Odd Lots

Merryn Talks Money: John Law, The Gambler Who Invented Modern Money (Part 1)

26 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hello Odd Lots listeners! As we take a break for the holidays we'd like to take a moment and bring you an episode by one of our sister shows here at B...

Scott Kupor's New Plan to Bring Tech Workers Into the Federal Government

25 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you're a high-skilled tech worker, then potentially huge fortunes await you working for a startup or one of our booming AI giants. But the governme...

Why Americans Are Falling Behind on Auto Loans At Their Highest Level Ever

22 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

By and large, American households are in a healthy economic position. Yes, unemployment has been rising, but it's still at fairly low levels. Consumer...

The Booming Business of Chinese Peptides

19 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You probably already know someone doing peptides — the amino acids that form the basis of popular new drug treatments like Ozempic and Wegovy. T...

Meet the Politician the AI Industry Is Trying to Stop

18 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The politics of AI are already exploding. Whether we're talking about data centers, electricity prices, labor displacement, water consumption, competi...

MeatEater's Steven Rinella on the Economic History of Hunting

15 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When we think about America’s economic rise, we usually point to agriculture or the industrial revolution. But in the early days of colonization...

D.A. Wallach Explains Why Biotech VC Is So Different

12 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Most people think of venture capital as funding software startups or, these days, some new AI tool. But VC also plays a major role in developing new m...

This Is What It Takes to Get a Data Center Financed

11 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Data centers are weird things. They're partly real estate assets. They're partly extremely advanced technological products. And they have to find a wa...

Dan Ivascyn Is Excited About a New Era in Fixed Income

08 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the years since the financial crisis, bond investors didn't get much return for taking on risk. With low interest rates and little sign of inflatio...

How Microsoft Excel Conquered Corporate America

07 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Excel. If you work in corporate America, that word either inspires laser-focused productivity or pure dread. Over the last 40 years, the spreadsh...

Affirm's Max Levchin Breaks Down How Buy Now, Pay Later Really Works

05 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Max Levchin probably knows as much about online payments as anyone. He was part of the original "PayPal mafia" before going on to become co-founder an...

AI Can Tell Us Something About Credit Market Weakness

04 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There have been some wobbles in credit markets lately. It hasn't been too dramatic, but we've had some blowups, leading Jamie Dimon to speculate about...

Travis Kavulla Explains Why Electric Bills Shot Up

01 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There's an incredible amount of focus on the grid this days. That's notable because for a long time, the grid was hardly of any interest. For years, l...

This Is Why Credit Card Interest Rates Are So High

28 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Some people pay off their credit cards at the end of each month. They use the cards as a payment method and collect points and rewards, and never have...

Graham Allison on the Risks of a US-China War

27 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The US and China are in a "Thucydides Trap," whereby the risk of war is heightened when an established power is threatened by a rapidly rising power. ...

Ray Dalio on the Five Forces That Make This a Historical Moment

24 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You're not imagining it. This really is a moment of tremendous historical change. Various forces are all aligned right now and reshaping how the world...

Risky Business Preview

23 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Here’s a preview of another podcast we enjoy, Risky Business with Nate Silver and MariaKonnikova. Risky Business is a weekly podcast about makin...

Why America's Cattle Ranchers Keep Getting Squeezed

22 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The country's cattle herd has shrunk to its smallest size in decades and beef prices have been soaring this year, with hamburgers and steaks becoming ...

What Susan Collins Wants to See Before Supporting Another Rate Cut

21 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In early November, it looked like almost a sure thing that the Federal Reserve would cut rates. Since then, the odds have come in dramatically, as a n...

Tyler Cowen on Why AI Hasn't Changed the World Yet

20 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In many respects, AI technology is already mind-blowing, and can perform many tasks far better than the average person. And yet by and large, its impa...

The Politics of AI Are About to Explode

19 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

AI wasn't much of a topic in the 2024 election. But it will almost certainly be big in 2028, and probably even the 2026 midterms. There are concerns a...

Jeffrey Gundlach Says Almost All Financial Assets Are Now Overvalued

17 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Stocks are overpriced. Bonds are overpriced. And private assets are a powder keg. This is the view of Jeffrey Gundlach, the founder and CEO of DoubleL...

Citi's Dirk Willer on How You Know When the Bubble Is Over

15 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

According to Dirk Willer, the Global Head of Macro Strategy at Citigroup, we are definitely in bubble territory. Per his research, the stock market ha...

Why Paul Kedrosky Says AI Is Like Every Bubble All Rolled Into One

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In recent weeks, there's been renewed anxiety about the sustainability of the AI boom. This is partly due to comments from OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar abou...

Cliff Asness on How Markets Got Dumber in the Last 10 Years

13 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Odd Lots podcast has been around for 10 years. Unfortunately, markets have gotten less rational over the same time frame. At least this is the con...

Jerry Neumann on the Problem With Investing in AI Right Now

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

AI has made a lot of people fabulously wealthy. But sorry, it's probably not going to be the thing that makes you rich. And if history is any guide, w...

How Chinese Real Estate Became the Biggest Bubble in History

10 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Land is a weird asset. We need it to be affordable because everyone needs somewhere to live. But for many people, real estate is also their biggest st...

The Viral Milk That Helped Set Off America's Protein Boom

08 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Protein seems to be everywhere these days, with brands from Starbucks to Pepsi jumping on the trend. But the obsession with protein may have started e...

Lots More on the Worsening State of the US Labor Market

07 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If the government were open, we'd be getting a jobs report today. But as it is, we're in this blackout of official economic data. That's unfortunate, ...

Dmitry Shevelenko on Perplexity's Vision for Reshaping the Internet

06 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The news business isn't a great one these days. At least for a lot of legacy outlets (newspapers, cable networks, print magazines etc.), the Internet ...

San Francisco's New Mayor on Homelessness, Unaffordability, and AI

03 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

New York City is about to elect a new mayor, and whoever it is will have to address growing challenges like unaffordability, homelessness, and other b...

How Hudson River Trading Actually Uses AI

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as though you can get great stock picks just by going to ChatGPT and asking it to recommend some investments. And yet f...

The Movement That Wants Us to Care About AI Model Welfare

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You hear a lot about AI safety, and this idea that sufficiently advanced AI could pose some kind of threat to humans. So people are always talking abo...

Why It's Still So Expensive to Build Homes in America

27 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Everyone has an opinion on why housing is so expensive in America -- and to be fair, there are probably a lot of reasons for it. But one simple factor...

The Hidden Supply Chain Making Every Menu Feel Familiar

25 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you go out to eat at a restaurant, whether it's a fast food chain or a Michelin-starred bistro, there's a good chance the ingredients on your plate...

Daniel Yergin on What Happened to the Energy Transition

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A few years ago, governments and corporations were brimming with optimism about the prospect of getting to net-zero in the efforts against climate cha...

Why The World Started Hedging Its US Dollar Exposure

23 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Some economists expected that the dollar would strengthen when the tariffs were imposed. Instead, the opposite happened. The dollar fell sharply and i...

Olli Rehn on the Big Competitiveness Challenge Facing Europe

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The 2010s saw economic weakness across Europe's periphery. Countries like Greece, Spain, Italy, and so forth were the sites of so much stress. In the ...

Raghuram Rajan on Surging Gold and Growing Risks to Financial Stability

20 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gold has been surging. Risky assets (with a few minor hiccups) have also been surging. And yet, central bankers (most notably the Fed) are in rate cut...

Introducing: The Mishal Husain Show

19 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Make sense of the world with one essential conversation, every week. Mishal Husain, one of Britain's best interviewers, brings her signature blend of ...

A Trip to Alaska With San Fran Fed President Mary Daly

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this year, we traveled along with San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly on a trip to Alaska. You may remember the episodes we did with Mary at...

Why the Trump Administration is Now Taking Equity Stakes in American Companies

16 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's nothing new for the US government to use public money to support private American companies. The Biden administration, via CHIPS and the Inflatio...

Why Argentina Needs Bailout After Bailout After Bailout

15 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Argentina is getting bailed out again, with $40 billion of help from the Trump administration. Of course, this is a recurring phenomenon for Argentina...

Andrew Ross Sorkin on the Stock Market Crash That Shattered America

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Almost everyone is talking about us possibly being in a bubble. Regardless of how AI investment ultimately pan out, there is an incredible amount of r...

John Ganz on the Era When America Was Consumed by Panic With Corporate Japan

10 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

These days, there's a non-stop drumbeat of concern that China and its dominant companies will eat America's economic lunch, so to speak. Of course, th...

Why the Price of Money Surged in the Last 6 Years

09 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What changed between 2019 and 2025? Why are interest rates so much higher? Why does it seem virtually unfathomable that the Fed will return to ZIRP an...

James Van Geelen on the Next Phase of the AI Buildout

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Money has been flowing into the AI space, with billions pouring into GPU clusters, data centers, gas turbines, and the infrastructure needed to train ...

Lots More with Joe Abate on the Fed's New Target and the Rising Price of Money

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're used to talking about the Federal Reserve changing "benchmark interest rates." But the mechanics of how the central bank actually tightens or lo...

Terry Duffy on the CME's Big Push into Retail Trading

02 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

CME Group is one of the oldest exchanges around, tracing it's history all the way back to the late 1800s, when it specialized in agricultural commodit...

Tarek Mansour on Kalshi's Plan to Create Markets in Everything

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For over 20 years, people have been talking about prediction markets or event markets are the next big thing. But mostly, with some niche exceptions, ...

The King of Chicago Trading Wants to Build a GPU Market Bigger Than Oil

29 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Don Wilson has built a career diving into some of trading’s thorniest problems, including figuring out ways to trade new and niche markets. Now,...

Introducing IVF Disrupted: The Kindbody Story

28 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kindbody, one of the largest fertility companies in the US, sought to disrupt egg freezing and IVF by combining spa vibes with Silicon Valley efficien...

Jack Morris on Finding the Next Big AI Breakthrough

26 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We know that the top-tier AI labs are spending unbelievable amounts of money on talent. But what are these researchers actually working on? And how do...

Ozan Tarman on What's Driving The Nonstop Rise in Gold and Tech

25 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There are two huge winning trades that people are looking at day after day. Gold keeps going up and US tech stocks keep going up. But what is driving ...

Jim Cramer on the Retail Trading Revolution

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In recent years, retail trading of stocks has absolutely exploded. This is happening despite the fact that investors are subject to a constant stream ...

Michael Froman on the New 'Polyamorous' Global Trading System

20 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When President Trump announced the tariffs on Liberation Day, it seemed to truly mark the end of the old world trading system. But of course it had be...

Henry Wang on China's Role in the New Emerging World Order

19 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There is a widespread view that China is a superpower of rising status, and that a new global order is emerging with the country as an important pole ...

Elon Musk's Pay Package and the Threat to the Delaware Corporation

18 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you look at prospectuses and earnings documents for almost any company, you're going to see a Delaware address. For more than a century, the state ...

The Cardboard Boxpocalypse and the State of the US Economy

15 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Almost everything we buy nowadays has been in a box at some point. Goods are shipped in boxes. Products ordered online arrive at our doorstep in boxes...

Vaneer Bhansali on Losing Fed Independence as the Biggest Tail Risk Right Now

13 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Everyone wants to buy the hedge that will save their portfolio in a time of collapse. But this is easier said than done. You need to understand the sp...

Rob Kaplan on the Fed, AI, and How Globalization Is Happening Without the US

12 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this live episode, recorded at the Future Proof Festival in Huntington Beach, California, we speak with Rob Kaplan, the former president of the Dal...

What China's Military Parade and Newest Jets Tell Us About the Battle For Air Supremacy

11 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The recent parade in Beijing once again raised questions about the relative strengths of the US and Chinese militaries. Meanwhile, because of recent g...

Josh Wolfe on AI and the Breaking of Silicon Valley's Social Contract

08 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

One day it's so over. The next day we're so back. This is what it feels like gauging the AI boom right now. Everyone's looking for signs of some kind ...

Everybody's Business: The Business of KPop Demon Hunters

07 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For this week’s episode of Bloomberg’s Everybody’s Business, Joe Wiesenthal joins Max Chafkin and Stacey Vanek Smith to fact ch...

Lots More on the Big Problem With the Monthly Jobs Report

04 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We've been in a strange labor market for a while now. The unemployment rate is still nice and low at 4.2%. But the pace of job creation has been slowi...

What's Behind the Boom in Buy Now Pay Later

04 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Buy Now Pay Later is everywhere nowadays. Companies like Affirm, Afterpay, and Klarna have brought installment payments into everyday life, while big ...

Dan Wang on China's Breakneck Economic Growth

01 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the past couple of years, the world has fully awoken to the incredible economic and technological growth exhibited by China. But what lessons are t...

Big Take: Taylor Swift Wedding Predictions Are the Hottest New Trade

31 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gamblers on prediction sites like Polymarket and Kalshi are already trying to cash in on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement — bett...

Emi Nakamura on Central Bank Credibility and the Taylor Rule

29 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The post-Covid inflation will prove to be a treasure trove for academic economists, as they study what drives inflation, and the power that central ba...

Liz Truss on the 'Doom Loop' Engulfing the UK Economy

28 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

These days, everyone is talking about high interest rates across the rich, developed world, while warning of eventual fiscal disaster. But we may have...

Lev Menand on Trump's Attempt to Fire the Fed's Lisa Cook

26 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Criticism and threats to Federal Reserve independence have been building for some time in this administration. But it was taken to a new height on Aug...

Adam Posen on a Surreal Jackson Hole in a Post-American World

26 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The annual Jackson Hole symposium is, formally speaking, an academic conference. Economists and central bankers gather to discuss the most important, ...

Tom Barkin on Why Central Banking Is on Hard Mode Now

25 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

According to Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Tom Barkin, much of the time central banking is straightforward. Sometimes it's clear that rate c...

Why Austan Goolsbee Is Still Concerned About Inflation

23 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee is still more concerned about the inflation side of the Fed's mandate than he is about the employment side. This...

Lots More on What Just Happened With the Fed at Jackson Hole

22 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're still at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank's annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, where we just heard Fed Chair Jerome Powell's big spe...

Kansas City's Fed President on What Everyone Will Be Talking About at Jackson Hole

21 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's Jackson Hole time again, when the most prominent minds in monetary policy meet in an idyllic Wyoming setting for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kans...

This Is What Happens When a Startup Dies

20 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You always hear about startup exits. Big acquisitions. Big IPOs. But of course this isn’t the fate for most new ventures. Many of them die outri...

Lessons From the One Sovereign Wealth Fund in the United States

18 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

President Trump and others have talked about the idea of the US having a Sovereign Wealth Fund, a la the UAE or Singapore. It feels like a longshot, b...

Housing Is a Problem Even in a State With Declining Population

16 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You can kind of understand why it's so hard to build housing in New York City. There isn't much available land. It's already pretty built up. And then...

Lots More With Skanda Amarnath on This Moment in Macro

15 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Right now, you could make a good argument that inflation is still too hot, and that with the stock market booming, and the unemployment rate at 4.2%, ...

The Investors Who Think Hazelnuts Will Be the Next Pistachios

14 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're in an age where shocks can occur on both the supply side and the demand side. On the supply side, the causes are well known. Pandemics, trade wa...

How to Move Freight Across the Icy Roads of Alaska

13 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're interested in trucking here at Odd Lots. It's one of those industries that can tell us a lot about the economy, both in terms of the short-term ...

What an Alaskan Furniture Company Tells Us About Tariffs

11 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Alaska is no stranger to supply chain issues and a higher cost of living. Almost everything has to be imported into the state, incurring longer lead t...

Mary Daly on Why Alaska Is a Leading Indicator for the US Economy

08 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Alaska is one of the states in the Federal Reserve's 12th District, which is headquartered in San Francisco. For Mary Daly, the head of the SF Fed, th...

Joseph Torigian on Xi Zhongxun and Elite Chinese Communist Party Politics

07 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Chinese Communist Party is probably one of the most difficult entities in the world to grasp due to its opacity of its inner workings. A new book ...

Bill Beach on How Trump Just Politicized US Economic Data

04 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Late last week, Donald Trump shocked Wall Street by firing Erika McEntarfer, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the agency responsible for pu...

The AI Industry Is Becoming Like Professional Sports

04 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to tech startups, you often hear about VCs making a ton of money, or founders experiencing life-changing exits. But something is changin...

How to Make Money Selling Pizza in New York City

02 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Everybody knows that New York City has a ton of pizzerias. And yet, new ones are opening up all the time. Why do we need more? And how is there still ...

What an LA Bakery Says About the Economy Right Now

01 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Bakeries are great microcosms of the economy. There's lots of labor involved. You need commodities like flours and eggs, plus energy for your ovens. Y...

Circle's CEO on the Booming Business of Stablecoins

31 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Stablecoins are emerging as one of the most active areas of cryptocurrencies. The idea of using blockchain rails to transmit money has captured the at...

This Is How Chinese Manufacturers Are Countering Trump's Trade War

28 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

President Trump has announced tariffs on basically every trading partner. However there is a real sense that the ultimate goal is to hamper the growin...

How a Trade War With China Could Become a Hot War

26 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tension between the US and China has been building for some time. But so far this has been limited to issues of trade. The US has imposed tariffs on C...

What 300 Years of Firewood Prices Say About the Economy

25 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today, the cost of energy — things like electricity, or gas, or heating oil — is considered an essential piece of economic data. But it tu...

How to Prepare for a Post-Dollar World with Inigo Fraser Jenkins

24 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

People talk all the time about the potential for huge turning points in history. And they've been talking about the possibility of the US losing its d...

The NYC Landlords Most Worried About Zohran Mamdani

21 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Probably the most controversial proposal from New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani is his promise to freeze the rent on a substanti...

Why the Damage to Fed Independence May Have Already Been Done

19 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There’s a long history of US presidents putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, but the techniques have often been subt...

Mayor Eric Adams on the Future of New York City

18 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Incumbent NYC Mayor Eric Adams didn't run in the Democratic primary. But he'll be on the ballot in November, running as an independent against Zohran ...

What AI Is Already Doing to the Legal Industry

17 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If there's one thing that lawyers do a lot of, it's spending a prodigious number of hours going through documents. And they're often very well compens...

Why US Banks Are Trying to Turn Themselves Into Super Apps

14 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rohit Chopra is a former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. In thi...

What NYC's Most Powerful CEOs Think About Zohran Mamdani

11 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic party's nomination for NYC mayor, top business leaders experienced a bout of hysteria. That...