Anybody but Brian

In this episode of Anybody But Brian, we examine the common failures of economic development zones and tax incentives in the United States; as well as an interesting success story of their use in modern China.

In this episode, we interview social scientist Conor McGovern on the origins of modern capitalism as well as how the academic definitions of Socialism, Communism, Marxism, and Fascism clash with their modern usage.

In this episode, we examine the far-reaching impacts of monopolies on the prices of goods, quality of services, and wage suppression. First, we take a look at historical anti-trust legislation, and then we bring it to the modern day as we discuss how mergers and acquisitions have created oligopolies in the airline and IT industries that hurt consumers.

In this episode of Anybody But Brian we take a break from economics to look at the conflict in Northern Ireland. With hundreds of years of conflict between the English and Irish, I do a quick run through the historical milestones of English occupation, the Republic of Ireland, and how the violence of The Troubles eventually led to the Good Friday Peace Accord.

Complex problems rarely have simple solutions. Yet that never stops the general public from putting those simple solutions forward as fact. In this episode of Anybody But Brian we take a look at a less frequently explored catalyst for the crisis - ratings agencies. 

In the first episode of Anybody but Brian, we dive into the topic of economic growth. However, instead of running through ways to accelerate it, I spend our time discussing if we should. Leveraging insights from Douglas Rushkoff and his book Throwing Rocks At The Google Bus, this episode tackles the morality of growth for growth's sake, how we will approach a future with a high degree of automation, and what is the best way for us all to share in the increased productivity of the economy.