US debt hit $36 trillion—117% of GDP—and DOGE aims to cut $2 trillion from yearly spending. Madness or masterstroke? We’re here to argue why it could work. The 1993 cuts sparked a rare surplus—proof it’s doable. Yes, today’s economy leans hard on government spending (35% of GDP), and high interest rates sting, but America’s unique leverage might just hold. W ... Show More
Sep 2024
Why is the US economy doing so much better than Europe?
Europe and the US are both recovering from the same problem – COVID and the inflation that followed. But last week the Fed in the US dropped interest rates by half a percent, with markets expecting a soft-landing for the US economy. Europe, meanwhile, is struggling, with Germany’ ... Show More
35m 53s
Nov 2024
BG2 Thanksgiving Roundtable: DOGE, EV Tax Credit, Tariffs, Conspiracy Theories, Invest America
Open Source bi-weekly convo w/ Bill Gurley and Brad Gerstner on all things tech, markets, investing & capitalism. This week they get in the Thanksgiving spirit, and discuss China, DOGE, Governor Newsom’s EV Tax Credit, Service Titan IPO, FedNow, Tariffs, Anthropic Open Source, Wa ... Show More
44m 7s
Oct 2024
The cycles of the economy
What causes an economy to fall from a peak? Many economists will argue it’s exogenous shocks but, as Phil and Steve discuss, there’s not too many of those around. Maybe COVID was one, but even that came about because our economic system has drawn us closer to wildlife habitats. O ... Show More
36m 31s
Feb 2019
SLP51 Dr Guido Hülsmann - Austrian Monetary Economics & Bitcoin
Dr Guido Hülsmann, Senior Fellow of the Mises Institute, and Economics Professor at the University of Anger, France, joins me in this very special episode. We talk about government monetary intervention compared with a free market in money. We discuss many topics: The process of ... Show More
54m 47s
Jan 2025
Market Predictions, Rates & Inflation, DOGE, CES, AI Compute | BG2 w/ Bill Gurley & Brad Gerstner
Open Source bi-weekly convo w/ Bill Gurley and Brad Gerstner on all things tech, markets, investing & capitalism. This week they discuss Brad’s public market predictions, AI enthusiasm and fears, interest rates, inflation, DOGE, federal budget analysis, big tech capex, scaling in ... Show More
1h 23m
Sep 2024
How to cut government debt, with Robin Wigglesworth
Jamaica’s economy struggled for decades, and at one point it had amassed debts worth more than 140 per cent of GDP. Even the IMF wouldn’t return its calls. But somehow, in the 2010s, it managed to halve its government debt – over just seven years. Today on the show, we ask how th ... Show More
28m 24s
Feb 2025
Philip Lane on the Big Problems Facing the Euro-zone Economy
There's a pretty widespread recognition that the EU is facing a bunch of economic challenges right now. Growth has been slowing and, as in many places, there's been post-pandemic inflation. But there are other issues too, including a sense that Europe is falling behind when it co ... Show More
46m 20s