Economics Explored
Gene Tunny
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Top 10 Economics Explored Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Economics Explored episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Economics Explored for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Economics Explored episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Personal Finance
Economics Explored
10/23/19 • 53 min
Many people struggle with managing money. For example, last month, Australian ABC News reported “1.9 million Australians are struggling with credit card debts” and that the average Australian credit card debt is more than $3,000.
To discuss personal finance, Economics Explained host Gene Tunny invited Griffith University lecturer Dr Di Johnson onto the program. Issues for discussion included:
- Credit cards – friend or foe?
- Is it ok to borrow money to buy a car?
- Is rent money dead money? Alternatively, should you do everything you can to get into the property market as soon as you can?
- How do you encourage good financial habits in young people?
Di’s research interests include personal and household finance, behavioural economics and financial planning. She is a member of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s Financial Capability Research Network.
In addition to teaching and researching, Di is a regular commentator on financial issues on ABC radio and TV here in Brisbane.
During the conversation, Di noted that, in Australia, free financial counselling is available for people in financial trouble:
Financial Counselling page on ASIC Moneysmart website
Note this podcast episode contains information of a general nature only and does not constitute financial advice, which always needs to consider people's individual circumstances.
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Investing for success w/ Paul Mladjenovic, author of Stock Investing for Dummies - EP133
Economics Explored
04/01/22 • 57 min
Paul Mladjenovic, CFP is the author or co-author of several Dummies guides on investing, including Stock Investing for Dummies and Investing in Gold and Silver for Dummies. Paul shares his views on what makes for successful investing with show host Gene Tunny. They discuss what types of companies to look for, an often unappreciated benefit of investing in gold and silver, and what Paul thinks about real estate and crypto assets.
This episode contains general information only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Please consult a financial planning professional for advice specific to your circumstances.
About this episode’s guest - Paul Mladjenovic
Paul Mladjenovic, CFP, is a certified financial planner practitioner, writer, and speaker. He has helped people with their financial and business concerns since 1981. He has authored or co-authored several popular Dummies guides on investing and affiliate marketing. You can learn more about Paul and his online courses at https://www.ravingcapitalist.com/.
Links relevant to the conversation
Some of Paul’s books mentioned this episode:
Investing in Gold & Silver For Dummies
Thanks to the show’s audio engineer Josh Crotts for his assistance in producing the episode.
Please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via https://www.speakpipe.com/economicsexplored. Economics Explored is available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, and other podcasting platforms.
Invisible Hand, social media, Goldbacks, crypto & CBDC w/ John August - thoughts on recent episodes - EP194
Economics Explored
06/27/23 • 58 min
In this episode of the Economics Explored podcast, host Gene Tunny chats with John August, Treasurer of the Pirate Party of Australia and host of the Roving Spotlight show on Radio Skid Row in Sydney. Together, they discuss previous episodes on topics such as the invisible hand, Goldbacks, and cryptocurrencies. Listeners are encouraged to share their thoughts on these topics.
Please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via https://www.speakpipe.com/economicsexplored.
What’s covered in EP194
- [00:02:44] The invisible hand.
- [00:04:27] Hidden assumptions in economics.
- [00:08:15] Problem with gambling addiction.
- [00:14:39] Soviet Union.
- [00:26:03] Military expenditure and Soviet collapse.
- [00:30:16] Social media and liberty.
- [00:33:37] Censorship in social media.
- [00:39:01] History of currency. [00:40:47]
- [00:44:25] Central Bank Digital Currency.
- [00:50:34] Crypto as a solution.
- [00:55:46] CBDC concerns and conspiracy theories.
Links relevant to the conversation
John’s website where you can find his writings and a link to his radio show:
Gene’s previous conversations with John:
https://economicsexplored.com/2022/06/21/advertising-surveillance-capitalism-w-john-august-ep144/
Recent episodes mentioned in the conversation:
Thanks to Obsidian Productions for mixing the episode and to the show’s sponsor, Gene’s consultancy business www.adepteconomics.com.au.
Full transcripts are available a few days after the episode is first published at www.economicsexplored.com. Economics Explored is available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, and other podcasting platforms.
The Greedflation hypothesis - EP186
Economics Explored
05/02/23 • 36 min
Economics Explored host Gene Tunny talks about the “greedflation” (greed + inflation) hypothesis with his colleague Arturo Espinosa from Adept Economics. They discuss whether greedy corporations might be responsible for high inflation rates in advanced economies such as Australia and the United States. Gene talks about how the excessive fiscal and monetary stimulus during the pandemic has been a major contributor to higher inflation.
Please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via https://www.speakpipe.com/economicsexplored.
What’s covered in EP186
- [00:01:28] Australia's high inflation rate.
- [00:06:57] UK windfall tax on oil and gas companies.
- [00:10:27] Greed inflation hypothesis.
- [00:13:29] Markups as a contributor to inflation.
- [00:16:20] Industry concentration and inflationary pressure.
- [00:21:11] Inflation outbreak and COVID stimulus relationship.
- [00:25:45] Problems with Covid stimulus.
- [00:27:58] Excessive stimulus and inflation.
- [00:32:35] Corporate power and antitrust.
Links relevant to the conversation
Greedflation articles:
Blaming inflation on greedy business is a populist cop out
'Greedflation' is the European Central Bank's latest headache amid fears it's the key culprit for
Cost-Price Relationships in a Concentrated Economy - Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Inflation is being amplified by firms with market power
Chris Murphy’s economic modeling on stimulus and inflation in Australia:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1759-3441.12382
UK windfall profits tax:
What is the windfall tax on oil and gas companies? - BBC News
Energy Profits Levy Factsheet - 26 May 2022 - GOV.UK
RBA on sources of inflation in Australia:
Charts:
Thanks to Obsidian Productions for mixing the episode and to the show’s sponsor, Gene’s consultancy business www.adepteconomics.com.au.
Full transcripts are available a few days after the episode is first published at www.economicsexplored.com. Economics Explored is available via Apple Podcasts,
Economics and Public Policy
Economics Explored
09/09/20 • 54 min
Host Gene Tunny and his Adept Economics colleague Ben Scott discuss how economics can help us develop sensible public policies on a diverse range of issues, including the environment, housing, and public health, among others.
Links relevant to this episode include:
02/21/23 • 47 min
What are the characteristics of superforecasters? How can a superforecasting team be developed? Hear from Warren Hatch, CEO of Good Judgment, a leading global forecasting business based in NYC. Accurate forecasts from Good Judgment superforecasters have included the scale of the pandemic. In early 2020, Good Judgment superforecasters estimated the United States would have over 200,000 deaths from COVID-19 with 99 percent certainty, an estimate that was considered by many as excessive at the time. Warren gives show host Gene Tunny and his colleague Tim Hughes some valuable tips on how to become a superforecaster.
Please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via https://www.speakpipe.com/economicsexplored.
What’s covered in EP176
- The Good Judgment forecasting business [2:41]
- What are the characteristics of superforecasters? [6:47]
- How to identify someone who is good at pattern recognition? Raven’s matrices [9:24]
- Link between subject matter expertise and forecasting ability [10:40]
- What are some of the techniques that are used to help super forecasters rid themselves of prejudice and bias? [12:57]
- How large does a super forecasting group need to be to be successful? [20:35]
- Tips for being a super forecaster [25:59]
- Using the percentages to retrospectively see how you’ve gone [27:56]
- Bayes’ Theorem [31:41]
- The importance of being open to a range of different views [42:47]
About this episode’s guest: Warren Hatch, CEO of Good Judgment
Warren Hatch is Good Judgment’s second CEO, succeeding co-founder Terry Murray.
Before joining Good Judgment, Hatch was a partner at McAlinden Research, where he identified thematic investment opportunities in global markets for institutional investor clients. Previously, he co-managed a hedge fund seeded by Tiger Management and was a portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley.
Hatch holds a doctorate in politics from Oxford, a masters in Russian and international policy studies from Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, and a bachelors in history from the University of Utah. He is also a CFA® charterholder.
Links relevant to the conversation
Good Judgment’s website and Twitter:
https://goodjudgment.com/ and https://twitter.com/superforecaster?lang=en
BBC Reel featuring Warren Hatch:
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0dwntct/can-you-learn-to-predict-the-future-
Warren’s talk on YouTube which Gene quotes from in the episode:
What is Superforecasting? - Warren Hatch, Good Judgement
Article by Nicholas Gruen:
Making better economic forecasts
Links regarding foxes versus hedgehogs:
https://longnow.org/seminars/02007/jan/26/why-foxes-are-better-forecasters-than-hedgehogs/
https://goodjudgment.com/the-cost-of-overconfidence/
Credits
Thanks to Obsidian Productions for mixing the episode and to the show’s sponsor, Gene’s consultancy business www.adepteconomics.com.au.
Full transcripts are available a few days after the episode is first published at www.economicsexplored.com. Economics Explored is available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, and other podcasting platforms.
07/15/22 • 56 min
While in Hobart, Tasmania for the 2022 Australian Conference of Economists, show host Gene Tunny caught up with Dr Leonora Risse and Dr Cameron Murray to reflect on the big economic issues covered at the conference. The Conference was framed in the context of adjusting to the so-called new normal. It dealt with issues such as government wellbeing budgets, the housing affordability crisis, the pandemic, and nowcasting, among others. Hear from Gene, Leonora, and Cameron regarding conference highlights and takeaways, including the risk of unintended consequences of government policy interventions.
About this episode’s guests
Dr Leonora Risse is an economist who specialises in gender equality. She is a Research Fellow with the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia, and recently spent time in residence at Harvard University as a Research Fellow with the Women and Public Policy Program. Leonora is a co-founder of the Women in Economics Network (WEN) in Australia and currently serves as the WEN National Chair. Leonora earned her PhD in Economics from the University of Queensland, and previously served as a Senior Research Economist for the Australian Government Productivity Commission. She is currently appointed as a Senior Lecturer in Economics at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Her Twitter handle is @leonora_risse.
Dr Cameron Murray is Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Henry Halloran Trust at The University of Sydney. Cameron has taught a number of courses including UQ's MBA economics course, macroeconomics, globalisation and economic development, and managerial economics.He writes for MacroBusiness, IDEA economics and Evonomics. Cameron has a PhD from the University of Queensland on the economics of corruption. He hosts the podcast Fresh Economic Thinking and his Twitter handle is @DrCameronMurray.
Links relevant to the conversation
Leonora’s paper (co-authored with Angela Jackson) on a gender lens on COVID-19 economic impacts:
https://research.curtin.edu.au/businesslaw/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2021/10/AJLE242risse.pdf
Cameron’s Fresh Economic Thinking substack:
https://fresheconomicthinking.substack.com/
Re. Cameron’s idea of looking to Singapore to solve Australia’s housing affordability crisis:
Long abstract for Nicole Kagan’s Not So Super paper:
Long abstract for Gene’s paper on the Queensland Titles Registry:
Long abstract for Cameron’s paper on housing supply:
Credits
Thanks to this episode's guests Leonora and Cameron for the great conversations, and to the show’s audio engineer Josh Crotts for his assistance in producing the episode and to the show’s sponsor, Gene’s consultancy business www.adepteconomics.com.au.
Please consider signing up to receive our email updates and to access our e-book Top Ten Insights from Economics at www.economicsexplored.com. Also, please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via
US Debt Ceiling: Why Trump is Right to Call for its Abolition & Gene’s Experience with Aussie Debt Ceiling - EP268
Economics Explored
12/29/24 • 30 min
Show host Gene Tunny discusses the ineffectiveness of the U.S. debt ceiling, citing its frequent increases and the political grandstanding it entails. He notes that since 1960, Congress has amended the debt limit 78 times. Tunny argues that the debt ceiling does not enforce fiscal discipline and highlights the need for better fiscal rules, such as the Swiss Debt Brake or the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. He also shares his experience with Australia's debt ceiling during the late 2000s financial crisis. Tunny concludes that Trump's criticism of the debt ceiling is justified.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for Gene, please email him at [email protected].
Timestamps for EP268
- US Debt Ceiling Overview (0:00)
- Historical Context and Modern Monetary Theory (4:09)
- Ineffectiveness of the Debt Ceiling (7:07)
- Australian Experience with the Debt Ceiling (13:00)
- Conclusion and Alternative Fiscal Rules (24:49)
Takeaways
- Debt Ceilings Are Ineffective: The US debt ceiling fails to control spending or debt accumulation, as it is consistently raised to avoid financial crises.
- Alternative Fiscal Rules: Spending caps or frameworks like Switzerland’s debt brake are more effective at managing fiscal discipline than nominal debt ceilings.
- Political Grandstanding: The debt ceiling often serves as a stage for political drama rather than meaningful fiscal reform.
- Modern Monetary Theory Critique: Printing money to avoid debt constraints, as proposed by some MMT advocates, risks inflation and economic instability.
- Lessons from Australia: Australia abolished its debt ceiling a decade ago after recognizing its downsides, offering a model for US fiscal policy reform.
Links relevant to the conversation
Useful information on the US debt and deficit from the US Treasury:
https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-markets-financial-institutions-and-fiscal-service/debt-limit (discusses how many times the debt ceiling has been amended)
https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/national-deficit/ (contains the spending, revenue, and deficit figures that Gene mentions)
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Full transcripts are available a few days after the episode is first published at www.economicsexplored.com.
COVID and Wartime – Comparison of economic impacts
Economics Explored
12/30/20 • 58 min
A conversation on whether COVID can be compared to wartime, which considers the different scales and scopes of the shocks, and what it all means for prospects for economic recovery. Economics Explored host Gene Tunny, an Australian professional economist and former Treasury official, speaks with businessman Tim Hughes, also based in Brisbane, Australia.
Gene and Tim conclude that a comparison of COVID to wartime isn’t valid. One reason is that World War II required a complete reorganisation of the economy to maximise production for the war effort, while COVID has involved restrictions that have reduced economic activity.
Links relevant to the conversation include:
Comparing COVID-19 to past world war efforts is premature — and presumptuous
US Council on Foreign Relations Backgrounder on The National Debt Dilemma
Brookings on What’s the Fed doing in response to the COVID-19 crisis? What more could it do?
Australia’s Boldest Experiment (excellent book on Australia’s wartime economy)
Robert Gordon’s The Rise and Fall of American Growth (outstanding book by a leading US economist containing a great discussion of America’s wartime economy)
Aussies over-confident after being over-compensated by Gov’t for COVID-recession
Mint security lapse amazes judge (story about theft from the Australian Mint in early-to-mid 2000s)
Finally, the word Gene got stuck on at 6:55, irredentist, means, “a person advocating the restoration to their country of any territory formerly belonging to it”, according to Oxford Languages.
If you'd like to ask a question for Gene to answer in a future episode or if you'd like to make a comment or suggestion, please get in touch via the website. Thanks for listening.
John Cochrane on Free Markets & Economic Growth and the Fiscal Theory of the Price Level - EP214
Economics Explored
11/14/23 • 69 min
Professor John Cochrane of the Hoover Institution discusses the importance of free markets for economic growth and highlights stagnating growth as the biggest economic issue of our time. John talks about what may be his next book, "Free to Grow," which aims to update Milton and Rose Friedman's "Free to Choose" for today's world. After John speaks, show host Gene Tunny interviews him about his views on growth and his controversial Fiscal Theory of the Price Level. This is a recording of a live event at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney on 26 September 2023.
Please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via https://www.speakpipe.com/economicsexplored.
About Professor John Cochrane
John H. Cochrane is the Rose-Marie and Jack Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is also a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and an adjunct scholar of the CATO Institute.
Before joining Hoover, Cochrane was a Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, and earlier at its Economics Department. Cochrane earned a bachelor’s degree in physics at MIT and his PhD in economics at the University of California at Berkeley. He was a junior staff economist on the Council of Economic Advisers (1982–83).
For more on John, check out his bio here:
https://www.hoover.org/profiles/john-h-cochrane
What’s covered in EP214
- 00:03:36 Importance of economic growth.
- 00:16:06 Incentives drive productivity and growth.
- 00:17:12 Regulation hinders economic growth.
- 00:22:59 Fixing problems requires better solutions.
- 00:28:53 Fixing social programs by embracing free markets.
- 00:39:28 Regulatory state causing innovation slowdown.
- 00:46:24 Free market healthcare benefits the poor in John’s view.
- 00:48:47 Fiscal Theory of the Price Level: Inflation caused by government debt.
- 00:53:56 Avoid old left-right division.
- 01:05:21 Government debt may lead to a sovereign debt crisis.
Links relevant to the conversation
Video of the Free to Grow event on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/tmZh43Fc6Zo?si=wwWRfBW3zsbYmCRV
CIS web post about the Free to Grow event:
https://www.cis.org.au/event/free-to-grow-unlocking-economic-prosperity/
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FAQ
How many episodes does Economics Explored have?
Economics Explored currently has 272 episodes available.
What topics does Economics Explored cover?
The podcast is about Podcasts, Finance, Economics and Business.
What is the most popular episode on Economics Explored?
The episode title 'Personal Finance' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Economics Explored?
The average episode length on Economics Explored is 49 minutes.
How often are episodes of Economics Explored released?
Episodes of Economics Explored are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Economics Explored?
The first episode of Economics Explored was released on Sep 18, 2019.
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