David McWilliams Podcast

Obrieski

Only a new podcast, 7 episodes I believe, about 30 minutes long.
Started listening to it, himself and his mate chatting about economic topics - Trump, Brexit, housing crisis have been some of what he has talked about.
Breaks it down into manageable language and the main points. The US-China trade war and tariffs was the most recent episode, quite interesting and enlightened me on the topic.

Some of it is quite interesting listening once you get past the **** talk he sometimes goes with. Weird hearing him refer to his wife as "missus" constantly.
Besides that, well worth a listen

steve_r

Interesting. I can never make up my mind on him.

Sometimes I find his comments on how our society has changed very interesting.

However some of his predictions in the past have been way off (a timebomb from the amount of personal savings people have).

What's the other guy like? Do they need to agree or is it more debate in nature?

Maybe its just me but I do find some of the Irish podcasts tend to be very much people with shared opinions on something talking and it makes the discussion less interesting when no other perspective is allowed.

Obrieski

Latest podcast is very interesting. They discuss the possibility of moving Dublin port and using the land to create new housing. Very interesting discussion

Obrieski

steve_r wrote: »

Interesting. I can never make up my mind on him.

Sometimes I find his comments on how our society has changed very interesting.

However some of his predictions in the past have been way off (a timebomb from the amount of personal savings people have).

What's the other guy like? Do they need to agree or is it more debate in nature?

Maybe its just me but I do find some of the Irish podcasts tend to be very much people with shared opinions on something talking and it makes the discussion less interesting when no other perspective is allowed.

The other guy acts as Joe Punter, with no real knowledge. Stops him going off on technical stuff and keeping it simple to understand

Obrieski

Obrieski wrote: »

Latest podcast is very interesting. They discuss the possibility of moving Dublin port and using the land to create new housing. Very interesting discussion

First time listening today. Found it fascinating. Although I really question that 50 year projection in terms of housing. I wish they went into detail of how that data was gathered. Felt like an impossible doomsday prediction.

Obrieski

Deleted User wrote: »

First time listening today. Found it fascinating. Although I really question that 50 year projection in terms of housing. I wish they went into detail of how that data was gathered. Felt like an impossible doomsday prediction.

His other podcasts are in a similar vein to be fair. Didn't think I would like them but find them fascinating listening

CiaranW

Yeah, really enjoying the podcast.

Listened to another two today. Love it

Obrieski

You hear his one on Germany today?
His daughter is renting a 1 bed apartment in a nice area of Berlin (equivalent to Rathmines) for EUR700 a month including pretty much all bills.
That would depress you as a Dublin renter

NinetyForNone

Obrieski wrote: »

You hear his one on Germany today?
His daughter is renting a 1 bed apartment in a nice area of Berlin (equivalent to Rathmines) for EUR700 a month including pretty much all bills.
That would depress you as a Dublin renter

I'd be a bit skeptical about that 1 bed apartment.
Was he talking a student room like:
https://www.uniplaces.com/accommodation/berlin/205326

cal naughton

I like the podcast very informative and gives a different insight to the chosen topic. One thing that bug's me is the co host saying, wow, man and holey moley when David say's something interesting . Sounds like he is in awe of him.

applehunter

McWilliams wrote this article 4 years ago.

http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/why-immigration-is-a-class-issue/

If you were to listen to his contributions to the national debate in the last 2 years you would thing it was a different person that wrote the article.

He and the rest of the media have made the immigration discussion taboo since he wrote the piece.

bamayang

cal naughton wrote: »

I like the podcast very informative and gives a different insight to the chosen topic. One thing that bug's me is the co host saying, wow, man and holey moley when David say's something interesting . Sounds like he is in awe of him.

I find your man a complete dose. Prefer if it was McWilliams talking to himself.

I presume once he builds up enough listeners he will take it completely behind a pay wall?

CiaranW

bamayang wrote: »

I find your man a complete dose. Prefer if it was McWilliams talking to himself.

I presume once he builds up enough listeners he will take it completely behind a pay wall?

Yeah, I reckon so. Seems to be making a push for patrons.

completedit

Find it a bit too try hard in its attempts to bar stool chatter dumbing topics down to “make economics relevant” McWilliams is a complete nerd who tries to seem cool by talking about going to wezz and getting sloshed when he was 14

It’s not bad but it’s just idle chat really.

completedit

completedit wrote: »

Find it a bit too try hard in its attempts to bar stool chatter dumbing topics down to “make economics relevant” McWilliams is a complete nerd who tries to seem cool by talking about going to wezz and getting sloshed when he was 14

That’s McWilliams though. A smart try-hard.

completedit

completedit wrote: »

Find it a bit too try hard in its attempts to bar stool chatter dumbing topics down to “make economics relevant” McWilliams is a complete nerd who tries to seem cool by talking about going to wezz and getting sloshed when he was 14

It’s not bad but it’s just idle chat really.

Yeah the "banter" can be a bit annoying

He also gets small details wrong sometimes which is a bit worrying. He tried to explain the Dunning–Kruger effect a while ago and got it wrong. He tried to explain mansplaining on this morning's podcast and got it wrong. I get that he's trying to be brief and concise but it wouldn't have taken any longer to get them right. I wonder what else he is slightly missing that I'm not aware of.

completedit

In defense of him though, I like his enthusiasm, his analogies and the historical, cultural and sociological stuff he brings in and he has had an interesting life...I jjust don’t think it’s an economics podcast...which is a good thing because would be boring as hell

MercuryBoy

He is fond of extrapolating grand themes from dubious facts alright. E.G his episode about Chinese influence in Africa, he uses the Rumble in the Jungle to frame the podcast, and says Arab money funded it, nut If you listen to Don King here he mentions that King Faisal was lined up to back it but then died, so he found the money elsewhere...https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=345&v=sHf458Xs9W8

completedit

completedit wrote: »

In defense of him though, I like his enthusiasm, his analogies and the historical, cultural and sociological stuff he brings in and he has had an interesting life...I jjust don’t think it’s an economics podcast...which is a good thing because would be boring as hell

Yes absolutely. Definitely more positives than negatives.

the one about Brexit was pretty good I thought.

he's all broad strokes but it's interesting.

settopbox

I enjoy it but find the back and forth between himself and John a bit strange.
his questions are just so set up its annoying.

settopbox

settopbox wrote: »

I enjoy it but find the back and forth between himself and John a bit strange.
his questions are just so set up its annoying.

I don't mind that. otherwise it would be a long monologue which I don't think McWilliams would be good at or like to do.

It's all scripted / "set-up" of course.

The only thing I find a little bit grating is how he is at pains to make himself out to be a non-conformist super dad and shoehorns this into his "stories" when they are not really directly relevant e.g. -"my daughter is part of cool hip hop duo playing at Forbidden Fruit tonight" - "my son Fionn we sent him off to the black forest in Germany for a year when he was 12".

He just can't help himself lol.

has anyone gone patron on this - is the extra stuff worth it?

thenightman

God no

Obrieski

He tweeted earlier that he's 2nd in UK political podcasts chart - didn't think he'd have much of an audience over there.

This is an Apple listing rather than a Patreon one, so no idea how many Patreon subscribers he has.

completedit

To me the 5 stages of grief analogy was just rambling. He’s amazing at piecing things together just don’t see much value in it, except for helping ya have a chat about brexit

completedit

completedit wrote: »

To me the 5 stages of grief analogy was just rambling. He’s amazing at piecing things together just don’t see much value in it, except for helping ya have a chat about brexit

yes - entertaining to listen to but not much depth. he creates cello-taped-together narratives and goes with them

still entertaining.

check out planet money for a similar vibe but with with better research.

this is a good starter episode

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/09/19/649273647/episode-657-the-tale-of-the-onion-king

Thelonious

He's overly philosophical and not factual enough.



I really wasn't impressed with some of his analysis. I actually think he's quite idealogical.



For example, he asserted that the reason Australia hasn't had a recession in 30 years is that Australia is open to immigration from Asia. He made no mention of Australia's resource economy which boomed spectacularly during the last global financial crisis. It was largely the mining sector that saved Australia that time.

Thelonious

Thelonious wrote: »

He's overly philosophical and not factual enough.



I really wasn't impressed with some of his analysis. I actually think he's quite idealogical.



For example, he asserted that the reason Australia hasn't had a recession in 30 years is that Australia is open to immigration from Asia. He made no mention of Australia's resource economy which boomed spectacularly during the last global financial crisis. It was largely the mining sector that saved Australia that time.

in fairness China was buying pretty much everything that they dug out of the ground as well as other stuff (e.g. food) so he's right.

e.g. 2009 - height of the crisis year.

In 2009 China was Australia's largest export market, with total merchandise exports to China valued at A$42.4 billion, an increase of 31.2 per cent over the previous year. Resources continue to underpin Australia’s exports to China. Australia exported 266.2 million tonnes of iron ore to China in 2009 (A$21.7 billion in value terms), an increase of 45.2 per cent over the same period in 2008. Australia's coal exports to China grew by 1000 per cent last year to become our second largest export commodity, behind iron ore. Over the last 12 months, two further LNG contracts have been signed for the supply of Australian gas to Chinese terminals. The future prospects for continued growth in our resources exports to China are good.

Australia exported A$3.4 billion in agricultural goods to China in 2009 representing a fall of 2.2 per cent over 2008. Wool was our largest agricultural export to China (266,141 tonnes worth A$1.38 billion in 2009 – 66 per cent of China's total wool imports). However, wool exports to China fell 3.9 per cent in 2009, reflecting partly China's deteriorating export performance. Strong export growth in agricultural goods was recorded in canola, live animals, fish, edible products, wine and meat.

And overall stats show it's very much all Asia in terms of Australian exports....

Rank Country 2000 2007 2015 % share of total
1 China 6,868 27,659 91,297 28.8
2 Japan 25,342 34,715 42,355 13.4
3 United States 16,725 15,609 22,114 7.0
4 South Korea 9,869 15,418 20,014 6.3
5 India 2,298 11,265 13,574 4.3
6 New Zealand 9,254 12,891 12,577 4.0

hankless

Very interesting episode today about BoJo, Brexit and the DUP.

What does David's co-host do that he "doesn't have a job" ?

Obrieski

Anyone listen to his most recent pod where DMcW suggested that Ireland should take up the shortfall in tax owed by the major multinationals in stock options rather than in actual cash, and use this as a Fund so everybody gets a slice of the pie essentially for their own start-ups etc.

An interesting idea but I cannot see the EU allowing something like that. It would mean far too much vested interest on the part of the Irish government, for one, which presumably would have implications on competition etc.
Also, when he says everyone gets their own small slice of the Fund, how is this calculated per person in an ever changing population number?
For example, if on inception everyone gets €100,000. I go to the bank with my portion and use it as collateral and it's now tied up in that.
As population changes, and more companies pay further taxes, do I get a further slice down the road in say 2 years time?
Interesting idea, but would need to be teased out a lot further.

Sorta hate the way the podcast kind of ends abruptly too.
He makes a sweeping statement and then it's over.

Obrieski

Obrieski wrote: »

Anyone listen to his most recent pod where DMcW suggested that Ireland should take up the shortfall in tax owed by the major multinationals in stock options rather than in actual cash, and use this as a Fund so everybody gets a slice of the pie essentially for their own start-ups etc.

An interesting idea but I cannot see the EU allowing something like that. It would mean far too much vested interest on the part of the Irish government, for one, which presumably would have implications on competition etc.
Also, when he says everyone gets their own small slice of the Fund, how is this calculated per person in an ever changing population number?
For example, if on inception everyone gets €100,000. I go to the bank with my portion and use it as collateral and it's now tied up in that.
As population changes, and more companies pay further taxes, do I get a further slice down the road in say 2 years time?
Interesting idea, but would need to be teased out a lot further.

Sorta hate the way the podcast kind of ends abruptly too.
He makes a sweeping statement and then it's over.

Not gonna lie, I don't understand his idea

d8491prj5boyvg

Regarding the national fund idea, wouldn't it just increase inflation? More money chasing the same goods and services just increases prices. I'm all for investing the revenues in the long term good of the country or buying the shares with the money and letting them sit. Isn't that what they did in Norway? Sell the oil, buy shares, let them sit. To do that, it just means the government needs to save the current money rather than spend it. So asimple idea when it boils down to it, but what is important is rarely complicated as the man himself says!

Wanderer78

Obrieski wrote:

Anyone listen to his most recent pod where DMcW suggested that Ireland should take up the shortfall in tax owed by the major multinationals in stock options rather than in actual cash, and use this as a Fund so everybody gets a slice of the pie essentially for their own start-ups etc.

I don’t truly understand his idea of using swf's, he's been talking about it for a couple of years now, and I'm sold on it. As far as I'm aware, the folks at the financial times have confirmed it's a workable idea, mnc's love their share options, accounting departments in particular

d8491prj5boyvg

Enjoyed the latest ep on colleen Rooney! And Wayne Rooney's Granny. McWilliams tells loads of stories. It's hilarious.

Obrieski

Latest podcast on the housing crisis sums up my frustrations on trying to rent in Dublin very accurately...an absolute mess of a system

Wanderer78

Obrieski wrote:

Latest podcast on the housing crisis sums up my frustrations on trying to rent in Dublin very accurately...an absolute mess of a system

Economists such as mcwilliams have been banging many drums over our housing issues for years, I've little hope of change actually occuring. It's a highly monopolised and plutocratically controlled sector, which is largely resistant to change, we have land ownership monopolisation, policies such a land value tax is urgently required, and have been advocate for years, it's probably not gonna happen, so on we go with nothing really changing

Spit balling nonsense: what if they made it illegal for a person or an entity to own more than three houses? Would that stop massive american corporations buying up all the property?

Robert McGrath

I thought the episode was disappointing to be honest. There was a lot of stating the obvious, a couple of straw men about what other economists say and a grand conclusion that we need a land value tax - which is nothing particularly insightful or new. The only interesting bit was the part about the apparent concrete duopoly in Dublin but he then failed to explain why the competition of other build methods can’t make a dent in the duopoly even after his co-host mentioned it.

Personally, I think the podcast is best when McWilliams is summarising bits of historical geopolitics. He’s obviously well read and is a great communicator of interesting stuff he’s read. But any time he gets into current real world solutions he leaves me cold

Robert McGrath

A return to form with the latest pod on the Trump impeachment and US election. Well worth a listen

Obrieski

Robert McGrath wrote: »

A return to form with the latest pod on the Trump impeachment and US election. Well worth a listen

Did he say towards the start he's heading for his 1 millionth download of his podcast? That's pretty impressive I would have suggested.

1,000,000 downloaded divided by 34 podcasts would give an approximate listenership of almost 30,000 people per podcast if my very basic and idealogical maths are correct.

Thundercats Ho

I've been listening from the start and find it light entertainment only.

He seems to change tack week on week, depending on where he's been or who he's been talking to. A flip flop if you will.

Some of his ideas are interesting, but it's hard to take him seriously.

d8491prj5boyvg

David's co host with some dodgy music recommendations in the most recent episode on love. Loads of banter in that ep, they clearly have a rapport.

igCorcaigh

Skyler Dirty Barracuda wrote: »

David's co host with some dodgy music recommendations in the most recent episode on love. Loads of banter in that ep, they clearly have a rapport.

I haven't listened to that episode yet.
Does he say the F word a lot again?

Wilfuler.

Obrieski wrote: »

The other guy acts as Joe Punter, with no real knowledge. Stops him going off on technical stuff and keeping it simple to understand

Makes him look good

McWilliams is just a bluffer

zerosugarbuzz

I have listened to some of the podcasts, I think he can be pretty accurate enough of the time. But god him and the other guy sound so affected, and that awful intro music.... he should listen to Dunphy and tone the thing down so it doesn’t sound so “American”.

igCorcaigh

Wilfuler. wrote: »

Makes him look good

McWilliams is just a bluffer

It's still entertaining though.
But it is just that, entertainment.

It seems pleasing to hear how complex things can be wrapped up in an easy listening narrative.

CatFromHue

I like the intro to the pod, the sounds bites from the financial collapse work well with the theme of the pod.

Dunphy's guitar intro can be jarring at times.