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'. The discussion also extends to shifts in Japan's economic policies amid currency valuation concerns, housing price disparities between the US and Canada, gentrification, balanced budget amendments, and the geopolitical dynamics between Saudi Arabia and Iran, finishing with thoughts on TikTok. Thank you to everyone who sent in questions. Keep 'em coming: Econ102@turpentine.co -- SPONSORS: BEEHIIV | WARP | HARMONIC Head to Beehiiv, the newsletter platform built for growth, to power your own. Connect with premium brands, scale your audience, and deliver a beautiful UX that stands out in an inbox. 🐝 https://beehiiv.com and use code "MOZ" for 20% off your first three months Hundreds of startups already trust Warp to handle their payroll and compliance needs - you can go from zero to payroll live in just two days. Don't let payroll and compliance hold your startup back – visit https://joinwarp.com/peel to get started and receive a $1000 gift card when you first run payroll. 🧲 Learn why Craft, Bedrock, NEA and 100s more trust Harmonic’s data to source deals. Harmonic is the most complete startup database, finding new companies as soon as they incorporate and tracking them through IPO. Head to https://bit.ly/harmonicturpentine (and make sure to mention Turpentine VC during your demo.) _ Recommended Podcast: Company Breakdowns Each episode of Company Breakdowns dives into S-1s and series B-and-beyond companies, interviewing founders and investors to break down the companies. First episode is on Rubrik - which just IPO'd. Coming up this season: Databricks, Reddit + more, Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0epyYBAxLeF0PsNagdDJAJ Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/company-breakdowns/id1743119197 _ SEND US YOUR Q's FOR NOAH TO ANSWER ON AIR: Econ102@Turpentine.co _ LINKS: Noahpinion: https://www.noahpinion.blog/ _ TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro (00:53) What if the dollar was no longer the world’s reserve currency? (04:50) Fair taxation (08:20) Level of redistribution in the US (10:30) Lowering inequality by increasing economic growth (18:26) Sponsor: Beehiiv | Harmonic (20:26) Education reform (30:07) Fixing rising costs in healthcare (34:12) Limitations of UBI (39:09) Massive gap between US and China’s manufacturing capacity (46:25) US potential gateway to Africa (54:28) Impact of foreign aid (59:20) Revitalizing small US cities (01:04:58) Wrap