633. The Most Powerful People You’ve Never Heard Of

05/23/25 • 65 min

10 Listeners

Just beneath the surface of the global economy, there is a hidden layer of dealmakers for whom war, chaos, and sanctions can be a great business opportunity. Javier Blas and Jack Farchy, the authors of The World for Sale, help us shine a light on the shadowy realm of commodity traders.

SOURCES:
- Javier Blas, opinion columnist at Bloomberg News.
- Jack Farchy, energy and commodities senior reporter at Bloomberg News.
RESOURCES:
- The World For Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources, by Javier Blas and Jack Farchy (2021)
- The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich, by Daniel Ammann (2010).
EXTRAS:
- "How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War (Update)" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
- "The First Great American Industry," by Freakonomics Radio (2023).

SOURCES:
- Javier Blas, opinion columnist at Bloomberg News.
- Jack Farchy, energy and commodities senior reporter at Bloomberg News.
RESOURCES:
- The World For Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources, by Javier Blas and Jack Farchy (2021)
- The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich, by Daniel Ammann (2010).
EXTRAS:
- "How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War (Update)" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
- "The First Great American Industry," by Freakonomics Radio (2023).

Previous Episode

How to Succeed at Failing, Part 4: Extreme Resiliency (Update)

Everyone makes mistakes. How do we learn from them? Lessons from the classroom, the Air Force, and the world’s deadliest infectious disease.

SOURCES:
- Will Coleman, founder and C.E.O. of Alto.
- Amy Edmondson, professor of leadership management at Harvard Business School.
- Babak Javid, physician-scientist and associate director of the University of California, San Francisco Center for Tuberculosis.
- Gary Klein, cognitive psychologist and pioneer in the field of naturalistic decision making.
- Theresa MacPhail, medical anthropologist and associate professor of science & technology studies at the Stevens Institute of Technology.
- Roy Shalem, lecturer at Tel Aviv University.
- Samuel West, curator and founder of The Museum of Failure.
RESOURCES:
- "A Golf Club Urinal, Colgate Lasagna and the Bitter Fight Over the Museum of Failure," by Zusha Elinson (Wall Street Journal, 2025).
- Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well, by Amy Edmondson (2023).
- “You Think Failure Is Hard? So Is Learning From It,” by Lauren Eskreis-Winkler and Ayelet Fishbach (Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2022).
- “The Market for R&D Failures,” by Manuel Trajtenberg and Roy Shalem (SSRN, 2010).
- “Performing a Project Premortem,” by Gary Klein (Harvard Business Review, 2007).
EXTRAS:
- "The Deadliest Disease in Human History," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2025).
- “How to Succeed at Failing,” series by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
- “Moncef Slaoui: ‘It’s Unfortunate That It Takes a Crisis for This to Happen,'” by People I (Mostly) Admire (2020).

Next Episode

634. “Fault-Finder Is a Minimum-Wage Job”

Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, is less reserved than the average banker. He explains why vibes are overrated, why the Fed’s independence is non-negotiable, and why tariffs could bring the economy back to the Covid era.