David McWilliams Podcast

Amirani · 16-07-2020 4:21pm

Poor_old_gill wrote: »

I think the standard has started to drop in recent times & the Patreon subscribers getting an explainer every 2 weeks for a €10er is not cutting the mustard for me in terms of additional content!

Agreed, it's becoming really repetitive also. He keeps going back to the same old ideas. What's worse, if you pick him up on any other mediums (e.g. Irish Times column, recent Summer Nights festival) it's the same stuff over and over.

It grates a bit too that he does no self-critique of his ideas, and apparently the only reason none of them implemented are that other people don't understand economics as well as he does (see Paschal Donohue, Christian Lagarde, Patrick Honohon, anyone who ever studied accounting etc.). This is despite the fact that some of Ireland's most prominent economics professors have pointed out issues to him directly on Twitter (Karl Whelan for example, whom David often asks for clarification from on things).

16-07-2020 10:21pm

glasso wrote: »

McWilliams podcasts are like his articles - pretty much a re-hash of the same ideas every few weeks.

what did I say?

djemba djemba · 17-07-2020 2:11pm

glasso wrote: »

what did I say?

I cancelled my Patreon payment because of this. I already pay for my Irish Times subscription. Not going to be paying twice for the same thing

TRANQUILLO · 27-08-2020 5:08pm

I used to love McWilliams . Read his books and loved when he was vox popping on the late late or other current affairs shows.

The podcasts make him too prolific however. He's a bengal lancer when you listen to him every week. A seannachai by the fire. Puts a lovely twist on things and has a flowery vocabulary but when you peel back the veil there is nothing really there. I still listen as its interesting to an extent but the more i listen i realise he is an empty vessel.

His side kick is a sunshine boy who goes whichever way the wind is blowing.

TRANQUILLO · 06-10-2020 12:35pm

Seemingly Trump getting Covid is funny now....... The pair of them laughing on todays podcast. There is a smugness to the way they go about their business. Ill still listen moreso for the guests but it is wearing thin.

Either the virus is dangerous and needs to be taken seriously or it isn't. He didnt get diarrhoea.

Its akin to Varadkar being doused in smoothie last week....but it's funny when it happens to Farage. You either stand for something or you stand for nothing.

McWilliams sidekick here is like a less vocal Tony Groves from the Black Eye. There is a sanctimonious holier than thou " forgive them for they know not what they do" air about them.

I listen to McWilliams, Second Captains, the Black Eye, Dunphy and used to listen to Blindboy. But once you start to see the virtue signlling you cant unsee it. A comment here, a remark there. Thinly veiled but always present. Ken early compared the premier leagues proliferation of penalties to Brexit in his indo piece last week which they then ran with on the pod. They just cant help themselves....and I say that as a man with a SC Annual signed by Ken Early on my bookshelf.

I want to listen to sport and economics reportage but I don't want to be moralised to on a daily basis. If anything id say this is the new " populism".

Robert McGrath · 27-10-2020 9:29pm

I’m close to giving up on this podcast.

I love the private sector as much as the next guy (I’m one of those small business owners he lauds) but McWilliams anti-public sector rants are making it almost unlistenable.

The smugness and condescension about how the government finally saw his wisdom with the Budget is also a bit hard to take.

He is really interesting when he sticks to history - anything contemporary and he’s difficult to listen to

Robert McGrath · 27-10-2020 9:56pm

I posted the above before hearing the very end of the latest podcast where he talks about the Mother and Baby Home controversy.

“What are they hiding?”, he asks

No analysis, no nuance. Frankly, it sounds like he couldn’t be arsed to actually read about the topic but didn’t have the intellectual honesty and integrity of his podcast partner to admit that and stay quiet until he could give an informed opinion.

Unsubscribed.

Pity. It was good once

Sweet.Science · 28-10-2020 2:23pm

I used to listen to it weekly

Not such much anymore

It was funny hearing Pearse Doherty repeat what was said on it but its become boring now

bamayang · 10-11-2020 5:22pm

Jesus this weeks american guest was very poor

Aidric · 17-11-2020 11:55pm

TRANQUILLO wrote: »

His side kick is a sunshine boy who goes whichever way the wind is blowing.

He is nothing more than a conduit which renders his presence futile. McWilliams is too used to having his opinions unchallenged and the podcast suffers as a result. His guests are all of the same hue so all the listener gets is a groupthink conclusion.

omerin · 18-11-2020 12:00am

Aidric wrote: »

He is nothing more than a conduit which renders his presence futile. McWilliams is too used to having his opinions unchallenged and the podcast suffers as a result. His guests are all of the same hue so all the listener gets is a groupthink conclusion.

Agree, it's turning very stale and not sure the extra episode a week will help. The ads at the start and every few mins is very irritating.

Starting to go off podcasts, if i hear Eamo say journalists, after dinner speakers and right wing hacks again I'm likely to throw the phone against the wall.

completedit · 18-11-2020 8:27pm

I think podcasts are good for stuff like football but I honestly think they are overrated as a medium for more serious topics. They feed into our never ending thirst to know but they ultimately come up short. They're good for cintroducing you to a topic but eventually you'll want to crack the surface

igCorcaigh · 18-11-2020 8:35pm

completedit wrote: »

I think podcasts are good for stuff like football but I honestly think they are overrated as a medium for more serious topics. They feed into our never ending thirst to know but they ultimately come up short. They're good for cintroducing you to a topic but eventually you'll want to crack the surface

Pretty much.

It's like a cheap bit of pop science that makes you feel all knowledgeable. Entertaining all the same, and probably harmless.

Arghus · 19-11-2020 1:05am

It depends on what you listen to I guess.

There's quite a few of them on history which are very thorough and informative - I think the medium can be genuinely educational in that sphere.

In terms of politics, I find Talking Politics to be usually excellent and doesn't become semi-dumbed down and simplified tales like McWilliam's can often indulge in. The London Review of Books can also be excellent, depending on the subject.

Do they offer in-depth educations? No, but I think there are more rigiourous podcasts out there than David McWilliams'.

sportsfan90 · 19-11-2020 10:19am

A suggestion for a drinking game - take a shot of whisky every time McWilliams says the word Profound.

A good alternative to the pubs if they’re still closed at Christmas.

completedit · 19-11-2020 12:06pm

I liked the Tuesday podcast. TBF, I think the DMCW podcast pretty much nails it for the podcast form. I'm a bit bipolar when it comes to my view on it but in general there will be something that strikes a chord. I really liked the interpretation of modern free trade and how the Brits are caught up in the idea of trade before the 1990's. However, on closer inspection, I feel McWilliams is being hyperbolic; he's acting as if 'light' services are the only things that matter to modern economies which isn't true. It's a nice narrative and one he runs with but doesn't reflect reality.

04-12-2020 11:48am

don't really listen to it much at all anymore but the one on Argentina caught my eye

I've been there a couple of times a number of years apart

Sort of notable though that the Argie economist /politician mate guy that he had on had a few economic excuses but quite little in the way of a note of personal responsibility of the Argies themselves for the state of the place

Seems to me that a lot of it is of their own making

They have voted in some prize eejits over the years like Cristina Fernández de Kirchner for example

04-12-2020 5:37pm

mind you it is a quite a good explanation of why Maradona is so beloved there

Amirani · 08-12-2020 5:18pm

I think this podcast has improved again of late (I was quite critical back in Summer). It's gotten a little less repetitive (has dropped the Pandession stuff etc.) and the sidekick guy has toned down his stupidity act a small bit and become a more genuine devil's advocate figure. Have had some interesting guests on too which has helped.

Dufflecoat Fanny · 08-12-2020 8:24pm

Amirani wrote: »

I think this podcast has improved again of late (I was quite critical back in Summer). It's gotten a little less repetitive (has dropped the Pandession stuff etc.) and the sidekick guy has toned down his stupidity act a small bit and become a more genuine devil's advocate figure. Have had some interesting guests on too which has helped.

Good I stopped listening about 6 months ago mainly because of sidekick guy. I'll check it out tonight.

72sheep · 13-12-2020 3:53am

Amirani wrote: »

I think this podcast has improved again of late (I was quite critical back in Summer). It's gotten a little less repetitive (has dropped the Pandession stuff etc.) and the sidekick guy has toned down his stupidity act a small bit and become a more genuine devil's advocate figure. Have had some interesting guests on too which has helped.

I quite like the sidekick actually.

OTOH Dave's knee-slapping man-of-the-people blarney is wearing thin. He also feigns complete unawareness of how close he is to some really nasty types (and just because they present at a comedy-economics festival does not mean you'd ever want to be seen in public with them).

14-12-2020 1:03am

72sheep wrote: »

I quite like the sidekick actually.

OTOH Dave's knee-slapping man-of-the-people blarney is wearing thin. He also feigns complete unawareness of how close he is to some really nasty types (and just because they present at a comedy-economics festival does not mean you'd ever want to be seen in public with them).

what sort of types are you getting at here?!

Amirani · 14-12-2020 10:44pm

glasso wrote: »

what sort of types are you getting at here?!

Interested to hear this too. Can't say I've considered any recent guests to be contraversial or nasty sorts, but I may be missing something.

completedit · 13-01-2021 5:28pm

I've really done a flipflop on his podcast. Sometimes it just seems too light and breezy but that's because eve been conditioned by college and modern economics to view economics as something completely detached from the early economists. Mcwilliams overplays this but at the end of the day he succeed in his goal of making economics discernible. That doesn't mean you'll listen to his podcast and suddenly be an Economics whizz, it just increases your language and broadens your Perspective. You're not really going to get what you want from an economics podcast if you've studied it in college and expect a more quantitative approach. Every economics podcast I listen to is pretty much in the same mold as Mcwilliams, even specialist topics like Trade.

One thing I don't like is the constant examination of British society. Its just boring and played out. I get with Brexit it has been relevant but I just don't find it an interesting topic. Just far too Anglo centric.

Amirani · 29-01-2021 1:19am

Episode today was horrendous. I think McWilliams actually thinks that a large amount of his listenership are stupid.

Back to this simplistic bull**** of the State should borrow in order to buy all of AIB so it can re-price all loans at 0%. Not a single drawback or issue to overcome apparently, just people not thinking enough like "corporate financiers". Christ.

completedit · 29-01-2021 1:45am

Yup. Awfully boring today.

19-03-2021 10:50pm

Checked out the recent one -> number 118 - "If you tolerate this then your country will be next"

had an ex-US financial regulator guy on - describing what might happen "Davy" and the "Davy 16" if they were in the US jurisdiction.

the guy couldn't but literally laugh at the joke of the situation here in Ireland.

some feather duster regulation bodies we have.

You'd think 10 years plus after the cluster-fack bank bubble that something might have been learned?

I mean the Davy Anglo Bond case was obvious outright theft.

Worth a listen.

completedit · 22-03-2021 10:44am

Currently reading about Iceland and the financial crisis. Came across an article from McWilliams from 2008. He has an amazingly ability to synthesise information and extrapolate plausible and likely outcomes. He gets too much stick from pseudo-intellects.
I've always said that I think the reason he annoys people is that if you've studied economics you've seen how unglamorous and mundane it can actually be. McWilliams just has the ability to illuminate stories using economic theory as the bedrock of his analysis.

http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/icelands-economic-meltdown/

TimeToShine · 27-03-2021 1:37am

glasso wrote: »

Checked out the recent one -> number 118 - "If you tolerate this then your country will be next"

had an ex-US financial regulator guy on - describing what might happen "Davy" and the "Davy 16" if they were in the US jurisdiction.

the guy couldn't but literally laugh at the joke of the situation here in Ireland.

some feather duster regulation bodies we have.

You'd think 10 years plus after the cluster-fack bank bubble that something might have been learned?

I mean the Davy Anglo Bond case was obvious outright theft.

Worth a listen.

I honestly found it embarrassing just how much he was laughing. This guy is no joke, he was the head regulator during the US savings and loan scandal in the 90's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_K._Black

27-03-2021 1:06pm

TimeToShine wrote: »

I honestly found it embarrassing just how much he was laughing. This guy is no joke, he was the head regulator during the US savings and loan scandal in the 90's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_K._Black

But the situation is embarrassing...

He was probably having a bit of a laugh but then again maybe they do have the odd laugh at how Davy 16 type sleeveens can get away with that sort of stuff here with no repercussions

affects the reputation of the country abroad

David McWilliams Podcast

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