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Episodes

May 1, 2024

How the Fed Works, Currency Crises, and TikTok ban [Listener Mailbag]

In today's episode of Econ 102, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg tackle more listener questions: the Fed's impact on inflation and the economy, theories behind interest rates' unexpected effects, and 'greedflation'.

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April 24, 2024

Wealth Distribution, Fixing Healthcare, and UBI

In today's episode, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg answer listeners' questions in rapid fire format, over topics such as the global reserve currency, fair taxation, wealth redistribution, education reform, healthcare, US manufacturing, how to revitalize cities, and more. Thanks to all our listeners who continue to write in with big meaty questions!

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April 17, 2024

WW3 Analysis: China, The US, Ukraine, The Middle East

In this week’s episode, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg tackle more listeners' questions focused on conflicts and war.

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April 10, 2024

Fixing the US Economy: the Debt, Inequality, Biden/trump Economic Predictions

In this week’s episode, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg dive into various econ topics and tackle listener questions!

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April 2, 2024

Analyzing Economies Round 3: Middle East, Africa, South America, and North America

This episode is a continuation of the series analyzing the economies around the world, with Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg focusing on the Middle East, Africa, South America, and North America.

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March 27, 2024

Analyzing Economies: England, France, Germany, Poland, Turkey, and the EU/European Immigration

In our second installment of Analyzing the Economies Around the World, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg cover Europe and Turkey.

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March 21, 2024

Analyzing Economies: USA, China, Japan, Russia, India, Korea, and more

In this episode, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg talk about the world's biggest economies including US, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Russia, Australia, and more, looking at things like inflation, debt, industrial policy, and population challenges.

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March 13, 2024

AI's Influence on the Economy with Nathan Labenz

In this episode of Econ 102, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg are joined by Nathan Labenz to deep dive into AI's impact on our economy and society.

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March 5, 2024

How We Build More Housing with Brad Hargreaves

In this episode of Econ 102, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg engage with Brad Hargreaves, founder of General Assembly and Thesis Driven, to explore significant themes in real estate, leveraging macroeconomic trends, cultural shifts, and technology's impact.

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Feb. 29, 2024

Americans Are Getting Exhausted

This week on Econ 102, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg explore the changing racial dynamics in the U.S., highlighting the importance of national identity, and the recent role of social media within that evolution.

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Feb. 21, 2024

Putin, Tucker, and Russia

This week on Econ 102, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg discuss Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin, the state of Russia's economic and military, as well as the country's relationships with the West.

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Feb. 14, 2024

How International Development Works

This week Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg sit down to deconstruct several economic theories dealing with developing nations, export oriented manufacturing, the roles of engineers across the world, and more.

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Feb. 7, 2024

E30: Are Tariffs a Good Thing?

This week on Econ 102, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg discuss the role of tariffs in the world economy, Tesla’s positioning in the Chinese market, and economic strategies that the U.S. may need to implement to remain competitive in global trade.

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Jan. 31, 2024

E29: Is the Great Stagnation Over?

This week Eli Dourado joins Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg to explore the concept of the Great Stagnation and whether it is over, the challenges of scaling in America, the role of governance in hindering progress, the role of new technology in productivity gains, and much more.

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Jan. 24, 2024

E28: A Deep Dive into Japan

This week on Econ 102, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg explore several aspects of Japan’s work system, culture, economy, and more, including the seniority promotion system, globally perceived homogeneity, economic transformation, and immigration trends.

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Jan. 17, 2024

E27: Should we prepare for a recession?

This week Erik Torenberg and Noah Smith are joined by Itay Vinik, Co-Founder & Chief Investment Officer at Equi, to explore their different perspectives on the current state of the economy and the likelihood of a recession.

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Jan. 10, 2024

E26: Claudine Gay's Resignation from Harvard & Problems Plaguing Academia & Research

In this episode of Econ 102, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg discuss the resignation of Harvard's President Claudine Gay as well as the issues surrounding academic research, such as plagiarism, peer review, academic incentives, pressures universities might consider to enhance research productivity, and more.

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Jan. 3, 2024

E25: Trump/Biden, Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, and US/China w/ Dan Romero

This week Dan Romero joins Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg to discuss the overuse of the term “fascism,” what has led to the capabilities of China and the U.S., and much more.

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Dec. 27, 2023

E24: Making Sense of Argentina: Inflation, Milei, Macro with Sebastian Bensusan

For this episode, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg are joined by Sebastian Bensusan, an Argentinian blogger, to discuss Argentina's unique inflation problem, its agricultural and mining sectors, dollarization, voting patterns, and much more.

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Dec. 20, 2023

E23: The Truth About Inflation

Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg explore the factors contributing to rising grocery prices and the impact of inflation on consumer sentiment, as well as debunking misconceptions about inflation.

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Dec. 13, 2023

E22: America's Mixed View on Immigration

Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg explore the debate on immigration, including open borders vs border enforcement, the ideal composition of immigrants, the housing crisis, & the mixed views Americans have on the subject.

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Dec. 6, 2023

E21: Which energy source is best w/ Age of Miracles

Noah Smith is joined by Age of Miracles hosts Packy McCormick and Julia DeWahl to discuss the future of nuclear energy as well as other energy sources.

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Nov. 28, 2023

E20: The Trillion Dollar Non-Profit Sector, The Politicization of Science, & AI Tutors

Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg discuss the rise in pseudoscience, the “administification” in America, the trillion-dollar non-profit sector, and more.

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Nov. 21, 2023

Sam Altman, the Microsoft Bull Case, OpenAI and AI Live Players - The Riff with Byrne Hobart

This is a bonus episode for Econ 102 listeners of The Riff with Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg, recorded on Monday night 11/20, discussing the evolving story of Sam Altman’s ousting at OpenAI and new home at Microsoft, what OpenAI's next pivot could look like, the new competitive landscape for the big AI players, and Effective Altruism’s role in this drama.

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