logo
episode-header-image
May 2024
13m 42s

The Economics of Disasters

Economics Explained
About this episode
The Wuhan Coronavirus, the active impeachment of a sitting US president, an earthquake and volcanic eruption in the Philippines, floods in Indonesia, the death of Kobe Bryant, magnitude 7.7 earthquakes in the Caribbean and even my homeland down under has been on fire and then buried in ice and then on fire again so yeah the first month of 2020 is really tryi ... Show More
Up next
Dec 22
Did China Just Drop The Ball On Global Dominance?
China’s position as the world’s factory is shifting. Growth is slowing to approximately 4-5%, wages are rising, the workforce is shrinking due to an aging population, the property crisis is weighing on GDP, and Western tariffs are restricting exports. For decades, China produced ... Show More
16m 15s
Dec 2
A Short Story About Why You Cannot Buy A House
Home ownership is now unattainable in every major city worldwide. For the first time, none of the 95 cities tracked by Demographia are considered affordable. In cities such as Hong Kong (14.4 times income), Sydney (13.8 times), Vancouver, London, and San Francisco, housing prices ... Show More
12m 51s
Nov 17
The $400 Trillion Problem No One Wants to Talk About
The world’s pension promise is unraveling. In the 1950s, sixteen workers supported each retiree; today, that number has shrunk to just 2.7. This dramatic shift is straining pay-as-you-go pension systems to the breaking point. By 2050, one in six people will be over 65, yet politi ... Show More
17m 5s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2023
Devastating earthquakes hit Afghanistan
Lying atop a network of fault lines, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, Afghanistan is prone to earthquakes. However, the Herat area has not seen an event for almost 1000 years. As such, it was the least likely area to experience the series of devastating earthqu ... Show More
26m 28s
Aug 2019
Disasterology (DISASTERS) with Samantha Montano
<p>Floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados, explosions, hurricanes, oil spills, bombings, BAD THINGS: Why do they happen? What can we do to prepare? What is a disaster vs. a catastrophe? Who makes it their life's work to go help? Professional Disasterologist and Emergency Managem ... Show More
1h 26m
Mar 2021
10 Years Since Tohoku & Fukushima feat. Paul Blustein
<p><strong>The Tohoku earthquake which led to the Fukushima accident was the 4th most powerful earthquake in the world since modern measurement and record keeping began in 1900. This earthquake was so powerful that it redistributed earth’s mass sufficiently to shift the earth’s f ... Show More
51m 35s
Jun 2025
172: Earthquakes: From Human Sacrifice to Nuclear Disaster… Is the Big One Coming??
Hi friends, happy Wednesday! Do you guys remember earthquake drills? I grew up in California… So earthquake drills were just part of my life growing up.It seemed like we did earthquake drills nonstop. And despite that, I can never seem to remember what to do during an earthquake. ... Show More
56m 15s
Sep 2023
Surviving earthquakes
Earthquakes strike suddenly, leaving death and destruction in their wake. But around the world, people are trying to do what they can to make them less deadly.We hear from Haiti, where a seismometer developed for hobbyists is now being used by citizens to build the country’s firs ... Show More
23m 45s
Aug 2024
10 mars 1906 : la catastrophe de Courrières
<p>Mes chers camarades, bien le bonjour !</p><p>Quel est l’animal qui tue le plus d’humains chaque année ? Le moustique. Et la maladie la plus mortelle du monde ? Le trouble cardiaque, tout simplement ! En fait, ce sont les trucs les plus banals qu’on devrait craindre, mais on ne ... Show More
22m 1s
Jul 2025
Tsunami Threatens Hawaii!
As today's show begins, we're following the breaking news overnight of a growing tsunami threat extending from Russia all the way to the West Coast of the US, the result of a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake. Tsunami alerts have been issued for all of the Hawaiian islands, where ... Show More
45m 58s
Jan 2025
Kobe earthquake
On 17 January 1995, an earthquake devastated the port city of Kobe, in west Japan.More than 6,000 people died and around 300,000 people were left homeless.It was one of the most powerful earthquakes in the country's history. Rachel Naylor speaks to Kiho Park who, aged eight, had ... Show More
10m 13s