that the Four Seasons, the Manor and Orient on the Ritz-Carlton were sort of the high-end brands.
    0:07:17 And then a series of, like, massive, over-the-top, high-experience, exceptional location brands emerged and went super luxury, right?
    0:07:31 The Manor’s Wood, Amon, Cheval Blanc, Six Senses, the Okater Group, which includes my favorite hotel in the world, the Hotel du Cap, they came in at the very – they out-luxuried luxury.
    0:07:40 And they started charging $1,500, $2,000, $5,000 a night, recognizing there are some people who have become totally price-insensitive.
    0:07:45 And if they want to take their family somewhere on their limited time off, they have much more money than time.
    0:07:53 They will pay $5,000 a night or $7,000 or $8,000 a night to stay at the Six Senses in Thailand.
    0:07:54 And they are exceptional experiences.
    0:07:59 Down towards the middle end, it’s all about scale and cost and offering people a good value.
    0:08:02 And it’s about scale at the back end.
    0:08:13 So these big kind of conglomerates that have multiple brands, they use the same back end, they use some of the same service and headquarters and infrastructure, and they will buy some of these brands.
    0:08:15 I think, actually, IHG purchased the Amon.
    0:08:16 I’m not sure.
    0:08:17 Is that right?
    0:08:18 I can’t remember.
    0:08:24 But anyways, I think that you’re actually seeing – I don’t want to call it fragmentation of brands,
    0:08:32 but you can now support a single brand because of the weapons of mass discovery.
    0:08:37 The thing that is dictating and shaping the global travel industry right now, Instagram.
    0:08:46 I did my 50th birthday in Scotland, 60, and everyone there was complaining that Scotland had been overrun.
    0:08:47 Why?
    0:08:56 Because supposedly they invited 20 or 30 very, very influential Instagrammers, influencers, to Scotland two summers before, and they went apeshit.
    0:08:59 Scotland is like a giant Instagram orgy.
    0:09:01 It is spectacularly beautiful.
    0:09:09 And everyone saw all over the world that Scotland’s amazing, and they thought, it’s a cool way I’ve been there, and they just said the place is just overrun and they can’t handle it.
    0:09:23 At the same time, some of those same influencers started mocking Mykonos and Ibiza and saying, look at this $40 cosmopolitan, or look at how shitty this club is that I just paid $4,000 for a table.
    0:09:29 And supposedly, supposedly, Mykonos and Ibiza saw a serious decline in revenue last summer.
    0:09:32 Again, all brought to you by Instagram.
    0:09:41 But if you’re at the pool at the Hotel Du Cap and you Instagram at the Hotel Du Cap doesn’t need the scale of brand because their brand is singular and it stands out.
    0:09:44 And quite frankly, at the high end, it’s sort of all about Instagram.
    0:09:46 But that’s a thoughtful question.
    0:09:50 Anytime you want to talk hotels, come to the dog.
    0:09:51 Come to the dog.
    0:09:54 Best hotel in Istanbul.
    0:09:57 I wouldn’t do the Four Seasons or in the Manor and Oriental on the Posphorus.
    0:10:02 I would do the Solo House there, which is actually the old American Embassy.
    0:10:04 Best hotel in Paris.
    0:10:06 Used to be the Plaza Atene for me.
    0:10:08 Now it’s the Cheval Blanc.
    0:10:09 Oh, my God.
    0:10:10 That shit is genius.
    0:10:12 Again, if you’re on a little bit of a budget, I like the Hawks in there.
    0:10:17 There’s a lot of really interesting, really interesting kind of little boutique hotels.
    0:10:20 Favorite hotel in Mexico?
    0:10:21 Because you asked.
    0:10:23 I love the Rosewood Mayakoba.
    0:10:25 You feel like an alligator is going to come out and grab you?
    0:10:26 That’s all I have.
    0:10:28 That’s all I have.
    0:10:29 Question number two.
    0:10:31 Hey, Prof G.
    0:10:36 Anyone who is familiar with you knows how interested you are in modern adolescence.
    0:10:43 And specifically what it’s like for young men to grow up in a modern world with social media and lack of in-person connections.
    0:10:47 You mentioned on a recent podcast that you really enjoyed the Netflix show Adolescence.
    0:11:00 I was wondering if you could share your thoughts on what was so impactful for you with that show and what you think it demonstrated with respect to your views on masculinity, adolescence, and the effect of the modern world on young people.
    0:11:04 Thanks so much for all the insight and content that you provide.
    0:11:04 Cheers.
    0:11:07 I’m not sure I have a great take on this.
    0:11:09 I had trouble watching that show.
    0:11:15 I just, as the father of boys, it just, I’m not exaggerating.
    0:11:20 After I watched the first episode, every episode from that point forward, I had a drink before it because I wanted to watch it.
    0:11:22 I’m super interested in the domain.
    0:11:23 I thought it was so powerful.
    0:11:25 And it just rattled me to the core.
    0:11:45 Like, at the end of the day, I think we, with our boys, really early, have to treat them to be, tell them that being a boy, being a man, your transition to being a man is all about, you know, we talk a lot about being a provider in a capitalist society.
    0:11:47 I talk a lot about being a procreator.
    0:11:53 I think it’s important you initiate contact with someone while making them feel safe, such that you can have children and being risk-aggressive.
    0:12:02 But I think with boys, we really have to play up the third leg of the stool of masculinity, and that is you’re a protector.
    0:12:07 And I’ve just been struck by how many women have told me that in New York, they don’t feel safe.
    0:12:09 They don’t feel safe on the subway.
    0:12:18 And it just sort of breaks my heart that when you hear women say that if they’re walking down the street and a group of guys is coming towards them, they sometimes cross the street.
    0:12:32 And I’d like to think, and I have this aspirational view of masculinity, but I haven’t lived that life, that if a woman or someone who feels physically threatened immediately would look just the way you look.
    0:12:35 Who are the most masculine role models, cops and fire people?
    0:12:38 You go to those people when you need protection.
    0:12:46 And it just breaks my heart that we’re not, that people in our society don’t look to men for protection, that they’re scared of men.
    0:12:57 And I think what I took away is at a very early age, we got to first off acknowledge that masculinity and being a boy is a wonderful thing and to embrace it.
    0:13:11 But to really bring home the notion that your evolution from boyhood to manhood is around protection and very much so ground zero for protection for any boy is protection of girls and women.
    0:13:14 And I think a lot of men feel this way.
    0:13:15 I know I felt this way when I was very young.
    0:13:17 I felt very protective of my mother.
    0:13:23 But also just, it’s just heartbreaking that you see this kid.
    0:13:30 And it’s, what’s fascinating about the program is it’s not a whodunit, you know who did it, but it’s an exploration of why they did it.
    0:13:45 And it made me think a lot about fathering and how important it is to really understand what your kid’s up to and his views on girls and violence and misogyny.
    0:13:56 And more than anything, the thing that came to me was, you know, as parents and are you letting the internet raise your kid?
    0:14:03 Because the thing is, if you’re, you know, a lot of people, their nannies or other people or their school raises their kid, right?
    0:14:06 My son’s at Wellington College, this wonderful school.
    0:14:08 I know the school really well.
    0:14:09 I’m in contact with the people there.
    0:14:10 I’ve sat in on classes.
    0:14:11 I’ve spoken there.
    0:14:14 I have a pretty decent idea who is raising my kid.
    0:14:21 Whenever we’ve had a nanny or someone who spends a lot of time with our kid because my partner was working, we know that person really well.
    0:14:22 We have a really good sense of who’s raising our kid.
    0:14:28 I don’t know who’s raising my 14-year-old because he spends a lot of time on the internet.
    0:14:30 And I’d like to think, oh, I’m smart.
    0:14:31 I’ll figure it out.
    0:14:32 No, I haven’t figured it out.
    0:14:34 I absolutely haven’t figured it out.
    0:14:36 He spends way too much time on his phone.
    0:14:39 And anyone who says, oh, well, that’s bad parenting, you don’t have kids.
    0:14:40 They get their homework.
    0:14:45 If they can’t be on their phone, they’re ostracized from their peer group because that’s how they communicate with each other.
    0:14:52 But I wonder if we’re, as parents, I think it’s a really good question is, who’s raising your kid?
    0:15:02 And this story is just so rattling because it’s clear that these good people just didn’t know what influences were raising their kids.
    0:15:04 So what to do about it.
    0:15:06 No kid should be on social media under the age of 16.
    0:15:08 And by the way, my 14-year-old is.
    0:15:10 So do as I say, not as I do.
    0:15:15 But I think we need federal legislation because there’s this isolation effect.
    0:15:21 If you take your kid off of social media at 14 or 15, he gets more, he or she gets more depressed because all their friends are socializing.
    0:15:24 So unless it’s a collective band, it doesn’t work.
    0:15:32 And I think there needs to be education at a very young age that’s a bit, I don’t even call it sexist,
    0:15:36 but identifies, it says, boys are stronger than girls.
    0:15:41 And your default as you evolve to a man is protection.
    0:15:48 And ground zero of that protection should be that males who are born with superior bone structure and muscle fiber
    0:15:52 and also are just prone to be more physical and more violent,
    0:16:00 that your muscle memory, your instinct needs to be around protection, specifically protection of girls and women.
    0:16:05 But I don’t want to pretend that I garnered some incredible insight from it.
    0:16:07 I just found it incredibly rattling.
    0:16:17 And the one thing I would just, it struck me as like, I just kept asking myself, who is raising our sons?
    0:16:19 Do we really know who is raising our sons?
    0:16:20 Are we raising our sons?
    0:16:22 Are schools raising our sons?
    0:16:26 Or are algorithms that don’t have our best interests that are raising our sons?
    0:16:29 Thanks for the question.
    0:16:30 We have one quick break.
    0:16:33 And when we’re back, we’re diving into the depths of Reddit.
    0:16:41 Support for the show comes from Quint.
    0:16:45 Sometimes mothers say, oh, you don’t need to get me anything for Mother’s Day.
    0:16:46 But you’re an adult now.
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    0:17:53 The regular season’s in the rear view, and now it’s time for the games that matter the most.
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    0:20:03 Welcome back.
    0:20:05 We asked, and Reddit delivered.
    0:20:06 Let’s bust right into it.
    0:20:15 Our Reddit question today comes from Ethan Rabb.
    0:20:17 They say, or he says,
    0:20:18 Hi, Scott.
    0:20:19 Did you ever meet Elizabeth Holmes?
    0:20:21 What was your impression of her?
    0:20:23 Were you offered a chance to invest in Theranos?
    0:20:27 And if so, did you see through it or get caught up in the hype?
    0:20:31 More broadly, what’s your take on the fake it till you make it founder philosophy?
    0:20:31 Okay, a lot there.
    0:20:34 I’ll come back to whether I know her or not.
    0:20:35 I didn’t see it.
    0:20:40 I remember the cover of Time showing her with a vial, and she was, I think, the youngest
    0:20:43 billionaire or the youngest female billionaire at that point.
    0:20:52 There is a very strong gestalt in the Valley of raise as much money as you can, become a hype machine.
    0:20:55 I mean, fake it till you make it.
    0:20:58 How many times has Elon Musk lied to us about when autonomous driving?
    0:21:01 Autonomous driving is a year away.
    0:21:02 I think he said in 2017.
    0:21:05 I mean, there’s just no getting around it.
    0:21:14 Your ability to tell a story that verges on exaggeration, embellishment, adjectives, maybe even crosses the line at some point into fraud.
    0:21:19 I mean, the difference between storytelling and fraud sometimes, quite frankly, is your performance.
    0:21:28 So I think in the Valley, there’s unfortunately this gestalt that says exaggerate, get cheap capital, and then pull the future forward with your capital.
    0:21:45 Now, having said that, when you start lying about your numbers as that, I think it was Nicola, the guy who put a truck on a slanted hill and said that it was a motor driving the car, you know, that guy deserves to go to jail.
    0:22:00 But I believe if Adam Neumann’s board was not Japanese or driven by Masayoshi-san and was worried about a loss of face of saying, I got fooled, and his board went after him, I think there’s a good chance Adam Neumann would be in prison.
    0:22:04 And with Elizabeth Holmes, yeah, she lied to her investors.
    0:22:06 Her investors were sophisticated.
    0:22:09 No retail investor lost money.
    0:22:13 And there was never really any health ramifications.
    0:22:20 It wasn’t like anyone was taking an HIV test and got false results and, as a result, was hurt.
    0:22:25 So should she have been punished, fired, and maybe sentenced to prison?
    0:22:25 Yes.
    0:22:28 But what bothered me about the whole situation is she was sentenced to 10 years.
    0:22:34 And I just find only 2% or 3% of unicorns are founded by women.
    0:22:40 And it struck me that, okay, yeah, we seem to find one to put in prison for 10 years.
    0:22:42 So why?
    0:22:44 She’s very unlikable.
    0:23:00 And I think that there’s a weirdness in our society, a misogyny, where a woman taking the position and taking on male attributes who ends up to be full of shit, we dislike that person more than a guy who’s exaggerating or even lying.
    0:23:10 And I think she’s doing that person more than a person, and someone in her family, I want to say, who reached out to me and asked if I would openly advocate for a prison sentence.
    0:23:11 And I didn’t respond.
    0:23:13 I’m not going to get involved in that.
    0:23:23 But I wonder, had Adam Neumann’s board been angry and gone after him, if things would have turned different for him.
    0:23:34 And there’s something that bothers me about a founder who ends up spending 10 years in prison is one of the 2% that has ovaries.
    0:23:37 There’s just something uncomfortable there.
    0:23:44 The fake it till you make it, never lie about your numbers, never lie to consumers that you’re serving at that moment.
    0:23:46 But let’s be honest, you have to paint a vision.
    0:23:49 I don’t have an answer for you.
    0:23:51 I think it’s gone too far.
    0:24:08 And what I have generally found, generally found, is that the way I’ve served on a bunch of public company boards, that the people, the managers in public companies, at least traditionally, with the most respect, were the ones that under-promised and over-delivered.
    0:24:20 Having said that, though, in private companies and startups, I mean, I can tell you how many business plans I see of people raising money and their ability, you know, and I would say 90% probably aren’t going to hit those numbers.
    0:24:22 Anyways, that’s all for this episode.
    0:24:27 If you’d like to submit a question, please email a voice recording to officehours at propertymedia.com.
    0:24:30 Again, that’s officehours at propertymedia.com.
    0:24:44 Or, if you prefer to ask on Reddit, not a sponsor, not a sponsor or an advertiser, just post your questions on the Scott Galloway subreddit, and we just might feature it on our next Reddit hotline segment.
    0:24:44 What a thrill.
    0:24:59 This episode was produced by Jennifer Sanchez.
    0:25:00 Our intern is Dan Shallon.
    0:25:02 Drew Burrows is our technical director.
    0:25:05 Thank you for listening to the Prop G pod from the Vox Media Podcast Network.
    0:25:10 We will catch you on Saturday for No Mercy, No Malice, as read by George Hahn.
    0:25:16 And please follow our Prop G Markets pod wherever you get your pods for new episodes every Monday and Thursday.

    Scott shares his take on the explosion of hotel brands and what it says about consolidation, consumer choice, and corporate strategy. Then, he reflects on the Netflix series Adolescence and the pressures facing young men today.

    Finally, in our Reddit Hotline segment, Scott responds to a question about Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos, and the culture of overpromising in Silicon Valley.

    Want to be featured in a future episode? Send a voice recording to officehours@profgmedia.com, or drop your question in the r/ScottGalloway subreddit.

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  • Raging Moderates: SCOTUS Blocks Trump’s Deportation Efforts

    AI transcript

    Scott and Jessica unpack the Supreme Court’s decision to block Trump’s use of a centuries-old immigration law, the unraveling of Ukraine peace talks, and Pete Hegseth’s involvement in a second Signal chat sharing classified military plans. Plus, David Hogg sparks generational drama in the Democratic Party—does challenging seniority politics help or hurt the left?

    Follow Jessica Tarlov, @JessicaTarlov

    Follow Prof G, @profgalloway.

    Follow Raging Moderates, @RagingModeratesPod.

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  • Prof G Markets: Global Pushback on Tariffs + Can the FTC Beat Meta?

    AI transcript
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    0:01:51 Hey, Prof G listeners, it’s Ed.
    0:01:55 If you’re hearing this message, it’s because you’re still listening on the Prof G Pod feed,
    0:02:00 which means you are missing half of our episodes, which are on the Prof G Markets feed.
    0:02:05 So for all of the content, head over to the Prof G Markets podcast and hit follow.
    0:02:08 We’ve also left a link in the description to make it easier.
    0:02:10 You’ll see it’s a different logo.
    0:02:12 Prof G Pod is turquoise with Scott’s face.
    0:02:15 Prof G Markets is green with me in Scott’s face.
    0:02:17 Thank you, and I’ll see you over on the other feed.
    0:02:21 Today’s number, 476.
    0:02:27 That’s how many S&P 500 companies Warren Buffett could buy with the cash pile he’s sitting on.
    0:02:28 True story, Ed.
    0:02:30 This morning, I was taking a dump, and I immediately got up.
    0:02:31 I got startled by something.
    0:02:34 And for a brief moment, I was in between the basin and the floor.
    0:02:37 And I realized, Ed, I’m an astronaut.
    0:02:39 And I am here for feminism.
    0:02:41 And hear me roar.
    0:02:44 And we’re all one, Ed.
    0:02:45 We’re all one.
    0:02:57 I’m an astronaut, Ed.
    0:02:58 I’m an astronaut.
    0:03:01 Can you believe the amount of shit these women are getting?
    0:03:02 I’m so here for this.
    0:03:03 Ed, how are you?
    0:03:04 I’m doing well, Scott.
    0:03:05 I like your shirt.
    0:03:09 For those who are not watching on YouTube, Scott is wearing a Harvard Club of New York shirt.
    0:03:12 I assume this is a political statement.
    0:03:13 Well, you know me.
    0:03:14 I don’t like to draw attention to myself, Ed.
    0:03:18 Yeah, I wore a Canada shirt around.
    0:03:19 It was amazing.
    0:03:24 When I got bored last time I was in New York, I’d put on my Canada, my big Canadian leaf, whatever the maple leaf thing.
    0:03:27 And I’d walk around Soho, and people would go like, hey, thank you.
    0:03:28 We appreciate your support.
    0:03:31 That’s my Canadian accent, whatever that was.
    0:03:34 Sounded like a dead language of twins speak to each other.
    0:03:38 But yeah, it literally took Donald Trump to make me like Harvard.
    0:03:41 And I can’t stand Harvard.
    0:03:43 You know what I hate the most?
    0:03:45 Even Princeton douches aren’t this bad.
    0:03:47 You know what I just fucking hate?
    0:03:49 I’ll say someone will come up like, where did you go to college?
    0:03:50 And someone goes, I went to college in Boston.
    0:03:52 No, they say in Cambridge.
    0:04:02 You went to Harvard and you want everyone to know it, but you want to pretend to be humble because it’s so fucking awesome to have gone to Harvard that you pretend that it’s like you really shouldn’t rub your success.
    0:04:05 I want to strangle them.
    0:04:07 I want to send them to space.
    0:04:10 By the way, I think Katy Perry was replaced up there with someone else.
    0:04:14 I just, you know what the best thing about that Blue Origin thing was?
    0:04:16 This is a true story.
    0:04:19 You know, they’re trying to pretend it’s for all mankind, right?
    0:04:25 First off, that was a giant leap backwards for women when they, did you hear them screaming on the way down?
    0:04:30 Just free falling right there until those drugs.
    0:04:34 It’s like, oh, okay.
    0:04:37 Yeah, it’s a woman’s world.
    0:04:38 It’s a woman’s world.
    0:04:45 But when they were about to take off on launch, you know, they try to make it all dramatic and they’re like, T minus two minutes.
    0:04:53 And there’s all these newscasters, broadcasters, like desperate to get anyone to watch anything so they can sell more opioid-induced constipation meds.
    0:04:55 And they’re like, and this is just in.
    0:04:59 Katy Perry is actually going to sing when she’s up there.
    0:05:04 And literally on cue, when they said that, the guy in the control room goes, warning, one minute.
    0:05:08 And I’m like, one minute.
    0:05:09 They’re like, here’s your warning.
    0:05:11 She’s going to be singing in one minute.
    0:05:15 What did you think of the Blue Origin launch and these very brave women?
    0:05:18 I genuinely couldn’t give a fuck.
    0:05:21 I had no interest in the Blue Origin launch.
    0:05:23 I love how everyone’s shitting on them.
    0:05:25 But I wasn’t watching it when it happened.
    0:05:27 I didn’t watch any of the press releases.
    0:05:30 I couldn’t care less.
    0:05:37 I just think it’s insane that they still think that just by hawking these celebrities, they’re going to win everyone over.
    0:05:42 I mean, apparently they’re planning another one and they’ve got another batch of celebrities, only it’s men this time.
    0:05:45 I bet a few of those guys are going to come up with reasons they can’t do it.
    0:05:47 This is a bad luck.
    0:05:47 Absolutely.
    0:05:57 I mean, this is probably the worst celebrity PR event since the Imagine video during COVID.
    0:06:00 I think that probably, I went back and I watched that again.
    0:06:01 I was just thinking that.
    0:06:04 Imagine there’s no heaven.
    0:06:08 It’s easy if you try.
    0:06:12 That was the worst I’ve ever seen.
    0:06:17 It’s actually shocking if you go back and watch it, just how cringeworthy.
    0:06:19 I mean, it makes, it really makes your skin crawl.
    0:06:23 This was not quite at that level, but it was close.
    0:06:25 And I think, I think people just need to get into their heads.
    0:06:28 We don’t really care about these celebrities anymore.
    0:06:32 It doesn’t make us like you that Katy Perry is friends with you.
    0:06:34 I think we’re having a series of small revolutions.
    0:06:41 And I think of Black Lives Matter as basically in the Me Too movement, as righteous movements
    0:06:47 where systemic racism or abuse of power by men in corporations, people have just had enough.
    0:06:51 But in each of those instances in this one, they go after rich people.
    0:06:54 They’re not talking about racism in small and medium-sized companies.
    0:06:58 They’re not talking about systemic racism across the middle class.
    0:07:02 They’re talking, they go after, it’s sort of almost like a vehicle to go after rich people.
    0:07:10 And I think that essentially people are just so fed up with how much prosperity has been crammed into the top 1%.
    0:07:14 When they see someone who is rich, like if you’re rich, be rich and quiet.
    0:07:16 Go up in a fucking dildo if that’s what you want.
    0:07:17 Pay the money, fine.
    0:07:18 Have at it.
    0:07:29 But to try and capture social status and portray, to rebrand vanity and rebrand wealth as any sort of like virtue,
    0:07:32 people are just like, we’ve had it with these people.
    0:07:33 We’ve literally, we’ve had it.
    0:07:38 We don’t, I think these folks surround themselves in bubbles where they think they are super interesting
    0:07:42 and that what they do is inspiring and everything they do can be couched as something inspiring.
    0:07:47 And then the rest of the world goes, okay, if you’re rich and you can go up in a rocket
    0:07:52 and you’re in your betrothed to the third wealthiest man in the world, good for fucking you.
    0:07:54 But we don’t need to hear about it.
    0:07:54 Keep it to yourself.
    0:07:55 Your thoughts, Ed.
    0:07:57 Should we start this show?
    0:07:58 I’m sorry.
    0:07:58 I’m sorry.
    0:07:59 Bring us back.
    0:08:00 Get to the headlines.
    0:08:02 Let’s start with our weekly review of Market Vitals.
    0:08:11 The S&P 500 declined.
    0:08:13 The dollar struggled to recover from its three-year low.
    0:08:17 Bitcoin was volatile and the yield on 10-year treasuries fell.
    0:08:19 Shifting to the headlines.
    0:08:25 Gold hit a record high, surpassing $3,300 per ounce for the first time in history.
    0:08:32 Goldman Sachs projected prices could soar to $4,500 by the end of 2025 in a worst-case risk scenario.
    0:08:37 The Trump administration announced new restrictions on chip exports by NVIDIA and AMD,
    0:08:42 which will cost the companies $5.5 billion and $800 million, respectively.
    0:08:48 The news sent shares of both companies down around 7%, which dragged the Nasdaq 2% lower.
    0:08:54 And finally, Jerome Powell called tariffs a challenging scenario for the Federal Reserve,
    0:08:58 warning they will likely lead to higher prices and rising unemployment.
    0:09:02 A day later, Trump responded on Truth Social, and he said,
    0:09:02 quote,
    0:09:05 Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough.
    0:09:10 So, Scott, let’s get your thoughts here, starting with gold.
    0:09:16 I just want to quickly highlight some additional data I found here from the Bank of America Fund
    0:09:17 Manager Survey.
    0:09:22 They survey all the top hedge funds, all the top pension funds, money managers all around the world.
    0:09:25 And just some of the results here.
    0:09:31 So, half of fund managers say they believe long gold is currently the most crowded trade in the world
    0:09:37 right now, more crowded than long Magnificent Seven, which has been the top trade for the past
    0:09:38 several years.
    0:09:46 And then also, 42% of managers said they believe gold will be the best-performing asset class in 2025.
    0:09:54 So, quite striking, this reversal in the market trends away from tech, away from stocks, and towards gold.
    0:09:55 Your thoughts?
    0:10:00 So, the uncertainty index in the United States has hit a – it’s at the highest it’s been since the 80s.
    0:10:05 So, people are feeling more uncertain about the U.S. economy right now than when we had a virus killing.
    0:10:09 You know, they killed a million people and there was lockdowns and they closed schools.
    0:10:11 People are more uncertain today than they were during COVID.
    0:10:16 And there’s always a flight to quality or a fight – not even a flight to quality, a flight to hard
    0:10:21 assets where if shit gets real, I can take my gold bars and head to my bunker, right?
    0:10:26 It’s – it is kind of – the gold is really sort of an uncertainty index.
    0:10:30 And the reason why the trade is so crowded is not only because of uncertainty but because of greed.
    0:10:34 Because if you look at economic history, if you look at every recession, let’s go through each of them
    0:10:37 and how gold performed relative to the S&P 500.
    0:10:41 From 73 to 75, the return to gold returned 73%.
    0:10:43 The S&P was down 37.
    0:10:48 From 1980 to 82, the S&P lost 27% of its value.
    0:10:50 Gold was up 120%.
    0:10:52 90 to 91 – I remember this.
    0:10:54 This is when I got out of grad school and couldn’t find a job.
    0:10:58 The S&P returned negative 3%.
    0:10:59 Gold was up 7.
    0:11:02 2001, market down 13.
    0:11:03 Gold up 5.
    0:11:08 2007 to 2009, actually from 07 to 2011, gold doubled.
    0:11:14 And then in 2020 during COVID, Q1, the S&P was down 34%.
    0:11:18 Year-to-date for the whole year was up 16, but gold was up 30%.
    0:11:20 Now, is this a giant buy signal?
    0:11:24 I don’t know, buyer beware because a lot of that – I mean, it was just such an obvious
    0:11:26 and smart – things seem so obvious in hindsight.
    0:11:30 A couple weeks ago, when he announced his tariffs, really think, okay, this is going to create
    0:11:31 uncertainty.
    0:11:31 It’s stupid.
    0:11:33 He’s declaring war on everyone all at once.
    0:11:35 What would be a good trade?
    0:11:37 And this feels like obvious in hindsight now.
    0:11:38 I don’t know.
    0:11:44 Basically, when a trade is super crowded, you get scared because that means it’s probably
    0:11:45 a bit overvalued.
    0:11:47 I mean, the run-up here has been pretty significant.
    0:11:51 One thing that’s quite interesting, though, is what’s happening to Bitcoin, because remember,
    0:11:53 Bitcoin is supposed to be the same thing.
    0:11:54 Nah, it’s correlated.
    0:11:54 Right.
    0:11:54 Yeah.
    0:11:59 It’s supposed to be, you know, like the ultimate gold, even safer than gold.
    0:12:06 But you look at the price of Bitcoin, it fell in concert with the S&P right after the tariff.
    0:12:08 It’s down 10% year-to-date.
    0:12:11 The S&P is down 10% year-to-date as well.
    0:12:14 It’s basically tracked with the stock market.
    0:12:18 And then you look at gold, which is up 26% so far.
    0:12:24 So this really, I mean, there have been so many moments where it’s been Bitcoin’s big opportunity
    0:12:27 to step up as the new digital gold.
    0:12:32 I mean, I think the first example I would think of would have been Russia invading Ukraine,
    0:12:39 where we had another sort of uncertain doomsday global warfare scenario on our hands.
    0:12:41 The stock market tanked, gold rallied.
    0:12:44 But then you look at Bitcoin, and it was just tracking with the stock market.
    0:12:46 Here, we’re seeing the same thing again.
    0:12:51 I’m not saying Bitcoin isn’t digital gold.
    0:12:54 I think you can make the argument that it could be.
    0:12:59 But at least right now, today, in 2025, the market does not view it as that.
    0:13:06 But let’s move on here to what happened with these chip makers and this new order from the
    0:13:11 Trump administration, which is restricting these H20 chips for NVIDIA.
    0:13:15 I want to just clarify what this actually means for NVIDIA, because, you know, the headlines
    0:13:21 are saying that NVIDIA is taking a $5.5 billion hit, which is a little bit misleading.
    0:13:29 So that $5.5 billion number, that is the number that NVIDIA cited in this regulatory filing,
    0:13:36 saying this is what we expect to be charged with this new H20 chip restriction.
    0:13:41 But it’s a backward-looking number, because it’s only describing all of the money they’ve
    0:13:43 already spent on these H20 chips.
    0:13:50 What it doesn’t include is all of the revenue they’re about to lose on not selling all of
    0:13:51 those chips to China.
    0:13:58 And that number is closer to around $15 to $16 to $17 billion.
    0:14:04 And so that’s why you saw this huge decline in NVIDIA stock, which brought the rest of the
    0:14:05 tech markets down with it.
    0:14:12 Because this new order from the administration, it essentially wipes out all of NVIDIA’s China
    0:14:13 revenue.
    0:14:18 And last year, China accounted for around 13% of NVIDIA’s total revenue.
    0:14:21 And today, it’s going to be zero.
    0:14:25 So, you know, when you read that headline, you know, or you read the executive order, which
    0:14:33 says, we’re putting a restriction on this specific chip at NVIDIA, this specific H20 chip, that’s
    0:14:35 not really what’s happening.
    0:14:40 What they’re basically saying is China is now off limits for NVIDIA.
    0:14:46 And what I’ve been wondering in the wake of this order is what on earth is going through Jensen
    0:14:47 Huang’s head right now?
    0:14:53 Because you might recall, you know, why does this H20 chip even exist?
    0:14:59 The reason that that was created was it was Jensen Huang’s response to a Biden administration
    0:15:03 order, which said that we can’t be selling our most advanced chips to China.
    0:15:10 And so Jensen Huang and NVIDIA responded by creating this slower, less capable chip.
    0:15:12 And that was their attempt to fall in line.
    0:15:14 It was designed specifically for China.
    0:15:17 And now, two years later, the government is saying, actually, never mind.
    0:15:20 We’re not going to let you sell these chips at all.
    0:15:23 So this is really a logistical nightmare for NVIDIA.
    0:15:28 And I do find it hilarious to think about how Trump was touted for so long as the pro-business
    0:15:32 candidate and all these CEOs believed it and they were super excited.
    0:15:38 But so far, what we’re seeing is that this is pretty much the most anti-business president
    0:15:39 America has ever seen.
    0:15:42 So it will be interesting to see how Jensen deals with it.
    0:15:46 I just read recently that he actually just flew to China and met with Chinese officials.
    0:15:51 But this is definitely a big problem for Jensen Huang.
    0:15:54 And that’s why you’re seeing this big devaluation in the stock.
    0:15:59 I was initially in favor of the chip bans to China because I thought, OK, these are the
    0:16:03 same chips that are used in missiles to help guide them real time or drones.
    0:16:05 But what did they do?
    0:16:06 They came up with a workaround.
    0:16:09 They came up with essentially DeepSeek.
    0:16:09 DeepSeek.
    0:16:15 So there’s an argument that, OK, all you’re doing is inspiring them to come up, make their
    0:16:18 own investments and then come up with their own chips and develop their own industry.
    0:16:24 So, you know, if there’s a company that could give back some gains and be fine, it’d be Nvidia.
    0:16:29 But just the amount of time they’re spending trying to navigate this bullshit as opposed to
    0:16:35 making a better chip, you can just see there’s this is this is the Republican argument.
    0:16:39 Government needs to get out of the way with stuff like this.
    0:16:46 And this is creating just a lot of unnecessary time and energy and waste.
    0:16:52 But the export ban hands the Chinese air market over to domestic competitors, including Huawei.
    0:16:53 So it’s kind of a gift.
    0:17:01 Again, I keep thinking that all of this kind of kind of bubbles up to medium and long term gains for for
    0:17:02 China.
    0:17:07 I think I used to think that China’s hit a pretty big speed bump the last five or seven
    0:17:09 years that America was pulling away.
    0:17:14 I think over the next, actually, everyone talks about our ability to ruin China’s China’s economy.
    0:17:19 I think in two or three years relative to US performance, China is going to and maybe India.
    0:17:20 It’ll be interesting to see what India does.
    0:17:24 But I think China is going to China’s going to perform.
    0:17:30 Yeah, I think to your point, if you’re very worried about China, then creating this all
    0:17:34 out ban on sending any AI chips to China is probably reasonable.
    0:17:40 What’s funny just is that this was supposed to be the tech industry’s guy.
    0:17:49 But then we keep seeing these policies that can only spell just disaster from a supply chain
    0:17:51 perspective for many of these big tech CEOs.
    0:17:54 And so how is Jensen going to deal with it?
    0:18:02 Is he going to continue to fall in line and be quite polite and gracious towards the president?
    0:18:04 Or is he going to start getting upset?
    0:18:06 And we saw this trip to China.
    0:18:10 Maybe that’s an indication that he’s about to move in the other direction.
    0:18:12 I think that’s the thing that we want to keep an eye on.
    0:18:17 How do you manage your public relationship with the president?
    0:18:20 I think at first we saw they all decided we’re going to kowtow to him.
    0:18:22 We’re going to show up to the inauguration.
    0:18:25 We’re going to donate to the inauguration fund, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
    0:18:31 But I can see that beginning to change in the next few months or so once they all realize this
    0:18:37 guy isn’t really making through on the promises that he that he told us.
    0:18:37 I agree.
    0:18:40 And we’ll talk more about this in predictions.
    0:18:42 But I think the worm has turned.
    0:18:50 I think that essentially there’s an enormously ripe opportunity for people in both the Republican
    0:18:52 Party and in corporations to stand up and go.
    0:18:58 Basically, what the Harvard president did said, you know, look, look, boss, what you’re doing
    0:19:02 is wrong and we’re not going to put up with it and we’re not going to try and kiss your ass
    0:19:08 and massage and figure out a way to couch, you know, to call your your, you know, your
    0:19:13 quote unquote 40 chess of eating the pieces somehow genius.
    0:19:13 We’ve had it.
    0:19:17 You’re you’re they’re going to find a polite starts way to say you’re a fucking idiot and
    0:19:18 we’re not down with this.
    0:19:22 And it’s been striking the silence from these guys.
    0:19:29 All 500 S&B CEOs think this is just fucking stupid, bad for America, bad for everybody.
    0:19:36 Zero of them have spoken out because what Trump has done is create an incentive system where
    0:19:39 for short term shareholder value, just stay quiet and nod and announce that you’re building
    0:19:42 a five hundred billion dollar plant that you’re always planning to do and credit him and give
    0:19:43 him a million bucks.
    0:19:44 That has changed.
    0:19:51 There’s now an enormous consumer opportunity to stand up and and, you know, be an American
    0:19:53 and show some leadership.
    0:19:57 I think at a certain point, once your once your market cap is eviscerated as much as many
    0:20:00 of these companies are, you don’t really have a choice.
    0:20:02 You know who’s perfect for this?
    0:20:02 Who?
    0:20:05 Because they are an aggressive brand.
    0:20:07 They’re an American brand.
    0:20:08 Palantir.
    0:20:10 I don’t think it’s Palantir.
    0:20:12 I think Palantir is so overvalued right now.
    0:20:15 To your point, it needs to be a company that’s been gotten the shit kicked out of it and doesn’t
    0:20:16 have a lot to lose.
    0:20:20 I think this would be the gangster move for Nike.
    0:20:20 Great point.
    0:20:23 I think because they came out.
    0:20:23 They came out.
    0:20:24 First off.
    0:20:25 The all-American company.
    0:20:25 Yeah.
    0:20:28 Well, Elliott Hill doesn’t have a lot to lose.
    0:20:29 Stocks at a 12-year low.
    0:20:31 He’s in a honeymoon phase.
    0:20:32 He’s the new CEO.
    0:20:35 They have a history of being unafraid around politics.
    0:20:39 They were very smart around capturing a moment with Colin Kaepernick.
    0:20:44 If they weaponized Whedon Kennedy, or some of the most creative people in the world, and
    0:20:52 said, there’s something about America and competition and fair play and having people from different
    0:20:57 backgrounds and the power of immigrants to become American in sport, they could come up
    0:21:02 with something really moving that highlights what’s going on here is not American.
    0:21:07 And look at it through the lens of sport and look at it through the lens of a great American
    0:21:08 company like Nike.
    0:21:11 And to your point, they don’t have a lot to lose at this point.
    0:21:18 There has never been a bigger, a more ripe opportunity for a Fortune 500 CEO to stand up and
    0:21:22 say, all right, you know, the men have shown up.
    0:21:24 And they’re saying the quiet parts out loud.
    0:21:27 I mean, they know that everyone else agrees with them.
    0:21:31 And those are usually the people who are rewarded, who are the people who are the first ones to say it.
    0:21:32 It’s a smart move economically.
    0:21:36 The wealthiest 10% control 50% of the consumer economy now.
    0:21:42 And what percentage of those people do you think are waiting for someone to stand up and
    0:21:43 call bullshit on all this bullshit?
    0:21:49 There’s an enormous opportunity for a consumer brand to come out and be the good guys here.
    0:21:55 Also, enormous risk in being the second, third, fourth, or fifth one to come out and say, like…
    0:21:57 Yeah, the juice is squeezed.
    0:21:59 The first guy who does this, the juice is squeezed.
    0:22:04 The Harvard president, this was the best brand move of 2025 year to date, probably.
    0:22:05 It was Harvard.
    0:22:07 All of a sudden, they look like the good guys in Columbia.
    0:22:11 But if all the other Ivies start to follow suit, they look weak.
    0:22:12 I wouldn’t say they look weak.
    0:22:13 They just don’t look as good.
    0:22:14 Yeah.
    0:22:22 So the first CEO who stands up and says, okay, come after me, have at it, sees a massive
    0:22:26 inflow of goodwill from foreign and domestic manufacturers and consumers.
    0:22:31 And the person that goes, the half-life here, the drop-off will be enormous.
    0:22:39 And numbers two, three, four, five, and six get 10% of the credit that the first person gets.
    0:22:41 And no one’s done it yet.
    0:22:47 Even a guy like Jamie Dimon’s been kind of like dancing around, being like, just in case you want me as treasury secretary, I’m here.
    0:22:49 And I don’t want to say anything to offend anybody.
    0:22:51 You know, enough already.
    0:22:51 Enough.
    0:22:52 Absolutely.
    0:22:58 Let’s move on to Jerome Powell, his comments, and then Trump’s response.
    0:23:01 I just find this hilarious because you actually look at Jerome Powell’s comments.
    0:23:03 They were incredibly tame.
    0:23:05 And I’ll just read you what he said here.
    0:23:06 He said, quote,
    0:23:08 These are very fundamental policy changes.
    0:23:11 There isn’t a modern experience of how to think about this.
    0:23:16 The level of the tariff increases announced so far is significantly larger than anticipated.
    0:23:23 We may find ourselves in the challenging scenario in which our dual mandate goals are in tension.
    0:23:33 Very uncontroversial thing to say, you know, calling it like it is, but calmly and without being aggressive or pugnacious.
    0:23:43 And then Trump goes on this tweet storm or his truth storm saying, quote, Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough, exclamation point.
    0:23:48 It’s actually threatening that he’s going to fire the Fed chair.
    0:23:52 Now, many people are arguing whether that’s even possible.
    0:23:55 Technically it is, but he needs to have a reason.
    0:24:00 You can only fire a member of the board of the Fed for cause.
    0:24:04 So he needs to have proven that he’s done something legitimately wrong.
    0:24:11 But beyond that, just kind of remarkable to see the president threatening the chair of the Federal Reserve.
    0:24:13 Scott, your reactions?
    0:24:17 It’s very difficult to predict the actions of the Mad King at this point.
    0:24:23 But you do get the sense based on him blinking last week that he does listen to the markets.
    0:24:33 And if you want to talk about waking up to a 3,500, maybe even an 8,000 point drop in the Dow, fire Chairman Powell.
    0:24:48 Because a key component and accepted general best practice across Western economies is you have to insulate the head of the bank, the central bank and the Fed or whatever the equivalent institution is.
    0:24:50 So you have to separate it.
    0:24:56 You have to give it protection or immunity from political pressure because these guys are all so horny for power.
    0:25:00 The economy – most people are voted out of office.
    0:25:02 The number one reason is people are dissatisfied with the economy.
    0:25:11 And the easiest way to juice the economy is just to call the chairman and say, I’m going to fire you unless you cut interest rates by – I need you to announce five cuts.
    0:25:12 The market will go up.
    0:25:17 That could be disastrous, though, for the economy.
    0:25:32 And these people are supposed to just look at all the data and do their best job and decide interest rates and take into account the million points of light they observe and do what is best for the economy over the medium and long term, not based on what is going to get this guy reelected.
    0:25:35 The scary part is I think his term is up next year.
    0:25:35 Is that right?
    0:25:36 When?
    0:25:37 2026, yeah.
    0:25:39 So the scary part is who does he put in?
    0:25:40 Does he put in Ask Clown Lutnik?
    0:25:42 I mean, does he put in Stephen Miller?
    0:25:43 Does he put in Kid Rock?
    0:25:46 We’re cutting interest rates to 0%.
    0:25:47 Let America bloom.
    0:25:48 Let our companies run.
    0:25:52 And it’s like, OK, now we have 22% inflation.
    0:26:02 I mean, Chairman Powell, arguably, if you consider him technically part of the administration, is the most competent person in the administration or has the best reputation.
    0:26:07 So I think the next Democratic president is going to give him the National Medal of Freedom.
    0:26:08 Yeah.
    0:26:10 It really is just inflation 101.
    0:26:16 Like, you look at any society or an economy where you’ve had runaway hyperinflation.
    0:26:17 You look at Zimbabwe.
    0:26:19 You look at Venezuela.
    0:26:20 You look at all these other—
    0:26:21 Weimar Germany.
    0:26:22 Weimar Germany.
    0:26:24 All these other situations.
    0:26:29 And basically what happens is the central bank loses its independence.
    0:26:31 It becomes captive to the dictator.
    0:26:35 The dictator says, you know, I want to juice the economy.
    0:26:38 They start printing money like crazy to meet all these short-term demands.
    0:26:40 And then suddenly you have runaway inflation.
    0:26:43 This is not unlike that.
    0:26:48 And Trump is literally threatening him and ordering him to cut rates.
    0:26:50 He’s calling him too late Powell.
    0:26:56 And this is coming at a time when inflation is set to explode because of what we’re seeing with the tariffs.
    0:27:07 Like, it’s kind of funny how stereotypical the situation is when you look through history and why runaway inflation happens in the first place.
    0:27:10 Now, we’re not at that point.
    0:27:17 And the good news is we have a great Fed chair who is, you know, rational, sensible, but most importantly, very strong, clearly.
    0:27:21 I don’t think he’s going to reverse any decision just because Trump told him to.
    0:27:26 But again, the implication here is pretty massive.
    0:27:37 You know, if Trump was successful in removing Powell, it would be a huge hit to the stock market, as you say, also to the treasury markets.
    0:27:41 I mean, what we’d see in the yield, we wouldn’t be at four and a half percent.
    0:27:44 We’d be hitting five, six, probably seven percent.
    0:27:48 I mean, it would totally eviscerate our credibility in the debt markets.
    0:27:57 So I have a friend who lives in London who has a company doing independent research on media and technology.
    0:27:59 And his name is Richard Kramer.
    0:28:02 He runs this niche, very high quality research firm.
    0:28:03 I think it’s called Aret.
    0:28:06 I don’t know if it’s like some name that’s hard to pronounce.
    0:28:10 Anyways, he sent me an email saying the following.
    0:28:17 Did you see the B of A survey, global fund managers’ interest in investing in U.S. is at a 30-year low?
    0:28:19 So what does that mean?
    0:28:26 It means we’re going to have to raise our, you know, we’re going to have to raise the interest rates we pay for money to come in.
    0:28:28 And that’s going to be inflationary.
    0:28:34 This is really, I’m like, I’m trying to work through all the second order effects here.
    0:28:40 Can you imagine what’s going to happen to the earnings of export and import dependent companies?
    0:28:43 We haven’t even seen the earnings yet, and it’s going to be in a few months from now.
    0:28:47 Like, we haven’t even been able to price any of this in yet properly.
    0:28:48 Yeah, they don’t know what to order.
    0:28:50 They don’t have to stop all shipments.
    0:29:02 They can’t just flip a switch and massively reconfigure their supply chain and start getting, you know, start getting outdoor furniture from overnight from Chile as opposed to China.
    0:29:17 It’s just, yeah, I got to think there’s, you’re going to hear the term uncertainty and impact from tariffs in almost, it’s going to be a more common used phrase than AI in earnings calls over the next three months.
    0:29:19 Everyone’s going to be like, they’ll blame me.
    0:29:20 And some of it will be untrue.
    0:29:22 Some of it will just be coming to start performing well.
    0:29:24 But they’ll blame everything.
    0:29:27 It is going to be, literally everyone’s going to blame everything on this.
    0:29:33 We’ll be right back after the break with a look at how the world is pushing back on tariffs.
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    0:33:28 The trade war is officially on, and Trump’s strategy for the U.S. is clear.
    0:33:30 Shock and awe tariffs.
    0:33:32 But other countries aren’t sitting still.
    0:33:35 They’re responding with strategic moves of their own.
    0:33:38 China is leading the economic pushback.
    0:33:42 China’s central bank told state-owned banks to cut their U.S. dollar purchases.
    0:33:49 It also ordered its airlines to stop deliveries of Boeing jets, and they curbed their rare earth
    0:33:51 exports to the U.S.
    0:33:53 But it’s not just China.
    0:33:57 Canada is starting to boycott U.S. goods, such as American whiskey.
    0:34:00 Brazil passed a bill to impose their own tariff countermeasures.
    0:34:07 And in Denmark, the largest grocer in the country is putting Black Star labels on European products
    0:34:20 So, Scott, the world appears to be coalescing against a common enemy here in the U.S.
    0:34:27 Any thoughts on how this might all play out and what we as investors should do about it?
    0:34:31 I mean, there’s just some of the most basics of strategy.
    0:34:40 If you’re 5% of the world’s economy or world’s population, but you have a quarter of its economic
    0:34:45 growth or a quarter of its prosperity, you are highly levered to the upside.
    0:34:51 And some of that comes from this most basic of advantages as a species.
    0:34:54 You have leveraged the most basic species, and that is cooperation.
    0:34:57 And generally speaking, the U.S. believes in free trade.
    0:34:58 We make outstanding products.
    0:35:01 So, we say to people, okay, well, for the most part, we’ll compete.
    0:35:04 And we win on a regular basis.
    0:35:13 And to declare war on everyone all at once is just, okay, that absolutely makes no sense.
    0:35:19 In addition, his second really big strategic error was underestimating the competition.
    0:35:27 While we have issued tariffs based on some junior economic analysts and fed it into chat GPT,
    0:35:34 and he’s claimed that 75 nations are lining up to talk to us, we don’t have, in this administration,
    0:35:39 we don’t have the human capital to the brainpower to even begin those conversations distinct to the
    0:35:44 fact it’s a lie and all of these nations are lining up to exit relationships with the U.S.
    0:35:46 What they’re doing is they’re having conversations with each other.
    0:35:49 There are more, it’s really interesting.
    0:35:55 Donald Trump’s actions are actually going to inspire, in my opinion, some growth over the medium and long term.
    0:35:58 Because I think every, I think he is going to say, all right, enough of this shit.
    0:36:04 The best way to fight back is for us to put our shit aside and deregulate and to bring down trade barriers.
    0:36:10 You’re just going to see all these strange bedfellows to say, hey, Brazil, we’re Denmark.
    0:36:18 Why don’t we lower all of our trade barriers and, you know, you buy more, I don’t know, more cobbler shoes and we buy more steak or whatever.
    0:36:21 I don’t know what it is that Denmark, what did the Danish produce?
    0:36:22 A Zenpeg.
    0:36:23 Oh, is that right?
    0:36:25 Is that where Nova Nordisk is?
    0:36:25 Yep.
    0:36:26 Oh, there you go.
    0:36:33 But I mean, just as an example here, I mean, we’re seeing, we’re beginning to see that in very niche categories.
    0:36:46 For example, Cote d’Ivoire, which produces 40% of the world’s cocoa, they’re now throttling their prices on the US and now forming a partnership with the EU.
    0:36:56 So, I mean, just small examples like that, where you have little nations that are kind of like, wait, what are these tariffs and why are you trying to hurt us?
    0:36:59 And the natural response is to go find allies somewhere else.
    0:37:07 But then you look at China’s actions, which are probably the most dangerous to our economy.
    0:37:12 I mean, I mentioned that boycott of Boeing jets.
    0:37:18 I mean, China has historically accounted for a quarter of Boeing sales.
    0:37:20 Our biggest exporter, by dollar, by Boeing.
    0:37:22 Largest exporter.
    0:37:26 They’re also curbing these rare earth minerals.
    0:37:32 And these are the materials we use to create jets, to create satellites, to create batteries.
    0:37:37 And they control 90% of the global production supply of rare earth minerals.
    0:37:42 And it does sort of beg the question, like, can we actually win this?
    0:37:53 I mean, even if China is our enemy, even if we do want a trade war, if we decide that’s something we actually want, are we actually going to win that?
    0:37:56 Especially if they start teaming up with everyone else.
    0:37:59 Is this like even a winnable war?
    0:38:00 We’re a services economy.
    0:38:05 We talk about Boeing and big manufacturers and, you know, Jack Daniels.
    0:38:07 At some point, it’s going to jump the shark.
    0:38:14 And the biggest IPOs in the world of companies not headquartered in the U.S., they’re going to say, we’re not using Goldman or JP Morgan or Morgan Stanley.
    0:38:16 We’re going to go with Deutsche Bank.
    0:38:17 HSBC.
    0:38:21 Yeah, we’re going to go with other investment banks.
    0:38:22 We don’t need this bullshit.
    0:38:26 And by the way, David Solomon and Jamie Dimon, grow a fucking pair.
    0:38:28 Say something, for God’s sakes.
    0:38:30 And that’s the opportunity.
    0:38:37 David Solomon, who I know, if he just came out and said, this is just fucking insane, I think he would get a torrent of business.
    0:38:43 Their best business, the business they’ve all tried to evolve, is wealth management because it’s much more predictable.
    0:38:50 They can produce between 50 and 100 basis points a year on AUM from wealthy people by managing their taxes, being thoughtful.
    0:38:52 And by the way, I know firsthand they do a great job.
    0:38:53 They do a great job.
    0:38:58 And it’s a better business because it’s not subject to all these fluctuations from the market.
    0:39:03 If they want more AUM, they should come out and say, this is bullshit.
    0:39:04 Canada is our friends.
    0:39:07 The EU is – they are our friends.
    0:39:08 These are our allies.
    0:39:09 You know what’s going to happen?
    0:39:17 A bunch of really super wealthy people are going to say, oh, my God, I’d like to invest in a company run by a guy who has fucking testicles.
    0:39:30 There is such a huge opportunity for one of these guys to stand up and say enough is enough and couch it as we have wonderful relations with companies and people in Europe.
    0:39:42 JP Morgan does a huge amount of business in Europe and in Asia, and they are going to see Trump full of bluster and anger and threaten to weaponize the DOJ against him.
    0:39:45 And then like a cat chasing a fucking red dot, he’ll go on to the next thing.
    0:39:52 And that company is going to get more business over the next 12 or 24 months because you know what, Ed?
    0:39:54 The North remembers.
    0:39:55 The North remembers.
    0:39:58 And right now, the North is everyone else.
    0:40:01 They will remember who actually stood up to this shit.
    0:40:05 There is never – it’s never the wrong time to do the right thing.
    0:40:27 Just on that point that we’re sort of declaring war on everyone else and what a ridiculous idea that is, this reminds me I’ve been thinking about this amazing joke by one of my favorite comedians, Norm MacDonald, where he’s talking about the German strategy in World War I and in World War II.
    0:40:32 There is one country that worries me, though, not Iraq, not Iran, not North Korea.
    0:40:37 The only country that really worries me is the country of Germany.
    0:40:41 I don’t know if you guys are history buffs or not, but –
    0:40:52 In the early part of the previous century, Germany decided to go to war.
    0:40:54 And who did they go to war with?
    0:40:56 The world.
    0:41:00 That had never been tried before.
    0:41:09 And so you figure that would take about five seconds for the world to win, but – no, it was actually close.
    0:41:26 Then about – then about 30 years pass, and Germany decides again to go to war, and again it chooses as its enemy – the world.
    0:41:31 Yeah, I just – I love that clip.
    0:41:32 Yeah, and now Germany’s the good guys.
    0:41:36 But, I mean, is that not what’s happening in America right now?
    0:41:39 We have chosen the world, as Norm puts it, as our enemy?
    0:41:42 Yeah, take on everyone all at once, including universities.
    0:41:43 I mean, they’re taking on everyone.
    0:41:45 Who is he not at war with right now?
    0:41:47 Let me think.
    0:41:49 Universities, every foreign nation.
    0:41:54 I mean, it’s just – okay, who’s next?
    0:41:54 What’s next?
    0:42:00 We’re all kind of waiting for – we’re waiting for one of two things.
    0:42:07 We’re waiting for it to get much, much worse, or we’re waiting for someone to show up.
    0:42:12 I don’t think I’ve ever seen a vacuum of leadership like this.
    0:42:15 I don’t – the Democrats seem neutered.
    0:42:17 There’s no one who’s emerged.
    0:42:20 I did a podcast.
    0:42:23 I was on Governor Newsom’s podcast yesterday or two days ago.
    0:42:23 Oh, wow.
    0:42:44 And I basically said, I think someone should announce they’re running for president and start – if someone announced today they were running for president, they’d be the leader of the Democratic Party, and they would be on TV every day making – hitting a series of softballs out of the park, just responding to all this ridiculous shit.
    0:42:46 They need a new guy.
    0:42:47 Are you going to do it?
    0:42:48 Yeah, that’s right.
    0:42:51 A chicken in every pot, a Cialis in every cupboard.
    0:42:53 It’s slowly – I mean, this is how movements start.
    0:42:55 It starts as a meme.
    0:42:57 It’s sort of like, ha-ha, that would be kind of funny.
    0:43:02 But it’s – I’m increasingly hearing calls to Scott Galloway for president.
    0:43:09 I think we need a non-ironic actual response from you on this question right now.
    0:43:12 Would you ever actually consider running for president?
    0:43:13 I have considered it.
    0:43:21 I had a company and some individuals call me and say, if you put up 10 million, we’ll put up 10 million, and you won’t – you’re not running for president.
    0:43:22 You’re running for change.
    0:43:23 And that it’s not about winning.
    0:43:32 It’s about shaping the messaging and having an influence on America, the same way Andrew Yang made UBI more palatable in the redistribution of income.
    0:43:34 I mean, that was Andrew’s real victory here.
    0:43:35 And I’m a narcissist.
    0:43:37 I have all the qualities to be president.
    0:43:37 I’m white.
    0:43:38 I’m male.
    0:43:39 And I’m a narcissist.
    0:43:39 And I’m rich.
    0:43:42 So those are the primary considerations.
    0:43:45 The other thing, though, is you have to be – you have to like people.
    0:43:45 I don’t have that.
    0:43:49 You would not be good at the meet and greets.
    0:43:51 I agree with you.
    0:44:05 And just to be very honest, I am – I’m 60, and the idea of lightning striking, and I end up probably not winning, but maybe end up with an – you know, get two or three percent, which is enough to leverage myself into some sort of cabinet role.
    0:44:17 I want to hang out with my wife and kids and do amazing things and go to F1 and be irresponsible when I want to be irresponsible.
    0:44:22 And I don’t – the reality is I don’t feel that same sense of patriotism.
    0:44:28 If I was more patriotic, I think I would decide to give up eight years and try and do something more meaningful.
    0:44:38 But I’ve also decided – I think, Ed, I think the two of us right now, especially you because you’re younger and you’re kind of coming into your sweet spot, I think we can have a lot of impact from outside the tent.
    0:44:46 And that is be unbridled, try and entertain, try and educate, and try and help get great leaders elected.
    0:44:52 I think there’s a lot of really good people who would be a lot more qualified and enjoyed a lot more than me.
    0:45:04 And when I really ask myself, why am I receptive to calls to run for office, it’s too much of my ego and my narcissism and not enough of a vision and a calling to help the country.
    0:45:06 And that is – that means I shouldn’t run.
    0:45:19 And – but what we can do is we can absolutely take our time, treasure, and talent to help some of the amazing people who are out there and see what man or woman rises to the moment and get behind them.
    0:45:22 What about if you got offered a position, like a cabinet position?
    0:45:25 Would you take, like, sort of go the Howard Lutnick route?
    0:45:28 Would you take commerce secretary, something like that?
    0:45:32 I just think there’s so many people who would be so much better than me.
    0:45:35 Did you ever meet Gina Riomundo, the former head of commerce?
    0:45:39 She was just so good, so intelligent.
    0:45:42 I just think there’s so many – Michael Bennett should be secretary of education.
    0:45:46 Vivek Murthy would be an outstanding head of HHS.
    0:45:49 Yes, I just think there’s so many incredible people.
    0:45:51 I think our job is to prop those people up.
    0:46:00 So I think people are mistaking some fame and some ability to articulate ideas over actual operational excellence.
    0:46:10 So I think I’m self-aware enough to know that, okay, how could – if you’re really loyal to the country, if you really want to see America be America again,
    0:46:13 then part of that is saying, how can I be most effective?
    0:46:26 And so, no, I think our job, Ed, I’m going to run you for something such that I can get you to help me engage in massive tax avoidance when I’m 80
    0:46:29 and just doing nothing but counting my pennies and yelling at people.
    0:46:31 I’ll get you to become a senator.
    0:46:39 But until then, the two of us and the good people here at Prop G are going to help great Americans get elected and make America America again.
    0:46:39 I love that.
    0:46:44 We’ll be right back with a look at the Meta Antitrust Trial.
    0:46:49 If you’re enjoying the show so far, hit follow and leave us a review on the Prop G Markets feed.
    0:46:58 Hi, folks.
    0:46:59 This is Kara Swisher.
    0:47:06 This week on my podcast, On with Kara Swisher, I’m speaking with philanthropist, businesswoman, and women’s rights advocate Melinda French Gates
    0:47:10 on how she’s refocused after her divorce from tech mogul Bill Gates.
    0:47:15 We talk about why investing in women in politics and business is playing the long and smart game,
    0:47:18 and we discuss her new memoir, The Next Day.
    0:47:22 My mom used to say to me as I was growing up, set your own agenda or someone else will.
    0:47:27 I know society is better off when women are in positions of power.
    0:47:34 I really enjoy this conversation because it’s an interesting moment where women in technology are having much more of an important impact
    0:47:38 than men who are still moving fast and breaking things.
    0:47:42 Have a listen to On with Kara Swisher wherever you get your podcasts.
    0:47:50 We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.
    0:47:53 That is not a recipe for economic prosperity.
    0:47:58 Vice President J.D. Vance defending the Trump administration’s tariffs on China.
    0:48:00 Hit China squarely below the belt.
    0:48:02 And China hit back with memes.
    0:48:03 Cue music.
    0:48:12 Americans on assembly lines, at sewing machines, in fields, eating chips, drinking coke,
    0:48:16 looking ill-prepared for factory work, to put it politely, which the memes are not.
    0:48:21 China’s argument since this trade war began is that America cannot win it.
    0:48:24 China is tougher, more resilient, and better prepared.
    0:48:32 On Today Explained, as this trade war escalates, we ask, what if that’s true?
    0:48:54 Right now, in courtrooms across the country, but mostly in and around D.C., the future of the tech industry is on trial.
    0:48:56 That sounds hyperbolic, but it’s true.
    0:49:03 Google just lost a case that will change the way that the ad business works on the Internet and maybe change Google forever.
    0:49:10 And Meta is on trial about whether it’s going to have to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp, some of the most important parts of Mark Zuckerberg’s empire.
    0:49:16 On The Vergecast this week, we discuss why this is happening, where it might go, and what the new Internet might look like.
    0:49:19 All that on The Vergecast, wherever you get podcasts.
    0:49:29 We’re back with Prof G Markets.
    0:49:34 After nearly six years of investigation, the Meta antitrust trial is finally underway.
    0:49:40 The case is focused on whether Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp violated competition laws.
    0:49:42 Mark Zuckerberg has already taken the stand.
    0:49:51 Potential upcoming witnesses include former COO Sheryl Sandberg, ex-CTO Mike Schrupfer, and executives from rival social media platforms.
    0:49:54 The trial is expected to last up to two months.
    0:49:58 I’ll just kick this off and highlight what’s at stake here for Meta.
    0:50:08 You know, if the FTC wins this case, and they could, it would be a huge deal for the company and for big tech at large.
    0:50:12 We are increasingly seeing more momentum on the antitrust front.
    0:50:21 Google, in fact, there was just a judge just ruled that Google was operating a monopoly on the ad market and the server market.
    0:50:24 And that’s the second time that’s happened in less than a year.
    0:50:33 Of course, we covered back in August when Judge Meta in Washington, he declared that Google was a monopoly in the search market.
    0:50:34 So this is becoming a trend.
    0:50:39 Now, what would happen to Meta if the FTC won?
    0:50:47 The most likely remedy that people are talking about is that Meta would have to sell WhatsApp, and they’d also have to sell Instagram.
    0:50:52 And that is a huge deal because WhatsApp is one of their most popular products.
    0:50:54 They have almost 3 billion users.
    0:51:00 But also, Instagram now makes up more than half of Meta’s ad revenue.
    0:51:05 It was 50.4% coming from Instagram ads in 2025.
    0:51:11 So this would essentially dismantle the world’s largest social media company.
    0:51:22 So, Scott, first, just any initial reactions on what’s happening with the Meta antitrust trial and perhaps what’s happening with Antitrust at large with this new ruling on Google?
    0:51:25 The two greatest tax cuts in the modern economy would be the following.
    0:51:27 Well, OK, the third.
    0:51:30 Number one would be the ass clown gets reined in somehow.
    0:51:42 But distinct to that, one, if the Chinese and the American leadership were to kiss and make up, they have the ultimate supply chain of things we don’t want to produce at that cost.
    0:51:47 We have IP and an incredible consumption economy and innovation.
    0:51:52 It would lower everyone’s costs in the world by 10 to 20 percent.
    0:51:56 The second biggest oxygenation of the economy would be if we broke up big tech.
    0:52:00 And that is because of the monopoly power they’ve established.
    0:52:20 If one firm owns 50 percent or controls 50 percent of e-commerce, Amazon, one firm 90 percent of search, Google, one firm 70 percent of all social media, Meta, they’re able to extract monopoly rents, whether it’s the percentage they charge third-party retailers on their platform, whether it’s search words, whatever it is.
    0:52:24 And the rents, and I’ve always said this, the greatest rents they’re charging are non-economic.
    0:52:26 Think about the rents.
    0:52:28 And you don’t know this because you don’t have kids.
    0:52:48 The rents that Meta has raised on parents in the form of stress and strain because they’re so powerful and they have so much data and they have such mendacious leadership and we allow them to get away with these things because of the idolatry of the dollar and this worship of technology.
    0:52:54 If you took those four companies and broke them into 11 or 12, who wins?
    0:53:05 Society wins because they’re too powerful and they’ve made our discourse more coarse and they haven’t been able to resist radicalizing young men on YouTube or depressing young girls on Meta.
    0:53:07 Society wins.
    0:53:08 The rents go down.
    0:53:09 Shareholders win.
    0:53:14 Can you imagine Instagram trades or Meta trades at about 7.7 times revenue?
    0:53:17 Can you imagine what an independent Instagram would trade at?
    0:53:19 A pure play Instagram?
    0:53:23 That company would trade at 15 to 20 times revenue.
    0:53:34 WhatsApp, instead of being a body bag of data to inform the core dying platform of Facebook, they would try and turn it into what it is, a truly the largest global telco.
    0:53:36 And they’d start monetizing it.
    0:53:46 These companies, independent of one of each other, would create more competition, more shareholder value, more tax revenue, because I believe they’d be more profitable.
    0:53:53 They would increase wages because there’d be more companies trying to rent human labor.
    0:53:56 I mean, if you want to be in social media and make a shit ton of money, what are you going to go to, Pinterest?
    0:53:58 No, you go to Meta.
    0:54:01 Pinterest basically gets everyone that Meta doesn’t.
    0:54:03 You know, what, you’re going to go to Snap?
    0:54:10 I think those two firms are in business because Meta has made the conscious decision not to put them out of business so they can pretend they have competition.
    0:54:11 I’m serious.
    0:54:16 I think somebody came in and said, oh, we can put Pinterest out of business in six months.
    0:54:18 We’re going to launch Insta boards.
    0:54:26 And Zuckerberg said, no, talk to Nick Clegg or whoever else has their finger on the pulse of DC and goes, no.
    0:54:33 They’re shitty, their business model sucks, and it gives people the illusion we have actual competition.
    0:54:38 Just don’t – just let them have their little $4 or $5 billion a year and their $8 billion market caps.
    0:54:39 Meanwhile, we have a trillion-dollar market cap.
    0:54:44 Just let them survive to create the illusion of competition.
    0:54:51 The only people that lose in a breakup – it’s almost impossible to find a breakup that didn’t end up working for everybody.
    0:55:00 The only people that lose are the person who controls the voting shares, the super shares, who’s decided they want to sit on the iron throne of all seven realms, not just Westeros.
    0:55:02 Yeah, a lot there.
    0:55:05 I mean, what would it take for them to win the case?
    0:55:16 One, they need to prove that Meta suppressed the competition via these acquisitions, and the emails there are incredible, and I’ll go over a few of them in a second.
    0:55:21 And two, they also need to prove that Meta is indeed a monopoly.
    0:55:25 And those are two different arguments they need to prove.
    0:55:34 So on the first argument, the case is incredibly strong, and it’s all because of these emails that they found from Zuckerberg and Sandberg and all these other executives.
    0:55:35 I’m just going to read off some of them.
    0:55:46 So Mark Zuckerberg in 2012, quote, “Instagram and PATH are nascent, but the network’s established, the brands are already meaningful, and if they grow to a large scale, they could be very disruptive to us.”
    0:55:57 From an internal executive, quote, “In the time it has taken us to get our act together on this, Instagram has become a large and viable competitor to us, which will increasingly be the future of photos.”
    0:56:04 Sheryl Sandberg, quote, “Instagram was growing so much faster than us that we had to buy them for $1 billion.”
    0:56:15 And then, this is the best one, Mark Zuckerberg in 2008, in regards to the Instagram acquisition, he says, quote, “It is better to buy than to compete.”
    0:56:26 “And that is basically case closed right there. That is the FTC’s smoking gun, is that email from Zuckerberg in 2008.”
    0:56:37 “They can definitely prove that Meta was suppressing the competition by just buying up these other companies. The trouble is proving whether or not Meta is actually a monopoly.”
    0:57:02 “That is a harder argument to make, because, you know, as you mentioned, there are all these other platforms now. There’s TikTok, there’s Snapchat, there’s Pinterest, there’s YouTube. Even iMessage, which is technically competing with WhatsApp, and Meta shared this number, they shared that 20% of the total time spent on social media platforms today, 20% is accounted for by Meta.
    0:57:28 So, at 20%, it is definitely harder to argue that this is a monopoly. And I think if the FTC loses this case, it’s going to be on that front. They’re going to be able to prove very fair and square, yes, Meta suppressed the competition by buying these companies, but did they also do that and successfully become a monopoly? And that’s going to be a little bit harder to prove.”
    0:57:42 “And one final point here: I just want to quickly highlight this incredible article in the Wall Street Journal that takes you through the negotiations between Andrew Ferguson at the FTC and Mark Zuckerberg.”
    0:57:59 “So, the FTC actually offered to settle this case with Meta for $30 billion. But after Trump appointed this new guy, Andrew Ferguson, as the new chair of the FTC, Mark Zuckerberg called him, and he gave him a counteroffer.
    0:58:23 So, a 99% discount on the original settlement offer. And apparently, on that call, Mark Zuckerberg was very confident that Trump was going to back him up. You know, he had just traveled to Mar-a-Lago multiple times. He just donated a million dollars to the inauguration fund. He went to the inauguration. He, as you point out, he appointed, uh, this former Trump advisor to the Meta board. And he just donated a million dollars to the inauguration fund. He went to the inauguration.
    0:58:36 He, as you point out, he appointed, uh, this former Trump advisor to the Meta board, Dana White. He’d just done this 180 on the content moderation policy. I mean, he had his full-on MAGA rebrand.
    0:59:02 And then, Andrew Ferguson, they have the conversation, and he says no. So, then, Zuckerberg goes to the White House, and he starts pleading with Trump to drop the case. And Trump was apparently considering it. But it wasn’t until April 8th, when both Andrew Ferguson of the FTC and Gail Slater of the DOJ, they both go to Trump, and they say, “No, Mr. President, you have to let this trial go through.”
    0:59:15 And Trump was convinced. He gave them his blessing. And now, here we are. Zuckerberg is back in court, back in the suit and tie, uh, and it looks as if Meta may be broken up at this point.
    0:59:34 So, it’s an amazing story of Zuckerberg’s failed attempts at kissing the president’s arse. Um, but it’s also an amazing story of strength from Ferguson, from Gail Slater, who, as we have said on this podcast before, are actually highly competent litigators, highly competent regulators.
    0:59:47 And I think if there’s anything that Trump has gotten right in this administration, it would be hiring those two to run the FTC and the DOJ, because they are proving that they are not to be fucked with.
    1:00:05 And we’ll call balls and strikes. So far, I think we should commend the president on sticking to his guns here. The thing that’s sad is that Mark Zuckerberg, and I’ve said Mark and Cheryl, I think there’s few people you could point to that have made more money while doing more damage to America than Mark Zuckerberg or Cheryl Sandberg.
    1:00:16 But there’s just no getting around it. They’re both incredibly talented executives. And I would argue that Zuckerberg is probably the, really probably one of the business geniuses of the last 50 years.
    1:00:30 But when one of the most brilliant business minds has decided and is convinced that he can buy his way out of regulation by giving money to the Trump administration and traveling there, what does that say about our nation?
    1:00:36 And by the way, he still may be right. We’ll see. I hope the president sticks to his guns here.
    1:00:59 But the brightest business mind, you know, in a generation puts a bunch of hardcore MAGA people on his board, shows up at the inauguration, gives money and says, OK, regardless of my violating laws, regardless of the fact I suppress competition, regardless of the fact that I’m loving huge taxes every day emotionally and mentally on our youth and on their parents.
    1:01:05 I think I can buy my way out of this in today’s America. I hope he’s wrong. I hope he’s wrong.
    1:01:15 Let’s take a look at the week ahead. We’ll see earnings from Tesla, from SAP and Alphabet. Scott, do you have any predictions?
    1:01:29 Well, it goes back to what we were saying. I think there’s an enormous opportunity and I do think the worm has turned and that, I mean, let me save you. At business school, we have ethics, we have leadership and we have sustainability courses.
    1:01:42 And they each cost, every course costs $7,000. Let me save you $21,000. Ethics. Think about right and wrong. Think about what you’re doing might be wrong or right. Like there is a right and a wrong. OK, that’s the ethics course.
    1:02:02 Do the right thing even when it’s hard. Boom. You’re done with leadership. And the sustainability, thinking about doing the right thing, doing the right thing when it’s really hard, you might make money out it. You might actually make money out it. Boom. You’re done. I just saved you $21,000.
    1:02:17 My prediction is the following. I think there’s such an enormous vacuum for leadership here that someone is going to step into it and reap enormous rewards, both in terms of their status, their leadership, what goes on their tombstone, and also shareholder value.
    1:02:21 I just think there’s so many people lining up against this guy. He’s losing his power.
    1:02:33 A hundred third graders can line up against a big, angry sixth grader. If they’re unified, and this guy has given us reason to be unified, someone is going to step into the void of leadership here.
    1:02:39 And the person I’m reminded of, or the situation, is a gentleman named Martin Niemöller.
    1:02:47 And Martin is credited with this fantastic quote that loosely is reduced to first they came for.
    1:02:53 He was a prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany in the 20s and 30s.
    1:03:00 He was actually very kind of pro-Nazi and supported radically right-wing political movements.
    1:03:07 After Hitler came to power in 1933, however, Niemöller became an outspoken critic of Hitler’s interference in the Protestant church.
    1:03:17 He spent the last eight years of Nazi rule in prisons and concentration camps, and he’s best remembered for his post-war statement, which begins,
    1:03:21 First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.
    1:03:28 Then, they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
    1:03:33 Then, they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
    1:03:38 Then, they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.
    1:03:40 And that is so powerful.
    1:03:57 And I think that when on a very crude and economic level, when you don’t speak out on behalf of our wonderful allies and other companies and speak out on behalf of your own company, just wait, folks.
    1:04:01 In the long run, it’s just really bad for you not speaking out.
    1:04:17 And even on a more substantive level, when we allow people to be rounded up because they have the wrong tattoo or because they’re illegal, undocumented workers, and send them to a hellscape prison, just be careful when the knock comes on your door.
    1:04:20 This is a threat to everybody.
    1:04:23 And so, I’m hopeful.
    1:04:28 I think America has a ton of great leaders, and I think this has gotten so bad.
    1:04:35 My prediction is in the next one, two, four weeks, we’re going to see some prominent leaders, and we can’t guess.
    1:04:37 Who knows where they come from, right?
    1:04:40 This Harvard president has shown real leadership.
    1:04:46 But I think that there’s going to be several people step into this void of leadership and realize that I need to speak up.
    1:04:54 This episode was produced by Claire Miller and engineered by Benjamin Spencer.
    1:04:56 Our associate producer is Alison Weiss.
    1:04:57 Mia Silverio is our research lead.
    1:05:00 Isabella Kinsel is our research associate.
    1:05:01 Dan Shallon is our intern.
    1:05:03 Drew Burrows is our technical director.
    1:05:05 And Catherine Dillon is our executive producer.
    1:05:09 Thank you for listening to Prof G Markets from the Vox Media Podcast Network.
    1:05:15 Join us on Thursday for our conversation with Ryan Peterson, only on Prof G Markets.
    1:05:49 Prof G Markets from the Vox Media Podcast Network.
    1:06:00 I mean, I remember when, was it the Challenger disaster?
    1:06:02 That’s one of those things, remember where you were.
    1:06:05 I was in the shower in my fraternity, and this guy came in.
    1:06:09 And first he gave me a head.
    1:06:10 It was that kind of fraternity.
    1:06:13 And then, I don’t know.
    1:06:15 Why do I find that funny?
    1:06:17 You always find that funny.

    Scott and Ed discuss gold hitting a record high, the Trump administration’s new restrictions on chip exports, and Jerome Powell’s comments on tariffs. Then, they unpack how other nations are pushing back against the tariffs, highlighting Trump’s key strategic missteps—including his underestimation of global rivals. Finally, they dissect the key moments from the Meta antitrust trial so far, with Scott laying out the economic upsides of breaking up the company, and Ed outlining how the FTC could actually come out on top.

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  • No Mercy / No Malice: United States of Debt

    AI transcript
    0:00:06 Hey, this is Peter Kafka. I’m the host of Channels, a show about media and tech and lots of other stuff.
    0:00:13 And this week I learned about how to make money in media and specifically how to do that in Washington, D.C. in 2025.
    0:00:18 My guest, Jake Sherman, the co-founder of Punchbowl News.
    0:00:24 That’s the fast-growing, super inside the Beltway pub that covers Congress and Congress and nothing else.
    0:00:28 And it’s working. That’s on Channels, wherever you hear your favorite pods.
    0:00:37 Soon enough, high schoolers will be donning those caps and gowns.
    0:00:41 But what comes next is less of a sure thing than it was a decade ago.
    0:00:48 Students are genuinely questioning if college is worth it and if college is really the right thing for them, knowing what they know about themselves.
    0:00:57 This week on Explain It To Me, a look at the new range of alternatives to college and how some high schools are setting up their graduates for success.
    0:01:01 New episodes on Sunday mornings, wherever you get your podcasts.
    0:01:07 Are tariffs a turning point for U.S. economic and foreign policy?
    0:01:18 We have Trump who is completely unconstrained and is completely convinced, confident that everything he’s doing is utterly right, doesn’t need to take advice from those around him.
    0:01:29 I’m Preet Bharara, and this week, political scientist Ian Bremmer joins me on my podcast, Stay Tuned With Preet, to discuss economic and political turmoil and how they impact America and the world.
    0:01:35 The episode is out now. Search and follow Stay Tuned With Preet wherever you get your podcasts.
    0:01:41 I’m Scott Galloway, and this is No Mercy, No Malice.
    0:01:47 Last week, we saw the tariff war jump the lab and become a capital war.
    0:01:51 United States of Debt, as read by George Hahn.
    0:02:08 Quote, I would like to come back as the bond market.
    0:02:11 You can intimidate everybody.
    0:02:12 Unquote.
    0:02:14 James Carville.
    0:02:18 America is blinking.
    0:02:26 The day after April Fool’s Day, President Trump liberated the United States from an eight-decade run as the world’s economic superpower,
    0:02:32 raising the cost of capital for the federal government, American companies, and consumers.
    0:02:40 If this sounds like stupidity, i.e. hurting others while also hurting yourself, trust your instincts.
    0:02:44 But don’t trust America.
    0:02:48 A blackout drunk is behind the wheel of the U.S. economy.
    0:02:56 All around us, horns, bear markets, consumer confidence plummeting to historic lows, are blaring.
    0:03:06 In the back seat is a cultist, the GOP, who thinks the red lights Trump has blown through and the accidents in his wake are baller moves.
    0:03:16 Also in the back seat, a sulking teen, the Democrats, who’s visibly upset but can’t articulate what they want or suggest a better route.
    0:03:22 Riding shotgun, though, is an adult the driver can’t ignore.
    0:03:24 The bond market.
    0:03:32 First-year economics students are taught that money evolved to make early barter systems practical.
    0:03:45 In his book, debt, the first 5,000 years, anthropologist David Graeber argues that the barter story was likely a fiction created by Adam Smith.
    0:03:51 Graeber believes the earliest coins were actually tokens used to keep track of debt.
    0:04:16 Debt is both a financial instrument and a social construct that binds people, firms, and nations to one another and links together the past, present, and future.
    0:04:28 As many anthropologists have pointed out, debt has moral implications around fairness, responsibility, and obligation, as it’s a tool through which we impose order.
    0:04:42 Historically, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam outlawed interest under most circumstances, counseled their followers against taking on debt, and advised debtors to repay loans promptly.
    0:04:49 When someone saves another person’s life, the person they rescued is said to be in their debt.
    0:04:56 When a criminal has served their sentence, they’re said to have repaid their debt to society.
    0:05:06 In a debt crisis, the real risk is not default, but a breakdown of the economic, social, and political orders.
    0:05:09 How bad is this debt crisis?
    0:05:11 It’s too early to tell.
    0:05:16 But as former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers explained,
    0:05:22 what has people most scared is the real-time erosion of the American-led economic order.
    0:05:34 Our reputation as a bastion of strength and stability, with our dollar and treasuries representing safety, is in jeopardy.
    0:05:46 Increasingly, we resemble an emerging economy, where a crisis in confidence sends stocks, bonds, and currencies down and spikes interest rates.
    0:05:48 Quote,
    0:05:58 If the United States isn’t credible, that makes the whole financial system less stable, Summers said, adding,
    0:06:03 We are more vulnerable to bad surprises from here than to good surprises.
    0:06:04 Unquote.
    0:06:23 This week, Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned that Trump’s trade policy and the resulting uncertainty may put us in
    0:06:46 Since World War II, the U.S. dollar and U.S. treasuries have been the backbone of the global economy.
    0:07:00 Charles de Gaulle called this exorbitant privilege, as it creates an asymmetrical financial system where foreign governments effectively subsidize American living standards and firms.
    0:07:04 Just how exorbitant is difficult to quantify.
    0:07:14 But as economist Barry Eichengreen argued, the privilege isn’t what it was in the 1960s when de Gaulle complained that America was far too powerful.
    0:07:29 Still, our exorbitant privilege is a benefit, not a liability, as reliance on U.S. currency and debt lowers our cost of capital and increases the punching power of our economic sanctions.
    0:07:42 But in the wake of Liberation Day, analysts at Societe Generale, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs expressed concern that America’s privilege is eroding.
    0:07:51 A financial adage, frequently attributed to John Maynard Keynes, John Paul Getty, and others.
    0:07:51 Quote,
    0:07:56 If you owe the bank $100, that’s your problem.
    0:08:01 If you owe the bank $100 million, that’s the bank’s problem.
    0:08:02 Unquote.
    0:08:05 This is the paradox of debt.
    0:08:28 Trump, who bragged that he was the king of debt during his 2016 campaign, has leveraged this paradox his entire career, filing for bankruptcy six times.
    0:08:32 But compared to the federal government, Trump is a lightweight.
    0:08:43 Despite decades of warnings from economists and business leaders, increasing the debt is one of the longest-running bipartisan traditions in Congress.
    0:08:53 Conservatives, teetotalers, campaign as deficit hawks, then vote to increase the debt for unfunded tax cuts.
    0:09:05 Liberals, social drinkers, deprioritize debt by pairing big spending initiatives with modest proposals to increase revenue, i.e. taxes.
    0:09:23 And progressives, full-blown alcoholics, champion modern monetary theory, which holds that governments, with control over their own currency, can finance spending without worrying about deficits or debt, as long as they manage inflation.
    0:09:25 How’s that working out?
    0:09:29 America is drunk on debt.
    0:09:33 We continue to drink at the bar long after last call.
    0:09:38 Spiking bond yields and the declining dollar are interventions.
    0:09:41 It’s not too late to get sober, however.
    0:09:47 I believe we should do it for our kids, as debt is a tax on future generations.
    0:09:54 But as I argued in my TED Talk, despite saying we love our children, we’re waging war on them.
    0:09:57 There’s another reason to sober up.
    0:09:59 Self-preservation.
    0:10:11 Sovereign debt crises have been the green mile of empires, from ancient Rome to the French monarchy to the Ottoman and British empires to the Soviet Union.
    0:10:17 America is exceptional in many ways, but we’re not exempt from history.
    0:10:21 Countries typically are not conquered, but go broke.
    0:10:29 In budgetary terms, some people call the U.S. an insurance company with an army.
    0:10:40 This is correct insofar as our largest deliverables are the greatest military in history and a social safety net that lags behind those of other industrialized nations.
    0:11:08 If current laws remain the same, net interest payments will total $13.8 trillion over the next decade, rising from an annual cost of $1.0 trillion in 2026 to $1.8 trillion in 2035,
    0:11:22 According to CBO projections, rising interest rates increase the VIG, crowding out mandatory and discretionary spending as well as our capacity to respond to future crises.
    0:11:32 General Omar Bradley once said, amateurs talk strategy, professionals talk logistics.
    0:11:43 His point was that war plans, even when the defense secretary doesn’t drunkenly share them with the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief on Signal, don’t count for much.
    0:11:51 It’s the unsexy stuff, supply lines, resources, and infrastructure, that wins wars.
    0:11:56 The world’s least sexy financial instruments are U.S. treasuries.
    0:12:17 U.S. debt is both a shield that protects us from higher borrowing costs and a sword that, when used in conjunction with the dollar as the global reserve currency, guarantees American economic hegemony.
    0:12:25 But as with any weapon, if we lose control of it, our debt can be used against us.
    0:12:30 The U.S. debt is roughly $36 trillion.
    0:12:40 Nearly three-quarters of that debt is held by U.S. investors, the Fed, and various federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration.
    0:12:43 The rest is held by foreign investors.
    0:12:49 China is currently the second largest foreign holder of treasuries, behind Japan.
    0:12:59 After last week’s shitshow, some analysts asked, without hard evidence, whether China was to blame for bond market volatility.
    0:13:02 That question misses the point.
    0:13:12 It’s not what China did or didn’t do, but rather what it’s capable of doing, now that the blinker-in-chief has put a spotlight on our Achilles’ heel.
    0:13:22 Dumping treasuries raises U.S. borrowing costs and, more important, undermines global trust in American leadership.
    0:13:31 It also hurts China, as a fire sale means they’ll take losses, too, and a possible recession hurts everyone.
    0:13:38 Beijing’s fear of that economic pain has been a strong deterrent, until now.
    0:13:49 A trade war makes the pain real, meaning China has a lot less to lose, and potentially something to gain, by using our debt against us.
    0:13:53 And China has a pain multiplier here.
    0:14:05 An increase of 50 basis points on a $36 trillion debt adds about $180 billion per year in additional interest.
    0:14:16 An equivalent of 13 aircraft carriers, we currently have 11, or $30 billion more than Doge claims it’ll save taxpayers this year.
    0:14:21 Our debt isn’t our only vulnerability.
    0:14:29 China holds $3.2 trillion U.S. dollars, more than any other foreign nation.
    0:14:38 Devaluing the U.S. dollar in the face of rising inflation would hurt Americans, as they’d pay even more for less.
    0:14:50 China’s mortgage-backed securities position is less clear, but as one of the top three foreign MBS holders, it has the power to spook an already troubled housing market.
    0:15:00 China’s leading export partners are ASEAN, a 10-nation trading bloc in Southeast Asia, and the EU, followed by the U.S.
    0:15:09 Decoupling hurts both countries, but it hurts us more, as our exposure is greater and our pain tolerance lower.
    0:15:16 Remember, Americans freaked out about toilet paper and masks during COVID.
    0:15:19 China did actual lockdowns.
    0:15:23 We lost 36,000 service members fighting in Korea.
    0:15:28 Before tapping out, China suffered 10 times the casualties.
    0:15:35 We don’t have the tolerance for pain to exchange fire in an economic war with China.
    0:15:41 Ask Bo and Yang who’s more willing to endure hardship for the glory of their nation.
    0:15:51 In the same week that U.S. Treasuries surged 50 basis points, yields on German buns were largely unchanged.
    0:15:56 According to Bloomberg, that’s the biggest underperformance since 1989.
    0:16:05 In non-financial terms, as investors lost trust in the U.S., they found safety in Germany.
    0:16:11 One fixed income portfolio manager put it this way, quote,
    0:16:20 Buns have been one of the only rate markets that has acted as a risk-off asset during recent volatility, unquote.
    0:16:23 Are Buns the new T-bill?
    0:16:25 Too soon to tell.
    0:16:30 But if last week kicked off a debt crisis that unravels the world order,
    0:16:35 Germany, even allowing for a recent increase in defense spending,
    0:16:41 looks like a paragon of fiscal responsibility compared to other industrialized nations.
    0:16:51 Ostensibly, HBO’s Game of Thrones was a show about knights, dragons, Arctic zombies, and hot people.
    0:17:00 But underneath the veneer of sex and violence, the show was an epic story about the relationship between debt and power.
    0:17:06 As three economists who analyzed the political economy of Westeros wrote, quote,
    0:17:12 Those who control the purse strings of the realm thereby acquire political power.
    0:17:20 And although it is a foreign institution, the Iron Bank becomes a key political player in Westeros, unquote.
    0:17:27 Full faith and credit is American for a Lannister always pays his debts.
    0:17:37 Instead of a mad king sitting on the Iron Throne, we have a very unstable genius, minus the genius, sitting behind the resolute desk.
    0:17:44 His small council of sycophants know better, but drunk on a cocktail of fear and greed,
    0:17:48 they cheer him on, claiming he’s playing 4D chess.
    0:17:55 This is the bullshit we hear from the Sparrows, who can’t offer a counter-argument to what is depressingly clear.
    0:18:00 The president’s actions are nuclear-grade stupidity.
    0:18:02 Chess?
    0:18:06 At this point, the Western world is expecting him to eat the pieces.
    0:18:14 Trump’s game isn’t chess or checkers, but Russian roulette with bullets in five of the six chambers.
    0:18:23 The interpretive dancing and intellectual pretzeling of the remaining cultists doesn’t fool the Iron Bank,
    0:18:25 a.k.a. America’s creditors.
    0:18:34 In season one of True Detective, hashtag awesome, Matthew McConaughey needs something from his former partner, Woody Harrelson.
    0:18:37 McConaughey convinces him with a simple statement.
    0:18:45 you have a debt, calling on his sense of equity and a bond they share to reciprocate.
    0:18:55 Europe, China, the Middle East, and America all, at one time, imprisoned people who couldn’t pay their debts.
    0:19:02 With 4% of the world’s population and 25% of global GDP,
    0:19:05 we have a debt to our allies,
    0:19:13 who’ve engaged in relationships that provide roughly 6x the prosperity relative to the rest of the world.
    0:19:20 However, that hasn’t been enough, and we’ve accrued unsustainable debt.
    0:19:26 From George Washington through George W. Bush, we borrowed $10 trillion.
    0:19:32 During the first Trump administration, we borrowed $8 trillion.
    0:19:35 Biden was $4 trillion.
    0:19:41 We find ourselves ignorant of our debts and in a prison of our own making,
    0:19:46 a giant with feet of clay, ignorant to our vulnerabilities.
    0:19:52 In sum, we, America, are acting like assholes.
    0:19:57 Life is so rich.

    As read by George Hahn.

    United States of Debt

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  • Canada’s Role in a Shifting Global Order — with Mark Carney

    AI transcript
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    0:00:23 Mercury, banking that does more.
    0:00:31 Soon enough, high schoolers will be donning those caps and gowns.
    0:00:35 But what comes next is less of a sure thing than it was a decade ago.
    0:00:41 Students are genuinely questioning if college is worth it and if college is really the right thing for them,
    0:00:43 knowing what they know about themselves.
    0:00:47 This week on Explain It To Me, a look at the new range of alternatives to college
    0:00:51 and how some high schools are setting up their graduates for success.
    0:00:55 New episodes on Sunday mornings, wherever you get your podcasts.
    0:01:02 What does it really mean to interpret the Constitution in a country that’s constantly changing?
    0:01:07 No judge decides a case based on the temperature of the day.
    0:01:12 Every judge, however, is aware of the climate of the season.
    0:01:17 I’m Preet Bharara, and this week on Stay Tuned, I’m joined by Justice Stephen Breyer.
    0:01:21 We get into how judges make sense of the law in a politically charged time
    0:01:25 and what that says about the values and pressures shaping today’s Supreme Court.
    0:01:27 The episode is out now.
    0:01:31 Search and follow Stay Tuned with Preet wherever you get your podcasts.
    0:01:37 Episode 344.
    0:01:40 Route 344 is a highway located in Columbia County, New York.
    0:01:47 In 1944, Danny DeVito was born, and the U.S. sent 100 million cans of Spam to soldiers overseas.
    0:01:51 What did the cannibal say when he ate his first can of Spam?
    0:01:54 Oh my god, this is the greatest thing since sliced fret.
    0:01:57 I like that.
    0:01:58 Okay, that’s not good.
    0:01:59 You want a dick joke.
    0:02:03 Okay, I am sick of getting Spam emails saying I can make my penis eight inches.
    0:02:04 I know how to do that already.
    0:02:06 I’ve folded in half.
    0:02:21 Welcome to the 344th episode of the Prof G-Pod.
    0:02:22 What’s happening?
    0:02:24 The dog is booked in business.
    0:02:26 The dog is a Palm Beach dog.
    0:02:28 I’m staying at a place called The Colony, which is sort of,
    0:02:35 if the Beverly Hills Hotel had an adjacent property in Florida that was not as nice,
    0:02:41 but, you know, sort of like, Glen Eagles has something called Glen Eagles Townhouse in Edinburgh.
    0:02:45 If this sounds like a total conversation of privilege, i.e. douchebag, trust your instincts,
    0:02:49 but they have a property in Edinburgh that’s not nearly as nice,
    0:02:52 this would be the less nice version of the Beverly Hills Hotel.
    0:02:56 I think it’s a fantastic, I don’t know, fantastic.
    0:02:58 I think it’s an, I’m, hotels are my hobby.
    0:02:59 What’s your hobby?
    0:03:03 Well, I read a lot of nonfiction, or I do a lot of, no, not me.
    0:03:04 I go to nice hotels.
    0:03:04 It’s my hobby.
    0:03:05 I won’t travel to cities.
    0:03:06 I’ll travel to nice hotels.
    0:03:09 By the way, if you’re looking for a wreck on any hotel in almost any city,
    0:03:11 daddy is where you come.
    0:03:15 Anyways, this is a small data point on a larger theme, and that is,
    0:03:20 there is an emerging cohort of services, companies, and hotels, and hospitality,
    0:03:23 and restaurants that I refer to as 64.
    0:03:26 And that is six-star prices with four-star service.
    0:03:28 And what’s happened is the following.
    0:03:34 The cohort that’s grown the fastest in the United States is not Latinos, it’s not seniors, it’s
    0:03:37 the super wealthy, or even just the wealthy.
    0:03:38 They have absolutely crushed it.
    0:03:41 And these folks like to spend money.
    0:03:46 And not only has their income gone up, or their wealth has gone up, but their mentality has changed
    0:03:46 since COVID.
    0:03:49 It’s sort of, you only live once, YOLO, let’s get out there, let’s travel.
    0:03:52 A lot of them had pent-up demand to travel from COVID.
    0:03:55 And they realized that, you know, we all meet the same end.
    0:04:00 We all come into this world in diapers, we all leave in diapers, but the reality is we all leave.
    0:04:02 And so luxury travel has just boomed.
    0:04:06 And there’s a natural gating supply constraint, and that’s the following.
    0:04:10 To build a luxury hotel probably takes the better part of a decade.
    0:04:14 By the time you find the financing, find a location, get the zoning, the permitting,
    0:04:17 construct the thing, train, get everyone, it takes 10 years.
    0:04:21 So there is a absolute supply-demand imbalance right now.
    0:04:24 The Beverly Hills Hotel, where I stay when I go to LA, which is wonderful.
    0:04:25 Which is wonderful.
    0:04:26 It’s like the Disney of hotels.
    0:04:30 You have the Pirates of the Caribbean, and then Space Mountain, you have the counter,
    0:04:34 you have the great restaurant next to the pool, then you have the polo lounge.
    0:04:35 It’s Disneyland.
    0:04:38 You never need to go anywhere else, and I love it because everyone will come see me there.
    0:04:40 Pre-COVID, it was about $700, $800.
    0:04:42 COVID, it dropped to $400.
    0:04:44 I was one of those guys traveling during COVID.
    0:04:47 And then now it’s $1,800 for a room.
    0:04:51 Six-star travel, and no one feels sorry for anyone here, has seen inflation, I think,
    0:04:57 that’s probably greater than any category because massive increase in demand with choked supply.
    0:05:02 The outcropping from that, or one of the manifestations of that, is that you can now stay at a hotel
    0:05:04 like this one where they have six-star prices.
    0:05:06 I won’t tell you what I’m spending in my room.
    0:05:07 For four-star service.
    0:05:13 And what they do is a cultural phenomenon, and that is they try and throw people at the problem.
    0:05:17 And that is they hire a lot of people who are these nice young people that, my guess is they underpay,
    0:05:21 that are not interested in being in the services industry for very long.
    0:05:23 This is a transition job, and that’s fine.
    0:05:26 I parked cars in college, and I was a pool boy at the Mondrian Hotel.
    0:05:32 Anyways, the 64 hotels, six-star prices, four-star service.
    0:05:37 The problem is when we hit any sort of speed bump, this shit’s going to get wrecked.
    0:05:42 I mean, you’re going to see declines in room rates of 70%.
    0:05:46 And that is companies have to figure out how much they price.
    0:05:47 I think pricing is the hardest thing.
    0:05:52 Do they price perfectly to demand and raise prices when they have power?
    0:05:57 Or do they decide, like the Four Seasons and some other places, even when they could raise their prices,
    0:06:00 they don’t because it pisses people off and creates ill will.
    0:06:01 And that’s what they’re doing here.
    0:06:06 They’re monetizing the shit out of this place and throwing weddings and bat mitzvahs.
    0:06:14 And they are, instead of catering to their current consumers, they’re renting out the pool if they see an opportunity to make another $10,000 or $20,000.
    0:06:15 And I get it.
    0:06:19 They probably spent a lot of money to buy this place and fix it up, and they’re very ROI-focused.
    0:06:21 But they’re trading off goodwill and a reputation.
    0:06:30 The Beverly Hills Hotel or the Hotel du Cap would never, ever do anything that gets in the way of the guest’s experience, if you will.
    0:06:32 God, just hearing this, I sound obnoxious.
    0:06:40 Anyways, this is, you’re going to see in the travel industry and the hospitality industry, a massive decline, I believe, in pricing.
    0:06:40 Why is that?
    0:06:46 The number of people traveling right now into the U.S. is crashing.
    0:06:47 Is crashing.
    0:06:48 Why?
    0:06:53 Yeah, I used to go watch football games at Uncle Sam’s every weekend.
    0:06:53 But guess what?
    0:06:57 Uncle Sam is a total asshole, and he’s gone fucking crazy.
    0:06:59 So let’s just hold off, and let’s stick at home.
    0:07:04 Have you seen those pictures of Toronto International Airport?
    0:07:04 I think it’s called Pearson.
    0:07:08 During Christmas break from last year to this year.
    0:07:09 Last year, packed.
    0:07:17 A ton of Canadians trying to get down to Palm Beach or to L.A. or to Naples or wherever or Miami to get some of that thing called sunshine.
    0:07:20 This year, lines are empty.
    0:07:22 No one’s coming to the U.S.
    0:07:23 Literally, tourism is crashing.
    0:07:24 And guess what?
    0:07:25 All this bullshit.
    0:07:29 All this bullshit around trying to bring back our great manufacturing sector.
    0:07:31 There are 12 million people who work in manufacturing.
    0:07:33 Do you know how many work in tourism in the U.S.?
    0:07:34 13 million.
    0:07:40 So we have this consensual hallucination that somehow we’re going to restore manufacturing by raising prices on everybody.
    0:07:42 Yeah, that doesn’t work, folks.
    0:07:53 But what is working is you’re seeing an immediate destruction, an immediate change in the tourism industry that affects and employs 13 million Americans.
    0:08:13 So you are going to see not a collapse, but you are going to see real pressure in organizations ranging from Disney to some of the bigger hotel companies to Marriott when all of a sudden the rates have to drop because we are going to lose at the margins a ton of Canadians, a ton of Mexicans, a ton of Europeans who think, you know what?
    0:08:16 There are a lot of nice places to travel.
    0:08:17 There are a lot of nice.
    0:08:18 I know.
    0:08:19 Let’s go to Disneyland.
    0:08:21 Let’s go to Disneyland in Paris, not the one in Orlando.
    0:08:22 Right?
    0:08:23 I know.
    0:08:24 We want to gamble.
    0:08:27 Let’s go to Macau or Monaco instead of going to Vegas.
    0:08:27 I know.
    0:08:28 I know.
    0:08:29 Great city.
    0:08:30 Let’s go to London.
    0:08:31 Let’s not go to New York.
    0:08:34 They have great theater in London, not in New York.
    0:08:38 We could not be more stupid right now.
    0:08:42 And you’re about to see the helm of the bobsled that’s going to get hurt, I think, first.
    0:08:43 Well, I don’t know who’s going to get hurt first.
    0:08:45 Who’s going to get hurt first?
    0:08:46 I don’t know.
    0:08:51 I think travel, I think the travel industry is about to start being in a series of earnings
    0:08:53 calls that are just going to get uglier and uglier.
    0:08:55 Let’s talk about a few people I talked to this weekend.
    0:08:56 Let’s go back to the tariffs.
    0:08:57 The big T.
    0:08:58 That’s right.
    0:09:04 Talk to the CEO of a catalog company that does a lot of housewares and homewares.
    0:09:06 And get this, right?
    0:09:09 $10 million worth of merchandise on a boat coming in from China.
    0:09:17 This person has to show up with a check for $14.5 million, the 145% tariff that was on as
    0:09:18 of 10 minutes ago.
    0:09:18 I don’t know if it’s off.
    0:09:24 But should it stay when the boat actually docks, or the boat, the ship, the tanker, you
    0:09:29 know, one of those big fucking things, when it docks at the port of Long Beach, this person
    0:09:33 has to show up or their company has to show up with a $14.5 million check.
    0:09:35 Otherwise, they can’t offload the stuff.
    0:09:37 By the way, most people don’t really understand what a tariff is.
    0:09:41 The stuff comes in, and then the person bringing it in has to pay a tariff to the U.S. government.
    0:09:44 So this person unexpectedly has to find $14.5 million.
    0:09:46 That is not easy.
    0:09:47 That is not easy.
    0:09:54 And just to add insult to injury, this person has to go find people to go down to the dock
    0:09:59 and then hire them to relabel and reprice every single item.
    0:09:59 Why?
    0:10:03 Because now the supply chain is so sophisticated in China that they have the
    0:10:08 factories, so in the labeling and the pricing and the tagging to save time and money.
    0:10:14 So this person has to figure out a way to get down there and undo everything on the products.
    0:10:14 What does that mean?
    0:10:17 This person has stopped all shipments from China.
    0:10:21 By the way, unlike many people in the Republicans or people in the Trump administration, my anecdotes
    0:10:22 are actually true.
    0:10:23 I’m not lying.
    0:10:27 Second person I talked to, oh, what is this person doing?
    0:10:29 It stopped all shipments from China.
    0:10:30 Too expensive.
    0:10:32 And it’s going to have to reduce their inventory.
    0:10:36 Their inventory is going to go down, which means not only are the products with this huge
    0:10:40 tariff going to be marked up, but this person is also going to have to increase their prices
    0:10:43 to try and get some of that money back with lower supply.
    0:10:47 Maybe she can have a more elastic pricing, increased prices.
    0:10:50 So prices are going up, see above inflation.
    0:10:53 But then this person is going to run out of product.
    0:10:58 Then this person also in their next quarterly earnings call is going to have to puke all over
    0:11:02 the earnings call because this person all of a sudden has to say, well, there was this
    0:11:05 $14.5 million expense we weren’t even planning on.
    0:11:08 That comes right off the bottom line, folks.
    0:11:10 So what do you have?
    0:11:12 Oh, also some other conversations I had this weekend.
    0:11:16 A German automobile manufacturer called What Would You Do?
    0:11:17 I’m like, I have no fucking idea.
    0:11:19 I can’t predict what this guy is going to do.
    0:11:25 A friend of mine from the fraternity at UCLA has built this really lovely little specialty
    0:11:27 retail or specialty products company.
    0:11:31 You know when you go to a conference and there’s branded shit everywhere and you get those, I
    0:11:37 got like 45 fucking water bottles that say Oracle or NetSuite or ZipRecruiter and then
    0:11:41 all the banners and all the logos and the cups and everything that’s branded, that’s
    0:11:42 a specialty products company.
    0:11:45 He’s built a really nice business, but three kids through school employed, I think about
    0:11:46 120 people.
    0:11:49 I bet it’s a 10 or $20 million business.
    0:11:49 I don’t know.
    0:11:54 And over the last 30 years, slowly but surely, he’s told me, everything has moved to China.
    0:11:58 They just have a better supply chain and they can do shit at a lower cost, right?
    0:12:00 He stopped.
    0:12:01 He stopped all shipments.
    0:12:07 There’s no way he can turn to his customers and say, oh, this, all this logo wear and these
    0:12:12 logo fleeces and these banners and this signage for the stage, it was going to cost you $8,000.
    0:12:14 Now it’s going to cost you 21.
    0:12:16 He just can’t do that.
    0:12:20 So he’s going to have to eat all the contracts he’s always committed to, right?
    0:12:22 While paying these tariffs, he has to come up with additional cash flow.
    0:12:29 He said, Scott, this is reminiscent, but worse, worse than COVID.
    0:12:31 It’s like my business has come to an end.
    0:12:34 It’s literally my business is coming in.
    0:12:35 My guess is he retires.
    0:12:40 I don’t think he’s got it in him to try and figure out all the new supply chain relationships
    0:12:44 and to come up with the additional capital that’s going to be required to support this
    0:12:45 business moving forward at universities.
    0:12:47 What’s going on?
    0:12:50 Corporations have paused hiring.
    0:12:52 What’s a pause?
    0:12:54 It’s called non-hiring.
    0:12:58 Because if they pause for three or six months, it’s not as if when they fire up again,
    0:13:00 they double their pace of hiring.
    0:13:04 If you pause your hiring for six months, you’ve basically reduced hiring and employment or
    0:13:08 new employment at that company by 50% that year because they don’t catch up.
    0:13:10 They just start again.
    0:13:15 And what would you do if you’re a large corporation trying to figure out if and what the tariffs will
    0:13:16 be and how to plan your business?
    0:13:17 Do you hire new people?
    0:13:19 No, you think we’re just going to press a pause.
    0:13:22 The worst thing about this, well, that’s not true.
    0:13:24 There’s a lot of things that are shitty about this.
    0:13:28 But we’ve decided to declare war on everyone all at once.
    0:13:32 The piece of the calculus that is missing here is the following.
    0:13:36 You need to assess when you go to war or you have a negotiation with someone, you need to
    0:13:38 assess your strengths, right?
    0:13:41 Your own weaknesses and then their strengths and their weaknesses.
    0:13:43 And what they have miscalculated is the following.
    0:13:47 They think their weakness is their dependence upon us.
    0:13:48 What they miss is the following.
    0:13:49 They are not self-aware.
    0:13:55 And that is Americans’ tolerance for pain is incredibly low.
    0:13:59 Women are born with a greater tolerance for pain because they have to endure childbirth,
    0:14:00 which word has it.
    0:14:05 And I have personal experience, observational experience here, not actual experience, that
    0:14:06 in fact, it is the real deal.
    0:14:10 Supposedly there’s a hormone that releases right after childbirth that gives women amnesia.
    0:14:11 Otherwise, they’d never fucking do it again.
    0:14:17 We are the man in this relationship, meaning the U.S. has a much lower tolerance for pain
    0:14:19 than China.
    0:14:24 China starves or has starved tens of millions of people when they felt it was in the best
    0:14:26 interest of the political party or the nation as a whole.
    0:14:31 We fucking freak out when we think that the final episode of The Sopranos was a mistake
    0:14:33 and start calling our cable company.
    0:14:36 This is how stupid these people are.
    0:14:37 What do we have?
    0:14:40 Let’s review less hiring, more expenses.
    0:14:44 The economy is slowing, which I’m sure the president got all sorts of data points on
    0:14:44 last week.
    0:14:47 But meanwhile, interest rates are going up.
    0:14:51 If interest rates and those costs keep going up, it can chase down that consumer sentiment
    0:14:52 and that certainty.
    0:14:53 And what do we have?
    0:14:56 The uncertainty index is at a 40-year high.
    0:15:01 Consumers in America feel more uncertain right now than they did when there was a virus that
    0:15:02 killed a million people.
    0:15:03 Think about that.
    0:15:04 Think about that.
    0:15:07 Consumer confidence is crashing.
    0:15:08 So what do we have?
    0:15:09 What do we have?
    0:15:10 Less hiring.
    0:15:15 Stagflation or threats of stagflation, which is Latin for we’re headed towards a depression
    0:15:16 if we’re not careful.
    0:15:19 We have retailers who don’t know how to plan their business.
    0:15:25 And we have an administration that has no ability to actually assess the current situation
    0:15:27 and what our strengths are and our weaknesses are.
    0:15:32 There is no better opponent than someone who overestimates their strengths and is aggressive
    0:15:34 and gets into the ring with you.
    0:15:38 And quite frankly, just isn’t as strong or as quick as they think they are.
    0:15:42 But they have the hubris to believe that they’re awesome so they don’t train that hard.
    0:15:42 They don’t think that hard.
    0:15:46 They just get in the ring and start flailing wildly.
    0:15:46 Guess what?
    0:15:51 In about three months, if not sooner, we’re going to wake up and all we’re going to see
    0:15:52 are bright lights.
    0:15:54 We’re going to be flat on our ass staring up.
    0:15:56 And all we would have heard is the ding.
    0:15:57 And what was that ding?
    0:15:58 Stupid tariffs.
    0:16:01 This is the definition of stupid.
    0:16:07 OK, with respect to tariffs and today’s episode, arguably one of our most important interviews
    0:16:10 or I don’t know, I think I think this means we’re big time.
    0:16:10 We’re big time.
    0:16:16 We speak with Mark Carney, Canada’s 24th prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party sworn
    0:16:17 in this March.
    0:16:21 We discuss with the prime minister of the country’s economic outlook how Canada fits into a shifting
    0:16:26 global order and whether the U.S.-Canada relationship can be repaired amid rising trade tensions.
    0:16:29 I really enjoyed this conversation with the prime minister.
    0:16:34 He’s clearly a very intelligent guy, thoughtful, especially enjoying the end.
    0:16:36 I asked him some questions more personal in nature.
    0:16:42 We’ll ask Prime Minister Carney his thoughts on our relationship and where we go from here.
    0:17:02 Prime Minister, where does this podcast find you?
    0:17:04 I’m in Montreal right now, Professor.
    0:17:10 The majority of the world spends their news is 10 minutes domestic and 20 minutes international.
    0:17:13 In the U.S., we’re kind of self-absorbed, narcissistic.
    0:17:15 We don’t talk a lot about other countries.
    0:17:20 I think most people have heard of you, have seen you on TV, but don’t know much about you.
    0:17:22 Can you give us sort of your backstory, your origin story?
    0:17:23 Sure.
    0:17:29 So, I was born in the Arctic, the north of Canada, a place called Fort Smith, Northwest Territories.
    0:17:34 I grew up in Edmonton, and those who might follow hockey was the days of Wayne Gretzky when
    0:17:35 he was playing for the Oilers.
    0:17:36 That was when I was a kid.
    0:17:42 I went away to university in the U.S., and then I worked on Wall Street or versions of Wall
    0:17:42 Street.
    0:17:46 I worked for Goldman Sachs in London and Tokyo and New York and ultimately Canada.
    0:17:51 And then I went in about 20 years ago to become the deputy governor of the Bank of Canada,
    0:17:56 which is the equivalent of the Federal Reserve in the U.S., and ended up being the governor
    0:17:58 during the financial crisis of 2008.
    0:18:02 So, worked with, you know, through that process of the financial crisis.
    0:18:05 We had a, quote, good financial crisis.
    0:18:10 If you can have a good financial crisis in Canada, we got through it better than anyone else, emerged
    0:18:10 stronger.
    0:18:18 And then, ultimately, I kind of, slightly bizarrely, I was asked to become governor of
    0:18:18 the Bank of England.
    0:18:21 So, I became the first foreigners governor of the Bank of England.
    0:18:26 And I did that through the period of the Brexit referendum, as it turned out, and the aftermath
    0:18:26 of that.
    0:18:31 And then came back Canada 2020, right in the middle of COVID.
    0:18:35 You had a, I think you probably had a better experience during COVID if I, listening to
    0:18:38 your podcasts, if I read it correctly, than I did.
    0:18:42 And then I worked, I worked, did a lot of work on climate change for the United Nations, sort
    0:18:47 of pro bono, and organizing the financial sector to help address climate change.
    0:18:50 But also, at the same time, I worked for Brookfield, which is a big asset manager.
    0:18:52 And I was chair of Bloomberg.
    0:18:58 And then, as of the start of January, I first ran for the leadership of the Liberal Party,
    0:19:01 which is one of the main parties here.
    0:19:04 And winning that, became prime minister about a month ago.
    0:19:06 And now I’m running for election.
    0:19:10 We have much, last point, much shorter elections than the United States.
    0:19:15 Our campaign is 37 days, and we’ve got two weeks roughly left to go.
    0:19:19 So, a big friend of the pod is Ian Brenner, the geopolitical strategist.
    0:19:25 And he was on the pod last week, and he described you as a, open quote, generational mind for
    0:19:27 Canada on the global stage, close quote.
    0:19:33 In your view, what role does Canada play on the global stage?
    0:19:37 So, we play, I mean, we play several roles.
    0:19:39 We’re a member of the G7.
    0:19:43 In fact, we are chair of the G7 this year, so I’m chair of the G7.
    0:19:47 We’re a member of the Commonwealth, which is the old UK grouping.
    0:19:52 We’re a member of the Francophonie, which is the, obviously, the Francophone grouping of
    0:19:53 about 60 countries.
    0:19:59 So, we have our role in several different, let’s call it organizations, self-appointed organizations
    0:20:00 or groupings.
    0:20:07 I think one of the roles we play potentially in the new or the emerging global order is partly
    0:20:09 based on, you know, our assets.
    0:20:14 We are an energy, an emerging energy superpower in all forms of energy.
    0:20:18 We’re one of the largest critical mineral suppliers in the world.
    0:20:19 We’re pretty good in AI.
    0:20:23 A lot of people claim that we’re, you know, but we’re, I think, legitimately claiming that.
    0:20:30 And so, we can play a role as a country that believes in open markets, open systems, believes
    0:20:33 in trade, open ideas, diversity.
    0:20:40 We can play a role with like-minded countries to kind of reconstruct that bit of the international
    0:20:44 order, which has been, I’m in Montreal, they would say bouleversé.
    0:20:51 It’s been upended in the course of, more intensively in the last few months, but a process that
    0:20:54 really began with the financial crisis 15 years ago.
    0:20:57 And just for our listeners, the elephant in the room is terrible, so I’m going to get to
    0:20:58 that.
    0:21:04 But I want to start with, if you were to, so typically in the U.S., and I imagine the same
    0:21:08 way in Canada, when a new leader is elected, assuming you get elected, they have sort of a
    0:21:14 honeymoon period and an opportunity to get more done in their first year, more grace, if you
    0:21:17 will, than in the next two or three years.
    0:21:21 What would you identify as the two or three biggest issues facing Canada, and what’s your
    0:21:21 agenda?
    0:21:25 If you could pick two or three things you’re really going to go hard at your first year as
    0:21:26 prime minister, what are those things?
    0:21:32 As you just suggested, I’ll set tariffs aside and focus in on three things.
    0:21:36 First is having free trade actually within Canada.
    0:21:43 We have basically 13 economies here, 10 different provinces and territories, all with their own
    0:21:43 rules.
    0:21:48 Hard to move credentials and sometimes goods and services across the country, far harder
    0:21:49 than it should be.
    0:21:53 So a process, a very quick process of free trade.
    0:21:58 And by the way, just to put orders of magnitude on this, a reasonable estimate of the economic
    0:22:03 benefit of that is bigger than the economic hit from the worst version of the Trump tariffs.
    0:22:06 So we can kind of give ourselves more than others can.
    0:22:09 Second thing is we have a huge housing problem here.
    0:22:15 And particularly, obviously, for your younger Canadians, first and foremost, we need to double
    0:22:16 the rate of housing.
    0:22:21 And we need to, I won’t go into all the details, I’m happy to, but we need some major reforms
    0:22:22 in order to do that.
    0:22:26 We can do it in a way that actually leverages, you know, the Canadian supply chain technology
    0:22:31 and all the lumber we potentially won’t be able to send southbound to the U.S.
    0:22:35 And then the third thing, look, the world’s fluid.
    0:22:37 I’m afraid this kind of comes towards tariffs.
    0:22:42 But I think the trading system is going to get reordered fairly quickly.
    0:22:47 And so in the course of the first year, the question is, well, who are we going to deepen
    0:22:50 our relationships with other than the United States?
    0:22:54 And those relationships, last point, are both economic and security.
    0:22:57 The world’s a much more dangerous and divided place.
    0:22:59 Security concerns are top of the list.
    0:23:04 So who in Europe or European Union as a whole, UK, who in Asia, where are we going to partnership?
    0:23:11 If I can say one last thing, Scott, is, you know, just being shaken so hard by what’s
    0:23:18 happening in the United States, Canadians are very open to all of those priorities.
    0:23:20 Like people are up for big things.
    0:23:23 They’re coming together and they’re willing to do big things because they know they have
    0:23:25 to do big things because the world’s changed so much.
    0:23:28 Well, let’s use that as a segue into tariffs.
    0:23:33 So I haven’t checked my Apple Watch in the last two minutes, so I don’t know the state of
    0:23:34 things right now.
    0:23:38 Now, you’re, my understanding, Canada’s our largest trading partner, no?
    0:23:41 We tend to be obsessed with China, but you’re our largest trading partner, no?
    0:23:43 We’re your most important, yeah.
    0:23:44 Yeah.
    0:23:46 So give us the state of play.
    0:23:51 You’re the man representing our largest trading partner economically.
    0:23:58 As, to the best of your knowledge, describe the state of play between what is happening
    0:24:00 between the U.S. and Canada.
    0:24:02 Where does it sit at this moment?
    0:24:09 So I’ll start with the bad news or the, as we would call it, the unjustified news, which
    0:24:10 is what tariffs are in place.
    0:24:17 We have still in place today tariffs that were originally justified because of fentanyl, fentanyl
    0:24:20 coming across the border from Canada.
    0:24:26 Just for the listeners who haven’t tracked this, less than 1% of the fentanyl imported into
    0:24:27 the United States comes from Canada.
    0:24:32 In fact, you’ve got a sophisticated audience, so I can say things like 19 basis points of
    0:24:34 the fentanyl comes across the border from Canada.
    0:24:39 We’ve taken major steps to reinforce the border, drones, helicopters, other things, and it’s
    0:24:44 fallen by a further 90, 9-0% over the course of the last three months.
    0:24:49 But those tariffs hit a wide range of goods in Canada, hit a wide range of goods, and there’s
    0:24:51 a few carve-outs for that.
    0:24:55 But, you know, it’s hitting hundreds of billions of goods, and those are 25% tariffs from the United
    0:24:56 States.
    0:25:00 Then we are also caught, secondly, we’re also caught in the steel and aluminum tariffs,
    0:25:05 which are this, quote, national security tariffs, so-called 232 tariffs.
    0:25:08 We are the largest supplier of aluminum in the United States.
    0:25:13 We’re one of the most important suppliers of steel to the United States, and you can roll
    0:25:17 those up into hundreds of thousands of jobs in the U.S., depending on Canadian steel and
    0:25:18 aluminum.
    0:25:22 And then the third thing is we are caught in the auto tariffs.
    0:25:27 As people probably know, but I’ll just personalize it, well, they wouldn’t know this fact.
    0:25:32 There was something called the AutoPAC, which was signed the year I was born, you know, 60
    0:25:32 years ago.
    0:25:38 And we have had an increasingly integrated auto system with the United States for 60 years.
    0:25:39 It got tighter with the Canada-U.S.
    0:25:42 Free Trade Agreement 40 years ago, and then with NAFTA and the successor.
    0:25:48 So literally, you know, these companies and the supply chains, the main parts suppliers, they’re
    0:25:50 virtually fully integrated.
    0:25:57 And now into the middle of this is coming 25% U.S. tariffs, which are, you know, in an
    0:26:01 industry, as you know, that has, you know, 5%, 7% margins.
    0:26:04 I mean, this is absolutely damaging.
    0:26:06 So we have three sets of tariffs.
    0:26:11 We are not subject yet to the so-called reciprocal tariffs to the U.S.
    0:26:17 So the state of the relationship is strained, to say the least, because all of these tariffs
    0:26:21 are in violation of what you call USMCA.
    0:26:24 We call KUSMA, the same trade agreement.
    0:26:31 The good news or the better news is that three weeks ago or so, President Trump and I spoke
    0:26:36 and we agreed that following the Canadian election, there would be the beginning of a negotiation
    0:26:40 of a comprehensive, a new comprehensive relationship, economic security.
    0:26:45 So we are in the queue, so to speak, for those discussions.
    0:26:52 It strikes me that these actions are about to inspire what they envision, that is a tremendous
    0:26:56 amount of dealmaking, but dealmaking around us.
    0:27:03 It just seems logical, and this is a thesis, and I want you to validate or nullify it.
    0:27:09 But if I’m a G7 nation and I have a trading partner that I used to be able to count on,
    0:27:13 that was mutually very prosperous, and now I just not only can’t count on them, but have
    0:27:18 no idea who I’m waking up next to, that it’s incredible motivation to start establishing
    0:27:20 dialogue with other nations.
    0:27:27 Respond to that thesis, is Canada aggressively and actively trying to reroute around America
    0:27:27 right now?
    0:27:35 Well, I would say, you know, trade is a world of and, so, you know, it’s a positive
    0:27:39 sum game, as you know, or both sides, you do it right, both sides win, it’s not a zero sum
    0:27:39 game.
    0:27:46 So I might not choose the phrase around America, but obviously, you know, look, if we’re, if
    0:27:50 we’ve got excess capacity or we have things we’re going to develop, I’ll use the example
    0:27:56 of critical minerals, where we’re a big player, who are, with whom are we going to trade?
    0:27:58 Who can we rely on?
    0:28:04 You know, we’re, we’re, we’re sitting here, we supply 70% of the potash to the United States,
    0:28:08 you know, one of the most important components of fertilizer, 70%.
    0:28:12 And there is a 25% tariff being put on potash.
    0:28:17 So when you think about it, well, geez, maybe I might want to take another, I’ll call it
    0:28:20 a commodity, even though critical metals and minerals are more than that.
    0:28:24 If we’re going to develop those, maybe we want to develop them with a supply chain to
    0:28:26 someone who’s not going to slap a tariff like that on.
    0:28:28 So that I’m validating your thesis.
    0:28:34 We, we, yeah, we have begun to intensify discussions with other, other countries, other trading blocks.
    0:28:38 We have a pretty good set of trading, trade deals in place.
    0:28:39 We have a free trade deal with Europe.
    0:28:40 We have a free trade.
    0:28:45 We’re part of the trans, what was called the Trans-Pacific Partnership in Asia.
    0:28:48 So we have a number of those, but we, we’re, we’re looking to reinforce them.
    0:28:54 Um, and look, we’re, we are hopeful, maybe hopeful isn’t the right word, but we’re open
    0:29:01 open is a better way to put it to, um, a restart of the U S trading relationship, um, provided
    0:29:06 there’s willingness on the other side and we can come to one of those positive, positive sum deals.
    0:29:12 So I would imagine you speak to a lot of other G7 leaders or G20 leaders.
    0:29:19 What’s the general consensus around American leadership right now?
    0:29:26 And I realize that you have more restraint and are a bit more or tangibly more diplomatic,
    0:29:33 but what is the thesis among this group of world leaders around what is going on here?
    0:29:35 Uh, how do they explain it?
    0:29:37 How do you explain it to each other?
    0:29:38 Or can you explain it to each other?
    0:29:43 Cause quite frankly, here in the U S a lot of this doesn’t even make sense to us.
    0:29:45 And, and this is our leadership.
    0:29:52 Well, I think the first thing is to recognize as, as I have said, and, uh, a number of those
    0:29:59 other leaders have said, including G7 leaders is that the system as we knew it is over, right?
    0:30:04 When the anchor of the system is fundamental, has done a series of measures, uh, that the U S has
    0:30:07 done, but also set out a series of objectives.
    0:30:11 And I’ll come back to that, uh, but the set of a series of objectives that are just inconsistent
    0:30:14 with the way the system has been operating for decades, right?
    0:30:17 Basically since the fall of the Berlin wall intensified since then.
    0:30:21 So you recognize that that system anchored on the U S is over.
    0:30:24 That then leads to how do you react to it?
    0:30:28 There’s partly the negotiation with the U S and which you’ve been focused on, but then it’s
    0:30:30 also, how do we deal with each other?
    0:30:34 Which we’ve also touched on in terms of what the U S is trying to accomplish.
    0:30:40 I think it’s, uh, you know, I take, uh, go back to, uh, uh, Peter Thiel of, uh, 10 years
    0:30:45 ago saying, take Donald Trump literally, uh, and seriously, but take him literally and seriously.
    0:30:52 And, you know, they looking to, um, to balance, uh, where to the extent possible to balance trade,
    0:30:57 which is not the way we think about things, but is the way the U S thinks about things.
    0:31:04 And, you know, you do get into odd situations like Canada, where we actually run a, America
    0:31:07 has a trade surplus with Canada in goods.
    0:31:12 The only reason there’s an overall deficit with Canada is because of basically oil imports.
    0:31:16 Well, if you don’t want our oil imports, that will be a bit of a problem for a period of time.
    0:31:21 Cause you know, the only other option for the refineries that take Canadian oil is Venezuela.
    0:31:25 And that’s, uh, you know, they’re just banned those, uh, those imports as well.
    0:31:30 So there it’s not, the logic isn’t entirely consistent.
    0:31:30 Let’s put it that way.
    0:31:35 But I think at the core recognizing this desire for more balanced trade.
    0:31:42 And so from the U S administration question, I think in our mind is there are some industries,
    0:31:47 autos, particularly aerospace would have another element of this.
    0:31:52 Um, and then a number of commodity and there are a couple of industries that are so integrated
    0:32:00 that it’s hard to see why for us competitiveness, let alone North American competitiveness, it
    0:32:01 makes sense to pull them apart.
    0:32:03 That would be our argument.
    0:32:08 And then there’s other industries, uh, forest products, uh, steel, aluminum as three big examples
    0:32:11 where we’re, uh, uh, agriculture potash.
    0:32:12 I gave that example, nickel.
    0:32:17 I could go on where we’re such huge suppliers and such a safe, secure supplier.
    0:32:23 Again, it doesn’t really to us make sense that that would be displaced or tariffed.
    0:32:28 So, you know, we’ve seen that this, uh, the trade policy is evolving as, uh, some of these
    0:32:30 choke points become more evident.
    0:32:33 And, uh, you know, I suspect, I suspect we will see more.
    0:32:40 Maybe I’ll say one other thing if I could, which is, it strikes me a bit in the, in the
    0:32:48 consistencies of, uh, U S policy is a desire to have some minimum tariff if possible, um,
    0:32:51 which has a revenue raising element to it.
    0:32:56 And I think, you know, tied into, uh, U S tax policy, that is, uh, that is also a possibility
    0:32:56 here.
    0:33:01 My understanding is about 99% of our trade is tariff-free and that 1% is around things
    0:33:02 like dairy.
    0:33:07 Haven’t we largely been kind of a trade-free zone between Canada and the U S today?
    0:33:08 Yeah.
    0:33:09 Yeah, we have.
    0:33:13 And then we have, you know, like any trading partners, you get the odd trade irritant and,
    0:33:17 uh, you know, trade dispute, but we have processes to deal with those.
    0:33:23 And so we had a, uh, you know, we have, uh, on, ongoing things around forest products,
    0:33:26 sometimes, uh, steel and aluminum and, you know, that’s handled.
    0:33:31 But yeah, trade is basically, uh, tariff-free and, you know, when it, when it’s your biggest
    0:33:35 trading partner, pulling that apart is, is, is quite costly.
    0:33:40 It’s costly for both, you know, from a Canadian perspective and, you know, I’m out on the road,
    0:33:41 I’m, I’m running for office.
    0:33:42 I’m talking to lots of Canadians up and down.
    0:33:49 There is a very strong sense of, yeah, this is going to cost us, but we’re willing to take
    0:33:52 the price to restructure our economy in a different direction.
    0:33:58 Like, it’s been such a sense of, uh, I mean, the word that’s used is betrayal.
    0:34:03 So, you know, we signed a deal, we’ve had this partnership, we observe it in good faith,
    0:34:07 we set up businesses, we, you know, we know lots of Americans, we like Americans, we listen to
    0:34:09 American podcasts, you know, there’s such a thing.
    0:34:15 And all of a sudden, you know, we get these, uh, you know, these attacks is, which is the
    0:34:17 way these, this is viewed is okay.
    0:34:22 So it’s going to cost us for a period of time, uh, and we’ll build out and, uh, build with
    0:34:23 others.
    0:34:26 We’ll be right back after a quick break.
    0:34:36 Unwrap the early days of your favorite hockey stars with Tim’s new retrospective rookies
    0:34:41 hockey cards featuring exclusive NHL and PWHL players and retired legends.
    0:34:45 Collect them all only at Tim’s at participating restaurants in Canada for a limited time.
    0:34:53 We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.
    0:34:56 That is not a recipe for economic prosperity.
    0:35:01 Vice President J.D. Vance defending the Trump administration’s tariffs on China hit China
    0:35:03 squarely below the belt.
    0:35:05 And China hit back with memes.
    0:35:06 Cue music.
    0:35:16 Americans on assembly lines at sewing machines in fields, eating chips, drinking Coke, looking
    0:35:19 ill-prepared for factory work, to put it politely, which the memes are not.
    0:35:24 China’s argument since this trade war began is that America cannot win it.
    0:35:27 China is tougher, more resilient, and better prepared.
    0:35:35 On Today Explained, as this trade war escalates, we ask, what if that’s true?
    0:35:42 Today Explained, every weekday.
    0:35:52 The regular season’s in the rearview, and now it’s time for the games that matter the most.
    0:35:55 This is Kenny Beecham, and playoff basketball is finally here.
    0:35:59 On Small Ball, we’re diving deep into every series, every crunch time finish, every coaching
    0:36:03 adjustment that can make or break a championship run.
    0:36:05 Who’s building for a 16-win marathon?
    0:36:07 Which superstar will submit their legacy?
    0:36:11 And which role player is about to become a household name?
    0:36:15 With so many fascinating first-round matchups, will the West be the bloodbath we anticipate?
    0:36:18 Will the East be as predictable as we think?
    0:36:19 Can the Celtics defend their title?
    0:36:24 Can Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard push the young teams at the top?
    0:36:28 I’ll be bringing the expertise to pass in the genuine opinion you need for the most exciting
    0:36:29 time of the NBA calendar.
    0:36:33 Small Ball is your essential companion for the NBA postseason.
    0:36:37 Join me, Kenny Beecham, for new episodes of Small Ball throughout the playoffs.
    0:36:39 Don’t miss Small Ball with Kenny Beecham.
    0:36:41 New episodes dropping through the playoffs.
    0:36:44 Available on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.
    0:36:56 You were the first non-Brit to serve to run the Bank of England.
    0:36:59 You’re sort of the Bo Jackson of global economic leadership.
    0:37:05 I’ve compared this, and it might be a crude analogy, but I want you to add some color or
    0:37:06 fill in the blanks here.
    0:37:11 I’ve described these tariffs as the biggest own goal since Brexit.
    0:37:18 What similarities do you see, and how does that inform how you respond to this and be what
    0:37:19 you think ultimately the outcome is?
    0:37:24 Well, I think there are a lot of similarities.
    0:37:28 And it starts with the economics of what’s happening.
    0:37:33 Actually, briefly describe Brexit, because just give us the headline news on Brexit.
    0:37:38 So the headline on Brexit is for a variety of reasons, and many of them not to do with
    0:37:41 economics, although it was sold as an economic, you know, win.
    0:37:49 But a lot of people, you know, because of reasons of identity and others, voted in 2018, if I’ll
    0:37:50 get my dates right, 2016, I guess.
    0:37:51 No.
    0:37:54 For the UK to leave the European Union.
    0:37:59 And the UK was even more tightly bound in trade and economic relationships with the European
    0:38:04 Union than Canada is with the United States, including free movement of labor, easy movement
    0:38:08 of the capital, huge trade going both ways.
    0:38:10 And you never had to get your product.
    0:38:14 If your product met the product standard in the UK, you didn’t have to worry about it.
    0:38:15 You could sell to any country in Europe.
    0:38:21 And so the decision taken, as I say, for a variety of reasons, narrowly, but taken to leave
    0:38:22 the European Union.
    0:38:26 And I remember when it happened, in our view at the time, and remember, this was during
    0:38:31 a period where it was interest rates were at rock bottom, inflation was too low, people
    0:38:32 were worried about deflation, blah, blah.
    0:38:37 Our view was, okay, what’s going to happen is the economy is going to slow, unemployment’s
    0:38:41 going to go up, inflation’s going to go up, and we at the Bank of England are going to have
    0:38:43 to raise interest rates when this happens.
    0:38:45 And by the way, the currency will also go down.
    0:38:47 The currency went down by 20, 25%.
    0:38:50 It’s still on the floor relative to where it was.
    0:38:56 Still on the floor because you had a big negative trade shock, a big loss of wealth, basically,
    0:38:57 future wealth.
    0:38:58 And the currency market priced it first.
    0:39:02 And exactly what we expected to happen, happened.
    0:39:06 I mean, it happened to happen roughly at the same time as COVID was finishing.
    0:39:12 But you had a big, again, I’m relying on your audience, a big negative supply shock to the
    0:39:18 economy because you ripped up trading relationships and the productive capacity went down relative to
    0:39:19 where demand was.
    0:39:21 So that was inflationary.
    0:39:26 And a combination of that meant UK rates are higher and it’s got a bigger inflation problem
    0:39:28 it has had than other economies.
    0:39:33 When you look at what’s happening in the US, the friction put into its trading relationships
    0:39:35 is going to cause the same thing.
    0:39:39 It is going to slow the rate of growth of that economy.
    0:39:41 It is going to affect the dollar.
    0:39:44 It has affected the dollar negatively, as we’ve seen.
    0:39:46 It’s going to push up prices on the margin.
    0:39:52 And so slower economy, higher inflation, higher interest rates, all things being equal.
    0:39:57 Now, there’s a big caveat with what I did, or there’s a qualifier is a better way to put
    0:39:57 it.
    0:40:02 The UK was a much more open economy, much more dependent on Europe.
    0:40:05 The US is more of a closed economy.
    0:40:08 It depends on the world, but it is, it’s different orders of magnitude.
    0:40:10 So it’s same direction, different orders of magnitude.
    0:40:15 So there’s, I think there are a lot of, a lot of parallels here, and I guess maybe the
    0:40:19 other parallel, if I can add one more, which remains to be seen.
    0:40:25 But the UK, I would say, and you’ll get, I’ll get hate mail from UK, some UK listeners, but
    0:40:31 I would say based on the polling, it’s pretty well understood that the economic impact of Brexit
    0:40:32 has been negative in the UK.
    0:40:36 Let’s say two thirds of the people now understand that.
    0:40:41 But the path back to being closer to Europe is very difficult politically.
    0:40:43 It’s hard to build, rebuild that consensus.
    0:40:44 They move very slowly.
    0:40:50 And you think about the situation in the world right now for the UK, boy, there’s a lot of
    0:40:55 logic being closer to Europe from a trade perspective.
    0:41:00 And even from a security perspective, they built this sort of what’s called a coalition
    0:41:05 of the willing with respect to Ukraine, because the UK, the US is pulling back from support
    0:41:05 for Ukraine.
    0:41:10 By the way, Canada has stepped up and is part of that largely European coalition of the willing
    0:41:11 alongside Australia.
    0:41:14 So there’s a logic to going back to that.
    0:41:16 But it’s hard to go back once you’ve broken up these relationships.
    0:41:22 And, you know, so the next six, 12 months, in my judgment, are going to be quite important
    0:41:25 for the United States and for the global trading system.
    0:41:32 Because the question is, OK, we understand that there is a big change, a big break with the
    0:41:32 old system.
    0:41:34 But how much of a break is it going to be?
    0:41:41 And is there going to be a relatively open trading system for, I’m using quotations here
    0:41:44 for those listening, like-minded countries, broadly like-minded countries?
    0:41:49 You know, I think of the G7 as being pretty like-minded countries, not surprisingly.
    0:41:53 You know, we value liberty, free speech, open markets in general.
    0:41:57 So are we going to have a relatively open system amongst ourselves?
    0:42:01 Or is it only going to be with a few countries?
    0:42:02 Or is it going to be with no countries?
    0:42:04 I mean, that’s kind of what to play for here.
    0:42:10 And, but the system won’t, it won’t revert to what it was previously.
    0:42:18 When we’re talking about these tariffs, there’s a general sense that, or at least a talk track
    0:42:24 from the Trump administration that the U.S. has been taken advantage of by its trading partners,
    0:42:29 including Canada, that they’ve just got the better end of the deal and that tariffs will
    0:42:34 help restore some sort of parity or equity in the relationship and respond to that.
    0:42:38 Well, I mean, we don’t, obviously we don’t see it.
    0:42:45 We don’t see it in the following respects, because really, again, the way the Trump administration
    0:42:49 has defined being, quote, taken advantage of is, do you run a trade deficit?
    0:42:53 And we can argue about that definition.
    0:42:58 I wouldn’t, if I lead on my economic training and my experience, I would say, well, that isn’t
    0:43:01 being taken advantage of, it’s mutual exchange.
    0:43:04 But the U.S. runs a surplus with us.
    0:43:06 The U.S. sells more to us.
    0:43:09 If anyone’s being taken advantage of, we’re being taken advantage of, right?
    0:43:11 Because, I mean, by that definition.
    0:43:17 And the only place where they run a deficit is, yes, we do ship oil to the United States.
    0:43:22 Now, we happen to ship oil to the United States at a big discount to global prices.
    0:43:30 So we’re being taken advantage of, again, on that definition, on the goods trade side.
    0:43:33 And we’re getting taken advantage because we’re selling oil at below good prices.
    0:43:35 So we, you know, we want our money back.
    0:43:36 No, we don’t.
    0:43:39 We still see the broader benefits of the relationship.
    0:43:44 And, you know, I don’t think that, I’ll go back to the auto sector.
    0:43:51 It’s not going to feel taken advantage of, as if these tariffs stay in place.
    0:43:56 And, you know, as you say, you got to check your phone every once in a while just to see
    0:43:57 where things stand.
    0:44:02 There’s a possible exemption on the auto parts side that’s coming in in the United States,
    0:44:07 which we would have said right, well, we did say right from the start would have to happen
    0:44:10 because the whole system will grind to a halt without it.
    0:44:15 So some of the mutual advantages will become more, are becoming more apparent.
    0:44:19 And hopefully the U.S. administration can continue to be nimble.
    0:44:25 My understanding is that you ship us cheap energy or cheap oil.
    0:44:27 You’re obviously a very resource abundant nation.
    0:44:32 We apply our IP and refining capability and then we sell it at three times the cost.
    0:44:34 It sounds like it’s been pretty mutually beneficial.
    0:44:36 Yeah, no, that’s absolutely right.
    0:44:39 How do you see this playing out?
    0:44:45 If you were tempted to speculate what the relationship is around global trade and tariffs
    0:44:49 on a macro level and then specifically with Canada and the U.S.,
    0:44:55 when you try to plan an economy similar to the way the CEO tries to plan a business,
    0:44:58 what are you expecting?
    0:44:59 You have to do scenario planning.
    0:45:00 Nobody knows.
    0:45:03 But what do you think are the most likely scenarios for how this plays out?
    0:45:09 Because I mean this sincerely, Prime Minister, we’re all befuddled by this.
    0:45:14 The majority of people who understand economics are having a difficult time seeing how this
    0:45:16 is a big win for the U.S.
    0:45:20 We’re just, we’re having a difficult time understanding how we win here.
    0:45:26 Maybe more people come to the, they claim there’s 75 nations lining up to cut deals with them.
    0:45:31 Is that the sense you get, that nations are lining up to cut a deal with us right now?
    0:45:39 Well, the short answer, I, I, I don’t know the, I don’t know is on that second question.
    0:45:42 There’s a few things that happen here.
    0:45:48 One is that there’s a risk premium in U.S. assets that wasn’t there before.
    0:45:51 And the question is, how big is that risk premium going to sell?
    0:45:52 Where is it going to sell?
    0:46:00 And, and that in part is going to depend on how coherent the new system is, you know,
    0:46:07 and, and is there, does the U.S. credibly commit to a new system or a series of deals?
    0:46:12 Remember, we’re, you know, we have a, we have a trading deal with U.S. that was signed by the
    0:46:17 current president, um, and, uh, and which, which isn’t being, you know, observed.
    0:46:20 So, so I think that’s one thing is there’s a risk premium on U.S. assets.
    0:46:25 And if there’s a risk premium on U.S. assets, then the cost of all other assets around the world
    0:46:26 is greater, right?
    0:46:30 Like since we’re still priced off of, uh, priced off of U.S. treasuries, for example.
    0:46:31 So that’s one thing.
    0:46:37 I think second is, um, I do believe that there are a series of like-minded countries.
    0:46:42 We very much like the U.S. to be part of that group, but like-minded countries who will develop
    0:46:45 deeper trading and security relationships as a consequence of this.
    0:46:47 Uh, it’s the world of second best.
    0:46:51 It’s not what we would all want, but it’s the logical thing to do.
    0:46:57 Third thing that’s going to happen is that, um, there is going to be much greater focus.
    0:47:01 And I know this for a fact, and well, this will be a fact if, if, if, uh, my party is
    0:47:06 successful in the elections, uh, a much greater focus on, uh, domestic drivers of demand.
    0:47:10 So building at home, building big infrastructure, building millions of houses, building, you know,
    0:47:16 building out our own economies, um, more, more, uh, domestic procurement, right?
    0:47:22 In a world where we’ve got excess steel and aluminum capacity, which we will, uh, if the
    0:47:25 U.S. doesn’t change on trade, well, guess who’s steel and aluminum we’re going to buy?
    0:47:31 Um, uh, for a variety of things, uh, guess what defense procurement we’re going to do?
    0:47:38 Uh, you know, right now we spend about 75% of our defense dollars go to the United States.
    0:47:45 That, you know, doesn’t make a lot of sense, uh, if we settle out in a, in a more, um,
    0:47:48 arm’s length relationship with the U S and that’s true.
    0:47:50 If it’s true for us, it’s true for Europe.
    0:47:51 It’s true for the UK.
    0:47:58 Um, and so we’ll all move more domestic and more with each other and the degree to which
    0:47:59 that happens.
    0:48:01 So this is a world just to be clear.
    0:48:05 And you, uh, I think you intuitively understand what you get this from the start.
    0:48:08 We’ve got a world where we have higher risk premia, right?
    0:48:10 It’s cost of capital is more expensive.
    0:48:14 And we’ve got a world where people are doing second best things.
    0:48:15 Countries are doing second best things.
    0:48:19 So it’s a world that’s more expensive and it’s more, it’s not our target.
    0:48:24 To use a fancy word, like it’s not totally in and of yourself, but it’s, you’re putting
    0:48:28 a much greater emphasis on, uh, taking care of yourself.
    0:48:33 Um, uh, we’ll do that and we’ll do it with like-minded countries and, uh, uh, and move
    0:48:34 forward.
    0:48:39 The surveys I’ve read said that two thirds of Americans still think of Canada as an ally.
    0:48:42 We’re sort of like, oh, you know, Trump, let boys will be boys.
    0:48:48 We still love Canadians, but two thirds plus of Canadians no longer see the U S as an ally.
    0:48:54 I mean, quite frankly, it feels like Canadians are just pissed off that they feel the term
    0:49:00 used was betrayed and that even if we’re, even if we’re able to establish, go back to
    0:49:05 normal, hasn’t the knife, you know, isn’t it the knife gets pulled halfway out of the back,
    0:49:07 but this injury takes years or decades to fail.
    0:49:15 I mean, what is the vibe, if you will, around how Canadians feel about Americans and how long
    0:49:18 do you think it gets, it takes us to repair this relationship?
    0:49:20 I certainly recognize those figures.
    0:49:29 Um, there is a feeling here that, uh, that the, it’s the actions of the U S there’s, there’s
    0:49:29 several things.
    0:49:31 One is the trade actions.
    0:49:35 Secondly, was this long period and I’m, I’m not going to repeat the phrases that were used,
    0:49:41 but these threats to our sovereignty are very sovereignty, which, you know, kind of unique.
    0:49:45 There’s us in Denmark who’ve suffered actual threats to sovereignty.
    0:49:50 I guess Panama, we roll ourselves in with that and that’s, you know, on your hierarchy of
    0:49:54 betrayals, threatening somebody else’s sovereignty is pretty much the top.
    0:49:57 Uh, I guess the top is acting on that threat.
    0:50:00 Um, so, uh, uh, so that’s all mixed in.
    0:50:08 Um, I think secondly, what has been striking has been the relatively muted response in the
    0:50:13 broader U S to these steps, right?
    0:50:19 Um, you know, the CEO class, if I can put it that way, the other major influencers, stakeholders
    0:50:24 and the, uh, that’s changing a bit, but it was pretty quiet for a long period of time.
    0:50:30 Um, so, you know, and when you look at that from this side of the border, you think, oh, okay,
    0:50:34 well, this is more deeply held or the friendship is less firmly rooted.
    0:50:36 It’s like any relationship.
    0:50:42 I think if it’s, uh, when you have a, a loss of trust, it, you know, it can be repaired to
    0:50:43 a degree.
    0:50:47 It takes a period of time and it takes action to replace that, you know, it’s more than
    0:50:48 more than fine words.
    0:50:56 I, I think that, uh, that action can start with, uh, in May, the prime minister of Canada
    0:50:58 at that point, we’ll meet with, uh, with president Trump.
    0:51:01 Uh, I want to be the prime minister of Canada at that point.
    0:51:04 I’m working hard to get there, but, uh, uh, uh, and they’ll sit down and say,
    0:51:10 start a process of, um, redefining that relationship and, and, and building trust out from that.
    0:51:12 We’ll be right back.
    0:51:27 It really seems like tariffs are about to make just about everything more expensive.
    0:51:32 And so this week on the Vergecast, we’re trying to figure out not only which gadgets do you need
    0:51:38 to buy right now before they get more expensive, but also what can tech companies big and small
    0:51:44 do to cope in complicated, uncertain times when it seems like nothing makes sense and the money
    0:51:48 changes every day and all they want to do is ship gadgets.
    0:51:54 The future of gadgets in a tariff world all this week on the Vergecast, wherever you get podcasts.
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    0:53:46 We’re back with more from Prime Minister Carney.
    0:54:00 So just as a means of not or taking advantage of the fact that we have you on this podcast, we have real problems in the U.S. around income inequality.
    0:54:06 For the first time in our nation’s history, a 30-year-old isn’t doing as well as her parents was at 30.
    0:54:09 Tremendous polarization politically.
    0:54:10 People just don’t like each other.
    0:54:13 I mean, I would argue that comparatively the nation’s actually done quite well.
    0:54:17 But what ails us, the call is coming from inside of the house.
    0:54:19 We don’t like each other within America.
    0:54:25 You’re asked to be a journeyman and come be Treasury Secretary or head of the Fed.
    0:54:30 What policy plans do you think the U.S. should adopt?
    0:54:37 And then I want to use that as a jumping off point to what are the biggest economic challenges the candidate faces and how you plan to address them.
    0:54:43 Well, I think the, okay, you go to the heart of, I mean, that’s a big, big question.
    0:54:45 I guess the way I look at it as follows.
    0:54:48 I mean, I’m going to come at this from an odd angle maybe.
    0:54:58 But when I look at what’s going to drive economic prosperity, productivity, growth for the next 25 years, what are the big drivers of that?
    0:55:00 I’d put down three big drivers.
    0:55:01 AI, no insight.
    0:55:03 I’d put it at the top of the list.
    0:55:07 Probably the life sciences revolution where I’m less expert.
    0:55:10 And I would put carbon.
    0:55:12 I would put drive towards lower carbon.
    0:55:19 The U.S. has taken a step back from that for the moment, but it’s going to come back because the underlying issues around are there.
    0:55:28 And so, okay, if those are some of the big things that are going to drive economies going forward, and the U.S. can have mastery in all of those.
    0:55:40 But the question is how broadly that’s going to be shared within the U.S. across various social strata and how ready people are going to be to take advantage of it, right?
    0:55:50 So, you know, is AI going to be, you know, purely an elite or largely an elite operation, or is AI going to be used to train a lot of people to do a number of things?
    0:56:10 I mean, I know that sounds very Panglossian or, you know, techno-optimistic, but it is, the question is whether it’s a deliberate policy that’s steered by the federal and local governments in a way that are going to ensure that, you know, in Appalachia, you’re learning skills that are consistent with that.
    0:56:18 And or, you know, the energy transition over time, but it’s not a term that’s used anymore in the U.S. as far as I can tell, but it will come back.
    0:56:24 If I can flip it back, Scott, to us, we have the same set of issues or set of drivers.
    0:56:25 Those are global drivers.
    0:56:29 On top of that, we have a series of things such as I mentioned critical minerals.
    0:56:30 We have large conventional energy.
    0:56:36 So how are we balancing all that in a way that builds the jobs as we move out?
    0:56:41 One of the things, I’ll say two other things which are related but distinct.
    0:56:44 We got to sort out our housing issues in this country.
    0:56:53 We have a massive economic, we have absolute social need, but we have a massive economic opportunity to create a new industry, new way of building houses and at scale and driving that.
    0:56:55 And we’re going to, we’re going to shoot on that.
    0:57:09 And I guess the last thing I’d say, which candidly worries me a bit about the United States and gives me greater comfort or strength in Canada is a word I’m not sure you’d like to use anymore, which is around diversity.
    0:57:15 We have a huge, huge opportunity here because we’re one of the most diverse countries in the world.
    0:57:20 We value diversity, we get a very strong sense of equal rights in a broad sense.
    0:57:22 We can be a magnet for talent.
    0:57:33 And as the U.S. is pushing out brains, if you will, and, you know, it’s quite a hostile environment in the academic world in the United States now, we can take advantage of that.
    0:57:40 And then that cascades down through, you know, the AI revolution, life sciences, other elements.
    0:57:43 Broadcasters, creative class, Scott, come up here.
    0:57:46 Whether it’s now, it’s now above zero.
    0:57:49 Creative has done a lot of work in that sentence, prime minister.
    0:57:54 So the, look, you have a housing crisis, we have a housing crisis.
    0:57:58 And it seems like leaders have agreed that it’s a crisis for the last 10 years.
    0:58:04 Now, I read that housing in Vancouver is a percentage of the average salary is the third most expensive city in the world.
    0:58:08 And that so much of it is in zoning and nimbyism.
    0:58:15 And you’re, the previous prime minister, you know, they wanted to address the housing crisis.
    0:58:17 What’s the friction point?
    0:58:18 Is it capital?
    0:58:18 Is it labor?
    0:58:19 Is it zoning?
    0:58:25 What is different about what you’re proposing that is going to register any more progress than previous administrations?
    0:58:28 So it’s, it’s all of the above.
    0:58:31 And so you attack it in a, in a comprehensive way.
    0:58:37 I’m going to simplify in terms of restriction zoning development charges.
    0:58:39 And we work at multiple levels of government.
    0:58:41 It’s part of the reason why those costs are there.
    0:58:42 They come from the municipal side.
    0:58:50 And so in effect, we put up a bunch of money, just put up a bunch of money to commit, to cut the development charges in half.
    0:58:50 Okay.
    0:59:00 So that, and that’s subject to a series of other restrictions being removed, but we will, we at the federal level, we’ll, we’ll pay for that to, to be cut in half.
    0:59:11 The second thing, uh, I mean, we believe very strongly that, uh, I mean, productivity for, in the Canadian housing, uh, sector construction sector basically is flatlined for the last 20 years.
    0:59:11 Okay.
    0:59:13 We’re still building houses like we did before.
    0:59:20 And given the scale of what we need to do, you know, we got to move much more rapidly, particularly in urban density and other things.
    0:59:27 So, you know, modular prefab housing, um, mass timber, other innovations that are there, they exist.
    0:59:33 And so one of the things we’re going to do to kickstart that industry, and this is Canada’s, not the United States.
    0:59:35 We have a different attitude toward these things.
    0:59:39 We have a problem with, uh, deeply affordable housing, right?
    0:59:42 Social, certain countries you might call social housing.
    0:59:47 Uh, we’ve, we, we just have not built that for decades, basically in effect.
    0:59:49 And so we need to, we need to catch up.
    0:59:56 And so what we’re doing, part of what we’re doing is we’re going to build huge amount at that level.
    1:00:13 And set the, the, the, the, the specs, if you will, for that we’re going to build and we’re going to build by, you know, on our balance sheet or as a developer, and we’ll set the specs for that, which drive the industry upstream in prefab, mass timber, et cetera, which gets the economies to scale there.
    1:00:19 Um, but by and large, we will rely on private sector build, uh, we’ll make a bunch of land available.
    1:00:28 We’ll make cheap capital, 25 billion, uh, for developers in this case, which is bigger money up here, cut those development charges in half, drive that.
    1:00:33 And then we will give tax breaks to people buying their first time home.
    1:00:40 So basically they’re getting 5% off their first, first time home, which, you know, from a down payment perspective starts, starts to add up.
    1:00:45 So attacking it both on the supply demand side, the way we look at it is.
    1:00:55 This is generational, like the scale of the problem is generational such that we are building out a huge pipeline of apprentices in the skilled trades.
    1:01:03 And one of the core messages I give virtually every time I speak, so I’m going to do it now is this is going to be a great time for a career in the skilled trades in Canada.
    1:01:06 Cause we’re going to build for the next 25, 30 years.
    1:01:09 Like we are going to add, if we get this right.
    1:01:13 And we intend to three to four points of GDP of investment.
    1:01:15 That’s a huge number, right?
    1:01:15 It’s possible.
    1:01:19 We used to invest at that scale relative to GDP in the early seventies.
    1:01:20 We can do it again.
    1:01:21 You know, we can finance it.
    1:01:23 Um, we got all the pension funds.
    1:01:27 We’ve got lots of money to finance it, but we need to, we need to kickstart it.
    1:01:30 And of course it’s not, it’s housing is we start with housing.
    1:01:34 It’s not just housing, it’s energy, it’s other, other elements, but that’s what we’re going to do.
    1:01:39 So we want to get young people into the skilled trades at scale.
    1:01:41 We’re going to pay for all their apprenticeships.
    1:01:43 We’re going to work with the unions to pull them through.
    1:01:48 We’re adding a bunch of capacity at post-secondary education so they can get these trades at a scale.
    1:01:53 So we’re getting the hundreds of thousands, which again, in the U S doesn’t seem like a lot, but in Canada, these are big numbers.
    1:01:56 Let’s talk a little bit about climate and energy.
    1:02:06 You’ve evolved, uh, from being a climate finance advocate to scrapping the consumer carbon tax and calling for Canada to be an energy superpower.
    1:02:08 How have your views changed on this?
    1:02:12 Uh, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t say my views have changed, uh, to be honest.
    1:02:15 So, I mean, it’s, uh, it’s very results oriented.
    1:02:22 So the consumer carbon tax, uh, in Canada was responsible for about 6% of our emissions reductions.
    1:02:26 So 94% of the work was being done elsewhere.
    1:02:33 Now it sent a signal to households, but it, it, it just wasn’t that important.
    1:02:41 Um, but it was quite divisive because people, you know, viewed it as a tax and they, they saw the tax with the tax.
    1:02:44 They didn’t all give credit to the rebates that they were getting.
    1:02:48 And so it politically, it was unhelpful, was undercutting the overall message.
    1:02:52 So we got rid of that, um, uh, a few months ago.
    1:02:54 Um, it was the first thing I did actually, when I got into office.
    1:03:02 Um, but what we, what we are doing is making sure that the carbon market for large emitters works well.
    1:03:07 So, and that, um, and, and we’re large emitters work well.
    1:03:21 And as a consequence of that, we’re getting them in effect to pay people for this, what will happen if we’re elected to pay people for, you know, driving EVs, retrofitting their homes, uh, uh, the other, you know, climate smart choices.
    1:03:31 And then on top of that, there is a big element, uh, uh, big IRA type element to our climate strategy, investment tax and credits and others.
    1:03:41 So we’re looking basically and having, you know, reasonable success with this, where we’re putting out, you know, a dollar federally, and we’re getting four to $5 of private investment on top of that.
    1:03:56 Um, and you know, what’s really relevant to us, aside from caring about the climate and people up here do care about the climate as a whole, um, is that we think that this is going to be a fundamental driver of competitiveness.
    1:04:02 And if you look at who we’re going to be trading with more over time, Europeans, the Brits, others, guess what?
    1:04:03 They care about this.
    1:04:08 In fact, as you know, with carbon border adjustment mechanism is coming into, in Europe.
    1:04:15 And so we take a view that, okay, we’ve got to do this medium long-term for competitiveness because that’s where the world’s going.
    1:04:18 Secondly, the Europeans and others are going to want us to do this.
    1:04:21 Thirdly, actually, we’ve got a lot of the technology.
    1:04:25 So part of being an energy superpower is around small modular reactors.
    1:04:29 Um, I mean, we’re a big hydropower, uh, we’re decent on hydrogen.
    1:04:33 We could get better carbon capture and storage, all these things we can do.
    1:04:36 And I guess the last point, which goes back to the U.S.
    1:04:40 Is, you know, right now, and I’m going to grossly generalize, the U.S. doesn’t care about climate.
    1:04:42 Six months ago, it cared about climate.
    1:04:43 Guess what?
    1:04:45 You’re going to care about climate again down the road.
    1:04:54 And when you care about climate down the road again, we want to be in a position where we’re much more competitive, uh, and maybe have leapfrogged a number of U.S. companies.
    1:04:57 So I just want to do a quick lightning round.
    1:04:59 Advice to your 25-year-old self.
    1:05:03 You got 10, 15 seconds with your 25-year-old self.
    1:05:04 What would you say to yourself?
    1:05:06 Uh, you know, relax.
    1:05:09 It’s, uh, and, and, and stay focused on what you like.
    1:05:13 I mean, I’ve probably spent more time doing things I didn’t really love than, uh, I should have.
    1:05:19 Uh, you got a chance to go back and meet with someone who you’ve lost or who’s no longer around.
    1:05:21 Who would that person be, and what would you say to them?
    1:05:26 Well, I think with, I, you know, be my, I’d be my father.
    1:05:26 I’d say I love him.
    1:05:33 You’re at the end of your life, not going to walk on the beach again, not going to get to hang out with your wife, your kids.
    1:05:35 What does success look like for you?
    1:05:38 When you, when you look back, what is the box you want to have checked?
    1:05:49 I think strongly the answer to that is that you’re, you’re proud of the values of, of your children and people who’ve worked with you.
    1:06:01 I mean, I think that is the only real legacy, the extent to which you have influenced how others treat others in the world and, and, and how they, how they, how they react in the world.
    1:06:06 That’s, I wrote a book and that was the, uh, that was the conclusion of that.
    1:06:12 Mark Carney is Canada’s 24th prime minister and leader of the liberal party sworn in this March.
    1:06:21 Uh, as an economist, uh, prime minister Carney steered the bank of Canada through the financial crisis and later became the first non-Brit to run the bank of England.
    1:06:27 Between those roles, she served as UN special envoy to climate action and finance and as vice chair of Brookfield asset management.
    1:06:33 I’ve trust a lot of Canadians are listening and I feel comfortable speaking for a lot of people.
    1:06:38 And that is Americans understand the largest undefended border in the world is the U S Canadian border.
    1:06:39 That’s for a reason.
    1:06:49 I love that question that, uh, uh, Warren Buffett’s friend was a, uh, Holocaust survivor said the way I judge my friends is I asked one question who would hide me.
    1:06:53 A lot of Americans remember that Canadians hit Americans in the Iran hostage crisis.
    1:07:04 And I hope that, uh, your listeners and your voters recognize there is a huge swath of Americans that think of you, not as, not as even as a friend, but as siblings.
    1:07:15 And that we, uh, we hope and are committed to maintaining what is arguably the, one of the strongest alliances in history that I don’t want to say, don’t take what’s going on seriously.
    1:07:22 You have to, but there are a lot of Americans down here who are, who are brothers and sisters in arms in Canada.
    1:07:25 You, we really do think of you as, uh, as a sibling.
    1:07:28 Thank you, Scott.
    1:07:45 Algebra of happiness, porn.
    1:07:50 Uh, it’s something there’s not a lot of research on because no one wants to be known as the porn professor.
    1:07:56 I spoke with Dr. Anna Lemke, I believe on this podcast, and it strikes me.
    1:07:59 I’m meeting more and more people who have are struggling with an addiction to porn.
    1:08:05 And what I would suggest is to tell people not to engage in porn is a little bit unrealistic.
    1:08:10 That’s like telling someone to go stop drinking, which my doctor told me when I had high blood pressure a few months ago.
    1:08:11 And I’m like, yeah, that’s going to happen.
    1:08:12 I’ll reduce my drinking.
    1:08:13 Why don’t we stop there?
    1:08:18 Anyways, it’s not about my high blood pressure, which by the way is under, under control now.
    1:08:19 That’s good news.
    1:08:23 Hard to imagine me with high blood pressure at the age of 40, 60.
    1:08:32 Anyways, I think sexual desire and that want and that hunger, if channeled correctly, can make you a much better man.
    1:08:35 And the last thing you want to do is reduce that fire and that hunger.
    1:08:42 And that is wanting to mate, wanting to be attractive such that you can find a partner to have a relationship and ultimately possibly have sex with.
    1:08:50 I think if channeled correctly, and it usually, in my opinion, usually is channeled correctly, can make you want to be and become a better man.
    1:08:58 And so anything that dampens those fires, whether it’s additional porn consumption or depression, that’s just a bad idea.
    1:09:08 Because life is about taking risks, and because women pay a much greater downside or have much greater downside risk from sex, specifically pregnancy, than men.
    1:09:11 I mean, they’re in it for 25 years if they get pregnant.
    1:09:13 We’re in it for at least seven seconds, right?
    1:09:16 And I’m not suggesting anyone engage in male abandonment.
    1:09:18 But the downside risks for women are just much greater.
    1:09:22 So as a result, they have a much finer filter, meaning they are choosier than men.
    1:09:22 Okay, fine.
    1:09:25 But there’s an upside to that.
    1:09:31 And that is if you want to have a relationship with somebody, it forces you or inspires you to be a better man.
    1:09:33 Maybe you work out a little bit more.
    1:09:34 Maybe you have a plan.
    1:09:37 You articulate a plan around economic viability.
    1:09:39 Maybe you learn how to open.
    1:09:41 You learn how to take risks.
    1:09:48 The most frightening piece of data I’ve seen recently is that 51% of men, 18 to 24, have never asked a woman out in person.
    1:09:52 That is so upsetting for me.
    1:10:01 I think a lot of the skills you develop and the characteristics you develop around trying to find a mate make you a better man across a number of dimensions.
    1:10:03 You develop a sense of resilience.
    1:10:06 If you want to ask a lot of women out, get used to rejection.
    1:10:12 And if you want to be successful in the world of mating, much less professionally, get used to rejection.
    1:10:13 That is a skill.
    1:10:15 Learn how to talk to strangers.
    1:10:16 Learn how to open.
    1:10:17 Learn how to smell nice.
    1:10:19 Learn how to not have bad breath.
    1:10:22 Learn how to groom yourself.
    1:10:27 Be able to articulate a plan for why you might someday be able to take care of children.
    1:10:31 Show that you’re disciplined and you work out, which means you show up.
    1:10:33 These things make you a better man.
    1:10:42 And anything that reduces the hunger, the desire, the drive, the fire to make you a better man, you want to modulate it.
    1:10:49 In sum, I’m not going to tell you not to consume porn, but my brothers, you want that fire to stay alive.
    1:10:57 I think a big part of the reason I graduated from college, quite frankly, is I used to go on campus every day because I wanted to see my friends at North Campus UCLA.
    1:11:03 And also there was a non-zero probability that I might meet someone that ultimately I might have a romantic relationship with.
    1:11:04 And that was very motivating.
    1:11:10 And had I had on-demand porn on my phone and my computer, I don’t know if I would have gone on campus as much.
    1:11:18 And with a 2.27 GPA, it wouldn’t have taken a lot of less campus presence for me not to have graduated from college.
    1:11:19 So what’s the bottom line?
    1:11:21 Porn, okay.
    1:11:23 But modulate.
    1:11:30 That fire, that desire can be channeled and should be channeled into making you a better man.
    1:11:36 This episode was produced by Jennifer Sanchez.
    1:11:38 Our intern is Dan Chalon.
    1:11:40 Drew Burrows is our technical director.
    1:11:43 Thank you for listening to the Prop G Pod from the Vox Media Podcast Network.
    1:11:48 We will catch you on Saturday for No Mercy, No Malice, as read by George Hahn.
    1:11:54 And please follow our Prop G Markets pod wherever you get your pods for new episodes every Monday and Thursday.

    Mark Carney, Canada’s 24th Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party, joins Scott to discuss the country’s economic outlook, how Canada fits into a shifting global order, and whether the U.S.-Canada relationship can be repaired amid rising trade tensions.

    Follow Mark Carney, @MarkJCarney.

    Algebra of Happiness: thoughts on porn.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • The Future of Nonprofits, Moving to a New City in Your 20s, and Advice for First-Time Managers

    AI transcript
    0:00:07 soon enough high schoolers will be donning those caps and gowns but what comes next is less of a
    0:00:12 sure thing than it was a decade ago students are genuinely questioning if college is worth it and
    0:00:17 if college is really the right thing for them knowing what they know about themselves this week
    0:00:22 on explain it to me a look at the new range of alternatives to college and how some high schools
    0:00:28 are setting up their graduates for success new episodes on sunday mornings wherever you get your
    0:00:35 podcasts support for prop g comes from sofos when it comes to cyber security many businesses think
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    0:01:00 current team with expert analysts who have decades of experience responding to the latest threats
    0:01:05 don’t sacrifice your peace of mind to grow your business learn more at sofos.com
    0:01:16 support for the show comes from intuit quickbooks do you own a business that’s ready to thrive it’s time to let
    0:01:21 intuit quickbooks take things like unpaid invoices and tracking expenses off of your plate so you can
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    0:01:31 that can help with your day-to-day tasks like invoicing expenses and taxes letting you unlock growth
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    0:01:41 intuit quickbooks your way to money money movement services are provided by intuit payments inc licensed
    0:01:44 as a money transmitted by the new york state department of financial services
    0:01:53 welcome to office hours with prop g where we answer your questions on business big tech entrepreneurship and
    0:01:58 whatever else is on your mind today we’ve got two great listener questions then after the break we’ll hit
    0:02:04 the reddit hotline pulling questions straight from reddit want to be featured send a voice recording to
    0:02:10 officehours of propgmedia.com or post on the scott galloway subreddit let’s get into it first question
    0:02:17 hey scott ria here calling from new york city thanks so much for all you do really appreciate
    0:02:22 the clear-eyed level-headed advice that you give my question to you is about the non-profit sector
    0:02:27 which i’ve not heard you speak about i know you’re primarily focused on tech and for-profit businesses
    0:02:33 but my question scott is that given the threats to federal funding eroding donor trust declining
    0:02:40 philanthropy overall shifting foundation priorities ai disruption and the increased demand for services
    0:02:45 to support the most vulnerable among us many of whom are being targeted by the trump administration as
    0:02:51 you rightly point out what are your predictions for the non-profit sector and what strategic advice
    0:02:58 do you have for non-profit leaders to survive and thrive thanks again whoa so i’m not sure i’m the person
    0:03:04 here um religion and non-profits are two of my million achilles heel and that is i don’t know
    0:03:10 that much about them so in january the trump administration enacted a funding freeze which
    0:03:15 affected roughly three trillion dollars of federal grants and loans um including i don’t know if you’ve
    0:03:18 seen but there’s been a lot of money that is not only going to non-profits but the educational
    0:03:23 institutions although this freeze was blocked by a judge the white house has repeatedly threatened future
    0:03:29 funding for non-profit working in the fields of lgbtq plus rights climate change immigration reproductive
    0:03:37 rights dei and more jesus christ really additionally many of the philanthropic sector believe we’re going
    0:03:42 through a generosity crisis as few americans less than ever are making donations less than half of
    0:03:50 american households now give cash to charity 20 million fewer households donated in 2016 than in 2000
    0:03:56 what is going on here because if you look globally people are globally spending more time helping other
    0:04:01 people they won’t ever meet that’s a nice thing right but there’s something going on around a lack
    0:04:06 of philanthropic mindset is it because we’re going to church less i don’t know what it is is it because
    0:04:11 people’s prosperity is not what they’d hoped and their quality of life is going down because of
    0:04:17 inflation and they just need to hold on to money is it because of social media algorithms pit
    0:04:22 us against each other so we’re less inclined to trust institutions trust others and give money away
    0:04:28 that we don’t have the same comity a man i don’t know uh where can non-profits look to fill these gaps
    0:04:36 the ultra wealthy in 2024 billionaire wealth surged by two trillion dollars growing three times faster than
    0:04:41 the prior year with nearly four new billionaires minted weekly there are now 10 times more billionaires
    0:04:48 than in 1990 think about that there’s no demographic group not latinos not old people in the last 34
    0:04:55 years the number of billionaires has increased tenfold so i work with a lot of universities and they have
    0:05:01 very robust development departments and typically development departments are filled with very high
    0:05:06 eq late 30s early 40s women who have kids at home and we’re working in the corporate sector and they need
    0:05:13 more flexibility and they go to work in development for university and they just try and just a manicure
    0:05:20 shepherd and develop and mature these relationships with really rich people or specifically really rich alum
    0:05:24 and they’re very good at what they do but they invest long term in these relationships
    0:05:30 and generally speaking they want to get the reason why they raise small amounts of money i just participated in the
    0:05:37 one day giving thing at nyu stern once you give you’re invested and you’re more inclined to give
    0:05:40 more and what they’re hoping the reason why they want to raise a hundred two hundred dollars a thousand
    0:05:45 dollars from an alum it probably takes more time to raise the money it probably costs more money to
    0:05:50 raise the money but once they get you to give you’re invested you’re comfortable giving you’re much more
    0:05:57 likely to make a bigger cash donation sometime in the future and then where they make their money or how they
    0:06:04 kind of butter their bread is that they occasionally find a whale who makes a huge gift and that is kind
    0:06:09 of everything for non-profits and these institutions i’ll use scott harrison as an example scott who runs
    0:06:17 charity water he is so good at establishing relationships with people one he’s just a people person who’s good
    0:06:23 at it he was a club promoter and the guy i’ve known the guy for i think 25 years we shared office space
    0:06:28 together i always gave him a little bit of money and he’s just always done a really good job curing or
    0:06:34 manicuring evolving uh his personal relationship with me and i’ve given you know six figures seven
    0:06:39 figures to scott i don’t know anyways and quite frankly i’m not passionate about bringing potable
    0:06:43 water to africa sub-saharan africa it’s just not something i don’t say i don’t care about it i think
    0:06:49 it’s wonderful the reason i do it is i i’m invested in scott i know that his non-profit is so well
    0:06:54 run and so innovative that those dollars are being put to good use i don’t know if i have a lot of
    0:07:00 inside here what i will say is that i appreciate the question and it’s one thing to cut funding to
    0:07:04 non-profits because you think that maybe they’re not spending it as efficiently as they should be
    0:07:09 what is most depraved about all of this is having a political bent on it and that is cutting money
    0:07:15 to non-profits because of a certain political leaning i just find that i don’t know flag of a better term
    0:07:23 gross thanks for the question question number two hi scott my name’s joe i’m 21 years old and i’m a
    0:07:28 senior in college about to graduate this april with a bachelor’s in marketing i discovered your book the
    0:07:33 algebra of happiness in 2023 and ever since then your content has really helped to change the trajectory
    0:07:38 of my life your career advice helped me land a great internship that turned into a competitive
    0:07:42 full-time job offer you helped motivate me to get in the best physical shape of my life
    0:07:46 but most importantly your advice surrounding relationships with people greatly strengthened
    0:07:51 my own relationships with my friends and family while i’m a big fan of your professional and political
    0:07:56 works your advocacy for young men is what resonates with me the most i’m about to start the next chapter
    0:08:01 of my life and i’m fortunate enough to be moving to a big city but my parents friends and girlfriend
    0:08:06 will go from a quick walk or drive to an expensive plane ride i’m grateful for my situation but i’m also
    0:08:11 slightly terrified how did you deal with experiencing true independence for the first time and do you have
    0:08:15 any advice for maintaining a healthy mental state while dealing with the loneliness that will likely
    0:08:20 accompany the independence please keep advocating for young men your message is working and if you’re
    0:08:26 ever in boston i’d love to buy you a drink thanks uh what a thoughtful question so joe from boston first
    0:08:31 off everyone wants to be you right now you’re 21 it sounds like you’re in good shape you have a girlfriend
    0:08:38 good relationship with your parents and you’re starting your professional life so well done you should feel
    0:08:45 really good about the you know where and when you are right now um so just just what popped into my mind is
    0:08:53 it’ll be interesting it’ll be inspiring but but the real world is your first one or two years you’re gonna have
    0:08:58 a moment where you go wow this fucking sucks or i didn’t realize that this would suck this much or that this is hard
    0:09:03 and that’s exactly where you’re supposed to be and so just realize it’s temporary and that’s part
    0:09:07 everyone’s first job or not everyone almost everyone’s first job sucks
    0:09:12 my first job was at morgan stanley and fixed income and within about 48 hours i’m like jesus christ this is
    0:09:18 awful and it ended up being good for me it was like serving the marines so i don’t know just sort of
    0:09:23 expect i don’t want to say hate your first job but have it be not cracked up to what it’s supposed to
    0:09:30 be in terms of maintaining a healthy outlook and being mentally fit it sounds like you got sort of
    0:09:37 the keys figured out uh that is you’re exercising it sounds like you have good relationships you know
    0:09:43 what call your parents every day um stay in close contact with your girlfriend find ways to have her
    0:09:51 come visit uh or go visit her i don’t know how far away that is and then just be really open and
    0:09:56 thoughtful about saying yes to things as much as you can in your new city such that you establish
    0:10:02 relationships there the mistake i made when i first got to new york you know i was so immature i made the
    0:10:08 i made the kind of the same mistake i made when i first got to college i couldn’t new york was too
    0:10:13 much for me it was just a playground there was something to do every night i’d go out i’d get
    0:10:21 fucked up i’d be totally hung over i’d wake up at 8 44 to get to work by like 9 15 try and do some work
    0:10:27 and then try and go find a conference room no joke because i was so hung over and i would hide under the
    0:10:34 conference room table and i’d sleep for an hour and then i would go get a greasy lunch and then that
    0:10:39 and i think okay tonight i’m just going to go home call my mom get some sleep and you know go to bed
    0:10:44 really early watch 30 something something like that and go to sleep early and then inevitably that mix
    0:10:49 of grease and advil would make me feel just reasonable for an hour and a buddy would call me and say
    0:10:54 we’re meeting some models downtown at obar and i’m like i’m in and i’d go do the same goddamn thing
    0:11:01 again and i was smart enough to know okay i can’t handle the temptations of new york and i had an
    0:11:08 opportunity to go to the la office of morgan stanley so i took it i moved back in with my mom and i kind
    0:11:14 of stopped drinking and this is a long parable or way of saying try and tone down and i don’t know if
    0:11:22 you’re doing this but i got better at making the requisite commitment to being good at my first job
    0:11:28 which sucks and i expect a lot of you at a place like morgan stanley i got good i stopped drinking
    0:11:35 and smoking pot for a while and i did work out i went to the ymca or the ywca ymca never was in
    0:11:42 downtown los angeles and i worked out not every day but uh and i didn’t have a lot of relationships i had
    0:11:47 some friends i used to go out with but my primary relationship was with my mom who i was living with
    0:11:53 um and then i had some friends but i didn’t have any girlfriends i had a lot of girlfriends in college
    0:11:59 i found that a young man right out of college is just not that attractive that all the women i wanted
    0:12:03 to date were dating guys in their 30s who were hedge fund managers who could take them to st bart’s or
    0:12:09 aspen or the hamptons and uh the women in college that i used to date were dating other college guys so
    0:12:14 you’re sort of in no man’s land when you’re a young man or right out of college i found so the
    0:12:19 fact that you have a girlfriend is really wonderful i would just say try and maintain your current
    0:12:26 relationships be physically fit and recognize your first job is not going to be easy and also just
    0:12:34 optimize your logistics what do i mean by that have a clean apartment near work try and cut commute town
    0:12:38 even if it’s a small place just a clean place near work because you’re not gonna spend a lot of time
    0:12:46 at home uh two if you can don’t buy a car have a uniform keep your clothes really simple really easy
    0:12:52 um get a workout routine just try and starch out all the extra time and logistical constraints on
    0:12:58 your life so you can focus on work and you can focus on relationships uh but my brother i don’t know
    0:13:01 you’re so far ahead of the game the fact you’re even thinking this way means you’re going to be just
    0:13:09 fine and let me finish where i started and that is um really good to be you congratulations on all
    0:13:14 your success and again recognize that when you hit some rough spots and you think wow this isn’t
    0:13:18 this isn’t what i thought it would be that’s exactly where you’re supposed to be most people’s
    0:13:25 first job is is not fun and the fact that you’re you know just make sure your parents are there call
    0:13:29 them every day it’s sort of a release valve or every week to tell them what’s going on in your life
    0:13:35 um obviously uh other things will take over in terms of your desire or your ability
    0:13:41 to ensure you maintain your relationship with your girlfriend uh but again i don’t know boss you
    0:13:45 should be coaching me i wish i had you to tell me what to do when i was your age congrats on everything
    0:13:51 and best of luck in your first job we have one quick break and when we’re back we’re diving into
    0:13:53 the depths of reddit buckle up
    0:14:02 support for the show comes from skims undergarments are the first thing you put on in the morning and
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    0:15:04 the regular season is in the rearview and now it’s time for the games that matter the most
    0:15:09 this is kenny beecham and playoff basketball is finally here on small ball we’re diving deep into
    0:15:15 every series every crunch time finish every coaching adjustment that can make or break a championship run
    0:15:21 who’s building for a 16 win marathon which superstar will submit their legacy and which role player is
    0:15:26 about to become a household name with so many fascinating first round matchups will the west
    0:15:31 be the bloodbath we anticipate will the east be as predictable as we think can the celtics defend
    0:15:37 their title can steph curry lebron james koat leonard push the young teams at the top i’ll be bringing the
    0:15:41 expertise to pass in the genuine opinion you need for the most exciting time of the nba calendar
    0:15:47 small ball is your essential companion for the nba postseason join me kenny beecham for new episodes
    0:15:52 of small ball throughout the playoffs don’t miss small ball kenny beecham new episodes dropping
    0:15:56 through the playoffs available on youtube and wherever you get your podcasts
    0:16:03 support for property comes from built rewards these days you can get reward points on basically
    0:16:08 everything you get a couple of points for your morning bagel a few more for a pack of gum from
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    0:16:18 your rent with built rewards you finally can there’s no cost to join and when you pay rent through built
    0:16:22 you unlock two powerful benefits first just by paying rent you unlock flexible points that can be
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    0:17:03 for built today
    0:17:15 welcome back let’s bust right into it today’s reddit question comes from mr roto
    0:17:23 they say hey scott i’m a 35 year old who just got his first managerial position what advice would you
    0:17:29 give to a first-time manager especially one whose team is remote that’s a good question so
    0:17:36 people often make the mistake of thinking that okay i’m nice and i’m smart which means i’m going to be a
    0:17:40 good manager no being nice and smart doesn’t make you a great tennis player it doesn’t make you a great
    0:17:48 you know it doesn’t make you great at basketball management is its own sport and it takes a few
    0:17:54 things when i find the great you know kind of the best managers have the following attributes in
    0:18:02 common one they are willing to demonstrate excellence and share that excellence so um my partner in the
    0:18:07 business uh katherine dylan has always been what i call a player coach and that is rather than managing
    0:18:11 people you got to set up an incentive structure that works got to provide feedback that’s really
    0:18:16 important but what she does is she helps people do their jobs instead of in addition to saying okay
    0:18:20 this wasn’t great she will actually she can do that and she can do that almost as well as or better
    0:18:25 almost everything in the company as well or better than anyone else and she she doesn’t provide just
    0:18:29 feedback she provides learning she sits on i don’t have the patience for that if i say to someone
    0:18:34 when i send feedback like this edit on this podcast sucked i don’t call them and say okay let’s edit it
    0:18:39 together and let me teach you i just say it sucked that’s not that inspiring or that helpful they
    0:18:43 demonstrate excellence and they’re willing to share that excellence with their team they take the time
    0:18:48 to try and teach people and upskill them too they hold people accountable and that is they set out
    0:18:53 definitive goals and benchmarks and they say okay we’re going to check in and they hold them accountable
    0:18:57 all right you miss your target what’s up how can i be helpful but you missed your target or
    0:19:02 you exceeded your target well done let’s celebrate that together they hold people accountable and the
    0:19:08 third good managers demonstrate empathy and what do i mean by that i always assumed that everyone
    0:19:12 just wanted to be like me rich and awesome that was my goal want to be super fucking rich and super
    0:19:18 fucking awesome and so so that means you do as well well what you find out is that for some people
    0:19:24 or most people they don’t share exactly your same aspirations some people want to manage other
    0:19:29 people they get huge reward out of someone reporting to them and figuring out a man some people want to
    0:19:34 see their name in lights okay fine you’re going to manage the the staff you’re going to manage this
    0:19:39 group of people you’re going to take on this project you’re going to manage a kind of corporate
    0:19:44 initiative oh you’re going to when the new york times calls and asks for a quote i’m going to turn them
    0:19:49 over to you as an analyst and that they just light up right that’s just hugely important to them
    0:19:54 other people need some flexibility and it’s like if you can provide that for them especially as a
    0:20:00 i i was into remote work kind of a long time before other people and when i say that i think it’s terrible
    0:20:05 for young people but i my secret kind of human capital weapon in the 90s was i hired quite a few
    0:20:11 people who are brand managers out of really iconic companies who left because it wasn’t compatible
    0:20:16 with having kids they weren’t nearly as generous with maternity leave back in the 90s and i would
    0:20:20 say come in two days a week but you can be home three days a week and i found that mothers were
    0:20:24 really efficient and disciplined because there was no like they had to leave at a certain time to get
    0:20:30 home to pick up their kids or whatever and so i hired a lot of mothers and gave them remote work
    0:20:35 flexibility which doesn’t sound that progressive now but it was back in the 90s why because i would learn
    0:20:41 about their situation and think okay i’m going to cater my management of you to what is your specific
    0:20:49 situation if you can demonstrate to people that you have a vested interest in their success that you
    0:20:55 are fighting for them they will be loyal to you and that is a really powerful thing i didn’t figure that
    0:21:01 out until later in my management career but understanding what’s important to people and then giving them the
    0:21:08 sense that you’re fighting for them and that they can trust you and is really powerful first got to
    0:21:12 demonstrate excellence got to be really good at what you do sit people down and not only demonstrate
    0:21:17 excellence be willing to share with them to hold them accountable hold everyone accountable there’s a
    0:21:22 reason you’re here you’re good at what you do and if other people don’t match you we hold them accountable
    0:21:26 and we let people go i think that’s part of management and then finally you demonstrate empathy i’m
    0:21:30 going to learn about you i’m going to learn about your priorities and i’m going to demonstrate to you
    0:21:36 that i understand your priorities and i want you to be successful i i i have a vested interest sure you
    0:21:43 my success is more important to me than anything but i also do spend a lot of time thinking what does this
    0:21:48 person value how can i make them more successful how can i get them economic security how can i help
    0:21:56 them participate in our success what specific soft things prestige management feedback do they really
    0:22:02 value and they’ll see that i have listened and learn because again loyalty is a function of appreciation
    0:22:07 and appreciation is a function of empathy and tailoring your specific empathy to that specific
    0:22:14 person appreciate the question that’s all for this episode if you’d like to submit a question please
    0:22:20 email a voice recording to office hours of property media.com again that’s office hours of property media.com or
    0:22:26 if you prefer to ask on reddit post your question on the scott galloway subreddit and we just might
    0:22:28 feature it in our next reddit hotline segment
    0:22:43 this episode was produced by jennifer sanchez our intern is dan shalon drew burrows is our technical
    0:22:48 director thank you for listening to the property pod from the box media podcast network we will catch you
    0:22:55 on saturday for no mercy no malice as read by george han and please follow our property markets pod wherever
    0:22:58 you get your pods for new episodes every monday and thursday

    Scott answers a big-picture question about the future of nonprofits. Then, he speaks to a listener preparing for a big move after college and offers advice on managing loneliness and finding independence. 

    Finally, in our Reddit Hotline segment, Scott shares his take on how to lead effectively as a first-time (and remote) manager.

    Want to be featured in a future episode? Send a voice recording to officehours@profgmedia.com, or drop your question in the r/ScottGalloway subreddit.

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  • Raging Moderates: The Art of the Trade War

    AI transcript
    0:00:05 Support for the show comes from ServiceNow, who are enabling people to do more fulfilling
    0:00:07 work, the work they actually want to do.
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    0:01:02 Support for PropG comes from Sophos.
    0:01:06 When it comes to cybersecurity, many businesses think they don’t have the resources for enterprise
    0:01:07 level tech.
    0:01:12 But with Sophos, no matter your business’s size, you get enterprise grade technology and real
    0:01:15 world expertise always in sync, always in your corner.
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    0:01:34 Learn more at Sophos.com.
    0:01:43 Welcome to Raging Moderates.
    0:01:44 I’m Scott Galloway.
    0:01:45 And I’m Jessica Tarla.
    0:01:54 Jess, I just came from the Palm Beach Gardens Department of Motor Vehicles, where my seven-year-old
    0:01:57 son now has a full-fledged Florida driver’s license.
    0:01:58 Oh.
    0:02:02 Why doesn’t he have an English driver’s license?
    0:02:02 Oh, no.
    0:02:03 We’re not doing that.
    0:02:05 That’s hardcore.
    0:02:06 You have to put a big…
    0:02:06 Oh, wrong side of the road.
    0:02:08 Yeah, you have to put a big L on your car.
    0:02:09 Now, they take driving seriously.
    0:02:11 Here, no exaggeration.
    0:02:15 To get his learner’s permit, you go in, you say, what’s a red light?
    0:02:17 You’re different than a yellow or a green light.
    0:02:18 And they’re like, here you go.
    0:02:19 God be with you.
    0:02:27 And then 10 minutes later, you have a kid, you have your toddler driving your car home.
    0:02:32 And then this, he did a driver’s test, but it reminds me of that Will Rogers joke that
    0:02:38 I want to die like my grandfather in his sleep, not the passengers in his car screaming.
    0:02:40 Oh, that is funny.
    0:02:41 That is funny, right?
    0:02:41 I like that.
    0:02:43 Yeah, I remember my driver’s test.
    0:02:44 Things have changed so much.
    0:02:46 I got my driver’s license.
    0:02:50 I had to force my kid to get his driver’s license, although he’s kind of enjoying driving
    0:02:50 now.
    0:02:54 But I got my driver’s license literally on my 16th birthday.
    0:02:57 I spent 120% of my disposable income on my car.
    0:03:00 It was just, your car was your identity back in the 80s.
    0:03:01 Now they don’t really care.
    0:03:03 Well, Uber has made it a lot easier.
    0:03:08 And growing up as a city kid, a lot of my friends just never did it.
    0:03:10 And some still don’t have licenses.
    0:03:15 But my parents, who were good suburban kids, wanted to make sure that we could always drive.
    0:03:20 But the big differential or differentiating factor was my first car was a stick shift.
    0:03:21 I was going to ask.
    0:03:22 That’s gangster.
    0:03:24 And we didn’t know that it was.
    0:03:29 When my dad signed me up to buy one of his friend’s old cars that he was getting rid of,
    0:03:31 he said, yeah, no, no, we’ll take it.
    0:03:34 And the guy didn’t think to mention that it was stick shift.
    0:03:36 And so we show up to pick it up.
    0:03:38 And I’m like, well, what am I supposed to do with this car?
    0:03:44 So my mom took me to the Great Neck North parking lot, which is where she grew up and
    0:03:47 she learned to drive, to teach me how to drive stick.
    0:03:52 And I had a stick shift through college, which made it a lot easier to tell people they couldn’t
    0:03:55 borrow your car, which is a good thing.
    0:03:59 Because, you know, in college, everyone just wants to be able to get out.
    0:04:02 And if you have a cute car, they definitely want to take it.
    0:04:08 But I had a very good relationship with my college boyfriend who I had broken up with.
    0:04:13 And he asked to borrow my car and he took someone else on a date in my car, which is fine.
    0:04:15 We’re broken up, no hard feelings, all of it.
    0:04:18 But I had asked if I could actually have it.
    0:04:19 And he had made up this whole story.
    0:04:21 And it turned out that he just wanted to be on a date.
    0:04:24 And then I saw him out and I got pretty upset about it.
    0:04:27 I was like, what kind of lie is that to tell someone who is being generous and
    0:04:30 letting you borrow their car, even though we are no longer in love?
    0:04:30 What kind of person?
    0:04:32 That’s called a dude in college.
    0:04:32 A dude.
    0:04:33 Yeah.
    0:04:35 Did you also give him your credit card to pay for the date?
    0:04:36 I mean.
    0:04:36 No.
    0:04:40 You should be kind to those.
    0:04:43 You know, when you have a nice breakup and it’s just like it wasn’t meant to be.
    0:04:45 You know, and he could drive stick, too.
    0:04:47 So I thought, you know.
    0:04:47 That was the right thing to do.
    0:04:49 We can still share an asset.
    0:04:50 I have a similar story.
    0:04:52 I borrowed my girlfriend’s car in college.
    0:04:55 And literally within 500 feet, I got rammed.
    0:04:58 And I had to call her and say, I crashed your car.
    0:05:02 And her parents, who were much richer than me, it was the
    0:05:05 first time I was ever exposed to wealth was my girlfriend’s parents.
    0:05:07 And they said, no, we’ll pay for it.
    0:05:08 And I said, no, I insist.
    0:05:09 And it was 500.
    0:05:11 I remember this was $523.
    0:05:14 It was like literally my entire budget for the year.
    0:05:15 Were you full of regret?
    0:05:16 Yeah, I don’t know.
    0:05:20 It just seemed like I was at the point where I was trying to impress her and her parents.
    0:05:22 So it just seemed like the right thing to do.
    0:05:28 But anyways, I’ve I spent all of my money, literally all of my money and more on cars.
    0:05:30 OK, enough of that.
    0:05:33 In today’s episode of Raging Moderates, we’re discussing Trump’s trade war whiplash.
    0:05:40 Congress moves forward to fund Trump’s legislative agenda and Trump’s deportation operation mistakes.
    0:05:42 All right, let’s get into it.
    0:05:50 Well, after a wave of mounting pressure, Trump blinked at the mother of all blanks and hit pause
    0:05:52 on his tariff strategy, sort of.
    0:05:58 Last week, he announced a 90 day freeze on reciprocal tariffs, dropping them to a baseline of 10 percent.
    0:06:03 But that excludes China, where things are only getting more and more heated.
    0:06:07 Trump and President Xi are now locked in a full on tariff standoff.
    0:06:11 Beijing just slapped a whopping 125 percent tariff on U.S. goods.
    0:06:16 Trump fired back with an even steeper 145 percent tariff on Chinese imports.
    0:06:19 By the way, folks, when we talk about a trade war, that’s exactly what’s going on right now.
    0:06:24 And while the showdown plays out, the administration now has just 90 days to try and lock in deals
    0:06:26 with 150 countries.
    0:06:28 Yeah, these people are so confident that should pan out.
    0:06:33 The White House has also announced late Friday that some electronic goods, including from China,
    0:06:37 will be exempt from the tariffs, that carve out is a big relief for U.S. tech giants, including Apple.
    0:06:40 But then said tech specific tariffs are coming.
    0:06:41 So it’s off.
    0:06:42 It’s on.
    0:06:42 It’s off.
    0:06:43 It’s on.
    0:06:43 Who am I?
    0:06:44 Who are you?
    0:06:45 Where are we?
    0:06:46 Are we in the matrix?
    0:06:50 The whiplash approach is starting to take a toll.
    0:06:54 Trump’s economic approval ratings are dipping, according to a new CBS News poll.
    0:06:57 And Wall Street isn’t exactly reassured.
    0:07:02 Bank execs, including JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, are warning of considerable turbulence
    0:07:03 ahead.
    0:07:09 Well, those words were probably gangbanged by about 14 communications consultants.
    0:07:14 Consumer confidence is also taking a hit, with Americans bracing for inflation to spike
    0:07:18 to nearly 7 percent, the greatest in over 40 years.
    0:07:23 Trump is also facing questions about market manipulation after he posted, this is a great
    0:07:27 time to buy, just before announcing the pause.
    0:07:31 Jess, what do you make of this U-turn on tariffs?
    0:07:34 You basically hit pause after the market’s freaked out.
    0:07:36 What’s the strategy here, if there is one?
    0:07:42 My overarching feeling, which maybe has been kind of consistent, is that it feels like
    0:07:45 nobody is at the helm at this particular moment.
    0:07:51 They’re paying attention to the bond market, which I think is a good thing, right?
    0:07:57 That there’s some awareness for the fact that we need people to buy our debt and to think
    0:08:01 that we’re a good bet going forward.
    0:08:09 But you’re watching the dollar tank, you’re listening to interviews from Lutnik and Navarro
    0:08:14 and realizing that the people that you thought were going to get pushed out, or at least it
    0:08:20 was reported that they were getting more sidelined, are actually part of the inner circle now.
    0:08:23 And you know how small that inner circle is.
    0:08:27 And you think, oh, well, Susie Wiles, you know, the Ice-Baden, she’s supposed to be in
    0:08:29 charge of this, and she’s gatekeeping.
    0:08:32 And you’re like, no, no one is gatekeeping any of this.
    0:08:35 Scott Bessent was doing his best.
    0:08:39 Jamie Dimon has obviously realized that when he gives an interview, they listen for at least
    0:08:40 20 minutes.
    0:08:43 But the patients are running the asylum.
    0:08:45 Is that the way that you’re supposed to say it?
    0:08:50 And the world is getting together behind our backs.
    0:08:53 They’re laughing at us, and they’re using those memes.
    0:08:58 Have you seen those AI-generated memes of Americans working in Chinese factories?
    0:09:04 Those are being passed around very high-level circles, like bureaucracies in foreign countries,
    0:09:05 our allies.
    0:09:12 I’m watching Zelensky on 60 Minutes last night thinking, God, what have we done, right?
    0:09:16 What teams have we picked in all of this?
    0:09:24 And the stories from these small business owners about what they are going through and
    0:09:28 how much they have tried to prepare for this moment because they knew that some degree of
    0:09:33 tariffs were coming and now are just beside themselves.
    0:09:41 the woman who, she was on Shark Tank, she makes the silicone baby placemat where the toys are
    0:09:42 attached to it.
    0:09:47 She ended up turning down Lori, actually, who wanted too much of her company, the busy baby
    0:09:47 placemat.
    0:09:54 She’s a veteran, did everything right, budgeted for 20 to 30 percent tariffs, now obviously can’t
    0:09:55 afford what’s going on.
    0:09:59 She talked about how she actually considered ending her life because at least she had a
    0:10:03 life insurance policy, and that’s what could be left for her family.
    0:10:09 She’s going to try to pivot now to being a global business, but it feels like on every level,
    0:10:11 order is breaking down.
    0:10:20 Monetary order, political order, geopolitical order, and I’m really scared for what’s to come
    0:10:20 next.
    0:10:23 Yeah, I think you’re spot on.
    0:10:30 So let’s talk about what actually catalyzed the pause, and it was, I think, a combination
    0:10:30 of two things.
    0:10:36 So first off, the president has access to a more robust information set than any individual
    0:10:37 in the world.
    0:10:43 Between the NSA, more economic points of light, some of the brightest people in the world,
    0:10:46 corporations, he can call anyone, they return his call.
    0:10:53 He really is at the helm of the bobsled in terms of his vision into the most accurate, up-to-the-minute,
    0:10:54 data.
    0:10:56 And I think two things inspired him to blink.
    0:11:01 I’m sure he saw consumer data that, I mean, there’s a few things.
    0:11:04 The uncertainty index is now higher than it was in COVID.
    0:11:10 People feel a greater level of uncertainty than they did when we were locking down schools and
    0:11:12 telling people to return from work and wear masks outside.
    0:11:16 I mean, so this is how uncertain things have become.
    0:11:23 He saw, I’m sure, consumer data that people are getting cautious, companies are pausing
    0:11:24 hiring plans.
    0:11:28 And I’ll come back to the on-the-ground, some of the on-the-ground discussions I’ve had with
    0:11:29 entrepreneurs and small businesses.
    0:11:35 And then he said, okay, we have consumer, the economy appears to be slowing.
    0:11:41 And in about five days, the 10-year popped almost 50 bips.
    0:11:48 Now, when you have the economy slowing while interest rates are going up, that means that
    0:11:51 the interest rates are going to take more of people’s disposable income through credit card
    0:11:57 debt, mortgages, student loans, which will even decrease their spending even more.
    0:12:03 And the rising interest rates will even further accelerate the deceleration in consumer spending.
    0:12:09 That’s essentially stagflation, and it’s kind of a step to a depression.
    0:12:16 I mean, you do not fuck around when the 10-year uncouples from consumer spending, and they both
    0:12:17 start going opposite ways.
    0:12:20 That is absolutely the worst of both worlds.
    0:12:22 In addition, what actually went on here?
    0:12:27 It appears that the Japanese and maybe the Chinese went into the market and sold a lot
    0:12:29 of their American T-bills.
    0:12:35 I mean, basically, the relationship has been with China, we buy your shit, you buy our debt,
    0:12:40 and we can continue to fund this, like, massive deficit spending, where Americans have gotten
    0:12:44 used to $7 trillion in government services but only want to pay $5 trillion in taxes.
    0:12:48 They went out and sold some treasuries that spooked the market.
    0:12:51 The 10-year went up 50 bips, right?
    0:12:58 For every one BIP, that’s a hundredth of a percentage point that our debt or the cost
    0:13:05 of our debt goes up, it’s an incremental $3.5 billion, $35 trillion in national debt.
    0:13:13 So for every increase in 10-year by just one basis point, from 4% to 4.01%, that’s an additional
    0:13:17 $3.5 billion in interest payments the U.S. government has come up with.
    0:13:23 So when it goes up 50 bips in a few days, that’s an incremental $175 billion in interest costs.
    0:13:29 And that’s not accounting for the increase in borrowing costs of companies and consumers.
    0:13:34 So the answer is, well, we’re America, we’re the reserve currency, we could just print more money.
    0:13:40 But if you start flushing the market with too many new dollars, and there’s fewer goods because we’ve
    0:13:47 hammered, people have stopped supplying the U.S., you could have runaway inflation as the consumer
    0:13:49 economy slows down.
    0:13:56 I mean, this is literally sort of a Brightline Express train to a severe recession and maybe
    0:13:59 something you can’t even control and turns into a depression.
    0:14:00 So he blinked.
    0:14:06 Now, the pause, quote unquote, is a bit of a misnomer because while he kind of retreated,
    0:14:13 I think, to sort of a 10% universal tax, but in this little dick war with China, he said,
    0:14:17 okay, I’ll show you, you go 125, I’m going to 145.
    0:14:24 If you times the amount of the tariff times the amount of trade we do, the tariff pre the pause
    0:14:29 on a balanced or adjusted basis was 26.8% in tariffs.
    0:14:37 Now, even with the reduction of every country except China and a massive increase in the rate on China,
    0:14:42 the average tariff rate proposed right now is 27%.
    0:14:47 So tariffs have actually gone up because of this nonsense going on in China.
    0:14:48 And to your point—
    0:14:53 Can I just add to that that this is our highest tariff rate since 1909?
    0:14:57 These tariffs are greater than Smoot-Hawley, which put us into a depression in 29.
    0:15:04 They’re 10 times the rates of the previous Trump tariffs in his first administration.
    0:15:10 But I spoke to several people, and I’m not like the Trump administration.
    0:15:12 When I say this shit’s happened, it’s actually happened.
    0:15:13 I’m not lying.
    0:15:15 So let me just put that out there.
    0:15:18 I spoke to the CEO of a homeware goods company.
    0:15:24 And this person has, no joke, approximately $60 million.
    0:15:35 So summer, a lot of outdoor furniture has $60 million in product on big cargo ships already on the water,
    0:15:39 making their way from China to the U.S. mainland to the port of Long Beach.
    0:15:55 He now has to show up at the dock, and in order to unload it, has to show up with a $84 million check for the tariff, for the 145%.
    0:15:57 $85 million he wasn’t planning on spending.
    0:16:00 I mean, this is a big public company.
    0:16:01 Or no, it’s not big.
    0:16:03 It’s a mid-cap public company.
    0:16:09 He has to call the CFO and say, if we want to offload our shit in Long Beach in three or seven days,
    0:16:12 we’ve got to go down there with a check for $85 million.
    0:16:18 And then just to talk about some of the ripple effects, he also is trying to figure out,
    0:16:27 how do I get dozens, maybe hundreds of people to show up at the port of Long Beach and relabel everything and reprice it?
    0:16:33 Because now in China, they’re so sophisticated, they attach the label and the price at the factory.
    0:16:35 And he can’t sell shit for the same price.
    0:16:45 In addition, he has stopped all shipments out of China, meaning he’s going to have much lower inventory levels.
    0:16:47 He’s going to have to raise prices dramatically.
    0:16:49 His costs are going to go up.
    0:16:50 So this is what’s going to happen.
    0:16:54 The shit in his stores is going to be much more expensive.
    0:17:00 And on his next earnings call, he’s going to throw up all over himself and say,
    0:17:08 I’m sorry, folks, I wasn’t planning to have to show up with an $85 million check unexpected that comes right off the bottom line.
    0:17:09 So what do we have?
    0:17:15 A massive increase in prices for his products and stores, lower sales volume, lower tax revenue,
    0:17:20 and he’s going to absolutely puke his next earnings call.
    0:17:29 I have another friend, a fraternity brother, who’s built this great family business over the last 30 years in specialty products.
    0:17:40 So, you know, when you go to a conference and you see signs with logos on them and there’s mugs and fleeces and all those water bottles you get at every conference that has an oracle on it or whatever, all the corporate wear.
    0:17:42 He does all that stuff.
    0:17:45 It’s probably a $10 or $12 million business.
    0:17:48 He probably clears half a million to a million bucks a year.
    0:17:51 He’s raised a wonderful family, put three kids through school.
    0:17:58 You know, a good, nice business is kind of trying to round third and think about working another five or seven years and retiring.
    0:18:04 Slowly but surely over the last 20 or 30 years, all manufacturing, everything they’ve produced has moved to China.
    0:18:06 He goes to China five or six times a year.
    0:18:08 He has good relationships with them.
    0:18:12 His business has literally stopped.
    0:18:19 He can’t turn around to a conference and say, oh, your signage is now two and a half times more expensive.
    0:18:23 It’s just he has told them to stop shipping everything.
    0:18:26 And he said, this is worse than COVID.
    0:18:29 I’m not going to get any relief here.
    0:18:36 And I’m already contemplating layoffs because my business has ground to an absolute halt.
    0:18:43 And then this exemption bullshit for Apple and Dell, okay, he exempts the most valuable company in the world.
    0:18:50 But 98% of businesses that export things abroad are small business.
    0:18:59 So let’s give the big company that gave me a million dollars and who has this radical fan base and is the most valuable company in the world in exemption.
    0:19:11 But the millions of people who depend on a small business selling everything from garage door openers to specialty textiles, you know, to small little whatever they’re importing and exporting back.
    0:19:14 To put it mildly, they’re just fucked.
    0:19:19 At business schools, companies have paused hiring.
    0:19:24 They’re like, oh, look, we’re going to continue to hire, but we’re just putting a pause on it right now.
    0:19:30 I know someone called me, a friend’s son called me and said, had a great offer with a firm that is a household name.
    0:19:31 They’ve put a pause on hiring.
    0:19:36 And people believe that, oh, once they start hiring again, they’ll double up.
    0:19:45 A pause is basically a cancellation of hiring because if they put the pause on for three months and everything goes back to normal, it’s not like they hired double the following three months.
    0:19:55 So you have a reduction in employment, a reduction in stock prices, a reduction in earnings for companies, which will lead to a further reduction.
    0:20:03 You have an increase in the 10-year bond and interest rates on companies, and you have a massive spike in consumer uncertainty.
    0:20:07 I mean, this is just – I’ve said this from day one.
    0:20:14 This is – you could not think of a more elegant way to reduce prosperity.
    0:20:20 It seems that he’s shifting his whole economic strategy from trying to match China manufacturing to trying just to crush their economy.
    0:20:25 Their dream is to bring back manufacturing to the U.S.
    0:20:27 Talk about that, Jess.
    0:20:29 Yeah, I would love to talk about that.
    0:20:39 I just wanted to, before I get into it, to note that they have also now taken back, allegedly, those exemptions for the Apples and the Dells of the world.
    0:20:40 Oh, it’s off again.
    0:20:41 Yeah, it’s off.
    0:20:41 I mean, the tariffs are on again.
    0:20:42 Sorry, were you in the bathroom?
    0:20:43 You missed that.
    0:20:43 Yeah, yeah.
    0:20:44 I don’t know what happened.
    0:20:45 Yeah.
    0:20:45 Sorry.
    0:20:46 I blinked.
    0:20:46 Correct.
    0:20:55 And Trump posts on Truth Social that it’s off, and there is a page on WhiteHouse.gov that is about the exemption.
    0:20:57 So it did happen.
    0:21:03 Trump, I don’t know if he wasn’t briefed on it or if he just decided, oh, the wind’s blowing in the other direction.
    0:21:08 But everything has changed, again, the calculus for all of these companies, big and small.
    0:21:16 And just to underline the fact that these are the biggest bunch of incoherent liars we have ever had to deal with.
    0:21:26 And that’s dangerous in your personal life, but, you know, economic sabotage on a global scale when it’s your government that’s doing this.
    0:21:38 On the manufacturing front, so the argument that they’ve been making is that it’s a national security threat to not be able to manufacture all of these things here in America.
    0:21:40 That’s what they came into this saying.
    0:21:44 I mean, he’s kind of had a hard-on for tariffs his whole life, but that was the argument that they were making.
    0:21:52 And you could look back to COVID to say it was obviously not ideal that we had to – we didn’t have our own PPE.
    0:21:56 There are a lot of antivirals that we don’t produce here.
    0:21:58 We do, of course, make a ton of them.
    0:22:00 Our pharmaceutical industry is big and wonderful.
    0:22:05 But there are some things that we get for abroad that we wish that we could produce here.
    0:22:09 So, you know, maybe some credibility to that argument.
    0:22:12 Would it be better if we did manufacture some more things here?
    0:22:12 Sure.
    0:22:15 And Democratic presidents have said the same thing.
    0:22:21 Obviously, Joe Biden wanted a huge investment in manufacturing, which he got through the Chips and Science Act and then the Inflation Reduction Act.
    0:22:26 We had auto plants popping up, semiconductor chips, et cetera, that we wanted to be able to build here.
    0:22:31 But they are describing a world that just doesn’t exist anymore.
    0:22:36 And not because it would take years to build these plants, but because we don’t have the bodies to want to do it.
    0:22:46 So, Cato is out with some new polling, says that 80 percent of Americans think that we should do more manufacturing here, but 73 percent say it’s not going to be me.
    0:22:48 I don’t want those jobs.
    0:22:58 We have tens of thousands of empty manufacturing roles and 4 percent unemployment, which means that we don’t have the bodies to do it, let alone the interest.
    0:23:08 If you look at it over the last few decades, we’ve lost 5 million manufacturing jobs since 1990, and we’ve gained nearly 12 million in the professional services.
    0:23:12 And that’s basically where everybody is going at this point.
    0:23:19 And that exposes a real problem, which you talk about all the time when it relates to wealth inequality, right?
    0:23:25 So, the factory life used to be good-paying jobs and a career path for people.
    0:23:29 And it was also insulation between the rich and the poor, right?
    0:23:37 So that you had people that could go out and make a product, believe in what they’re doing, support their family, be able to, you know, take a vacation every year.
    0:23:47 It was a good life there, and folks would go on and they would buy the products that they were producing, and you didn’t have what we have now, which is the gig economy, right?
    0:23:51 Where you’re literally just paying people to service your every need and whim.
    0:23:53 Oh, I want a bagel right now.
    0:23:54 I want a cup of coffee.
    0:23:59 I’m going to have someone run around whatever your grocery store of choice is for you.
    0:24:01 Gristini’s, Stagostino’s, it’s very New York-centric.
    0:24:02 Whole Foods, whatever.
    0:24:03 Wegmans.
    0:24:06 I’m going to have somebody go and do that for me.
    0:24:14 And so that’s contributed to the angst in society, this overwhelming feeling that the rich are just getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
    0:24:17 This is Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump singing the same tune.
    0:24:21 But the solution cannot be what they are saying that it can be.
    0:24:27 This return to a manufacturing economy is just going, never, it is just never going to happen.
    0:24:31 So what is the actual plan?
    0:24:34 And I haven’t heard that from the Democratic side.
    0:24:35 And I hope that we will.
    0:24:38 Maybe we can ask Hakeem Jeffries about it on Thursday night.
    0:24:43 But there is a genuine nostalgia for a time past.
    0:24:45 It’s common, obviously.
    0:24:54 But who is going to break it to millions of people that we are never going back, especially when you have no interest in going back yourself?
    0:24:56 You know, it’s all well and good to say, you go work in a factory.
    0:24:57 But me, no.
    0:25:00 You know, I want to sit in an air-conditioned office.
    0:25:02 Or actually, I want to sit at home, right?
    0:25:08 I want to be able to work from home and be able to be paid a good wage and put food on the table.
    0:25:09 And my kids go to a good school.
    0:25:11 And we’re going to be able to take a vacation.
    0:25:16 And I don’t know how you fix that imbalance.
    0:25:19 Like, that’s not only an economic problem.
    0:25:21 That’s a psychological torture problem.
    0:25:25 And everyone just gets amped up for elections.
    0:25:30 And they know I have to say the right thing in order to get reelected or to get elected for the right time.
    0:25:32 And then they’re stuck with this massive problem.
    0:25:36 And I feel like there are no good solutions on either end.
    0:25:37 Yeah, there’s a lot there.
    0:25:42 Like, Trump harkens for the late 19th century and talks about this great kind of gilded age.
    0:25:45 And the reality is, in the 1890s, we had child labor.
    0:25:47 We had outdoor plumbing.
    0:25:50 Well, and I think in Florida and Arkansas, you can get that back.
    0:25:51 Yeah, they’re trying to get that back.
    0:25:52 There you go.
    0:26:01 But this notion that we want to go back to this bygone era, do you realize there are six times as many job openings as there are people looking for jobs?
    0:26:05 I mean, what we have is a mismatch in terms of skills.
    0:26:18 And also, just a total naivete among tone deaf, head up your ass, inability to understand how the actual economy, the real economy intersects with labor.
    0:26:21 People don’t want to do these jobs.
    0:26:25 You can’t find American workers to work outside building a home.
    0:26:34 The only jobs you can find domestic workers for renovating homes, I know this person over the last 10 years, are plumber and electricians, and we’re starting to lose American plumbers.
    0:26:35 They just refuse.
    0:26:37 They will not work outside.
    0:26:41 You can’t bring your dog to the factory floor of a Ford plant.
    0:26:44 And now I have a lot of people who just want to be at home.
    0:26:46 And let’s look at Apple.
    0:26:52 The average employee at Apple domestically, I believe, makes over $200,000 a year.
    0:27:14 We’ve outsourced all these, quite frankly, low-paying, I would argue fairly tedious jobs that Americans don’t want to do, such that we can increase the profitability of Apple, more aggressively invest in new products, hire more systems engineers, more designers, more product managers, really high-paying jobs.
    0:27:17 And also, they, quite frankly, require more skill.
    0:27:19 It’s more competitive to get those jobs.
    0:27:27 So slowly but surely, Americans have upskilled and developed the skills such that they can garner those types of wages in a global economy.
    0:27:30 Have we left people behind?
    0:27:35 Have we done a poor job of retraining for people left behind from this transition?
    0:27:36 Absolutely.
    0:27:39 But tariffs don’t fix that.
    0:27:44 Now, their argument might be that the Chinese engage in enormous IP theft.
    0:27:45 They steal from us.
    0:27:48 They make it for a lower price, and they sell it back to us.
    0:27:50 I think there’s some truth there.
    0:28:04 But similar to immigration, if you were really serious about stopping that, I’ve always thought the immigration argument is just so kind of – it reflects a very ugly side of Americans’ priorities and how we fix problems.
    0:28:16 Because if you wanted to fix the illegal immigration problem, you would just fine business owners $10,000 for every – you’d do raids, and for every illegal immigrant, undocumented worker at a business, you’d charge the business owner $10,000.
    0:28:25 And you would see – all of a sudden, people would use biometrics and get much more serious about ensuring that people could legally work at their establishment.
    0:28:29 They would – a lot of these jobs, the demand would go away.
    0:28:33 And these folks wouldn’t come here if they couldn’t find work.
    0:28:40 But we’re not interested in going after nice Americans that own businesses that are wealthy.
    0:28:51 I think you could do the same thing here, and that is if you wanted to stop the flow of illegal IP, you’d find Amazon, who is a platform for all these knockoffs.
    0:28:55 And also, quite frankly, Amazon engages in the same type of IP theft.
    0:29:01 These are real issues, but I think they’re more nuanced and have to be addressed more specifically with specific negotiations.
    0:29:02 There is a court.
    0:29:06 We do sue in Chinese courts for IP theft.
    0:29:10 But I would argue that is a real consideration and a real issue here.
    0:29:13 But this is just insane.
    0:29:21 And this notion, this talking point that 75 countries are lining up to negotiate, your point’s exactly the right one.
    0:29:24 When you declare war on everyone all at once – I want to be clear.
    0:29:27 I’m not comparing Trump to Hitler.
    0:29:28 I’m using a war analogy.
    0:29:37 Hitler likely would – people in France are probably speaking German right now if he had not decided to declare war on everyone all at once.
    0:29:42 And that is, he’s declaring war on all of the continental Europe and then said, no, the Russians are a mongrel people.
    0:29:45 I’m going to declare war on them, even though they were an ally.
    0:29:47 That was his fatal mistake.
    0:30:00 And if Trump was serious about tariffs, and sometimes tariffs can work, he would go after specific or try to negotiate with specific countries around specific issues and let pros handle it.
    0:30:06 But now all he’s done is unify a ton of nations against him.
    0:30:08 You know, the EU is talking to people.
    0:30:11 And also this notion that we can hurt China.
    0:30:15 I heard this on Sunday morning from Navarro, who really is an ass.
    0:30:21 I mean, it is difficult to stand out as an ass among this clown car, and he manages to do that.
    0:30:26 But they keep talking about how much we can hurt China, that we can devastate them.
    0:30:31 And there’s really two pieces of calculus, one obvious, one less obvious.
    0:30:40 The percentage of exports to the America of their total export economy has gone from 24% to 17%.
    0:30:42 They have been diversifying away from us.
    0:30:45 We also have been diversifying away from them.
    0:30:48 We’ve reduced our exports by 4%.
    0:30:54 So we’re diversifying away from each other because there’s a chill and we’re not getting along, but they’re doing it faster.
    0:30:59 The three biggest trading partners of China, these guys speak as if we’re everything.
    0:31:04 We’re the biggest, we’re the one person who shows up every day and you have to be nice to us.
    0:31:12 No, the biggest trading partner for China is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, at a trillion.
    0:31:18 The second largest trading partner for China is the EU at $900 billion.
    0:31:20 And we come in at third.
    0:31:27 So the notion that we have all this power over them is a little bit, it’s just not true.
    0:31:32 Now, let’s assume we could hurt them more than they can hurt us.
    0:31:35 The missing part of that calculus is the following.
    0:31:45 Women are born with a hormone such that they have a much higher tolerance for pain because they have to endure childbirth,
    0:31:50 which from what I’ve heard and witnessed is the real deal in terms of pain.
    0:31:51 It’s bad.
    0:31:51 Yeah.
    0:31:52 Yeah, I’ve heard that.
    0:31:53 I’ve heard that.
    0:31:54 Yeah.
    0:32:00 We’re the man in this relationship in the sense that Americans, we’re innovative, we’re generous.
    0:32:02 We are not good with pain.
    0:32:15 There are riots in the streets when the Jake or Logan Paul or whoever the fuck it was and Mike Tyson when it doesn’t buffer real time on Netflix.
    0:32:22 The notion that we would even endure $2,000 iPhones before sweeping out all of Congress.
    0:32:27 China will starve tens of millions of people if it suits their economic or political purposes.
    0:32:42 It’s just so insane that we believe we would endure a fraction of the pain that the Chinese would implement on their people and that their people would endure relative to what Americans.
    0:32:47 I mean, we left Vietnam after losing 58,000 men.
    0:32:53 The Viet Cong at that point had lost a million and we decided to leave.
    0:32:55 We decided we couldn’t take any more.
    0:32:56 They had lost a million.
    0:32:57 We had lost 58,000.
    0:33:00 And by the way, it’s only gotten worse.
    0:33:01 Look at Ukraine.
    0:33:02 We don’t like it.
    0:33:04 It’s costing us $60 billion.
    0:33:06 Haven’t lost a single person.
    0:33:07 No boots on the ground.
    0:33:10 But that’s too much pain for us.
    0:33:17 These guys, they keep, anytime they can’t rationalize, my favorite is when they say, don’t bet against Donald Trump.
    0:33:18 First off, he’s a great businessman.
    0:33:29 He’s a shitty businessman that has lost his father’s money and has left a trail of bankrupt companies and unpaid subcontractors.
    0:33:34 This notion that he is a good business person is a myth and a lie.
    0:33:36 He’s a fantastic reality talk show person.
    0:33:39 He built probably the best reality talk show.
    0:33:40 He made a lot of money.
    0:33:40 You got to give him that.
    0:33:44 But the notion that he’s some sort of great business mind is not true.
    0:33:51 And my favorite go-to when they can’t rationalize the irrational is they say, well, he’s playing 4D chess.
    0:33:53 You just don’t see the matrix the way he does.
    0:33:55 We’re too dumb to understand, didn’t you know?
    0:33:58 This guy is not only not playing chess.
    0:34:01 At this point, we’re worried he’s going to start eating the fucking pieces.
    0:34:08 This guy seems to be so irrational and stupid and unpredictable.
    0:34:11 Besant said over 70 countries want to talk.
    0:34:12 That is such bullshit.
    0:34:24 70 countries are working with each other to figure out a way to excise this tumor called indecision and toxic uncertainty of America right now.
    0:34:27 Consumer sentiment also just dropped 11% this month.
    0:34:30 It’s second lowest point since the 50s.
    0:34:35 And now the EU is floating taxes on U.S. tech companies if these talks fall apart.
    0:34:37 Just insane here.
    0:34:41 Jess, when you look at that, plus Trump’s isolationist policies,
    0:34:44 what does it all tell you about where the U.S. economy is headed?
    0:34:46 It’s heading into the toilet.
    0:34:48 And the American public knows it.
    0:34:52 His economic approval has dropped 20 points since he was inaugurated.
    0:34:55 He’s in historically bad territory.
    0:34:59 And he’s only matched by himself during the first administration.
    0:35:03 Everybody knows that a tariff is a tax on the consumer.
    0:35:10 And when I say everybody, I mean from the small business owner to the big business owner to Ted Cruz and Rand Paul.
    0:35:16 Ben Shapiro is out there saying this is likely unconstitutional or may end up in the courts with all of this.
    0:35:37 It’s seemingly that he would be on his way to another impeachment over this because you would want to remove him in the same way that you would want to remove a negligent CEO that was running a company in this manner.
    0:35:40 The American people are along for a right now.
    0:35:44 It’s at forty seven hundred extra dollars as a result of the tariffs.
    0:35:47 It was just twenty one hundred when we recorded last Monday.
    0:35:50 That’s how quickly this is going and the level of whiplash.
    0:35:52 But I just want to double tap.
    0:35:54 And then I know that we have to go on to the next topic.
    0:36:02 But what you were saying about the fact that he’s not a good dealmaker and he’s not a good businessman, he is railing against deals that he built himself.
    0:36:05 He’s saying, you know, Canada and Mexico are taking advantage of us.
    0:36:08 You did USMCA yourself, my friend.
    0:36:14 Or he’s saying, oh, the first people are at the table of the 75 countries that are begging to hang out.
    0:36:16 Vietnam, India, South Korea and Japan.
    0:36:17 Guess what?
    0:36:22 You canceled the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which had three of those four countries in it.
    0:36:28 You would have been able to be in a pack-rim alliance that would be saving our butt right now.
    0:36:32 But no, you had to because a Democrat put it into place.
    0:36:34 You had to cancel it.
    0:36:40 And I was thinking about whether this comp makes sense to what happened with Biden on the border.
    0:36:50 You know, Biden and Harris got in and they inexplicably just stopped doing everything that worked in stemming illegal immigration.
    0:36:55 And I wonder if Trump has just walked in and is saying, I don’t want anything that Joe Biden did.
    0:36:58 So I’m getting rid of chips and science.
    0:37:04 I’m going with, you know, 145% tariffs on China, 10% on the globe.
    0:37:14 And I thought maybe he’s petty enough that he is happy to tank a thriving envy of the world.
    0:37:15 That was the cover of Time magazine, right?
    0:37:16 Isn’t that what they called it?
    0:37:21 Economy because he hates Joe Biden that much.
    0:37:23 So that’s kind of where I’ve ended up.
    0:37:29 So people say, well, and their other kind of go-to is that Biden kept the Trump tariffs.
    0:37:31 So let’s just talk about that.
    0:37:31 In 2018.
    0:37:33 Well, he tripled them.
    0:37:33 Yeah.
    0:37:35 He put in place a 30% tariff.
    0:37:40 They estimate it cost the U.S. 300,000 jobs and a loss of 0.3 to 0.7% of GDP.
    0:37:44 U.S. companies lost $1.7 trillion in stock value.
    0:37:51 Manufacturing and freight transportation sectors were, you know, hit lows not seen since the Great Financial Recession.
    0:38:00 The Trump administration ended up bailing out over – spending about $28 billion, bailing out American farmers.
    0:38:05 China promised Trump that they’d buy $200 billion of extra U.S. goods in negotiations.
    0:38:07 That didn’t happen.
    0:38:08 They never did that.
    0:38:17 And in addition, so much of this just leads to corruption, whether it’s Tim Cook flying down and getting an exemption or not getting an exemption.
    0:38:21 And small businesses don’t have those contacts or that money to give to the inauguration campaign.
    0:38:26 But also, April 9th will go down in history.
    0:38:27 And this will come out.
    0:38:29 It just might not come out for another three and a half years.
    0:38:42 As the greatest example or the greatest violation of insider trading laws in history, you saw – I follow Apple options.
    0:38:50 The calls on the $200s were at $0.40 and popped to $4 11 minutes before he made the announcement.
    0:38:53 The market started running 11 minutes before his announcement.
    0:38:55 So one of two things happened.
    0:39:00 Either his team doesn’t have the skill or the confidence to keep a secret, and it leaked.
    0:39:08 Or he was calling people or someone in the administration was calling and saying, wink, wink, I think this would be a good time to buy stocks that are specifically highly levered options.
    0:39:15 There was more trading on non-public material information on that day than in history.
    0:39:20 And you saw some people – and they’ll be able to figure this out.
    0:39:33 They’ll be able to go, OK, so you don’t trade options, and then seven minutes before this announcement, you decided to lever up 50 percent of your net worth to go by calls on the NASDAQ or the SPY.
    0:39:47 All of this kind of leads to several places, a decline in U.S. prosperity, but also we really are becoming known as sort of corruption central.
    0:40:07 And Democratic senators Adam Schiff of California and Ruben Gallego of Arizona said in a letter the sequence of events raised grave legal and ethics concerns, noting the posting propelled financial markets to huge gains and boosted the stock of carmaker Tesla, partly owned by Trump ally Elon Musk, by 18 percent.
    0:40:14 You know, who knows what’s going to happen in the next few days, but I am comfortable – I mean, a couple of things.
    0:40:18 There’s one, this guy’s going to blink over and over.
    0:40:26 And there’s even a chance they might come up with a trade deal that reduces tariffs because they’re going to have to figure out a way to turn chicken salad out of chicken shit here.
    0:40:31 I mean, every business leader in the world is calling and going, you realize you’re risking depression.
    0:40:37 And, you know, this could end really badly.
    0:40:40 As much as you have a cult, people like money more than they like you.
    0:40:45 And you’re about to immolate potentially trillions of dollars in value.
    0:40:50 The other thing is I get a lot of emails, Jess, on what to do specifically in the markets right now.
    0:40:54 And I don’t give a financial advice, but I tell them what I’m doing.
    0:40:57 In the short term, I’m doing nothing.
    0:40:58 I don’t like to act out of emotion.
    0:41:07 Generally, when I act out of emotion, it ends up poorly for me as it does for most people because the emotion you’re feeling is similar to the emotion everyone else is feeling.
    0:41:09 So people panic and think, I don’t want more pain.
    0:41:10 I’m just going to sell.
    0:41:13 Well, that means a lot of people are just selling.
    0:41:16 And you don’t want to be a panic seller.
    0:41:17 That almost never ends well.
    0:41:22 You also want to be thoughtful about the tax implications of selling if you have stocks that are up.
    0:41:25 What I am doing is the following, and I’ve been doing this for four months now.
    0:41:30 The S&P trades at a multiple of 26 or 27.
    0:41:32 The German market, 22.
    0:41:34 Japan, 18.
    0:41:36 China, 14.
    0:41:42 So every dollar in earnings our companies make, U.S. companies get about double the market cap or value or trade about double the valuation.
    0:41:45 I think that’s going to normalize and change.
    0:41:51 The markets in the U.S. are trading at 98%, meaning only 2% of the time in economic history if they traded lower.
    0:41:54 So I’m transitioning out of U.S. stocks.
    0:42:04 My biggest holdings are Apple and Amazon, and I’m going into European, Latin American, and Asian index, low-cost ETF and index funds.
    0:42:07 Because, one, look at your taxes.
    0:42:08 See where you can harvest some tax losses.
    0:42:18 But also, you’re probably not, even if you’re wrong, you’re probably not selling low and buying high because all of these markets have been somewhat roiled.
    0:42:21 So they’re even cheaper than they were.
    0:42:24 Now, they’re not any cheaper relative because the U.S. market has come down.
    0:42:31 But what I’m telling people is that if you just have SPY or the NASDAQ in an index fund, you’d like to think you’re diversified.
    0:42:35 You’re not because you’re not diversified across geographies.
    0:42:44 And I think that these wounds, that while he has pulled the knife out of the back of the U.S. economy halfway, the injury is going to take years to heal.
    0:42:49 And I think companies and countries are basically rerouting their supply chains.
    0:42:52 And that’s just going to have dramatic economic consequences.
    0:42:58 And you’re going to see a re-rating down of a PE of 26 more to, like, the high teens.
    0:43:03 And in that instance, even if a company performs well, its stock will be flattered down.
    0:43:06 Anyways, diversification is the key here.
    0:43:07 Oh, it’s very uplifting.
    0:43:09 I feel a lot better.
    0:43:09 Right?
    0:43:13 We have been through worse is what I would say.
    0:43:13 Okay.
    0:43:15 Let’s take a quick break.
    0:43:16 Stay with us.
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    0:46:42 Last week, Republicans barely passed their budget resolution with a 216 to 214 vote
    0:46:46 after Speaker Mike Johnson had to delay the vote because far-right members wanted deeper cuts.
    0:46:50 What finally got them on board, according to Rep. Chip Roy,
    0:46:53 was a verbal promise from Senate GOP leaders to go big,
    0:46:58 $1.5 trillion in cuts, including $1 trillion from Medicaid and clean energy tax credits.
    0:47:00 That’s already sparking pushback.
    0:47:05 Senator Suzanne Collins said Medicaid cuts are a non-starter.
    0:47:08 Meanwhile, Republicans are still trying to extend the Trump tax cuts,
    0:47:13 which the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates could cost up to $7 trillion over the next decade.
    0:47:17 Democrats are calling it a reverse Robinhood scheme,
    0:47:21 and even some Republicans are warning that this kind of budget could backfire in districts that rely
    0:47:23 on safety net programs.
    0:47:25 Jess, what do you—
    0:47:28 Trump loves the tax cuts and border security focus,
    0:47:32 but cuts to Medicaid and clean energy hit rural red state voters hard.
    0:47:35 Are Republicans eating their own to make this budget work?
    0:47:40 Yes, they’re eating them voraciously, and they don’t care.
    0:47:46 Or they don’t care until they lose bigly in the midterms,
    0:47:52 or they’re not able to actually get the bill in this incarnation,
    0:47:55 or is it just a carnation in this version?
    0:47:57 The latest incarnation, yeah.
    0:48:01 That they aren’t going to be able to get it through if that does happen.
    0:48:07 I, you know, Susan Collins is always upset or deeply concerned about things,
    0:48:08 and she usually ends up going along with it.
    0:48:12 I think she will probably hold her ground on this front.
    0:48:16 Josh Hawley from Missouri has said something similar,
    0:48:19 in particular, about the Medicaid cuts.
    0:48:26 And Senator Jerry Moran from Kansas has spoken out about the cuts to rural health care,
    0:48:34 that these hospitals are going to end up closing as a result of the bill as structured from the House side.
    0:48:39 So there are definitely loud voices on the right that are saying,
    0:48:41 hold up, wait a minute, you can’t do this,
    0:48:45 including Tony Fabrizio, who’s Donald Trump’s pollster.
    0:48:49 And he has been out front and center.
    0:48:58 He did a big survey for a company that supports Medicaid that found that 75% of Americans have a positive view of Medicaid.
    0:49:03 And then when asked specifically voter support or oppose cutting Medicaid to pay for tax cut,
    0:49:06 they oppose it by a 50-point margin.
    0:49:13 And we talk a lot about issues that are 70-30, 80-20, like the trans women in women’s sports, right?
    0:49:19 That’s one that’s about the same proportion of split, right, a 70-30 issue.
    0:49:26 And you just think, are you really going to go ahead with something that is so obviously suicidal for a political party?
    0:49:30 Now, they love money enough that perhaps that is what they’re going to do.
    0:49:39 But my hope is that some cooler heads prevail and they find a way to find somewhere else to cut from.
    0:49:43 I mean, originally they said, oh, yeah, of course, we’re going to be looking at the Pentagon the same as everything else.
    0:49:47 And it’s a travesty that they never had to have a complete audit of the Pentagon.
    0:49:48 Pete Hegseth promised us this.
    0:49:53 And now apparently they’re adding to the Pentagon budget instead of going in the opposite direction.
    0:49:56 But I found this pretty hysterical.
    0:50:03 There is an ad out from the Democratic side targeting a Republican congressman who is supporting this bill
    0:50:07 and is from a district that has a lot of folks who are on Medicaid in it.
    0:50:13 And the ad starts with a clip of me from The Five talking about this $880 billion that’s going to be cut for Medicaid.
    0:50:18 And it finishes with Steve Bannon saying, you cannot come for Medicaid.
    0:50:21 Lots of MAGA is on Medicaid.
    0:50:22 You’ve got to be careful.
    0:50:29 And I mean, definitely the first time and probably last time that I appear in an ad together with Steve Bannon.
    0:50:36 But there are a lot of folks that are going to be united on this and just some numbers to throw out there.
    0:50:41 Representatives like David Valadejo in California’s 22nd District.
    0:50:45 He has 530,000 people in his district on Medicaid.
    0:50:47 He won by 11,000 votes.
    0:50:53 Or Mike Lawler here in New York who has aspirations to run for the governorship on the Republican side.
    0:50:58 39,000 people on Medicaid and he won by 23,000 votes.
    0:51:03 These numbers could end up sinking a lot of these vulnerable Republicans.
    0:51:04 Yeah.
    0:51:07 So first off, just something you mentioned that totally chased me.
    0:51:13 I think Senator Susan Collins, who tries to position herself as a moderate, she’s just a raging fucking narcissist.
    0:51:25 And uses all this bullshit faux concern to just, you know, so she can stand in front of cameras and then ultimately every time vote exactly the way Trump wants her to vote.
    0:51:35 I mean, if the only barrier between Medicaid cuts is Senator Collins, then we’re going to have Medicaid cut.
    0:51:40 And also Medicaid and Medicare are very successful programs.
    0:51:51 As a matter of fact, I think one of the big ideas the Democrat needs to adopt is to have Medicare eligibility cut by two years a year for the next 30 years until everyone’s covered by it.
    0:51:52 It does a better job.
    0:51:57 Forty-five cents on the dollar for insurance goes to provinces and administrations.
    0:52:03 So if you nationalize health care, which every other modern nation does, 40% of Americans have some sort of medical or dental debt.
    0:52:07 Imagine the stress that puts on people’s emotional and mental well-being.
    0:52:12 These programs are actually do a pretty good job and they’re going after them.
    0:52:13 I mean, it’s just insane.
    0:52:19 The Republican Party’s jujitsu move is their ability to convince people to vote against their own interests.
    0:52:20 It’s just staggering.
    0:52:29 And just because I want to bring this back to me, Jess, guess who is supposed to be on Bill Maher with Steve Bannon on this past Friday?
    0:52:30 Was it you, Scott?
    0:52:30 Was it you?
    0:52:34 Well, Jess, I’m glad you asked.
    0:52:37 And I don’t like to talk about these things kind of out of school.
    0:52:39 But yeah, by the way, I love Bill Maher.
    0:52:40 That’s where I met you.
    0:52:43 I think he gets a lot of shit, but he’s actually a hero of mine.
    0:52:50 I think the guy is fearless and just doesn’t, you know, zero fucks given, just says what he thinks.
    0:53:01 And I think he represents sort of, I don’t want to call it the silent majority, but the people who actually see some license or some reason on both sides and try to just call it as it is.
    0:53:04 I absolutely love going on that show.
    0:53:06 I go to L.A., I stay at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
    0:53:08 I love the executive producers.
    0:53:13 They’re these, like, really smart, intelligent, and attractive people.
    0:53:15 And the handwritten thank you notes.
    0:53:16 It’s just—
    0:53:17 Oh, my God.
    0:53:20 My future ex-wife is one of those ex-producers.
    0:53:21 She’s awesome.
    0:53:23 Anyways, I love that show.
    0:53:24 I look forward to it.
    0:53:33 And then the woman who’s kind of my Sherpa, who I absolutely love, called me and said, okay, da-da-da, the guest, the upfront guest is Stephen Bannon.
    0:53:46 And I just couldn’t reconcile with how do I in any way normalize, associate, and in a small way legitimize a guy who’s given Nazi salutes?
    0:53:47 I just can’t do it.
    0:53:57 And then I called my contact there, and I said, look, I don’t know how—I feel as if I would have to confront him, and I don’t know how to do it.
    0:54:01 I don’t have the skills to do it elegantly without grandstanding or ruining the flow of the show.
    0:54:02 And I love the show.
    0:54:05 I’m just really digesting and having a tough time with this.
    0:54:11 And that guy, Naval, kind of the modern-day philosopher, says, if you’re thinking about something too much, the answer is probably no.
    0:54:16 And so I backed out, and I was totally fucking heartbroken because I would love to have talked about the tariffs.
    0:54:20 But anyways, that’s my Steve Bannon story.
    0:54:22 It’s a good one because they have rebooked you.
    0:54:24 They’ve given you a different day, right?
    0:54:26 Yeah, but not for a while.
    0:54:27 Yeah.
    0:54:29 America or the world will get to see you in that video.
    0:54:30 Thank God.
    0:54:31 I know.
    0:54:31 Thank God.
    0:54:33 I was losing sleep over it for sure.
    0:54:49 But something on the Steve Bannon front that is important to what we’re discussing happened that night because I think that very clearly Bill expected the Steve Bannon of the Gavin Newsom interview to show up.
    0:55:01 And he got Stephen Bannon the evil that was not conciliatory at all, would probably not have even talked about the importance of preserving Medicaid if pushed about that.
    0:55:02 That wasn’t their theme.
    0:55:08 But he spent most of his time talking about how Trump is going to run and be able to serve a third term.
    0:55:09 Bill was great, though.
    0:55:12 Did you see he pulled out the Constitution and read him to the 21st Amendment?
    0:55:13 Yeah.
    0:55:13 Yeah.
    0:55:15 He’s like, maybe you should take a look at this.
    0:55:24 It’s good to have those kinds of things handy when you have a lunatic, an insurrectionist, or at least someone who fomented the idea of an insurrection.
    0:55:25 I don’t know if he was actually there that day.
    0:55:33 But I feel as though the Trump folks are transitioning into warrior mode, all of them.
    0:55:44 And they know that you have to batten down the hatches, that what they’re doing is hugely unpopular, that it’s going to be really bad for the vast majority of people that they so-called want to protect.
    0:55:50 All of this rhetoric about, you know, this is Main Street over Wall Street is absolute bullshit, right?
    0:55:59 I mean, you look at the breakdown of the GOP bill, 70% of the bill’s tax benefits to the richest 5%, costs will go up for the bottom 40%.
    0:56:08 We already talked about the extra $4,700 that Americans are going to have to be paying for this global trade war that we’re having for shits and giggles.
    0:56:12 And I think you were absolutely right to not want to be on with him.
    0:56:28 And it’s going to be a really tough time in democratic or I shouldn’t even say democratic, insane messaging that you’re going to have to be pushing back so hard and at every single moment on the stuff that’s coming out of their side.
    0:56:30 Because this is really serious.
    0:56:34 50% of Americans’ kids, America’s kids, are on Medicaid.
    0:56:35 50 or 15?
    0:56:36 50.
    0:56:38 50% of American children are on Medicaid?
    0:56:39 Yes.
    0:56:42 50% of coverage for kids is through Medicaid.
    0:56:43 Wow, that’s insane.
    0:56:44 That really is.
    0:56:49 In these programs, you know, I would argue I would want to cut Social Security first.
    0:56:51 Social Security is an effective program.
    0:56:59 It’s reduced senior poverty, but it needs to be updated to reflect the fact that seniors now have made a shit ton of bank and a lot of them don’t need it.
    0:57:01 And, you know, people aren’t retiring.
    0:57:12 But anyways, this is – it’ll be really interesting to see what happens if they try to come – because the reality is all this stuff, this doge stuff, was just a bunch of jazz hands.
    0:57:15 If they’re serious about cutting the deficit, they’ve got to do one or two things.
    0:57:20 They’ve got to raise taxes substantially or they’ve got to lower entitlement spending.
    0:57:22 And the answer is yes.
    0:57:30 They probably need to do both because I do think that what happened in the bond market this week has probably sent a pretty serious chill around the wider.
    0:57:34 So this is – countries don’t go out of business because they get invaded.
    0:57:37 They disappear because they go broke.
    0:57:39 And we’re sort of headed that way.
    0:57:50 And when you look at other nations, whether it’s Japan or Italy, that end up at close to 200% ratio of debt to GDP, their economies just go flat and their citizenry gets really pissed off.
    0:57:54 But anyways, with that, we’ll take one more quick break.
    0:57:55 Stay with us.
    0:58:05 In a lot of circles, it certainly feels like more and more people are stepping away from organized religion.
    0:58:12 It’s like they’ve collectively realized, wait, I don’t actually have to go to synagogue on Friday or church on Sundays and boom, sleeping in one.
    0:58:13 But here’s the thing.
    0:58:15 Not everyone’s cool with this shift.
    0:58:23 Christian nationalism is on the rise and they’re working overtime to make sure their beliefs are shoehorned into our laws, our schools, and even our personal laws.
    0:58:27 And people can believe whatever they want, but that doesn’t mean everyone has to believe in the same thing.
    0:58:30 That’s where the Freedom From Religion Foundation comes in.
    0:58:34 They fight to keep church and state separate like our founders actually intended.
    0:58:42 So whether you’ve always been secular or have left religion behind and believe in keeping faith out of government, FFRF has your back.
    0:58:51 You can go to FFRF.us slash freedom or text Scott to 511-511 and become a member today.
    0:58:59 Text Scott to 511-511 or go to FFRF.us slash freedom.
    0:59:04 Because the only thing worse than someone forcing religion on you is when they do it by law.
    0:59:09 For membership information, text Scott to 511-511.
    0:59:11 Text fees may apply.
    0:59:25 President Trump on Truth Social has been suggesting that he’s open to deals to end the trade war that he started by levying tariffs on U.S. trading partners.
    0:59:31 The administration says these Liberation Day tariffs will bring manufacturing jobs back to America.
    0:59:34 Why is that so important?
    0:59:37 There are some really dumb ways to answer that question.
    0:59:40 When you sit behind a screen all day, it makes you a woman.
    0:59:42 Studies have shown this.
    0:59:43 Studies have shown this.
    0:59:45 And some much smarter ones.
    0:59:55 This is a policy at the end of the day that’s oriented toward helping some of the folks who have really been the losers in the economy and have been left behind for a long time.
    0:59:57 Coming up on Today Explained, the best minds.
    1:00:01 The White House advisor who’s gone ham on tariffs defends his position.
    1:00:06 Weekday afternoons Today Explained helps you make sense of the mess.
    1:00:20 The regular season is in the rear view, and now it’s time for the games that matter the most.
    1:00:23 This is Kenny Beecham, and playoff basketball is finally here.
    1:00:31 On Small Ball, we’re diving deep into every series, every crunch time finish, every coaching adjustment that can make or break a championship run.
    1:00:44 With so many fascinating first round matchups, will the West be the bloodbath we anticipate?
    1:00:46 Will the East be as predictable as we think?
    1:00:48 Can the Celtics defend their title?
    1:00:52 Can Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard push the young teams at the top?
    1:00:57 I’ll be bringing the expertise, the passion, the genuine opinion you need for the most exciting time of the NBA calendar.
    1:01:01 Small Ball is your essential companion for the NBA postseason.
    1:01:05 Join me, Kenny Beecham, for new episodes of Small Ball throughout the playoffs.
    1:01:07 Don’t miss Small Ball with Kenny Beecham.
    1:01:09 New episodes dropping through the playoffs.
    1:01:12 Available on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.
    1:01:16 Welcome back.
    1:01:21 Before we go, the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants is getting more extreme.
    1:01:31 Late last week, a federal judge allowed a rule to take effect requiring undocumented immigrants to self-report to the government, a policy rooted in a 1952 law.
    1:01:44 That same day, the Social Security Administration, at the request of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, added over 6,000 undocumented immigrants to its Deathmaster file, effectively declaring them dead.
    1:01:48 Being listed cuts off access to work and benefits.
    1:01:55 The administration claims those listed have ties to criminal or terrorist activity, but has provided no evidence.
    1:02:02 Many reportedly had valid Social Security numbers, but lost legal status when temporary work programs ended, and most are Latino.
    1:02:12 Meanwhile, the Supreme Court weighed in on a separate case where the administration admitted it wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador and ordered them to return him.
    1:02:18 But on Sunday, the administration insisted that it is not required to work with officials in El Salvador to secure his return.
    1:02:25 On Monday, Trump welcomed the president of El Salvador to talk about their partnership amid their deportation push.
    1:02:32 Jess, give us kind of a big-picture view of the state of his mass deportation operation.
    1:02:42 Well, I want to start by saying this is—handling of immigration is still the only area where Trump has a positive rating and 55 to 58 percent approval.
    1:02:54 When you think of how far he’s sinking on the economy and his individual popularity, which is now down in the low 40s, he has taken a big dive, that’s meaningful.
    1:03:07 And I want to make sure that we’re giving credence to that, that there are a lot of people out there who feel like it is a good thing that we are deporting people, that also these self-deportations are taking place.
    1:03:16 That people are seeing what’s going on, whether it’s fair or not, and certainly not fair, and I want to talk about the innocent people that have been sent to this El Salvadorian prison camp.
    1:03:20 But people are getting the message that this administration gives no Fs.
    1:03:23 And if you’re illegal, they’re not going to be kind to you.
    1:03:29 And Trump, in his cabinet meeting at the end of last week, said, oh, well, I’ve spoken to the farmers and the guys who own hotels.
    1:03:32 And, you know, if you’re a good worker, we’re going to make sure that you can stay.
    1:03:33 Do not believe them.
    1:03:37 You cannot take their word at all.
    1:03:38 It is worth nothing.
    1:03:45 There are no assurances whatsoever that you are going to be okay in this country if you are here undocumented.
    1:03:52 And you’re seeing that at labor sites in the mornings, right, where typically you could show up to pick up day workers.
    1:03:53 Folks aren’t showing up.
    1:03:56 They’re not sitting outside of Home Depot getting ready to be rounded up.
    1:04:03 And you could be plucked out of your home, let alone if you’re out there advertising the fact that you can work under the table and do outside hard labor.
    1:04:07 So that’s kind of like the overhead of it.
    1:04:15 And there are a few cases, though, that I wanted to highlight that I think signify that the tide could be changing.
    1:04:26 I think it is a very big deal that the Supreme Court rebuked the Trump administration nine to zero, that there was no one on that panel, most of which was hand selected by Donald Trump.
    1:04:41 Who said, no, actually, maybe it’s okay that this innocent guy from Maryland who has three special needs kids, has a good steady job, should have been sent to this prison camp.
    1:04:43 And you see that the administration, they don’t care.
    1:04:44 They’re pushing back.
    1:04:49 They’re showing up for court appointments and saying, at first, you know, we don’t know where he is.
    1:04:50 Then they show up and they say, we do know where he is.
    1:04:52 And then they had no new information.
    1:04:56 They haven’t been facilitating or effectuating, however you want to say, at his return.
    1:04:59 That ruling is very much in the American consciousness.
    1:05:08 CBS did a big 60 Minutes piece last week on the folks that were on that plane that ended up in the El Salvadorian camp.
    1:05:12 They said that 75 percent of them, they could find no evidence of a criminal record.
    1:05:14 That’s a really important stat.
    1:05:20 People thought that we were going to be getting out the bad hombres, not just the people who were here undocumented.
    1:05:26 And the gay makeup artists, that case in particular, is one that is also sitting in the national consciousness.
    1:05:28 And then there are these two others.
    1:05:44 And I want to, one of them I know that you know about and have spoken about, the Tufts PhD student from Turkey who was taken off the street by masked ICE officials and told that it was about an op-ed.
    1:06:02 That she wrote and it was just came out of the Washington Post last night that the State Department a few days before ICE came and took her determined that there was no evidence showing that she engaged in anti-Semitic activities or made any public statements supporting a terrorist organization.
    1:06:05 She’s due in federal court today in Vermont.
    1:06:08 She’s been in custody since March 25th.
    1:06:17 It will be very interesting to see what goes on there because now you have the State Department rebuking their secretary of state and certainly DHS.
    1:06:19 And I’m very curious to how that plays out.
    1:06:33 And lastly, I realize this is a ton of stuff, but I’ve been thinking about these cases that maybe we can start talking about to make this issue feel more real to people, that it’s not just about, you know, there was an open border and we’ve got to fix it, that innocent people are being affected.
    1:06:41 In Sackett’s Harbor, New York, which is Derry country, a mother and her three children, a third grader, a 10th grader, and an 11th grader were taken from their home.
    1:06:46 These are people, no record, here undocumented, but no record whatsoever.
    1:06:53 The town, which is a big Trump town, and Tom Homan actually has a house there, rallied in defense of them.
    1:06:55 There was a thousand people.
    1:07:01 There were a thousand people that turned out to make sure that it was known, all the press that was there.
    1:07:05 This got to Kathy Ockel, who made a statement about it, that these people need to be returned.
    1:07:06 And they were returned.
    1:07:19 And if that kind of activity is going on in a Trump area, and by the way, they were, quote unquote, guilty of living in the same Wi-Fi zone as somebody that there was actually a warrant to pick up.
    1:07:23 That’s how Tom Homan defended it at first before he had he was pushed and had to release them.
    1:07:44 But if you see a thousand people turning up in Trump country to make sure that an undocumented family is returned, I think that that might be a harbinger of good things to come, that people are paying attention, and that there’s a lot more unity than we think on what should be happening on immigration versus what this administration is doing.
    1:07:49 Yeah, there’s just—I mean, there’s incompetence, and then there’s depraved.
    1:07:53 And they take the crown for both these things.
    1:07:57 They are rounding up the wrong people with no criminal record.
    1:08:09 And then when they—when it comes to their attention that they spent a quarter of a million dollars per flight to have their kind of right-wing snuff film on camera.
    1:08:16 And then they find out that they deported people who are just undocumented workers who should not be deported to a hellscape prison in a different country than they’re originally from.
    1:08:22 And then they have the gall to say they can’t bring them back.
    1:08:24 Bill Maher summarized it perfectly.
    1:08:27 We can bring a man back from space, but you can’t get a man back from El Salvador.
    1:08:30 Of course, they could get those people back on one call.
    1:08:35 So this is just not—and these are the same people that hold up a Bible.
    1:08:45 I mean, it’s just so—it’s a different level of a lack of humanity, a total lack of comedy of man.
    1:08:57 And then what people don’t want to admit is that immigration is the secret sauce of America, but the most profitable part of the secret sauce is illegal immigration.
    1:09:08 Because while they pay social security taxes, while they pay payroll taxes, while they pay consumption taxes, while they pay rent, they tax our society at a lower rate.
    1:09:15 Few of them stick around for social security benefits, which they’re not eligible for as undocumented workers, but they get to pay them.
    1:09:18 They call on our services.
    1:09:26 They’re much less likely to either call the police or engage in criminal activity versus citizens.
    1:09:27 That’s a trope.
    1:09:35 There’s some very bad hombres, but on average, there’s more bad men who are citizens than bad hombres because they don’t want to get deported.
    1:09:38 And we’ve—have we let it get out of control?
    1:09:39 Do we need borders?
    1:09:39 Yes.
    1:09:41 But be clear, folks.
    1:09:45 About a quarter of all food service workers are undocumented.
    1:10:01 If you went to the 10 biggest fast food companies and said, we’re going to perform raids on a statistically significant sample of your franchise base, and we’re going to estimate what percentage of your workers are undocumented because clearly you’re not checking.
    1:10:03 It’s not that hard to check.
    1:10:04 It’s not that hard to validate.
    1:10:14 And if it’s a quarter of your workers, for every percentage of your workforce that’s undocumented workers, we’re fining you a quarter of a million dollars a month.
    1:10:21 And before you know it, McDonald’s will make sure all their workers are domestic for all those great jobs that Americans want.
    1:10:26 And once the jobs dry up, boom, your problem is solved.
    1:10:44 But we’re not really serious about this problem because, wink, wink, while we want to demonize them, incarcerate them, ship them off to internment camps, essentially, or prisons, we aren’t really serious about solving the problem because we’re making money off these undocumented workers.
    1:10:45 Has it gotten out of control?
    1:10:45 Has it gotten out of control?
    1:10:50 A quarter of a million people in one month in December of 23?
    1:10:52 Yeah, it’s gotten out of control.
    1:10:55 But be clear, we invited this.
    1:10:57 We invited this.
    1:11:00 90% of the undocumented population are working age.
    1:11:05 See above six open jobs for every one person looking for a job.
    1:11:08 36% are agricultural workers.
    1:11:12 Do you realize what’s going to happen to the cost of all your food?
    1:11:16 If we actually figure out a way to discourage all of these folks?
    1:11:23 The other thing that kind of – let’s talk about the most legal immigration that we love.
    1:11:29 The most profitable immigration that we love are people who immigrate here for two weeks and go to Disneyland.
    1:11:32 Do you know what has happened to tourism in the last 60 days?
    1:11:34 Nobody wants to fucking come here.
    1:11:42 No one wants to put up with this bullshit or worry that the ICE is going to ask for their phone or their immigration status might be up for risk.
    1:11:48 Or in general, they’re just like, I don’t need to spend my money on assholes with assholes.
    1:11:54 I love that picture showing the Toronto International Airport last year before spring break packed.
    1:11:57 This year, it’s empty.
    1:11:59 And all of that is going to ripple through.
    1:12:05 You’re going to start to see that in all sorts of earnings calls over the next eight to 12 weeks.
    1:12:12 Undocumented immigrants have generated a surplus of $100 billion in the Social Security program in the last decade.
    1:12:14 So, folks, be clear.
    1:12:20 Illegal immigration may be wrong, but we have purposely opted for wrong.
    1:12:24 Because in this case, wrong means money.
    1:12:28 We’ve known what’s going on here, and we have enabled it.
    1:12:29 Yeah.
    1:12:32 Nine percent of our GDP is tourism.
    1:12:33 Nine percent.
    1:12:34 As a country.
    1:12:35 Wow.
    1:12:35 Wow.
    1:12:38 What’s your favorite city to visit in the U.S.?
    1:12:42 You know, I love Chicago.
    1:12:43 Really?
    1:12:44 Chicago in the summer.
    1:12:48 And this is because I loved living in London in the summer so much.
    1:12:51 I feel like it’s same vibes, where everyone is just so happy.
    1:12:56 I like lake life, and I feel like Chicago has everything.
    1:12:57 It has a great food scene.
    1:12:58 It has a great art scene.
    1:13:00 It’s smaller than New York, obviously.
    1:13:01 It’s just too cold in the summer.
    1:13:05 But every time I go to Chicago, I’m elated.
    1:13:06 What about you?
    1:13:07 I love that.
    1:13:08 I totally see you.
    1:13:09 That makes a lot of sense.
    1:13:12 I can totally see that Jess Tarloff would love Chicago.
    1:13:15 I describe Chicago as the old navy of cities.
    1:13:18 It’s 80 percent of New York for 50 percent of the price.
    1:13:19 All right.
    1:13:20 That’s all for this episode.
    1:13:22 Thank you for listening to Raging Moderates.
    1:13:24 Our producers are David Toledo and Chinenye Onike.
    1:13:27 Our technical director is Drew Burrows.
    1:13:30 Jess, I’m going to see you in New York in a few days.
    1:13:31 You can find—
    1:13:32 Yeah, I’m so excited.
    1:13:33 I’m really nervous, though.
    1:13:34 Are you nervous?
    1:13:35 I’m a little nervous.
    1:13:38 Yeah, I don’t know how this crowd’s going to react, because you have sort of a progressive,
    1:13:40 like, hip crowd.
    1:13:42 I’m more just like the unwashed masses.
    1:13:43 So it’s going to be—
    1:13:46 I’m sorry, you’re the unwashed tech bro masses.
    1:13:48 That’s your demo.
    1:13:52 It’s going to be very interesting to see how these crowds get along when they’re in one
    1:13:52 place.
    1:13:56 By the way, you can now find Raging Moderates on its own feed every Tuesday and Friday.
    1:13:57 That’s right, its own feed.
    1:14:01 That means exclusive interviews with sharp political minds you won’t hear anywhere else.
    1:14:05 By the way, I am interviewing the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, this afternoon.
    1:14:09 Make sure to follow us wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss an episode.

    Scott and Jessica break down the chaos surrounding Trump’s economic and immigration agendas. First, they dive into Trump’s trade war U-turn: after rattling global markets, he’s hit pause on his “reciprocal” tariff strategy—everywhere but China. They unpack what this 90-day freeze actually means and whether there’s any real strategy behind the whiplash. Next, they turn to Congress, where Trump’s legislative priorities are moving forward—but not without serious drama. With deep Medicaid cuts, clean energy rollbacks, and massive tax extensions on the table, are Republicans undermining their own voters just to make the numbers work? And finally, the administration’s deportation crackdown takes a disturbing turn—adding undocumented immigrants to a federal “death” list and triggering a legal showdown with El Salvador.

    Follow Jessica Tarlov, @JessicaTarlov

    Follow Prof G, @profgalloway.

    Follow Raging Moderates, @RagingModeratesPod.

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  • Prof G Markets: What to Do in the Wake of Trump’s Tariff Pause

    AI transcript
    0:00:03 Support for the show comes from Public.com.
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    0:00:36 member FINRA, and SIPC.
    0:00:39 Complete disclosures available at Public.com slash disclosures.
    0:00:42 I should also disclose I am an investor in Public.
    0:00:49 Thumbtack presents the ins and outs of caring for your home.
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    0:00:55 Second-guessing every choice you make.
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    0:01:02 Out.
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    0:01:14 Start caring for your home with confidence.
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    0:01:23 Soon enough, high schoolers will be donning those caps and gowns.
    0:01:27 But what comes next is less of a sure thing than it was a decade ago.
    0:01:32 Students are genuinely questioning if college is worth it, and if college is really the right
    0:01:35 thing for them, knowing what they know about themselves.
    0:01:40 This week on Explain It to Me, a look at the new range of alternatives to college, and how
    0:01:43 some high schools are setting up their graduates for success.
    0:01:47 New episodes on Sunday mornings, wherever you get your podcasts.
    0:01:50 Today’s number, $313 million.
    0:01:56 That’s how much a Minecraft movie made in its opening weekend, the biggest video game film
    0:01:57 opening ever.
    0:02:00 Ed, a rabbi, a priest, and a stripper walk into a bar.
    0:02:01 What does the bartender say?
    0:02:02 What?
    0:02:06 I don’t know, but Donald Trump is a fucking idiot.
    0:02:18 I just made that up.
    0:02:19 I’m proud of that.
    0:02:19 That’s good.
    0:02:20 That’ll get the people going.
    0:02:24 And for those of you who think I have Trump derangement syndrome, I have this thing called
    0:02:27 capitalism and democracy addiction syndrome.
    0:02:36 I really love Netflix, and I love living somewhere nice, and I love rule of law, and I love people
    0:02:40 who make smart decisions and prosperity.
    0:02:46 I’m just so into this whole prosperity and rights thing, and I’ve gotten so used to it.
    0:02:49 So Megyn Kelly is super easy to find.
    0:02:55 If you’re looking for people to justify, like, say he’s playing 4D chess, right?
    0:02:57 No, he’s not even playing fucking Jenga or checkers.
    0:03:00 He’s playing Russian roulette with everyone’s prosperity.
    0:03:02 I am in a bad mood today, Ed.
    0:03:03 I can tell.
    0:03:11 It is interesting how all these, I mean, the response to any criticism has always been Trump
    0:03:12 derangement syndrome.
    0:03:16 And I’ve said, you know, I think probably a month ago that there’s a new syndrome, which
    0:03:22 is TDSDS, which is Trump derangement syndrome, derangement syndrome, where you basically ascribe
    0:03:27 any criticism of the government as a symptom of Trump derangement syndrome.
    0:03:31 It is funny, this week I have not been hearing any accusations of TDS.
    0:03:38 I think people have finally gotten it through their heads that that’s not really a valid argument
    0:03:39 you can make anymore.
    0:03:44 So we’ll be getting into all of it today and all of the arguments that the other side has
    0:03:48 been making as to why any of this could possibly make sense.
    0:03:50 A few notes from me.
    0:03:54 One, please go vote for us in the Webby Awards.
    0:03:55 Yes.
    0:03:56 Please vote for us.
    0:03:58 I need a raise.
    0:04:01 So we need to get this win under our belt.
    0:04:02 You think that’s going to get you a raise?
    0:04:05 Yes.
    0:04:06 Okay.
    0:04:07 Fine.
    0:04:10 So go vote for us in the Webby Awards.
    0:04:12 Voting ends this week.
    0:04:16 So please go vote for us at vote.webyawards.com.
    0:04:19 Type in Prof G Markets in the search bar.
    0:04:20 You will find us.
    0:04:21 Please vote for us.
    0:04:24 We’ll also leave a link in the description to make it easy for you.
    0:04:27 And the second point I will make, just a bit of housekeeping before we start the show.
    0:04:33 Starting in June, we’re going to be going every single day on this podcast.
    0:04:39 And I think the events of this past week have made it very evident to us why we need to do
    0:04:39 that.
    0:04:41 We want to stay on top of the ball.
    0:04:43 We want to be up to date.
    0:04:49 We want to make sure that everyone is informed as we embark on this unbelievably wild ride over
    0:04:50 the next several years.
    0:04:52 So we’re going to be doing markets daily.
    0:04:57 But that’s only going to be happening on the Prof G Markets feed.
    0:04:59 It’s not going to be happening on the Prof G Pod feed.
    0:05:06 And so if you’re listening on the Prof G Pod feed, the main feed, the logo is a turquoise
    0:05:07 symbol with Scott’s head on it.
    0:05:10 I encourage you to go switch over now.
    0:05:13 Subscribe to Prof G Markets.
    0:05:17 It’s a green logo with Scott and I bantering together in his living room.
    0:05:20 Because that’s where the action is going to be happening.
    0:05:22 And it’s going to be happening in a couple of months.
    0:05:27 So please, if you haven’t done so already, go subscribe to Prof G Markets because soon
    0:05:29 enough, we’re going to be doing this five days a week.
    0:05:33 It’s going to be epic, but we won’t be on the Prof G Pod feed anymore.
    0:05:35 And that is my housekeeping.
    0:05:37 I’m now going to get into the headlines.
    0:05:38 No, no, no, no.
    0:05:39 We need to talk about me a little bit more.
    0:05:40 That was a little too much ahead.
    0:05:40 Okay.
    0:05:44 This morning, Daddy went on La Vista, or as you gringos call it, The View.
    0:05:45 I went on The View.
    0:05:48 And I was out with Whoopi, who loves me.
    0:05:49 She said she loves me.
    0:05:52 She’s like, Professor, I love having you on.
    0:05:53 I love that show.
    0:05:57 The women are like, there’s some really like, really attractive women.
    0:05:59 You’ve been on that show a few times now, right?
    0:06:01 I think this is only my second time.
    0:06:02 It’s still a few.
    0:06:03 I think that’s called A Couple.
    0:06:10 Anyways, but nothing moves books like Morning Joe and The View.
    0:06:11 And it’s really interesting.
    0:06:17 They’re both like, there’s the behind the scenes, the operations, the producers, the resources.
    0:06:20 Those guys are really good.
    0:06:25 You can tell that they’re making so much money because they are serious when you show up.
    0:06:30 But yeah, I think my future ex-wife is one of those panelists or one of the women of The View.
    0:06:33 I’ll let all the viewers guess who it is.
    0:06:38 But my future ex-wife is one of the co-hosts of The View.
    0:06:39 Oh my God.
    0:06:40 I am just fascinated with this woman.
    0:06:42 You’ve said you find her hot before.
    0:06:43 She asked me a question.
    0:06:45 I’m like, I see her lips.
    0:06:46 What’s her name?
    0:06:46 Alyssa?
    0:06:48 Don’t out me.
    0:06:53 I’m like, I see her lips moving, but I don’t hear the words because I love you.
    0:06:54 I love you.
    0:06:58 I saw her backstage and I’m like, let’s take a picture together so I can show this to our children.
    0:07:02 Oh my God.
    0:07:05 And she’s conservative, which really gets me kind of.
    0:07:06 Absolutely.
    0:07:09 But they’re all really smart and impressive.
    0:07:11 And anyways, I was on The View, Ed.
    0:07:12 That’s very exciting.
    0:07:13 Should we talk about what matters?
    0:07:14 That hurts my feelings.
    0:07:16 Get to the headlines.
    0:07:26 The trade war has officially reached a boiling point.
    0:07:30 President Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for most countries Wednesday while
    0:07:32 simultaneously raising tariffs on China.
    0:07:36 The selective reprieve ignited a wave of investor euphoria.
    0:07:39 Minutes after the announcement, the major indices skyrocketed.
    0:07:41 The Dow was up nearly 8%.
    0:07:43 The S&P rose by almost 10%.
    0:07:48 That was its sharpest gain since October 2008 and the third biggest since World War II.
    0:07:53 And the Nasdaq had its best day in 24 years, climbing 12%.
    0:07:57 The Magnificent Seven alone added $1.5 trillion in value.
    0:08:07 By mid-afternoon on Thursday, stocks gave up half of that rally as Trump raised the tariff rate on China again to 145%.
    0:08:10 The Dow ended the day down 1,000 points.
    0:08:15 And the S&P and the Nasdaq closed down around 4%.
    0:08:18 Then stocks headed back up on Friday.
    0:08:24 Scott, your reactions to the turbulence that we’ve seen in the markets in this last week.
    0:08:26 Where do you stand on tariffs today?
    0:08:29 So the only way I can play, I can think of to play this market.
    0:08:31 And by the way, this is what I’m doing.
    0:08:32 Don’t try this at home.
    0:08:34 Be very careful because it has unlimited downside.
    0:08:37 But options and volatility have gone crazy.
    0:08:40 And so to buy options is super expensive.
    0:08:48 So I have been selling options, specifically selling calls, because I think over the medium and the long term, we’re going to have contraction, multiple contractions.
    0:08:51 And so I sell calls against stocks that I think are already overvalued.
    0:08:59 And be clear, I imagine the thing tripling, the stock tripling, because there’s unlimited downside and it can’t be more than 5% of my net worth.
    0:09:03 So keep in mind when you do this, you are playing with fire.
    0:09:11 But that’s the only way I can think of to kind of play this volatility in this recklessness is to sell calls, quite frankly.
    0:09:13 So I was looking at Apple calls.
    0:09:18 And Wednesday in the morning, you could buy, I think the stock was at 175.
    0:09:24 You could buy a call on Apple for 40 cents, meaning if you sell it, you only get 40 cents.
    0:09:33 And then about 10 minutes before he made the announcement, he was pausing it, Apple skyrocketed and the calls went to $4.
    0:09:36 So you invested a million bucks, you got 10 million.
    0:09:41 If you took, and I didn’t do this, but if you took a million dollars selling those calls, you had to pay that person 10 million.
    0:09:48 So people made and lost about a third of a billion dollars just on that one strike price, just on that one.
    0:09:50 So literally billions of dollars made and lost.
    0:09:54 But it was clear someone knew what was going to happen.
    0:10:01 And when you have a president who’s comfortable opening a Swiss bank account where anyone can deposit money, call him and say, I’ve done this.
    0:10:02 And he doesn’t ask for to disclose it.
    0:10:12 When you have a president that is a convicted felon, to think that maybe he didn’t call some of his donors or some of his insiders or friends and say, FYI, wink, wink, nod, nod.
    0:10:15 I think the markets are going to go up today.
    0:10:17 I think we’re going to find out.
    0:10:19 And in a digital world, there will be evidence of this.
    0:10:34 I think we’re going to find out that April 9th, we’ll go down in history, is the greatest day of insider trading in history, where people were engaging in market manipulation and insider trading, trading on non-public material information.
    0:10:37 Because clearly, word got out.
    0:10:41 In this market, there’s someone on the other side of that trade losing money.
    0:10:47 And the whole point of the markets is there isn’t a group of people in the know within a circle of proximity to people in power.
    0:10:57 They get asymmetric advantage against you because then people just give up and stop investing in the markets and the cost of capital skyrockets for corporations.
    0:11:02 So yesterday was D-Day for insider trading.
    0:11:08 And I think that will come out about a week after the next president is inaugurated.
    0:11:15 I think the SEC and forensic accountants are going to find there was so much bad shit that went down yesterday.
    0:11:16 Any thoughts, Ed?
    0:11:21 Well, you said you predict or you believe that that happened.
    0:11:22 I can tell you right now the evidence is there.
    0:11:23 It did happen.
    0:11:37 There was someone who bought a huge number of zero-day call options on the S&P hours before he released that tweet and released that announcement saying that he’s pulling and pausing the tariffs.
    0:11:44 And so this is basically a bet that the S&P would rise by a huge amount within one day.
    0:11:45 They expire at the end of the day.
    0:11:52 And those options, we don’t know who this was, but those options exploded by more than 2,000%.
    0:11:56 So this person, whoever it is, made millions.
    0:12:04 And, of course, the only rational implication is that this individual knew what was going to happen and they were insider trading.
    0:12:05 Again, we don’t know who that was.
    0:12:09 The Democrats are now calling for an investigation into this.
    0:12:13 And the big question is, did Trump tip someone off?
    0:12:17 I don’t see any way that it couldn’t have been that.
    0:12:24 Or maybe it was sloppiness and word got out among his close group of friends that this is what he was going to do.
    0:12:29 But there is evidence in the markets that someone was doing this.
    0:12:31 Someone was insider trading.
    0:12:39 So I think, you know, you’re almost calling the prediction too late in that we know it actually happened.
    0:12:47 But all of your points there align with the first thing that I’ve been thinking coming out of this insane week.
    0:12:55 We had these unbelievable swings in the stock market, in the Nasdaq, in the S&P, in the Dow, the entire U.S. stock market.
    0:13:03 And essentially what’s happened is the president has turned our economy or our stock market into a meme stock.
    0:13:14 You know, falling or rising 10 or more percentage points within a day for six days straight, those are the characteristics of a meme stock.
    0:13:20 That’s something like a GameStop or an AMC or a cryptocurrency like a Faultcoin or a CumRocket.
    0:13:26 And that might sound funny or hyperbolic, but it was plainly true last week.
    0:13:32 The price movement of the S&P resembled those of a meme stock, which makes me ask the question,
    0:13:37 OK, well, what does it mean for us that our stock market has itself become a meme stock?
    0:13:39 I think there are a few implications.
    0:13:44 One, we’re going to see a huge surge in options trading, as evidenced by you.
    0:13:47 You know, people are going to be making and losing huge amounts of money
    0:13:52 based not on the cash flows and the earnings of our economy,
    0:13:57 but on the words and the tweets of the spearheader of the movement, which is the president.
    0:14:02 I think we’re also going to see a massive influx of young investors
    0:14:06 who have grown up in an era of crypto and meme coins
    0:14:09 and who are just more excited by this short-term upside of volatility
    0:14:14 versus the long-term upside of actual investment, value investment.
    0:14:18 And three, and I think this is the most important consequence,
    0:14:22 I think our creditworthiness is going to collapse
    0:14:27 because lending, far more so than investing,
    0:14:34 is fundamentally dependent on certainty and stability and reliability.
    0:14:38 And that’s why, you know, you look at every meme stock in existence,
    0:14:39 they all have a junk rating.
    0:14:42 You know, look at GameStop, AMC, MicroStrategy.
    0:14:45 Yes, those stocks can at times outperform,
    0:14:50 but over the long term, the underlying default risk is way too high,
    0:14:52 which makes their debt essentially uninvestable.
    0:14:55 And now we are putting the entire economy in that position.
    0:15:00 And this is the dark side that I don’t think people are paying enough attention to right now.
    0:15:04 Because on Wednesday, stocks went up and people said,
    0:15:05 great, we’re back to normal.
    0:15:10 We’re, you know, we’re not perfect pre-tariffs, but we’re back on track.
    0:15:12 And what they seem to gloss over though,
    0:15:17 which is now appearing to us in the form of the 10-year yield,
    0:15:20 they were not paying attention to the bond market.
    0:15:24 Because the yields came down a little bit from those insane highs
    0:15:27 that nearly tilted into a full-on credit crisis,
    0:15:30 but ultimately landed higher than where they were before the tariffs.
    0:15:32 And now they’re rising again.
    0:15:35 And what that tells me is that over the course of a few days,
    0:15:38 we essentially kneecapped our ability to borrow.
    0:15:41 We damaged our reputation as an investable economy.
    0:15:45 We damaged other leaders’ ability to believe what we say.
    0:15:48 We damaged this global assumption that the U.S.,
    0:15:49 generally speaking, knows what it’s doing.
    0:15:55 And beyond the politics and the embarrassment and the ridiculousness of it all,
    0:15:58 I think the numerical consequence of all of that
    0:16:02 is a massive long-term increase in our borrowing costs.
    0:16:05 Which, as Trump has correctly pointed out,
    0:16:07 is something our nation is overly dependent on,
    0:16:11 and which, by the way, he has not made a plan to wean us off of.
    0:16:14 So that’s the point I’d like to begin here.
    0:16:18 It’s just what a dark week this actually was for America.
    0:16:21 I mean, the way to summarize it, I would say,
    0:16:25 is that last week we officially fired the starting gun
    0:16:27 on this global rotation away from America,
    0:16:30 which you have been talking about for more than 90 days now.
    0:16:32 And that’s not to say we can’t come back.
    0:16:35 I don’t think we’re necessarily doomed.
    0:16:42 But in the same way that a landslide is triggered not by the buildup of pressure at the top of the hill,
    0:16:47 but by someone stumbling on the rock and releasing that pressure and causing the slide,
    0:16:50 that’s what I think happened last week.
    0:16:57 One of the things you’re saying that’s really interesting is that if you listen to Ben Bernanke’s congressional testimony during the Great Financial Recession,
    0:17:00 he talks about the Great or the Depression.
    0:17:02 And he said, while everyone was focused on the stock market,
    0:17:05 he said the thing that really took us into the Depression was the credit markets.
    0:17:09 And the stock market is more fun to look at,
    0:17:12 but it’s really the credit markets are much bigger than the stock market
    0:17:15 and are much more influential on everyday business.
    0:17:18 And my thesis is the following,
    0:17:23 that the president has access to more information than any individual in the world.
    0:17:25 He has access to the best security apparatus.
    0:17:27 He has access to the best economists.
    0:17:32 He really is the person that could do the most insider trading,
    0:17:33 which I think this is going on.
    0:17:35 But distinct to that, he has the most information.
    0:17:36 And this is what I think happened.
    0:17:38 The adult in the room is the 10-year.
    0:17:39 We’ve been saying this.
    0:17:41 And I think he got information the following,
    0:17:44 and that is companies are cutting their spending.
    0:17:45 They’re paralyzed.
    0:17:46 They don’t know what to do.
    0:17:47 They’re cutting their spending.
    0:17:50 Companies are rerouting the supply chain.
    0:17:54 Every economic indicator is that there’s less money and less activity.
    0:17:58 At the same time, interest rates are going up.
    0:18:00 That is stagflation.
    0:18:02 That takes you potentially into a depression.
    0:18:08 If the cost of capital goes up as productivity and spending is going down,
    0:18:16 that is literally nitro and glycerin that explodes into stagflation and then a depression.
    0:18:17 I think he got both those data points.
    0:18:19 And someone said,
    0:18:22 This is really, really bad.
    0:18:24 And probably just as importantly,
    0:18:29 Alyssa was wearing a yellow ribbon to signify the hostages.
    0:18:31 Do you think she was doing that to impress me?
    0:18:35 I need a distraction here, Ed.
    0:18:37 I need a distraction.
    0:18:40 Seriously, I think she’s into me.
    0:18:41 I think she’s into me.
    0:18:42 I think she’s into me.
    0:18:44 What do you think?
    0:18:45 I have no comment on that.
    0:18:48 We were really getting somewhere.
    0:18:49 We were breaking new ground.
    0:18:53 I had to bring it back to Alyssa.
    0:18:53 That’s all right.
    0:18:54 Stagflation.
    0:18:55 I’m sorry.
    0:19:01 I think what you’re saying there is the important point, which is that the bond market was the adult in the room.
    0:19:03 And you’ve said that for a while.
    0:19:06 And Andrew Ross Sorkin said it as well on this podcast.
    0:19:17 If there is any blockade to this administration’s efforts and the Republicans to get what they want over the next, call it two years,
    0:19:19 because we’ll see what happens in two years in the midterms,
    0:19:27 the only potential governor on them is, oddly enough, the bond market.
    0:19:32 If, in fact, the investor class around the world says,
    0:19:33 You know what?
    0:19:34 We’re just not doing it this way.
    0:19:37 We don’t like what’s going on here.
    0:19:41 They can vote with their wallet and they can say,
    0:19:47 We are not going to be buying your bonds unless you’re going to pay us a lot more for them,
    0:19:51 in which case everything becomes a lot more expensive for all of us.
    0:20:01 And that is the only thing, frankly, that I can even imagine that is a governor on the politics of our country over the next, call it two years.
    0:20:03 That’s not what the administration is saying, though.
    0:20:06 And I think we should clear this up here.
    0:20:11 The way they are justifying this pause on the tariffs, the pullback.
    0:20:19 They say it was all this, it was this 4D chess move to put China in a corner to bring our trading partners to the table.
    0:20:26 And most importantly, they have said this, that it had nothing to do with what happened in the bond markets on Tuesday night,
    0:20:32 where yields exploded and markets were digesting the very likely prospect of a credit crisis.
    0:20:38 And so Howard Lutnick, as soon as this happened, he went on CNBC and they asked him point blank.
    0:20:44 Did the market reaction cause the administration to rethink its tariff plan?
    0:20:46 Absolutely not.
    0:20:48 Scott Besson, he also went on CNBC.
    0:20:50 They asked him the same question.
    0:20:57 I would say that the negotiations are the result of the massive inflow of inbound calls to come and negotiate.
    0:20:59 Had nothing to do with the market.
    0:21:11 But the best interview to me, the most telling interview, was Trump’s, where he’s standing outside of the White House and unprompted, he starts rambling about the bond market.
    0:21:12 Bond market is very tricky.
    0:21:13 I was watching it.
    0:21:17 But if you look at it now, it’s beautiful.
    0:21:19 The bond market right now is beautiful.
    0:21:23 But yeah, I saw last night where people were getting a little queasy.
    0:21:28 People were jumping a little bit out of line.
    0:21:33 They were getting yippy, you know, they were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid.
    0:21:40 And by the way, apparently he was watching Jamie Dimon’s interview on Fox just a couple hours before he hit send on the tariff pause.
    0:21:43 And that’s the interview where Jamie was saying he was expecting a recession.
    0:21:54 So this idea that this was all part of the plan and that this was not a reaction to the bond markets, that it was just a coincidence that it happened right after yields went haywire, total lie.
    0:21:57 It is absolutely a response to the bond markets.
    0:22:02 This was the administration realizing the markets are more powerful than they are.
    0:22:05 The world will only tolerate so much of their craziness.
    0:22:12 And they were essentially strong-armed by the bond vigilantes, the bond investors, into admitting defeat.
    0:22:14 Now, of course, they can’t say that.
    0:22:17 We remember who Trump’s mentor was, Roy Cohn.
    0:22:19 His number one rule, never admit defeat.
    0:22:22 So they come out and say, this was a big win for us.
    0:22:37 But I think the most pathetic thing that I saw was watching all of his backers file into a line and having been genuinely and publicly rattled by what had happened, genuinely frightened by the world’s response.
    0:22:40 They go out and say what a genius Trump is.
    0:22:45 And I’d like to read you some quotes here from Stephen Miller.
    0:22:46 This is from Twitter.
    0:22:46 He said, quote,
    0:22:52 You have been watching the greatest economic master strategy from an American president in history.
    0:22:55 From David Sachs, quote,
    0:22:58 Once again, Trump was right about everything.
    0:23:00 From Bill Ackman, quote,
    0:23:03 This was brilliantly executed by Donald Trump.
    0:23:04 Textbook.
    0:23:05 The art of the deal.
    0:23:09 And my response to Bill Ackman would be,
    0:23:11 What deal?
    0:23:14 I mean, seriously, tell me, what is the deal?
    0:23:15 What did we get here?
    0:23:19 Their incompetence is just bursting at the seams here.
    0:23:21 They can’t even coordinate their messaging.
    0:23:37 And although I don’t think Bill’s coordinating, well, I don’t know this, but that Stephen Miller tweet and that David Sachs tweet, that was written by a White House communications director that works for Dear Leader.
    0:23:41 I mean, look at how just similarly sycophantic it is.
    0:23:45 Doesn’t it sound like the same person writing this shit?
    0:23:48 I mean, those guys, you know, not, I don’t know.
    0:23:52 David is a smart guy, regardless of what you think of his politics.
    0:23:54 That just so, that sounded so ridiculous.
    0:24:01 So they’re clearly coordinating on tweets, but they can’t get their message straight when they go on CNBC.
    0:24:05 And, oh, they’re not freaked out about the market, but they’re going on CNBC every fucking day?
    0:24:07 Oh, we don’t care.
    0:24:13 No, the credit markets didn’t make us do this, but we need to go on CNBC to tell everyone the credit markets didn’t make us do this.
    0:24:26 I mean, the level of, I don’t know, just constitutional, you know, necrophilia here, combined with the incompetence of these guys going left, going right.
    0:24:32 I mean, at some point, we got numb to the fact that, oh, the economy can survive this level of incompetence.
    0:24:39 And I’ve said this to you before, pulling the knife halfway out of the back of the economy by pausing the tariffs.
    0:24:42 This, again, weakens our hand.
    0:24:43 We’re pausing the tariffs.
    0:24:46 This guy is blinking left and right.
    0:24:49 What was the impetus?
    0:24:51 They were trying to accomplish a few things, according to them.
    0:24:54 One, bring jobs, good manufacturing jobs back to America.
    0:24:58 Two, reconfigure global trade to our advantage.
    0:25:01 And three, raise a bunch of money through tariffs.
    0:25:02 All right.
    0:25:06 Tariffs never increase the treasury.
    0:25:10 They might protect an industry, an infant industry like in South Korea, or ensure a certain level of domestic production.
    0:25:13 But they’re not revenue generators.
    0:25:20 Tariffs on the whole, they reduce revenues to reconfigure the supply chain to our advantage.
    0:25:22 It’s done exactly the opposite.
    0:25:26 We have declared war on everyone, meaning all of our imports are more expensive.
    0:25:28 box-checked.
    0:25:35 He is reconfiguring the global supply chain, but he’s reconfiguring in a way that is to our huge disadvantage.
    0:25:51 And then the notion we were going to bring back American jobs, the average assembly worker in Shenzhen working for Foxconn who builds the iPhone makes about $6,000 a year.
    0:25:53 So Apple has said, here’s an idea.
    0:25:56 Let’s outsource the really shitty low-paying jobs.
    0:26:08 And let’s hold on to the design, the business development, the store technology, the strategy, the marketing, all of the jobs that pay kind of like $200,000, $300,000, $400,000 a year.
    0:26:24 And by the way, that unlocks more margin, more profit that Apple then reinvests in growing the market, which creates more high-paying jobs.
    0:26:32 It just cracks me up that these folks think that they’re going to bring back these fantastic manufacturing jobs.
    0:26:34 And I love that stat.
    0:26:42 The Cato Institute did a survey on manufacturing, and 80% of Americans think that we need more manufacturing.
    0:26:44 There’s a romanticization of manufacturing.
    0:26:48 But only 20% of Americans want to work in manufacturing.
    0:26:51 Ed, let me ask you this.
    0:26:55 Now, granted, you went to Princeton, and you’re a little bit of a debutante.
    0:26:59 But do you have any friends that are just dying to get into manufacturing?
    0:27:01 Seriously.
    0:27:02 No.
    0:27:04 We’re the second largest manufacturer already.
    0:27:07 It’s not like – and our manufacturing is high-value-add.
    0:27:12 We put together really cool shit that we can sell for a lot more money than it costs to bring.
    0:27:13 It’s really complicated.
    0:27:14 It’s really value-add.
    0:27:20 And the, quote-unquote, lower-value-add stuff, that, quite frankly, they can find people who decide,
    0:27:28 all right, if I move in from a rural town in a province in China and I make $500 a month, that’s an upgrade to my quality of life.
    0:27:41 And it’s just hilarious that the fact that what Trump has not calculated in his, quote-unquote, game theory is that Americans will not endure very much pain.
    0:27:44 I mean, the Chinese will endure a lot of pain.
    0:27:47 Russians will send a million of their young men to die.
    0:27:51 You know, we lose 57,000 in Vietnam.
    0:27:55 We leave even though the Viet Cong has lost a million men.
    0:28:01 I mean, our tolerance for pain, our threshold for pain, we’re the men of the species.
    0:28:08 And that is because of childbirth, women are born with the ability to have a much higher tolerance for pain because they have to endure childbirth.
    0:28:09 We’re the men.
    0:28:11 We’re the ones like, well, fuck that.
    0:28:12 That hurts too much.
    0:28:12 Stop.
    0:28:12 Stop.
    0:28:19 And China and Russia are the women in the sense they will endure much more pain than we will.
    0:28:27 All of a sudden, if you announce the first iPhone that goes on sale here for $2,100, again, he’s going to blink.
    0:28:29 Americans won’t tolerate that.
    0:28:30 They will not tolerate it.
    0:28:40 The first time the 77% of toys under the Christmas tree go up, doubling costs, and American households have to cut the number of toys under the tree in half.
    0:28:42 Americans won’t tolerate that.
    0:28:45 They’ll burn their MAGA hats.
    0:28:58 So the notion, what he doesn’t realize is, yeah, maybe on a dollar-per-dollar basis, we can hurt these guys more than they hurt us, not taking into effect that the dollar we get is usually a higher margin, much higher market cap dollar.
    0:29:04 These folks are willing to endure much more pain than the American consumer.
    0:29:07 He is playing with such a weak hand right now.
    0:29:10 We’ll be right back after the break.
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    0:31:49 President Trump on Truth Social has been suggesting that he’s open to deals to end the trade war that he started by levying tariffs on U.S. trading partners.
    0:31:56 The administration says these Liberation Day tariffs will bring manufacturing jobs back to America.
    0:31:58 Why is that so important?
    0:32:01 There are some really dumb ways to answer that question.
    0:32:05 When you sit behind a screen all day, it makes you a woman.
    0:32:06 Studies have shown this.
    0:32:07 Studies have shown this.
    0:32:09 And some much smarter ones.
    0:32:19 This is a policy at the end of the day that’s oriented toward helping some of the folks who have really been the losers in the economy and have been left behind for a long time.
    0:32:21 Coming up on Today Explained, the best minds.
    0:32:26 The White House advisor who’s gone ham on tariffs defends his position.
    0:32:28 Weekday afternoons.
    0:32:30 Today Explained helps you make sense of the mess.
    0:32:46 We’re back with Profty Markets.
    0:32:52 I’ll bring us back to what the tariffs mean for our actual economy going forward.
    0:32:57 But I just want to stay on what happened in the stock market for a second.
    0:33:08 Because I think what we saw when the markets ripped back up was Trump and the MAGA base basically bragging that this was a win, that this was a great deal.
    0:33:11 Of course, that doesn’t make any sense.
    0:33:21 I mean, he was literally gloating, oh, wow, we’ve had one of the greatest stock market rallies in history after he, of course, brought one of the greatest stock market crashes in history, too.
    0:33:25 So, I think we can all agree that this was not really a win.
    0:33:30 But I also want to emphasize what a loss this actually was for so many regular Americans.
    0:33:38 You know, if you took our advice, your advice, which was to do nothing, then you were fine.
    0:33:41 And you’re okay for now, generally speaking.
    0:33:45 But the trouble is, not everyone listens to this podcast and not everyone listens to you.
    0:33:52 And there were many people out there in America who actually did sell, who got super freaked out.
    0:33:54 They saw the market was down 10%.
    0:33:56 They thought it was going to keep sliding.
    0:33:57 And they decided to liquidate.
    0:34:08 And I would point you to a statistic, which is that April 7th, Monday of last week, was the fifth largest trading day for 401k assets in recorded history.
    0:34:10 And you look at what happened.
    0:34:12 What were people doing with their 401ks?
    0:34:14 They sold their stocks.
    0:34:24 And the money, they either kept it in cash or they moved it into more, quote-unquote, stable assets like bond funds and money market funds.
    0:34:27 And you look at what’s happening to those assets, T-bills and notes.
    0:34:29 Those assets are going down, too.
    0:34:33 But the reality is that, you know, these are the stories you don’t hear.
    0:34:44 You don’t hear about the guy in Pittsburgh or Gary, Indiana, who only has so much in his 401k and his retirement account, who actually sold at the bottom.
    0:34:47 And hundreds of thousands of Americans did this.
    0:34:49 And they’re looking at their 401ks this week.
    0:34:51 And they have to digest this now.
    0:34:59 They have just registered not an unrealized loss, but a realized loss of 10% or more because they sold.
    0:35:06 So I just want to point that out, too, that, you know, for many of us, it was just a wild week, right?
    0:35:08 It went up and went down and went up and went down.
    0:35:10 Looks like it’s coming down again.
    0:35:13 And it looks like the long-term trend is down.
    0:35:16 But for many people, this was a flat-out loss.
    0:35:20 Just pure, unadulterated, down 10%.
    0:35:26 And no amount of the 40-chest justification or the sycophantry is going to change that.
    0:35:32 And I just want to point that out, you know, that a lot of people got really, really hurt last week.
    0:35:46 Now, on investing trends in general, what we’re identifying here is a massive fuck-up from the administration who went ahead with this crazy tariff idea.
    0:35:49 The bond market told them that was a bad idea.
    0:35:51 And then they pulled it at the last minute.
    0:36:17 We’ve been talking for a while about this global reorganization of the investment economy, where America has benefited from, generally speaking, massive inflows, perhaps unjustified, but at the very least justified by the fact that we had a stable government that was respected by investors around the world.
    0:36:28 Our thesis has been that we might be witnessing a rotation away from that dynamic, which would massively upend global markets.
    0:36:34 Given what happened with pulling the tariffs, what do you think that does to this dynamic?
    0:36:36 What is happening now?
    0:36:37 No one gets out of this alive.
    0:36:43 I mean, there’ll be a few people who bought puts or something and show their picture on Reddit or whatever.
    0:36:48 There’ll be a few, you know, a few, quote-unquote, speculators that win.
    0:36:53 But 99 percent, I mean, there’s so many cohorts they’re going to lose here.
    0:36:56 Let’s talk about people hoping to retire.
    0:36:59 And they thought, wow, the markets have done great.
    0:37:01 They thought, okay, I can retire.
    0:37:03 Well, that’s maybe not as true now.
    0:37:04 Families.
    0:37:14 If these tariffs are anything resembling what they’re stating, the example I use is toys under the Christmas tree.
    0:37:15 They’re just immediately going to fill it.
    0:37:20 Young people, what do you think has happened to hiring in the last week?
    0:37:25 I got to imagine so many people recruiting at colleges, high schools.
    0:37:27 You finally get an interview that said, hey, we love you.
    0:37:28 We want to bring you in.
    0:37:31 But we’re putting everything on pause right now.
    0:37:35 Microsoft just announced, was scrapped a $1 billion data center project in Ohio.
    0:37:43 Stellantis paused production in Canada and Mexico, leading to 900 layoffs at U.S. plans in Michigan and Indiana.
    0:37:51 I got to think there are so many interviews and recruiting plans that have been paused.
    0:37:55 And typically, paused means they’re not happening because they don’t double up.
    0:38:04 If they canceled our recruiting for two, three months, they then don’t double their recruiting the following two or three months.
    0:38:07 My brother-in-law is at business school right now.
    0:38:08 He went into class last week.
    0:38:10 The professor came into the class.
    0:38:13 He said, I just want to apologize to everyone.
    0:38:14 They said, what for?
    0:38:16 He said, I don’t think any of you guys are going to get jobs next year.
    0:38:18 So this is already happening.
    0:38:25 Well, the double whammy of companies trying to figure out if AI replaces a lot of these kind of high-end information workers with total uncertainty.
    0:38:28 It’s like Eisenhower said, the bad decision is wrong.
    0:38:30 No decision is worse.
    0:38:32 And I love the term.
    0:38:38 We have been thrust into this dynamic of the U.S. is now, the U.S. brand is now toxic uncertainty.
    0:38:49 We would have been much better off if he had said, 10% tariffs across the board or whatever it is, and you just stuck to it.
    0:38:51 The back and forth, the what?
    0:38:54 You dare threaten me, fine, sir.
    0:38:56 Your tariff is now 125%.
    0:38:58 Or, oh, I like you.
    0:39:00 I just had lunch with you in Mar-a-Lago.
    0:39:04 I mean, nobody knows how to plan their business.
    0:39:06 So when you don’t know what to do, what do you do?
    0:39:07 You do nothing.
    0:39:08 You don’t hire people.
    0:39:10 You press the pause button.
    0:39:14 And the pause button is essentially, it’s a light no.
    0:39:23 But it’s still a no because the number of people who need jobs, the number of people who have rent doesn’t go on pause.
    0:39:30 Your landlord doesn’t say, well, I’m pausing rent because I know you had a bunch of interviews lined up and you don’t have them now.
    0:39:31 So I’m pausing.
    0:39:32 That doesn’t happen.
    0:39:35 Your expenses continue to roll on.
    0:39:49 So whether it’s people looking to retire, whether it’s people just out of college looking for a job, whether it’s families, whether, can you imagine how many corporations probably correctly are going to say, we’re freezing all new hires.
    0:39:51 And quite frankly, we’re freezing salaries.
    0:39:52 There’s no bonuses.
    0:40:00 Who’s going to say, oh, all this uncertainty is bad, but we see an opportunity in all this and we’re going to hire faster.
    0:40:01 I haven’t heard any company say that.
    0:40:07 Think about how many foreign companies were planning to build plants here.
    0:40:09 And there’s a ton of them.
    0:40:13 They want to build production over here who have all of a sudden said, let’s just press pause.
    0:40:14 We don’t know what’s going on.
    0:40:20 Or I’m on the board of a company that was thinking about relocating or opening a second headquarters in New York.
    0:40:34 And they’re worried that in the second layer of mendaciousness, they’re like, we’re not sure if we don’t know the state of immigration and we don’t know if we’re going to be able to staff it with some of our folks from here.
    0:40:37 So we’re just doing nothing right now.
    0:40:39 The IPO market is dead.
    0:40:41 Nobody wants to go public right now.
    0:40:49 This is across every point of the economy, literally across every income class from CEOs.
    0:40:56 They’re going to see their pay go down to the worker at making minimum wage, to the college grad, to the family.
    0:40:58 Everybody gets hit here.
    0:40:59 Everybody.
    0:41:04 And as we’ve always said, few more elegant ways to hurt everybody than tariffs.
    0:41:13 Just some examples of companies that are on hold or pausing or freezing, however we want to call it.
    0:41:20 The reality is they’re no longer producing output or contributing to our economy like they used to.
    0:41:29 So you mentioned that Microsoft, they are now pulling back from AI spending, which, of course, Trump was, you know, on the podium.
    0:41:35 Gloating about what a tremendous chip investment the U.S. is going to make.
    0:41:38 So Microsoft, which is going to be the biggest spender, they’re now pulling back.
    0:41:40 Audi halting shipments to the U.S.
    0:41:45 They also froze 37,000 vehicles that were waiting at ports across America.
    0:41:50 Amazon canceling their vendor orders across Asia with no explanation.
    0:41:52 This is reported by Bloomberg.
    0:41:56 Roughly half a million dollars worth of goods were frozen.
    0:42:07 And this is a signal, not that Amazon will be paying the tariffs as we expected, or as hopefully, as I assume Trump expected, but they’re just going to halt their production entirely from China.
    0:42:14 So we’re going to see a lower supply of goods in America, which, you know, Econ 101 means we’re going to see higher prices.
    0:42:15 Hollywood.
    0:42:17 This is going to massively affect Hollywood.
    0:42:18 China is reducing.
    0:42:21 They’ve said they’re going to reduce their imports of American films.
    0:42:27 Last year, American films grossed $585 million in China alone.
    0:42:35 In other words, you know, all of this nonsense is happening in the stock market, and we’re all getting flustered about it, and rightly so.
    0:42:39 But meanwhile, the real economy is grinding to a halt.
    0:42:41 We’re already seeing layoffs.
    0:42:43 We’re seeing order cancellations.
    0:42:44 We’re seeing price increases.
    0:42:51 Walmart just said that we should be bracing for price volatility, and that’s Latin for price increases.
    0:42:59 So, you know, beyond Trump, beyond politics, we’re seeing massive effects play out in the real economy right now.
    0:43:05 And so, Scott, what do you think we as regular people can expect?
    0:43:11 And is there anything we can do to sort of brace ourselves for this change?
    0:43:16 I do think it’s powerful when you call your local representative, and it sounds, you know, I’m going to write me a letter.
    0:43:23 But I do think your representative in Congress does listen, and they track very closely the calls they get.
    0:43:32 So I do think if you think that these policies don’t make sense, I think reaching out to your – I mean, my representative is Lois Frankel.
    0:43:33 She’s a Democrat.
    0:43:37 I’m pretty sure she’s, you know, on board with how I feel.
    0:43:52 But if you haven’t heard or, you know, if you wonder if your representative has not been vocal enough or is still trying to, you know, bend the knee and bow to dear leader, at some point the dam needs to burst.
    0:44:00 And the person riding shotgun, the Republican Party that’s in control here, needs to say, hey, you know, you’re drunk.
    0:44:02 Pull over.
    0:44:04 Stop driving the car this way.
    0:44:08 Somebody has got to get a sanity check here.
    0:44:14 So – and then in terms of your own personal behavior, I think that – I mean, there’s a couple things to remember.
    0:44:21 Recognize that this is important, but it’s not profound.
    0:44:27 And what I try to tell myself – I went to the doctor yesterday and my blood pressure had been so good.
    0:44:28 It’s so weird, Ed.
    0:44:30 I used to be so – I used to love getting my physical.
    0:44:34 And I think I told you for the first time I had high blood pressure and it just freaked me out.
    0:44:39 So I took my drinks down from 12 to 16 a week till 11 to 12.
    0:44:42 But I’m trying to manage my blood pressure.
    0:44:46 And then this week I go back in and it’s totally fucking spiked.
    0:44:49 That’s mostly because I’m back in New York and Daddy loves to go deep in the paint.
    0:44:55 But I read something – I’ve been reading a lot of Buddhism recently because I find it fascinating.
    0:44:56 And there’s so many interesting things in there.
    0:44:58 And I read this one line that really struck out of me.
    0:45:03 And it said, when you’re healthy, you have thousands of problems.
    0:45:06 When you’re not healthy, you have one problem.
    0:45:17 And what I would say is to anyone out there that feels emotionally strapped or like this is really taking a mental health because they look at their phone 15 times a day or they’re losing money or they’re worried about their job.
    0:45:19 Are you healthy?
    0:45:25 If you’re healthy, you got, you know, 49% of everything, 51% of everything.
    0:45:30 Do the people in your life who love you and that you love, do they still love you and do you still love them?
    0:45:32 Then you’re riding it about 90%.
    0:45:37 And again, I go back to the same thing that life isn’t about what happens to you.
    0:45:39 It’s about how you respond to what happens to you.
    0:45:44 And we’re probably going to look back on this over the medium and the long term.
    0:45:47 And this is really rough for people trying to retire because they don’t have time to make more money.
    0:45:55 But over the medium and the long term, the markets tend to be up and to the right, especially if you diversify across asset classes and what we’ve been saying across geographies.
    0:46:03 You’re going to look back and you’re probably, probably 95% of us are going to think, I wish I hadn’t reacted so emotionally.
    0:46:07 Very few of us are going to say, I underreacted, right?
    0:46:15 Because you have the media and you have algorithms all trying to say this is, quote unquote, economic.
    0:46:17 Somebody described it as economic Armageddon.
    0:46:19 I’m like, no, it’s not.
    0:46:23 I remember my second week at Morgan Stanley in 1987.
    0:46:28 The Dow went from like 1,400 to 900 in one day.
    0:46:33 That would be, you know, that would be like we wake up tomorrow and the Dow’s at 28,000.
    0:46:43 I mean, I feel like your generation doesn’t really know what war is like, what combat is like when we get a real speed bump.
    0:46:49 Just to interrupt, because you look at the numbers and the swings that we’ve had, they are at that level.
    0:46:54 They do rival the largest crashes and crises we ever seen.
    0:46:56 Not on a percentage basis.
    0:46:57 On a percentage basis, yes.
    0:47:00 Well, over a three-day period, right?
    0:47:00 Sure.
    0:47:02 But here’s the reality.
    0:47:04 It hasn’t even taken us back a year yet.
    0:47:08 Okay, so we’ve lost, I think as we see here today, we’ve lost seven months of gains.
    0:47:17 You know, the 2008 Great Financial Recession at the lows took us back, I think it took us back several years.
    0:47:27 And the question I think everyone is wondering, and by the way, I’m not disagreeing with your point here, but the question is, are we reaching that point?
    0:47:31 Are we, is it possible that the stock market will continue to slide?
    0:47:38 Do we have a 2008 or maybe a 2000 type event on the horizon here?
    0:47:48 And I’m with you that we don’t have enough data to make that call yet, and we don’t really have the right to start panicking and saying that the sky is falling.
    0:47:52 But are you saying it’s just not on the table?
    0:47:53 Of course it is.
    0:47:54 But it always is.
    0:47:55 But it’s impossible to know.
    0:47:58 And again, I go back to the same level of advice.
    0:47:59 What do you do?
    0:48:02 You do, in my view, you do nothing.
    0:48:07 And because we said on Monday the markets could go up 2,000 points, and they did.
    0:48:09 And today they’re down 1,000 points.
    0:48:22 What you can do, though, is if you do decide to sell and diversify, the good news is that you’re not selling at a low here and buying in at a high.
    0:48:24 All markets are down right now.
    0:48:37 So to a certain extent, it’s a bit of a free trade around diversification right now because the majority of markets have also taken a hit because see above, the definition of being stupid is hurting yourself by hurting others, and we’ve done both.
    0:48:40 So the markets have gone down here, but guess what?
    0:48:42 They’ve gone down pretty much everywhere else too.
    0:48:52 So you get to arb into diversification here kind of almost cost-free after you’ve figured out the tax implications.
    0:49:06 But you get a bit of a freebie here in terms of diversifying, and that is investors tend to be a little bit rear-view mirror-looking, and that is, oh, the markets are down here, so I’m going to go into this other better market, and the better market has already gone up.
    0:49:07 That’s not the case here.
    0:49:10 Almost everyone has been hit pretty hard.
    0:49:26 So I’m all about not to keep calm and carry on, but I do think diversification across geographies is something everyone should be thinking about because I believe that over the next 10 years, there’s a real non-zero probability that the return in the S&P in the U.S. market is zero.
    0:49:28 We’ll be right back.
    0:49:33 If you’re enjoying the show so far, hit follow and leave us a review on the Prof G Markets feed.
    0:49:45 For as long as I can remember, bread has given me hiccups.
    0:49:49 I always get the hiccups when I eat baby carrots.
    0:49:54 Sometimes when I am washing my left ear, just my left ear, I hiccup.
    0:49:58 And my tried and true hiccup here is…
    0:50:05 Pour a glass of water, light a match, put the match out in the water, drink the water, throw away the match.
    0:50:10 Put your elbows out, point two fingers together, and sort of stare at the point between the fingers.
    0:50:13 It doesn’t work if you bring your elbows down, but it works.
    0:50:16 Just eat a spoonful of peanut butter.
    0:50:17 Think of a green rabbit.
    0:50:21 I taught myself to burp on commands, like…
    0:50:24 Excuse me.
    0:50:29 And I discovered that when I make myself burp, it stops my hiccups.
    0:50:34 Unexplainable is taking on hiccups.
    0:50:38 What causes them, and is there any kind of scientific cure?
    0:50:41 Follow Unexplainable for new episodes every Wednesday.
    0:50:51 The regular season is in the rear view, and now it’s time for the games that matter the most.
    0:50:54 This is Kenny Beecham, and playoff basketball is finally here.
    0:50:58 On Small Ball, we’re diving deep into every series, every crunch time finish,
    0:51:02 every coaching adjustment that can make or break a championship run.
    0:51:04 Who’s building for a 16-win marathon?
    0:51:06 Which superstar will submit their legacy?
    0:51:10 And which role player is about to become a household name?
    0:51:15 With so many fascinating first-round matchups, will the West be the bloodbath we anticipate?
    0:51:17 Will the East be as predictable as we think?
    0:51:19 Can the Celtics defend their title?
    0:51:23 Can Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard push the young teams at the top?
    0:51:28 I’ll be bringing the expertise to pass in the genuine opinion you need for the most exciting time of the NBA calendar.
    0:51:32 Small Ball is your essential companion for the NBA postseason.
    0:51:36 Join me, Kenny Beecham, for new episodes of Small Ball throughout the playoffs.
    0:51:38 Don’t miss Small Ball with Kenny Beecham.
    0:51:43 New episodes dropping through the playoffs, available on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.
    0:51:53 It really seems like tariffs are about to make just about everything more expensive.
    0:52:01 And so this week on The Vergecast, we’re trying to figure out not only which gadgets do you need to buy right now before they get more expensive,
    0:52:15 but also what can tech companies big and small do to cope in complicated, uncertain times when it seems like nothing makes sense and the money changes every day and all they want to do is ship gadgets.
    0:52:20 The future of gadgets in a tariff world all this week on The Vergecast, wherever you get podcasts.
    0:52:30 We’re back with Prof. G Markets.
    0:52:35 I think you look at what has happened over the past 10, 20 years.
    0:52:49 The reason that we’ve had all this capital entering the U.S. markets is because it was sort of the only place where you could get these really strong returns and you had a guarantee of relatively low risk compared to other nations.
    0:53:00 And when you say that the U.S. has sort of given up its edge, I think what’s really happened is the U.S. has given up its edge in terms of a relatively risk-free investment.
    0:53:06 There is now all of this associated risk attached to America that didn’t exist before.
    0:53:09 And this is the kind of thing that affects the Chinese markets.
    0:53:18 I mean, those Chinese companies that we talk about, they do very well, but the multiple is contracted because of this government risk that everyone prices in.
    0:53:21 And now we’re seeing a reversal of that trend.
    0:53:33 And, you know, if you go into Europe, I think a lot of investors are thinking, I can get, you know, relatively similar returns at lower risk, but also it’s very cheap right now.
    0:53:41 You just look at the multiples compared to the U.S., the entire European stock market on a price-to-earnings basis is cheaper.
    0:53:53 So I think what we’re saying, I mean, we have been saying do nothing, which I think is the right call on a weekly basis, just given the volatility we saw last week.
    0:53:57 But when else would we rotate out than now?
    0:53:59 I mean, isn’t it the time?
    0:54:00 I think that’s a fair point.
    0:54:04 What I would suggest is the following is that it is very hard to read the label from inside of the bottle.
    0:54:07 You want to talk to a tax advisor.
    0:54:12 You want to – and also this sounds superfluous or – you want to talk to your partner.
    0:54:14 You want to get alignment with your partner.
    0:54:20 Hey, this is what’s going on in the market because what you don’t want to do is tell your partner in six months, you made a decision, got unlucky.
    0:54:23 You want alignment, financial alignment with your partner.
    0:54:24 I don’t know if you’ve been watching.
    0:54:24 It’s really volatile.
    0:54:26 I’m thinking diversifying in other companies.
    0:54:28 You definitely want to talk to a tax advisor.
    0:54:37 Because if you sell a stock that has huge gains or whatever, you have a taxable event, it might be an unwelcome thing you didn’t see.
    0:54:43 And if you talk to a tax advisor, you might have said, well, you should have sold stuff where we could harvest the losses or whatever it might be.
    0:54:47 Or there might be an investment vehicle where you can do tax-free exchange, whatever it might be.
    0:54:53 Unfortunately, the code, the tax code has been weaponized by the wealthy who can afford tax advisors.
    0:54:54 You really want to be thoughtful for tax.
    0:54:55 You want to speak to people.
    0:54:58 You want to do a little bit of research.
    0:55:00 You don’t – you want to make informed trades.
    0:55:05 But to your point, right now, it’s not a bad idea in my view.
    0:55:07 And this is what I’m doing.
    0:55:10 I am diversifying out of the U.S.
    0:55:14 And I’m trying to be thoughtful about stocks or about taxes.
    0:55:16 I’m trying to be thoughtful around which regions I go into.
    0:55:26 But China – for every – if a company in China does a billion in revenues and is growing 10 percent, it trades at – or 5 percent growth, it trades at 14 billion.
    0:55:30 The same exact company in the U.S. right now trades at 25 or 26 billion.
    0:55:32 I think that’s going to normalize.
    0:55:38 I think it’s much more likely that China goes to 20 than the U.S. goes to 35.
    0:55:47 And I think there’s a much greater risk that the U.S. goes below 20 than China goes below 10.
    0:55:51 And we have had an incredible run.
    0:56:01 If you live in America and you’ve participated in any way in the markets by virtue of the job you have, the house you have, the stocks you have, you’ve done well.
    0:56:11 So the idea of taking a little bit off the table and diversifying right now, it’s a free diversification arbitrage because everything’s gotten the shit kicked out of it the last week.
    0:56:13 That is not a bad idea.
    0:56:15 And if you want to do it over the next week, I get it.
    0:56:20 I’ve been doing it over the last three months because I want to be thoughtful and measured about it.
    0:56:23 And my sense is the markets are now moving a bit in unison.
    0:56:25 They will disassociate from one another once things settle down.
    0:56:32 But to your point, for your own mental health, what you want to do is adopt a military decision-making strategy.
    0:56:36 And that is when they look at the results of a military operation, they don’t look at the outcomes.
    0:56:45 They look at the information the officer had at that moment and did he or she make the best decision possible based on the information at the time.
    0:56:47 And this is what you want to do.
    0:56:49 You want to speak to people.
    0:56:51 You want to go to a robo-advisor.
    0:56:52 There’s so much good information online.
    0:56:59 You want to talk to friends, be open about money, and get alignment with your partner such that you could look back.
    0:57:07 And even if things don’t pan out as well as I think they will if you diversify or you do, you made the right decision at the time.
    0:57:13 That’s how – because what people don’t realize is there’s returns, there’s financial returns, and there’s mental health returns.
    0:57:17 I really did have this suspicion that the markets were going to puke.
    0:57:22 And I thought a couple times about going deep and really shorting the market aggressively.
    0:57:23 And I didn’t do it.
    0:57:24 And I would have made a lot of money.
    0:57:25 But here’s the thing.
    0:57:28 I’m really diversified right now.
    0:57:30 And that’s been the right decision.
    0:57:36 So I haven’t gone aggressively at anyone’s strategy because I’ve decided at this age I’m not looking to get rich.
    0:57:37 I’m looking to not get poor.
    0:57:44 And if I talk to enough smart people, which I do, they would say, Scott, you need to just be wildly fucking diversified.
    0:57:48 Even if you leave some upside on the table, you need to be wildly diversified.
    0:57:50 You can take some big swings right now.
    0:57:53 And I’m not suggesting you do that, but you can take bigger swings than me.
    0:58:02 And by virtue of the fact you’re young, you’re probably going to have to be overly concentrated in a house at some point or overly concentrated in terms of your wealth and your job, whatever it might be.
    0:58:05 But you have another 40 years to make money.
    0:58:14 If you’re a little bit older and you have some assets, I absolutely think that the D word should be on your mind all day long.
    0:58:15 And that is diversification.
    0:58:16 Yes.
    0:58:22 And I also want to emphasize something you point out there, which is that this has been a months-long venture for you.
    0:58:26 It wasn’t that you woke up one day and you decided, OK, I’m rotating out.
    0:58:35 This has been something you’ve been doing over the course of several months, which makes sense because the entire bet that we’re describing here
    0:58:37 is a bet based on capital flows.
    0:58:45 We’re not betting that some massive crisis event is going to trigger a reversal that’s going to happen within a day.
    0:58:56 We’re describing a bet that involves large institutions and large investors gently and gradually re-steering their investment into a different locale.
    0:59:00 And that is something that we’re going to see play out over, let’s face it, years.
    0:59:08 So if you’re going to make this play, I think what you want to do is what Scott is describing here, which is drag it out.
    0:59:10 You don’t have to do it all in one go.
    0:59:12 You can make it a months-long play.
    0:59:20 You could even make it a years-long play because the bet is that those returns are going to come not within a day, but within several years.
    0:59:23 Let’s take a look at the week ahead.
    0:59:34 We’ll see earnings from Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, Bank of America, U.S. Bank, TSMC, UnitedHealth, and Netflix, i.e. earnings season, has begun.
    0:59:35 Scott, any predictions?
    0:59:37 Yeah, a few, which means three, Ed.
    0:59:43 One, Trump is going to blink.
    0:59:46 This guy plays the worst poker in the world.
    0:59:50 He’s literally like a guy at a poker table who starts convulsing if he has a good hand.
    0:59:53 I mean, he just, he is the worst poker player in the world.
    1:00:00 And the President Xi looks at President Trump the way Logan Roy in succession looked at his kids and said the following,
    1:00:02 you are not serious people.
    1:00:07 The fact that we’re going to stare down China is just fucking ridiculous at this point,
    1:00:11 given our lack of credibility, given our lack of willingness to endure pain.
    1:00:15 Apple is not going to see any tariffs.
    1:00:22 I can’t imagine the riots if all of a sudden, you know, Gen Z has to pay $3,500 for their iPhone.
    1:00:28 Thousands of you will decide to run for office and say, make America iPhone great again.
    1:00:34 Anyways, Tim Cook is the CEO that, or the business person that Donald Trump thinks he is.
    1:00:42 And you’re just, you’re just going to, he’s going to figure out a way to give an exemption to all Apple products.
    1:00:49 And I also think, generally speaking, we’re going to look at, we’re going to be closer to normal in six months.
    1:00:51 We’re going to be back to the future.
    1:00:58 This tariff situation is going to look almost identical to what it was before we started this mess.
    1:01:08 The only difference is the U.S. brand will now have a strong association of toxic indecision or toxic uncertainty.
    1:01:14 And we’re going to see a pretty serious clip in that multiple contraction, which will take everything down.
    1:01:30 This is going to be a round trip where on the way home, we realized we have just been through hell and back for fucking nothing, for nothing, except a loss of reputation and a serious downgrade in the prosperity and wealth of Americans.
    1:01:35 This episode was produced by Claire Miller and engineered by Benjamin Spencer.
    1:01:37 Our associate producer is Alison Weiss.
    1:01:39 Mia Silverio is our research lead.
    1:01:41 Isabella Kinsel is our research associate.
    1:01:42 Dan Shallan is our intern.
    1:01:44 Drew Burrows is our technical director.
    1:01:47 And Catherine Dillon is our executive producer.
    1:01:50 Thank you for listening to Prof G Markets from the Vox Media Podcast Network.
    1:01:53 Join us on Thursday on Prof G Markets.
    1:02:15 Thank you for listening to Prof G Markets from the Vox Media Podcast Network.
    1:02:17 Thank you for listening to Prof G Markets.
    1:02:22 Thank you for listening to Prof G Markets.
    1:02:23 Thank you for listening to Prof G Markets.
    1:02:23 Thank you for listening to Prof G Markets.
    1:02:26 In love, love, love, love, love, love.

    Scott and Ed dive into the ongoing trade war, unpacking how markets reacted to Trump’s 90-day tariff pause and the broader turmoil with China. They break down what may have just been the greatest day of insider trading in history, assess the damage to American 401Ks, and explore what likely drove Trump to hit pause on the tariffs. Scott also offers practical advice for weathering the uncertainty ahead. 

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