Jul 29

The History of Bad Ideas: The Electoral College

Today’s bad idea is one the United States has been stuck with for a long time: David talks to historian of America Adam Smith about the damage done by the idea of the electoral college. Why was it thought necessary by the Founders to have special electors between the voters and t ... Show More

56m 58s

Jul 26

The History of Bad Ideas: Utilitarianism

Today’s episode in the history of bad ideas is about one of the central ideas in modern philosophy: utilitarianism, or the view that what matters is the greatest happiness of the greatest number. David talks to philosopher Nikhil Krishnan about how something that sounds so intuit ... Show More

58m 4s

Jul 22

The History of Bad Ideas: Political Leadership is What Counts

Today’s bad idea is a pervasive political myth: the notion that what really matters at election time is political leadership. David talks to political scientist Jane Green about why leaders are less important than they – and we – tend to think. What does shape how people choose t ... Show More

58m 30s

Jul 2012

The Gold Standard

As banks collapse and governments run out of money, the popular solution is to print more and more and expand bank balance sheets. But is there another way of fixing our economy? Would the financial system be more stable if each pound in our pocket was backed by gold? The Today p ... Show More

28m 11s

Jan 2022

The Gold Standard

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the system that flourished from 1870 when gold became dominant and more widely available, following gold rushes in California and Australia. Banknotes could be exchanged for gold at central banks, the coins in circulation could be gold (as with the ... Show More

49 m

Jan 2022

The Gold Standard

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the system that flourished from 1870 when gold became dominant and more widely available, following gold rushes in California and Australia. Banknotes could be exchanged for gold at central banks, the coins in circulation could be gold (as with the ... Show More

49 m

Mar 2024

Bro History Macroeconomic Forecast

Its bad. LOL In all seriousness though, we started off the episode attempting to talk with Joseph Solis-Mullen about "what is left wing and what is right wing," and it unsurprisingly went down an economic rabbit hole which we think you'll like. https://www.patreon.com/brohistory ... Show More

1h 52m

Apr 2021

Killing the Gold Standard

April 18, 1933. It’s almost midnight in Washington, DC. Newly-elected President Franklin Delano Roosevelt has gathered his economic advisors for a late-night meeting. He called this meeting to announce his plan to effectively take the US off the gold standard, the system by which ... Show More

27m 5s

May 2020

Dollar Dilemmas & Central Banks Gone Wild: The Best Of The Breakdown April/May 2020

Highlights from some of the most interesting conversations on The Breakdown from the last two months. 4/1 - Peter Zeihan on why the world we’ve known for 30 years is changing forever 4/6 - Emerson Spartz on a moment of punctuated equilibrium 4/17 - Jared Dillian on the ... Show More

32m 24s

Jul 24

You're Wasting Your Life for FAKE MONEY: THE US DOLLAR IS A LIE - DATASETS 👽

In this podcast episode, Luke Belmar & Colin Yurcisin delve into the history and current state of the monetary system, discussing the role of debt, the removal of the gold standard, and the introduction of central bank digital currencies. They critique the banking system and the ... Show More

15m 21s

The History of Bad Ideas: The Gold Stand...