Why Vivek is the Wrong Candidate, the new China-Russia Axis, and Ranking Presidents’ Foreign Policy

Economist Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg discuss Noah's recent Substack post skewering the claims and proposals that make up Republican Presidential candidate Vivek's Ramaswamy's platform. Noah covers Vivek's climate science sources, economic facts on renewable energy, foreign policy stance towards China, Russia, Taiwan and more. Daffy is offering Econ 102 listeners a free $25 for the charity of their choice when they join Daffy https://www.daffy.org/econ102 We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com. -- Sponsors: GIVEWELL | DAFFY | NETSUITE  Have you ever wondered where your donation could have the most impact? GiveWell has now spent over 15 years researching charitable organizations and only directs funding to the highest impact opportunities they’ve found in global health and poverty alleviation. Make informed decisions about high-impact giving. If you’ve never donated through GiveWell before, you can have your donation matched up to $100 before the end of the year, or as long as matching funds last. To claim your match, go to givewell.org and pick “Podcast” and enter Econ 102 at checkout.  Daffy is the most modern and accessible donor-advised fund, making it easier to put money aside for charity. You can make your tax-deductible contributions all at once or set aside a little each week or month. And you don’t just have to donate cash, you can easily contribute stocks, ETFs, or crypto. Plus, you never have to track receipts from your donations again. It’s free to get started and Econ 102 listeners get $25 towards the charity of their choice. Daffy is offering Econ 102 listeners a free $25 for the charity of their choice when they join Daffy https://www.daffy.org/econ102  NetSuite has 25 years of providing financial software for all your business needs. More than 36,000 businesses have already upgraded to NetSuite by Oracle, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you’re looking for an ERP platform head to NetSuite http://netsuite.com/102 and download your own customized KPI checklist. -- Econ 102 is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. To learn more: www.turpentine.co -- TIMESTAMPS: (01:00) Episode Preview (03:20) Why Noah doesn’t think Vivek should be tech’s candidate (07:20) Vivek’s views on climate are stuck in 2010 (13:15) Countering Vivek’s sources on climate (17:52) Sponsors: Daffy | NetSuite (21:00) Vivek's foreign policy claims (27:00) Viviek's Russia & Ukraine takes (31:45) Any charitable view of Vivek's foreign policy? (33:00) Biden vs Trump vs Obama foreign policy (40:00) Noah's ideal foreign policy: the Anti-Empire (44:00) Republicans need to advocate for defense spending (46:00) Similarities between abundance movement and dismantling the administrative state (50:00) Noah's pick for Republican candidate (57:00) Why Vivek is not the one.