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David McWilliams Podcast

  • 05-06-2019 12:25pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 456 ✭✭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


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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 1,977 ✭✭✭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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 456 ✭✭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


  • Registered Users Posts: 456 ✭✭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 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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 456 ✭✭Obrieski


    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


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  • Registered Users Posts: 264 ✭✭CiaranW


    Yeah, really enjoying the podcast.




  • Listened to another two today. Love it


  • Registered Users Posts: 456 ✭✭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


  • Registered Users Posts: 358 ✭✭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


  • Registered Users Posts: 376 ✭✭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.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 6,006 ✭✭✭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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 653 ✭✭✭bamayang


    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?


  • Registered Users Posts: 264 ✭✭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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,639 ✭✭✭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.




  • 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.




  • 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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,639 ✭✭✭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


  • Registered Users Posts: 104 ✭✭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




  • 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.


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  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    the one about Brexit was pretty good I thought.

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


  • Registered Users Posts: 208 ✭✭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.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    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.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


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


  • Registered Users Posts: 561 ✭✭✭thenightman


    God no


  • Registered Users Posts: 456 ✭✭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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,639 ✭✭✭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


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    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


  • Registered Users Posts: 109 ✭✭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.


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  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    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.


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