Senator Chris Murphy

So in the New Deal, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation was a national investment bank headed by this larger than life figure, Jesse Jones, whose story I love telling in the book. It's fantastic. He has so many different crazy things. He's a guy who grew up in Tennessee, goes to Houston, makes a million bucks by the time he's 30 years old, which is a lot. Sure. 19 teens.

And then he becomes the head of this investment bank, which restructures and supports American finance, but more importantly, gets us out of the Depression. by spurring the housing markets that you mentioned, by making direct loans to industry, and then eventually birthing aviation and synthetic rubber. I mean, these industries really matter.

And then he becomes the head of this investment bank, which restructures and supports American finance, but more importantly, gets us out of the Depression. by spurring the housing markets that you mentioned, by making direct loans to industry, and then eventually birthing aviation and synthetic rubber. I mean, these industries really matter.

They helped us win the war and get us out of the Depression.

They helped us win the war and get us out of the Depression.

Yeah. It is capitalism. Yeah. I mean, the story of American capitalism is one where we bring the state's power to shape and manage markets. So take financial stability as a clear example. The Federal Reserve is charged with keeping prices stable, keeping people employed, and making sure the financial system doesn't implode.

Yeah. It is capitalism. Yeah. I mean, the story of American capitalism is one where we bring the state's power to shape and manage markets. So take financial stability as a clear example. The Federal Reserve is charged with keeping prices stable, keeping people employed, and making sure the financial system doesn't implode.

It has had a checkered history, but for the most part, has done a pretty good job of delivering on that for investors and the folks who rely on it. And so I think what we need to do is learn from those successes, but think about what we could do on housing policy with a similar kind of institution. Or how we can stabilize the price of groceries.

It has had a checkered history, but for the most part, has done a pretty good job of delivering on that for investors and the folks who rely on it. And so I think what we need to do is learn from those successes, but think about what we could do on housing policy with a similar kind of institution. Or how we can stabilize the price of groceries.

Yeah. I mean, so Bill Simon was the Treasury Secretary 50 years ago. Libertarian is libertarian. He was honestly the hardest character to write about in the book, because the book is a collection of 12 different stories of individuals, successes and failures. Simon, man, you go into the archives, and this guy was just a... total asshole.

Yeah. I mean, so Bill Simon was the Treasury Secretary 50 years ago. Libertarian is libertarian. He was honestly the hardest character to write about in the book, because the book is a collection of 12 different stories of individuals, successes and failures. Simon, man, you go into the archives, and this guy was just a... total asshole.

Boy, can't you? In the letters that... I mean, he just absolutely... He absolutely had no interest in the state working to make markets better until... Until... the energy crisis in 1973, and he ends up in the Nixon administration in the chair where he has to figure out, oh, there's an oil embargo, and we cannot import any oil from the Middle East. Prices are skyrocketing. What are we going to do?

Boy, can't you? In the letters that... I mean, he just absolutely... He absolutely had no interest in the state working to make markets better until... Until... the energy crisis in 1973, and he ends up in the Nixon administration in the chair where he has to figure out, oh, there's an oil embargo, and we cannot import any oil from the Middle East. Prices are skyrocketing. What are we going to do?

And he does everything from control prices to make allocation decisions to actually creating a structure to make sure that there's enough home heating oil in New England so no one freezes to death. And the irony of I did all this research on this guy expecting to write a pretty critical take He was pretty successful. Right. So even libertarians, in fact, have strategic oil reserve. Exactly.

And he does everything from control prices to make allocation decisions to actually creating a structure to make sure that there's enough home heating oil in New England so no one freezes to death. And the irony of I did all this research on this guy expecting to write a pretty critical take He was pretty successful. Right. So even libertarians, in fact, have strategic oil reserve. Exactly.

Is his baby. Exactly. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Right. Now has hundreds of millions of barrels. And it's there to help us in case there is another kind of oil embargo event. And even to some extent, buffer the price. So, you know, there are a lot of stories of Republicans believing in the power of market craft, but using a different language to justify it.

Is his baby. Exactly. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Right. Now has hundreds of millions of barrels. And it's there to help us in case there is another kind of oil embargo event. And even to some extent, buffer the price. So, you know, there are a lot of stories of Republicans believing in the power of market craft, but using a different language to justify it.

But this is not... There's no partisan claim on the term.

But this is not... There's no partisan claim on the term.

No, I mean, it's a couple of people have asked me, is Trump a market crafter? And he's the opposite. I mean, he's a market crasher. Market crasher. Exactly. That would be a great movie. That would be volume two. Exactly. Market crashers. No, but I mean, there are ways to think about the problem that critical minerals, 90% of critical minerals come from China.