252. The Gold Standard: Chapters 1-4

Eminent historian Niall Ferguson joins us to discuss the history of fiat money, its relation to war, its development over the past century and the prospects for bitcoin. Why did Britain join World War I, and was it a wise choice? How eager were the British to join war? We debate whether it was the gold standard, or the suspension of the gold standard, that prevented recovery post-WWI and laid the foundation for World War II. And we discuss Professor Ferguson's views of bitcoin and its future ...

7 Helmi 20231h 47min

After three years of hyperinflation, is there light at the end of the tunnel for Lebanon? The currency has lost more than 97% of its value, the largest bill is worth $1.5, the real economy is de facto dollarized, and only those dependent on government are having to suffer from hyperinflation. Fiat is dead and there are are no IMF bail-outs or natural resource revenues to get the ponzi going again. Is the death of fiat suffocating the parasite class and freeing the rest of society from having ...

31 Tammi 202353min

We are joined by Jonathan Chester, the founder and CEO of Bitwage, a bitcoin payroll company which allows you to get paid in bitcoin no matter who is paying you, and allows companies to set up bitcoin payrolls for their workers. We discuss the genesis of the company in 2014, how it grew through bitcoin bear and bull markets, what its future plans are, and how Jonathan sees the development of the industry over the years. Resources (All links available on saifedean.com/podcast/152-bitwag...

24 Tammi 20231h 21min

What is "ESG" and why is it such a dangerous scam? We are joined by Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur in the healthcare and technology sectors and bestselling author of Woke, Inc: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam, as well as Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence. Vivek explains why ESG is more dangerous than silly corporate virtue-signaling, and what its long-term economic, social, and political implications are. We also delve i...

17 Tammi 20231h 35min

Sam Apple joins us to discuss his fascinating book 'Ravenous: Otto Warburg, the Nazis, and the Search for the Cancer-Diet Connection'. We discuss the connection between diet and cancer, and the Warburg Effect, which states that cancer cells thrive on dietary glucose, and why Sam thinks it's not entirely accurate because it ignores the role of insulin resistance. We also discuss Hitler's fascination with cancer research, which allowed Warburg to survive the Nazi era even though he was Jewish a...

10 Tammi 20231h 39min

Is humanity running out of resources, or are resources more abundant than ever? Gale Pooley is the co-author of Superabdundance, a fascinating and optimistic exploration of how economic progress has made life better for humanity. He joins us to explain why goods continue to become more abundant, why fears of overpopulation and resource depletion continue to be refuted forcefully by reality, and why human time keeps getting more valuable. We discuss the work of one of our favorite economists, ...

3 Tammi 20231h 51min

This episode contains most of the final lecture of The Fiat Standard online course, which just concluded, based on the last chapter of The Fiat Standard. After having studied the bitcoin and fiat monetary systems extensively in The Bitcoin Standard and The Fiat Standard, Saifedean analyzes how bitcoin can continue to rise in a fiat world. Can central banks adopt bitcoin? Will bitcoin lead to hyperinflation? Or will bitcoin be an orderly upgrade and debt jubilee, allowing us to unwind fiat pai...

26 Joulu 20221h 34min

We are rejoined by Nik Bhatia, author of Layered Money, to get his perspective on the bond market, the global economy, and bitcoin. Why did bonds have their worst year ever? Why is Nik convinced a recession is looming? How does he see the bond market developing in the medium and long term? Will bonds recover and yields fall? Will we see negative bond yields? Is there still more road for the Fed to can unto, or are we really at the end of the road? Resources (All links available on saifedean....

20 Joulu 20221h 54min