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The David McWilliams Podcast

David McWilliams & John Davis

300 episodes · Explicit

The aim of this weekly podcast is to make economics easy, uncomplicated and accessible. With the world at a political, technological and financial tipping point, economics has never been so important to all of us and yet, it’s made inaccessible and complicated by so many.

More about the show

I’ve always thought what is complicated is rarely important and what is important is rarely complicated.

That will be our motto.

Every week we are going to tease out some big economic or political issue facing us, not just here in Ireland but in Europe and further afield. Globalisation has brought us all together. We all face similar challenges whether you live in Dublin, London, Minnesota or Milan.

If you would like to enjoy all of our content ad-free and have early access to episodes, subscribe to DMCW+ on Apple Podcast. You can also find our early access ad-free episodes on Spotify by searching for the David McWilliams Podcast Premium Feed on the app or by clicking here.

Want to join our crew? Join at davidmcwilliams.ie/crew, where you can enjoy ad-free listening, as well as exclusive bonus content such as premium episodes, our macroeconomics course, early access to episodes and pre-sale access to tickets for Dalkey Book Festival & Kilkenomics.

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Episodes page 1 of 6

  1. The Five Scariest Numbers in the Global Economy (A Halloween Special)

    · 35 min · S2026 E88

    For Halloween, we start with Ireland’s first witch trial: Alice Kyteler, the Kilkenny moneylender who buried four husbands and skipped town, leaving her servant to burn at the stake in 1324. For a real scare, we dive…

  2. Is France the Canary? The End of the Centre and Europe’s Generational Revolt

    · 43 min · S2026 E87

    A week of rioting in France, but we argue it’s no blip. Marine Le Pen is polling around 35%, with the next candidate on just 14%, and she could become the first ever to win outright in the first round. French public…

  3. The World’s First AI Minister: Can Democracies Make Haste Slowly? with Evan Solomon

    · 45 min · S2026 E86

    Canada has appointed the world’s first minister for AI, and Evan Solomon joins us to explain why. Canada invented modern AI through Hinton, Bengio and Sutton, then watched big tech harvest it. Now Ottawa is subsidising…

  4. Peak Humans: Modernity Vs. Tradition

    · 42 min · S2026 E85

    Broadcasting from the Aran Islands, where the population has crashed from 48,000 to 3,000, we look at what may be the biggest data point of 2026: for the first time ever, the human race is shrinking. The global…

  5. A View From NYC: The Diaspora and the Midterms

    · 40 min · S2026 E84

    Live from New York, with a radical idea: treat the Irish diaspora as our greatest soft power asset. Every Irish child costs the state about €500,000 to educate, and America pockets the return when they emigrate. So…

  6. The Tiramisu Budget: Is Ireland West European or West African?

    · 44 min · S2026 E83

    Ireland’s budget surplus is €9 billion, but the Department of Finance reckons €23 billion of the €34 billion in corporation tax is transient AI-boom money. Strip it out and we’re looking at a €13-14 billion deficit,…

  7. Mr 5%: The Armenian Who Invented the Oil Industry and Gave It All Away

    · 44 min · S2026 E82

    Calouste Gulbenkian never drilled a well, never owned a rig, and still died the richest man in the world. We follow the Armenian fixer from Constantinople who took 5% of everything: the Turkish Petroleum Company, Royal…

  8. The End of The Housing Crisis?

    · 34 min · S2026 E81

    Dublin prices have fallen 5.2% last year, the biggest drop since 2014, and the buyer's strike is real. The premium over asking has shrunk from 7% to 2.6%, and the average couple on €108k can borrow just enough for a…

  9. Are Teenagers Getting Dumber?

    · 40 min · S2026 E80

    15-year-olds across the OECD are now testing at levels last seen among 14-year-olds a decade ago, we've lost a full year of cognitive ability in ten years. One in five teenagers in the rich world would struggle to read…

  10. The Welfare State vs Immigration: What Ireland's Numbers Actually Say

    · 34 min · S2026 E79

    Can a generous welfare state and large-scale immigration coexist? Fresh research says it depends on who arrives and what kind of welfare state they arrive in. In the UK, an average migrant couple needs a primary earner…

  11. Xi vs Trump: Inside the Chinese Economic Machine

    · 43 min · S2026 E78

    Trump and Xi sit down in Washington today, but the real story is how China actually built its economic juggernaut. China expert Yanmei Xie breaks down the "catfish in the sardine tank" strategy behind China's EV…

  12. The Ed Sheeranisation of Irish Economic Policy

    · 39 min · S2026 E77

    This episode provides a midterm assessment of the Irish economy, exploring the disconnect between record-breaking macroeconomic data and the lived experience of the public. We analyse the "Ed Sheeranization" of…

  13. Pacing the Frontier: Global Capital, Bond Markets, and the AI Pivot

    · 42 min · S2026 E76

    There has been a transition from a world of abundant capital to one of scarcity. With the rising interest rates across the US, UK, and France, we discuss the economic implications of Donald Trump’s "fairway diplomacy"…

  14. The Death of the Night-Time Economy: Why Ireland is Closing Down After Midnight

    · 38 min · S2026 E75

    This week, we analyse the collapse of Ireland's night-time economy, noting that 2,205 pubs, one in four nationwide, have closed since 2005. With regional closure rates hitting 37% in Limerick and 33% in Cork, the…

  15. Fairway Diplomacy: How Golf Became Ireland's Secret Weapon Against Trump

    · 41 min · S2026 E74

    Donald Trump touches down in Doonbeg this weekend for the Irish Open at his own golf course, and we're asking whether Ireland should protest or play along. We unpack the extraordinary Irish-American relationship: 40…

  16. Germany’s Seismic Shift: The Rise of the AfD

    · 42 min · S2026 E73

    A deep dive into the AfD’s 44% victory in Saxony-Anhalt and its implications for the European Union. We analyse the collapse of Germany’s political center, the demographic divide among young voters, and the historical…

  17. The AI Culture Wars

    · 37 min · S2026 E72

    We explore the new ideological divide between Silicon Valley’s techno-optimists and institutional economists like Daron Acemoglu. Will AI drive shared prosperity or concentrate wealth among a new technocratic elite?…

  18. Ireland's Immigration Numbers Don't Add Up And Housing Is Paying the Price

    · 37 min · S2026 E71

    Our population's just hit 5.5 million, and 72% of that growth is migration, not births. Five years ago 57% of work permits went to doctors, nurses and scientists. Now it's just 30%. We crunch the CSO numbers and ask…

  19. Jackson Hole Reckoning: The $40 Trillion Debt Crisis and the End of Fiscal Exceptionalism

    · 36 min · S2026 E70

    As global central bankers convene for the Jackson Hole symposium, the interrogation of American fiscal credibility takes center stage. With US national debt surpassing $40 trillion and interest payments now exceeding…

  20. How A Massacre Created Modern Capitalism: The Huguenot Legacy

    · 36 min · S2026 E69

    On the anniversary of the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, we explore the extraordinary economic impact of the French Huguenots. Discover how these religious refugees pioneered the merchant class, redefined the…

  21. 20 Years Since the Celtic Tiger: Why the Irish Banking System is Still Broken

    · 35 min · S2026 E68

    August 2006 marked the beginning of the end for the Celtic Tiger, but the legacy of that crash continues to stifle the Irish economy today. We explore how the refinancing game collapsed, why Irish banks have become…

  22. The Chief Rule Breaker: David Gardner on Beating the Market

    · 45 min · S2026 E67

    I first came across The Motley Fool while working in the "bulge bracket" banks of the late 90s, where the goal was often to keep the public out. Sitting down with David Gardner, the man who helped break those walls…

  23. The Caveman and That Dunsinking Feeling

    · 35 min · S2026 E66

    We mark Mack's 60th birthday by tackling the systemic paralysis of the Irish housing market. We examine the "CAVE" phenomenon: Citizens Against Virtually Everything, and how local objections are stalling massive…

  24. The Yen Dollar Euro Salad

    · 34 min · S2026 E65

    We explore the US Treasury’s unprecedented decision to prop up the Japanese Yen by selling Euro assets, a move that bypassed the ECB and shattered decades of diplomatic norms. This episode breaks down how America’s $1…

  25. AI Deflation: The New Railway Crash?

    · 36 min · S2026 E64

    Tech bros promise a miracle, but history warns of a bubble. We explore how AI-driven deflation could trigger a global debt meltdown, starting with the warning signs in South Korea. Hosted on Acast. See…

  26. What Does The Ceuta Incident Mean For Europe?

    · 35 min · S2026 E63

    This week, we’re diving into a story that wasn't on anyone’s bingo card: 50,000 people breaching one of the most fortified borders in the world in a single weekend. We’re talking about "demographic warfare," the new…

  27. Prometheus Abides

    · 37 min · S2026 E62

    Is AI our new Prometheus, or have we just opened Pandora’s box? We dive into the risks of "techno-feudalism," why the "middleman" being replaced by robots is actually just us, and why 3,000 years of Greek wisdom might…

  28. The €133 Billion Black Hole: Why Ireland Can’t Track Its Spending

    · 39 min · S2026 E61

    Theoretical physicist Matt Fenlon joins the podcast to expose the systemic lack of transparency in Irish public expenditure. As the state budget doubles to €133 billion, Fenlon discusses the black hole in procurement,…

  29. Rich Country, Broken State

    · 45 min · S2026 E60

    Ireland has cash coming out of its ears, and nothing to show for it. Sinead O'Sullivan is back to expose the wild dysfunction inside the Irish state: no one is accountable, nothing gets finished, and the same problems…

  30. Spain Won Again, 500 Years Later

    · 41 min · S2026 E59

    Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in a scrappy, dirty World Cup final, in what felt like 500 years of history playing out on a pitch in New Jersey. We use the final as an excuse to ask the big question: why did Spain's colonies…

  31. Is AI About to Crash the Global Economy?

    · 41 min · S2026 E58

    History says yes. We rewind to 1873, when a stock market wobble in Vienna triggered a global railway crash that took down banks, empires and 80% of world lending in a matter of months, and ask whether we're staring…

  32. Mbappé vs Le Pen: The Battle for France

    · 43 min · S2026 E57

    On this 14th of July, as Les Bleus face Spain in the semi-final, France is heading into a political crisis that could reshape Europe because where France goes, Europe usually follows. We dig into why Marine Le Pen is…

  33. England V Norway: A Tale of Two Oil Discoveries?

    · 41 min · S2026 E56

    Norway turned North Sea oil into $2 trillion in the bank. Britain turned it into tax cuts, unemployment cheques and a housing bubble. We unpack the tale of two oil finds, why one country nailed it and the other blew…

  34. Alexander Hamilton: How a Caribbean Orphan Built America

    · 38 min · S2026 E55

    250 years on, we ask the question: would America even exist without Alexander Hamilton? We tell the story of the French-speaking outsider who created the dollar, faced down the states, and set the world's biggest…

  35. Ireland's Silent Sell Off and the Employee Ownership Solution

    · 32 min · S2026 E54

    Every day that the Irish Financial Service Centre is open, they're selling an Irish business into foreign ownership. Since 2018, overseas acquirers have spent over €100 billion buying up Irish companies. I'm joined by…

  36. The Death of the American Dream

    · 33 min · S2026 E53

    SpaceX just IPO'd, surged, and torched billions of small investors. It's the new American economy. From prediction markets to crypto to day-trading teens, we look at how the US quietly turned itself into the world's…

  37. The Man Who Broke the Global Economy

    · 42 min · S2026 E52

    Alan Greenspan just died at 100, and he might be the most consequential person of the last 30 years that nobody talks about. We unpack the wild story of the jazz clarinettist turned Fed chairman, the Ayn Rand cult he…

  38. Why Did Brazil Never Make It?

    · 35 min · S2026 E51

    The country of the future has been stuck in the future for 100 years. We dig into Brazil's wild economic story; slavery, the secret "whitening" immigration policy that sent millions of Italians south, and why Brazilian…

  39. The EU Is Cracking

    · 40 min · S2026 E50

    Europe just got overtaken, and it knows it. From a bar in Brussels, we unpack the ancient fault line tearing the EU apart, why China's rise has spooked the continent more than anyone admits, and why the "European way…

  40. World Cup Series: Haiti

    · 44 min · S2026 E49

    Haiti just qualified for its first World Cup in 50 years, and they come from the poorest country in the Americas, a place where gangs run the capital and the average person earns $45 a month. We trace how the world's…

  41. Could Canada Have A Brexit Moment?

    · 43 min · S2026 E48

    Mark Carney is being hailed as the new leader of the free world. While he's facing down Trump abroad, his real headache is at home, Alberta, Canada's Texas, is gearing up for a referendum that could split the country…

  42. Inside the World Cup's Narco State

    · 41 min · S2026 E47

    We head down Mexico way to unpack the country hosting the World Cup, a $1.8 trillion economy living side by side with one of the most powerful criminal networks on earth. Drugs, guns, avocados, and the politics tying…

  43. Why Social Democracies Win World Cups

    · 41 min · S2026 E46

    The FT's Simon Kuper joins us to kick off our World Cup series, on why tiny social democracies keep producing the best football teams, why FIFA is laundering reputations for dictators, and why this tournament will say…

  44. The Coming Water Crisis

    · 29 min · S2026 E45

    Forget oil. The real fight is over the world's most precious and least understood commodity; water. We're joined by Paul O'Callaghan of BlueTech Research to explain why two billion people still can't get safe drinking…

  45. Why Trump Is About to Come for Ireland

    · 41 min · S2026 E44

    Made in Kinsale, sold in America, the Ozempic boom is making Ireland rich and dangerously exposed. We unpack how three companies now pay nearly half our corporate tax, and what happens when Trump finally notices.…

  46. How Trump Could Kill the Dollar

    · 48 min · S2026 E43

    Monetary historian Brendan Greeley explains why the dollar's power has nothing to do with the Fed, why crypto is just a bank in disguise, and why politicising the dollar might be the fastest way to end its reign as the…

  47. Why Nobody's Having Babies Anymore

    · 51 min · S2026 E42

    Birth rates are collapsing, not just in rich countries, but everywhere from Mexico to Tunisia. The FT's John Burn-Murdoch joins us to unpack the surprising culprit, why young people aren't just having fewer kids,…

  48. Britain Is Broke

    · 36 min · S2026 E41

    Britain is running out of money, in a currency it prints itself. We unpack the gilt market panic, Starmer's impossible bind, and why the UK is starting to look more like 1970s Italy than the country that invented…

  49. Immigration: What's The Plan?

    · 44 min · S2026 E40

    No policy. No plan. No housing. Sinead O'Sullivan is back to explain why Ireland took in more immigrants per head than any country in Europe, and why the middle class is about to feel what the working class has been…

  50. China Is Winning, Trump Doesn't Know It Yet

    · 40 min · S2026 E39

    China is winning, and Trump doesn't know it yet. As the two leaders sit down in Beijing today, we explain why the Chinese think America is an empire in decline, and why they might be right. Hosted on Acast. See…

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