Why It's Really Hard to Create a New Currency in a Revolution
Creating a new form of money is always tough. Will it hold its value? Will people trust it? Will people use it? All these challenges are even tougher if you're in the middle of a political chaos. On t...
10 Feb 201728min
Why Negotiating a Ransom Is the Trickiest Trade in the World
There are all sorts of reasons why markets break down. A lack of trust. Incomplete information. Divergent incentives. A lack of experienced actors. So it's hard to imagine a trickier market than kidna...
3 Feb 201730min
64: Stay in School, Even if You're Planning to Join the Mob
It's almost a truism that better-educated people earn more money. But suppose you're not interested in a normal job? What if you want to go into the mafia? Well, it turns out that you should still sta...
27 Jan 201726min
63: This Is How Monetary Policy Works in The Islamic State
The Islamic State is mostly discussed in terms of its threat to the safety and security of the world. But as a geopolitical entity, its leadership has to deal with mundane considerations such as opera...
20 Jan 201727min
62: How The Biggest Bull Market Could Come Crashing Down
The stock market is currently in one of its longest bull markets ever, but that doesn't hold a candle to what's going on bonds. According to Paul Schmelzing, a PhD candidate at Harvard and a visiting ...
13 Jan 201727min
61: Here's What's Going to Happen in 2017
Welcome to the start of the new year! 2016 defied almost everyone's expectations, but that won't stop us from making predictions for 2017. On this episode of Odd Lots, we're joined by our Bloomberg Ne...
6 Jan 201728min
60: These Were the Most Interesting Stories of 2016
It was quite a year, 2016! Trump and Brexit alone made it one for the history books. But there was more than political upheaval. In this end-of-year episode of Odd Lots, we speak to five reporters and...
23 Des 201631min
59: What Sneakers Can Tell You About How Financial Markets Work
One of our favorite topics here at Odd Lots is market structure. On multiple occasions, for example, we've talked about how trading bonds is fundamentally different than trading stocks. This week our ...
16 Des 201626min
