The Hanseatic League: Europe’s First Free Trade Zone
Forget Brussels, the first European Union was built by medieval merchants, not politicians. This week, we dive into the Hanseatic League: a loose alliance of 200 city-states that dominated trade across the Baltic and North Seas for 500 years. They pioneered free trade, built Europe’s first banking networks, and forged a multilateral model that still shapes today’s EU. Their story is also a warning. The League eventually lost out to land-based nation-states, a tension that’s alive again in today’s battles between globalists and nationalists, city-states and populist powers. Along the way, we also explore the unlikely African roots of Russia’s greatest poet, medieval slave routes linking Dublin to Iran (!), and why the architecture of Lutheran cities tells the story of global trade. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast.
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36:54
Will America’s Debt Crash the Global Economy?
When Jamie Dimon warns that the U.S. bond market could "crack," it’s time to listen. This week, we dive into America’s mounting debt crisis, with U.S. debt now surpassing $34 trillion, deficits running at $2 trillion a year, and interest payments exceeding military spending. We unpack how Trump’s tax cuts, tariffs, and spending splurges are pushing the system to breaking point, and why a bond market crack could trigger a global dollar crisis.Then we turn the lens to Ireland, where the economy is running too hot: clogged roads, soaring rents, and an influx of investment we can’t absorb. Should Ireland slow down before the next global downturn forces us to? From bond yields to blocked-up Westland Row, this episode connects the big macro shifts to the everyday pressures you feel on your commute. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast.
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36:34
From Bolsheviks to Bolt: The Tallinnovation Nation
We’re on the road again, this time reporting from Vilnius, Lithuania, in the heart of Europe’s Bloodlands. Don’t be fooled by the history of war and trauma, this episode is all about how the Baltics are sprinting into the future. Estonia, with just 1.3 million people, has produced 10+ tech unicorns and collects 99% of its taxes online. Lithuania, home to 50,000 people living in Ireland, is building Rail Baltica, a €6 billion high-speed line connecting Finland to Poland. We chat with economist James Oates to unpack how these small nations became some of the most advanced societies on earth, all while keeping one wary eye on Moscow. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast.
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35:55
Creativity in the Cul-de-Sac: Why the Suburbs Won
Back home at HQ, we stretch our legs and dive into something huge hiding in plain sight: Ireland is now the most educated country in the world. But what does that really mean? From the Inhaler gig in St. Anne's Park to the brilliance of Roddy Doyle and camogie skirts, this episode celebrates the often-overlooked power of the suburbs, not just as a creative hotbed, but as the epicentre of Ireland’s education revolution. We trace how the children of small farmers became the middle class, why suburban snobbery is intellectually bankrupt, and how “kitchen table capital” helps some students stay the course. With fascinating data on dropout rates, international comparisons, and that ever-looming brain drain, this is a fresh and hopeful take on the biggest shift in Irish society since free education was introduced in 1967. Plus: why middle-class people think in years and working-class people are forced to think in minutes, and what it means for building a better Ireland. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast.
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40:07
Spain’s Miracle Economy: What They Got Right (That We Didn’t) with Joe Haslam
We're back in Spain, and I’ve got questions. Why is Spain growing faster than Germany, France, and even the US? Why can they build high-speed rail for a fraction of the cost, and why are they the only major EU country where immigration is boosting GDP without blowing up politics?This week, we talk to Professor Joe Haslam in Madrid about what’s being called Europe’s miracle economy. Since COVID, Spain’s growth has outpaced every major European economy, driven by smart immigration (nearly 1 million working Latin Americans), a tourism boom (especially in the cooling north), and €160 billion in EU funds that they’ve actually used. But it’s not all cerveza and sunshine. Spain’s power grid recently collapsed for nine hours, revealing the fragility of the green energy transition. Despite the boom, Spain’s productivity and housing market are heading the wrong way. Public servants now outnumber private sector workers, and even El Guapo himself, PM Pedro Sánchez, is afraid to touch buy-to-lets. We also dig into what Spain’s infrastructure success says about Ireland’s failure. Is it Napoleon vs. Wellington all over again? Because if you inherited the Napoleonic state, like Spain did, you can build metros, fast trains, and affordable housing. If you inherited British common law? You get planning objections and overpriced shoeboxes in Drimnagh. Join the gang! https://plus.acast.com/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast.
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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.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.If you would like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/DavidMcWilliams.
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