The David McWilliams Podcast
- Episodes
- 716
- Released
- weekly
- Latest episode
- Nov 12, 2026
About the podcast
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. 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 716
Fixing a Broken Economic System with Mariana Mazzucato (Live from Kilkenomics)
Recorded live at Kilkenomics 2026, UCL economist Mariana Mazzucato joins us to discuss her new book, The Common Good Economy, looking at why the state is always the one bandaging up after the market. She sets …
Show notes
Recorded live at Kilkenomics 2026, UCL economist Mariana Mazzucato joins us to discuss her new book, The Common Good Economy, looking at why the state is always the one bandaging up after the market. She sets out her five-point compass for doing it differently, plus an analysis of the $7 trillion share buyback binge, why the AI bubble is really a financial bubble, and her blunt verdict on Ireland.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
John Burn-Murdoch on Why Hard Work No Longer Pays (Live from Kilkenomics)
Recorded live at Kilkenomics, we’re joined by the FT’s John Burn-Murdoch, the most interesting data journalist writing today. Wealth inequality’s share may not have budged in 40 years, but incomes haven’t kept …
Show notes
Recorded live at Kilkenomics, we’re joined by the FT’s John Burn-Murdoch, the most interesting data journalist writing today. Wealth inequality’s share may not have budged in 40 years, but incomes haven’t kept pace with wealth, so working your way from the middle to the top has gone from hard to basically impossible. That’s why young people are piling into crypto, gambling and tech stocks, not fecklessness, but a rational bet when the conveyor belt has stopped. We get into the pensions time-bomb (today’s retirees take out 3-4 times what they paid in, millennials will get back about €1 for €1), why a youthquake alone can’t fix it, and why the AI jobs story isn’t layoffs but a hiring freeze that hits the young hardest. Plus the one growth sector AI can’t touch: human interaction. And yes, hackers cooking Europe’s supermarket fridges.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The AI Reckoning: When a Trillion-Dollar Bet Meets Rising Rates
The AI story has flipped from a technology story to a credit story, and that changes everything. Anthropic’s bonds have been downgraded to junk, Elon Musk says credit markets are closing to anything with “AI” …
Show notes
The AI story has flipped from a technology story to a credit story, and that changes everything. Anthropic’s bonds have been downgraded to junk, Elon Musk says credit markets are closing to anything with “AI” attached, and half a trillion dollars was wiped off Alphabet in a single day. We dig into the uncomfortable data: outside the Magnificent Seven, AI has delivered almost zero productivity payoff to corporate America, revenue per worker is flat across the other 493 S&P companies. Then the real danger: if inflation forces the Fed to push rates from 4% to 6.5% to crush it, an overvalued AI market smashes straight into rising rates driven by a war in Iran. Plus why Christine Lagarde’s early exit from the ECB might have one eye on the French presidency.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bibi or Tibi? Israel’s Deadlock and the Midterms the Ayatollah Could Decide
In Israel, Netanyahu has lost ground but still frames every choice as “Bibi or Tibi,” and liberal Israel faces a once-in-a-generation chance to oust him, if it can stomach governing with the Arab parties who …
Show notes
In Israel, Netanyahu has lost ground but still frames every choice as “Bibi or Tibi,” and liberal Israel faces a once-in-a-generation chance to oust him, if it can stomach governing with the Arab parties who took 18% of the Knesset. We talk to Daphna Maor of The Marker (Haaretz) from Tel Aviv, put the odds at 50-50, and ask whether the Arab bloc could become Israel’s Parnell holding the balance of power. Then the US midterms, voting tonight. Inflation, mortgage rates at 7%, flatlining house prices and a K-shaped economy have Trump on the ropes, while the top 1% have gained wealth and immigration has vanished as a worry. The twist: if Trump loses the House and Senate, foreign affairs is all he’s got left, which could make him more dangerous, not less. Plus Serbia’s students topple Vučić and Bolsonaro flees to the US.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Five Scariest Numbers in the Global Economy (A Halloween Special)
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 …
Show notes
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 into the five numbers that should keep you up at night. The Shiller index at 41 (last seen in 1999, just before the dot-com crash), global government debt at 94% of GDP, The US paying $1 trillion a year just to service its debt, more than its defence budget, the 10-year Treasury yield at 5.36%, a 24-year high and oil at $110, 80% up on last year, thanks to the Strait of Hormuz. If it all goes pear-shaped, the question is simple: who’s the witch?
Use code WITCH at kilkenomics.com for 20% off tickets all day October 30th & 31st
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Is France the Canary? The End of the Centre and Europe’s Generational Revolt
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 …
Show notes
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 spending is 57% of GDP (31% in Ireland, and above anything the Soviet Union managed), over-65s have gone from 12% of the population in 1968 to 25% today, and bond yields have jumped from 3.4% to 4.8%. We unpack the poly-crisis behind it: the 68ers versus their grandchildren, diesel prices and the ghost of the Gilets Jaunes, a left captured by the educated elite, AI anxiety, and half of French schools missing a teacher. Plus 68% of French voters say democracy isn’t delivering, Meloni getting outflanked on her right, and whether the European project survives the generation that built it.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The World’s First AI Minister: Can Democracies Make Haste Slowly? with Evan Solomon
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 …
Show notes
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 up to 80% of compute for home-grown firms and has put €150 million behind Bengio’s “safe by design” AI. How do slow, deliberate democracies regulate a technology teaching itself at lightning speed? Plus Carney’s coalition of middle powers, why Trump is the best thing to happen to Canadian nationalism, and “ancestral intelligence.”Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Peak Humans: Modernity Vs. Tradition
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 …
Show notes
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 fertility rate has dropped to 1.8, below the 2.1 needed to replace ourselves, and of 236 countries studied, 219 are in decline. The twist is that it’s happening fastest among poorer, less-educated women in poorer countries, which wrecks the old rule that you have to get rich before you get old. So is modernity itself the culprit, and could tradition stage a comeback? Plus, why AI scepticism sent investors rushing back into bonds this week.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A View From NYC: The Diaspora and the Midterms
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 …
Show notes
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 scrap tax for two years for anyone coming home, and give citizenship to a third generation of Irish Americans. Then the midterms, four weeks out. Trump is on 33%, the lowest of any midterm president since 1974, petrol is back above $4, and markets give Democrats a 65% shot at both chambers. A blue wave makes him a lame duck.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Tiramisu Budget: Is Ireland West European or West African?
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 …
Show notes
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, heading for €20 billion by 2029. Meanwhile we’ve just pumped €7.4 billion of tax cuts and handouts into an economy already at full employment. Recorded live from New York, where financiers are getting twitchy about an AI bubble: US long-term rates are creeping towards 6%, and superscalers now gobble up 17% of the capital the Treasury needs. We ask whether Ireland is Norway or Nigeria when it comes to managing a windfall, why a hard budget focuses the mind, and why a rotating Taoiseach and a split Department of Finance add up to ordering two tiramisus because the voucher is free.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mr 5%: The Armenian Who Invented the Oil Industry and Gave It All Away
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 …
Show notes
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 Dutch Shell, even a deal with Stalin paid in Hermitage art. His maps shaped modern Iraq and left the Kurds sitting on top of the oil, and his split of upstream, refining and distribution still defines Big Oil today. Plus why diesel is spiking, what a 100 million barrel release really does, and why this misanthropic networker gave his fortune to art while today's billionaires build spaceships.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The End of The Housing Crisis?
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 …
Show notes
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 €484k home when a three-bed semi in Dublin asks €635k. We break down why: young people are maxed out, we're still building 1980s houses for a 2020s population, and the force driving prices this time is people, not credit like in 2008. Plus the Spanish eviction story that had Madrid in uproar, and why "the cure for high prices is high prices."Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Are Teenagers Getting Dumber?
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 …
Show notes
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 their own phone bill. We dig into why: screens, AI shortcuts, the death of patient reading, and a "snowflake-isation" of education that's swapped hard exams for soft assessment. Ireland's own numbers aren't pretty either, with reading and maths both sliding since 2015. Is this really decline, or have we simply hit a natural ceiling on middle-class intelligence, meaning the real gains left are among poorer kids?Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Welfare State vs Immigration: What Ireland's Numbers Actually Say
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 …
Show notes
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 in the 55th percentile to pay their way. In Germany, it's the 28th. In Ireland, our back-of-envelope sums say the 65th, or about €62,000 a year. We break down why Ireland's tax and welfare system, where someone on €27,000 gets €11,000 back from the state and someone on €104,000 pays in €40,000, changes the whole debate.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Xi vs Trump: Inside the Chinese Economic Machine
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 …
Show notes
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 dominance, why Chinese carmakers compete profit margins down to 3-4% just to win market share, and how a Leninist system mobilises household savings to fund it all.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Ed Sheeranisation of Irish Economic Policy
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 …
Show notes
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 Ireland,the delicate balance between American corporate reliance and European political identity, and the systemic risks posed by the global AI arms race. From "Dutch disease" to the challenges of economic gluttony, we examine why Ireland’s future is now entirely in its own hands.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Pacing the Frontier: Global Capital, Bond Markets, and the AI Pivot
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 …
Show notes
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" in Ireland, the structural fragility of European bond markets, and the sudden shift in rhetoric from AI leaders calling for regulation. Is the move to "pace the frontier" is a moral awakening regarding existential risk or a strategic play for state protection in a tightening financial landscape?
NYC Tickets: https://irishartscenter.org/event/an-evening-with-david-mcwilliams-2026
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The Death of the Night-Time Economy: Why Ireland is Closing Down After Midnight
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 …
Show notes
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 discussion highlights how high excise duties and archaic licensing laws are strangling a $4 billion industry that supports 92,000 jobs. The episode explores why a country that markets itself on fun is systematically shutting down its social infrastructure.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Fairway Diplomacy: How Golf Became Ireland's Secret Weapon Against Trump
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 …
Show notes
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 daily flights to the US, $1.3 trillion in American investment, 300,000 jobs, and a bond built more on kitchen tables than diplomacy. We're joined by Donal Casey, former CEO of Rory McIlroy Inc., to talk golf's economics, why LIV Golf failed despite Saudi billions, and how the fairway - not the barricades, might be Ireland's smartest move with America's most unpredictable president.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Germany’s Seismic Shift: The Rise of the AfD
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 …
Show notes
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 tensions between East and West that are reshaping the continent’s future.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The AI Culture Wars
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 …
Show notes
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?Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ireland's Immigration Numbers Don't Add Up And Housing Is Paying the Price
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 …
Show notes
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 the question nobody wants to: how many migrants can Ireland's housing market actually take before something breaks?Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jackson Hole Reckoning: The $40 Trillion Debt Crisis and the End of Fiscal Exceptionalism
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 …
Show notes
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 the defense budget, the Treasury faces a critical standoff with the bond market. This analysis explores the limits of yield manipulation, the threat to the dollar’s role as global collateral, and the inevitable market-driven correction facing a politically paralyzed Washington.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
How A Massacre Created Modern Capitalism: The Huguenot Legacy
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 …
Show notes
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 relationship between faith and finance, and built the foundations of modern capitalism. From the streets of Paris to the boardrooms of the Bank of Ireland, this episode uncovers the hidden history of the people who transformed the global economy.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
20 Years Since the Celtic Tiger: Why the Irish Banking System is Still Broken
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 …
Show notes
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 safe deposit boxes where money goes to die, and how the Central Bank’s over-regulation is forcing the state to take over the construction industry. Discover why Ireland is fighting with one arm tied behind its back and what it will take to get credit flowing to small businesses again.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Chief Rule Breaker: David Gardner on Beating the Market
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 …
Show notes
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 down, was a masterclass in financial sovereignty. We discuss his six-trait framework for identifying world-beaters, the psychological grit required to ignore "overvalued" labels, and why the most powerful move an investor can make is simply to keep holding.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Caveman and That Dunsinking Feeling
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 …
Show notes
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 developments like Dunsink. We'll walk you through why the state succeeds at attracting foreign investment but fails at building homes, and what this means for the next generation of Irish citizens.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Yen Dollar Euro Salad
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 …
Show notes
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 trillion debt service is driving aggressive financial maneuvers and what the erosion of the global rules-based order means for the future of the Eurozone. We analyse the structural fragility of the US economy and the potential for a European retaliation that could reshape global geoeconomics.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
AI Deflation: The New Railway Crash?
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 …
Show notes
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 acast.com/privacy for more information.
What Does The Ceuta Incident Mean For Europe?
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," …
Show notes
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 reality where migration is weaponised to pull the strings of global politics. From the lanyard class in Brussels to the average dude on the street, the gap over immigration is turning into a chasm, and the European Union is starting to fray at the seams. We look at the geopolitical axis between Washington, Tel Aviv, and Rabat, and ask the big question: can the European project survive when its borders become the ultimate battlefield? To understand the economy, you have to understand human nature.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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