Orlando Patterson is simply mesmerizing. We all take "freedom" for granted. But Orlando has studied what it is and isn't -- now and across the millenia. The result of this immensely deep as well as deeply fascinating scholarship is a sober take on what we take for granted -- that freedom is clear cut, fundamental, universal, and here to stay. Orlando sets us straight, not based on opinion but based on decades of profoundly insightful research. Please share this podcast to any and all -- blue, red, and purple. "The Land of the Free and the Brave" is not something to take for granted -- certainly not now when our individual and collective freedoms are subject to daily erosion. In this regard, it is worth recalling these words from President Kennedy.
The most powerful single force in the world today is neither Communism nor Capitalism, neither the H-bomb nor the guided missile -- it is man's eternal desire to be free and independent.
A public intellectual, Professor Patterson was, for eight years, Special Advisor for Social policy and development to Prime Minister Michael Manley of Jamaica. He was a founding member of Cultural Survival, one of the leading advocacy groups for the rights of indigenous peoples, and was for several years a board member of Freedom House, a major civic organization for the promotion of freedom and democracy around the world. More recently he has chaired the Commission for the Transformation of Education in Jamaicabased in the Office of Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica. The author of three novels, he has published widely in journals of opinion and the national press, especially the New York Times, where he was a guest columnist for several weeks. His columns have also appeared in Time Magazine, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Jamaica Gleaner, The Public Interest, The New Republic, and The Washington Post.
He is the recipient of many awards, including the National Book Award for Non-Fiction which he won in 1991 for his book on freedom; the Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Award of the American Sociological Association; the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature, the Barry Prize of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Hegel Prize from the city of Stuttgart, Germany He holds honorary degrees from several universities, including Yale, London University, the University of Chicago, U.C.L.A. and La Trobe University in Australia. He was awarded both the Order of Distinction and the Order of Merit by the Government of Jamaica. the nation’s third highest national honor. Professor Patterson has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1991 and of the American Academy of Science and Letters since its founding in 2024.
Orlando Patterson, a historical and comparative sociologist, is the John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard University. He previously held faculty appointments at the University of the West Indies, and the London School of Economics where he received his Ph.D. His academic interests include the origin, culture and practices of freedom; the comparative study of slavery and ethno-racial relations; and the cultural sociology of poverty and underdevelopment with special reference to the Caribbean and African Americans. He has also written on the cultural sociology of sports. Professor Patterson is the author of numerous academic papers and 10 major academic books including, Slavery and Social Death (1982/2018); Freedom in the Making of Western Culture (1991); The Cultural Matrix: Understanding Black Youth (2015); The Confounding Island: Jamaica and the Postcolonial Condition (2019); The Paradox of Freedom: A Biographical Dialog (2023); and Enslavement: Past and Present (2025)
I'm not a big fan of investment advisors. Economics teaches us that not everyone can beat the market. Yet, there are tens of thousands advisors out there who will tell you that they and they alone have the secret sauce. Actually, economics teaches us that no one can beat the market unless they have inside information. But economics also tells us how to keep the market from beating you -- by taking risk, but limiting your downside, diversifying, and following your brain, not your emotions in making investment decisions. Fred has decades of experience valuing roughly 10,000 companies. He also knows that markets can go nuts. Today, a third of the value of the S&P comprises 10 AI companies who have yet to make a profit. So, is an S&P index really diversified? Not so clear. It may simply be everyone’s green dream. Or not. Fred is back to help us better hedge our bets in a time of national, global, and technological upheaval the likes of which we didn’t see in 1929 when things went poof simply because everyone collectively decided they were going poof. In short, we don’t need crazy to go crazy. Fred is pure shelter from the storm - real and imagined. So watch/listen to Fred and pull up the song by you know who on YouTube!
Fred has over 40 years of investment and corporate finance experience, as a portfolio manager, a private equity investor and an investment banker. Fred's clients have included Staples (where he was a founding investor); Advanced Micro Devices; Forest Laboratories; ULTA Beauty; Tractor Supply; Berlitz International; Rexnord; Fairchild Industries; Plantronics; and numerous others. Fred is also a highly experienced private equity investor, having invested in more than 80 private companies. Fred received his A.B, cum laude from Harvard College and his MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.
Prior to founding Lane Generational in September 2020, Fred was Senior Vice President, Investments at Raymond James & Associates, Inc. from October 2014 to September 2020 and also served as Vice Chairman, Investment Banking from May 2009 to October 2014. Fred was Chairman, CEO and Founder of the investment banking firm Lane, Berry & Co. International, LLC (which was acquired by Raymond James in May 2009) from January 2002 through January 2013. Prior to that, Fred was a Managing Director and Principal of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corporation (DLJ). Fred joined DLJ in 1976 and was instrumental in the growth of DLJ's investment banking business. He also served as Co-Head of the Mergers and Acquisitions Department at DLJ and as Managing Director – Senior Advisor of Credit Suisse First Boston upon CSFB's acquisition of DLJ in 2000.
Steve Laffey is a true American rages-to-riches success story. But Steve took the biblical saying, "to those who have much is owed," fully to heart. After a highly successful career in banking, Steve returned to run for mayor in his birthplace -- Cranston, Rhode Island, taking it from bankruptcy to solvency and growth. His remarkable story is conveyed in this Wikipedia entry. This is Steve's 4th appearance on Economics Matters -- the Podcast. Steve is an expert on America's problems. His film, Fixing America, which he made after serving two terms as mayor of Cranston, is a must see. And stevelaffey.com is a must visit. Steve tells it like it is and his survey of President Trump's first nine months -- its damage to our international standing, to our rule of law, to our civility, to our economy, and to our comity -- holds no bars. What we need is not to make America great again. What we need is to make America America again. Steve Laffey reminds us of just what that means and looks like.
I've been a huge fan of Holman Jenkins for years. His columns are deeply insightful and fun -- skewering the left and the right in equal measure. I found our conversation remarkably calming. Holman is a true student of history, so when he says this too will pass, it's particularly reassuring. Many columnists come and go. But Holman has been writing for and guiding the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal for a third of a century. That tenure is a remarkable tribute to both Holman and the Journal. Please listen/watch this premier American journalist. He's truly one of a kind.
Holman's Bio
Holman W. Jenkins Jr. is a member of the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal. He writes the twice-weekly “Business World” column that appears on the paper's op-ed page on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Mr. Jenkins joined the Journal in May 1992 as a writer for the editorial page in New York. In February 1994, he moved to Hong Kong as editor of The Asian Wall Street Journal's editorial page. He returned to the domestic Journal in December 1995 as a member of the paper's editorial board and was based in San Francisco. Mr. Jenkins won a 1997 Gerald Loeb Award for distinguished business and financial coverage.
Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Jenkins received a bachelor's degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University. He was a 1991 journalism fellow at the University of Michigan.
President Trump's on again, off again tariff mania is, well, choose your adjective. From one day to the next, imported products, be they pharmaceuticals, kitchen cabinets, lumber, or foreign movies, are being tariffed at massive rates.
Brazilian products are facing 50 percent tariffs because Brazil isn't treating recently convicted former Brazilian President, Bolsonaro, to the President's liking, and other countries are now locked into a high tariff for the conceivable future. Cambodia, for example, is facing a permanent 19 percent tariff on selling products to the U.S. A good country-by-country list of tariffs now in place, scheduled, or threatened is available here.
What impacts are the imposed tariffs, the announced tariffs, and the potential tariffs having on importers? What legal liabilities are importers facing thanks to tariff uncertainty. Will Trump's tariff policy, actual and potential, expand or undermine US manufacturing?
To address these questions, I invited one of our top trade specialists, attorney Irene Chen, to join me on Economics Matters -- the Podcast. Irene represents and counsels foreign producers and U.S. importers in international trade matters through her law firm, VCL Law, LLP. As her bio bio details, Irene has had extensive experience working for the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Get ready to learn the not so good, the bad, and the ugly about current tariff policy and how it is impacting real companies in real time.
Andrew Fesiak rejoins me on Economics Matters. He addresses these questions and more:
Andrew is Senior Consultant at Black Trident Defense and Security Group. He's an expert on Ukrainian and Russian relations, politics, history, culture, and the ongoing war. Andrew has lived in Ukraine for decades, having emigrated from Canada. His grandparents and parents were Ukrainian.
This is Andrew's 5th appearance on Economics Matters -- the Podcast. His analysis of the military and political situation have been dead on. If you want the facts on the ground, including Trump's mounting acts of betrayal, all packaged in mellifluous words of support, this podcast is for you.
Back in May, Moody's joined the other two major U.S. debt-rating companies, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Group, in downgrading US government debt. No surprise. Federal debt was close to 30 percent of GDP a quarter Century back. Today it's close to 100 percent and projected to exceed 150 percent by mid Century. No one is better positioned to discuss our nation's fiscal condition than David Levey.
David spent almost 19 years servicing as Managing Director and Co-Head of the Sovereign Ratings Unit of Moody's Investors Service. Indeed, David is arguably the father of sovereign risk rating having developed country-credit analysis at Moody's. When David retired, he was credited by Moody's as having rated the official obligations of over 100 countries across the world. In addition, David has been involved in rating a host of foreign and domestic industry- and company-specific securities.
David holds a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago and a PhD in Economics from Harvard University. Before joining Moody's, he taught at Yale, the New School for Social Research, and Wayne State University. He also served as Senior Economics Writer for BusinessWeek, Country Risk Manager for Wells Fargo, and President of his own risk-evaluation consulting company.
David's had a long career sizing up failing states. The US is not a failing state, but is, it seems, working overtime to join that club. Please listen as one of our few remaining grownups in the room explains what our politicians know, but won't say -- our country is going broke hand over fist, with serious implications for how we all should you invest your money.
Peter Coy has been writing about economics for decades -- for the Associated Press, BusinessWeek, Bloomberg, and the New York Times. Peter is currently a freelance columnist. His terrific substack is petercoy.substack.com.
I consider Peter our nation's top economics journalist. Unlike almost all other economics commentators, Peter does his homework. He reads academic economists' writings extensively. He reads them carefully, no matter how opaque, theoretical, or deep in the statistical weeds. And he immediately and fully comprehends their arguments, which is no small feat, even for a well-trained, top, PhD, let alone a BA in history (from Cornell).
Peter was my guest on Economics Matters in February 2024. Here's the interview.
In today's podcast, we switched sides. Peter interview me -- about retirement mistakes, economics versus conventional (aka Wall Street's) financial planning, Social Security's Ponzi-scheme method of finance, how to fix Social Security for good, and our nation's overall fiscal insolvency, in which Social Security plays a major part.
Ignazio Visco is a superb economist and central banker. He should be everyone's choice for the next President of the European Central Bank. Italy has a bad economic rap among those with a cursory knowledge of its fiscal condition and financial system. In fact, it's ranked as the most fiscally sustainable of all major EU countries and has one of the world's safest banking systems. The former is thanks to relatively small off-the-books pension, healthcare, and other off-the-books liabilities. The latter is largely due to Ignazio's 12-year leadership of the Italian Central Bank.
Ignazio has had an amazing career. He received his PhD in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, joined the Bank of Italy as a junior economist, quickly became Head of the Bank's Research Department, was named Chief Economist of the OECD, and then appointed Governor of the Bank of Italy. He has served on the boards of the ECB, the ESRB, the BIS, the FSB, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the InterAmerican Development Bank.
There are few people on the planet with Ignazio wealth of international economic exposure, expertise, and knowledge. Please do listen/watch this episode of Economics Matters -- the Podcast. It's terrific.
This podcast is not to be missed. Greg Clark is a brilliant economic historian with a remarkable, fact-based take on the role of genetics in economic evolution. Genetics is, of course, a dangerous word when used to discuss humans and their success. But genetics, indeed, simply the ability to live longer and procreate better, can make a major difference over the long sweep of economic history. It can also become a marker and sustainer of social status not because of DNA, but cross-generational genetic connections as in "Of course we are going to admit X to Oxbridge. The last ten generations of X's attended Oxbridge."
Clark, whose grandfathers were migrants to Scotland from Ireland, was born in Bellshill, Scotland. He attended Holy Cross High School in Hamilton. In 1974 he and fellow pupil Paul Fitzpatrick won the Scottish Daily Express schools debating competition. He earned a BA degree in economics and philosophy at King's College, Cambridge in 1979 and a PhD in economics at Harvard University in 1985. His thesis was supervised by Barry Eichengreen, Jeffrey G. Williamson, and Stephen Marglin. He became an assistant professor at Stanford University from 1985 to 1989 and at the University of Michigan from 1989 to 1990. He moved to the University of California, Davis and became associate professor in 1990 and professor of economics in 1996. He was formerly (until 2013) chair of the economics department at the University of California, Davis and became a distinguished professor emeritus there since 2018. Between 2017 and 2020, Clark was a visiting professor in economic history at the London School of Economics. In 2023, he became the Danish National Research Council professor of economics at the University of Southern Denmark. Clark's areas of research are long-term economic growth, the wealth of nations, the economic history of The Industrial Revolution, England and India, and social mobility. He is also a visiting professor in the Economic History Department at The London School of Economics and a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Davis.
I met Bill Raduchel as a grad student at Harvard. He was then and remains today a rare combination of pure genius and utter humility. My interactions with Bill were limited. But I instinctively realized he was some form of economics, software, and computer god rolled into a lovely person who could teach you about those subjects or anything else of interest. I met up again with Bill two years back and, gee, nothing had changed. I was awestruck then. I'm awestruck now. When I heard he'd written an autobiography of his amazing career, I lept at the chance to share Bill with followers of Economics Matters -- the Podcast. Bill's book, which you can purchase here, is entitled: The Bleeding Edge -- My Six Decades at the Forefront of the Tech Revolution (from Scott McNealy to Steve Jobs to Steve Case to Steve Ballmer and Other Titans of Technology) Here's the Wiki description of Bill.
Dr. William J. Raduchel is an independent director, angel investor and strategic advisor. He was a professor of economics at Harvard for ten years, and an assistant dean at Harvard and Radcliffe. He has been an executive at Ruckus Network, Sun Microsystems, AOL Time Warner, Xerox Corporation, and McGraw-Hill. He also serves on boards for the Salvation Army and STEP (National Academy of Sciences).
“Bill Raduchel is a pioneer of the digital revolution. The deeply instructive stories in this book are much more than a compulsively readable personal history. They’re a master class in how to succeed in the business of technology.”—Eric Schmidt, former CEO, Google, and co-author of The New Digital Age
“For more than half a century, Bill Raduchel has been the Zelig of the tech world—somehow involved in nearly everything and knowing everyone. This book should be required reading for anyone thinking about a career in tech.”—Steve Case, cofounder and former CEO, AOL, and author of the New York Times bestseller The Third Wave
“Bill has been my thesis advisor, dorm advisor, economics professor, mentor, CXO, friend, and co-worker since 1973. At Sun for over a decade, he helped us take revenue from $1 billion to $14 billion. He steered us through a financial crisis in 1989 and was in the middle of every major deal and innovation. The Bleeding Edge gives a perspective on management and change that is unique. He was there. He lived and helped formulate it.”—Scott McNealy,co-founder and former CEO, Sun Microsystems
“I hired Bill to advise the Daily Mail and General Trust because of his long experience in technology and media. As this book shows, he’s also a shrewd judge of people and the systems that make companies successful.”—Jonathan Harmsworth,4th Viscount Rothermere and chairman of Daily Mail and General Trust
“Few in the tech world are as accomplished and as deeply embedded in its firmament as Bill Raduchel. The Bleeding Edge is more than just a memoir—it’s a mini-MBA, a computer science degree, and a front-row-seat history of the digital revolution all rolled into one must-read book.” —Christopher A. Smith,author of Privacy Pandemic and digital security expert
But the real story of Bill Raduchel is summarized by these blurbs of his book and their authors.
When it comes to personal finance journalism, Richard is simply as good as it gets. After I read Richard's Next Avenue column, What the Heck is Going On at Social Security, I realized it was beyond time to have him on Economics Matters -- the Podcast.
Richard Eisenberg is an “unretired” writer, editor, podcaster and author. He writes “The View From Unretirement” for MarketWatch, biweekly articles about Medicare on Fortune.com and pieces for Next Avenue and AARP about money and work for people over 50. He co-hosts the and runs the NYU Summer Publishing Institute Digital Media Strategies program. He was formerly Managing Editor of PBS’ Next Avenue site, Executive Editor of Money for 19 years, and Special Projects Director of Good Housekeeping. He wrote How to Avoid a Midlife Financial Crisis and The Money Book of Personal Finance. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
Richard Eisenberg is a writer, editor and podcaster specializing in personal finances, older adults and aging. He "unretired" in January 2022 when he left his job as Managing Editor and Editor of the Money and Work & Purpose channels of Next Avenue, the PBS site for people 50+. He was part of Next Avenue's launch team in 2011. Previously, he served as Executive Editor of Money Magazine, Front Page Finance Editor of Yahoo! and Special Projects.
Director/Money Editor of Good Housekeeping. Richard currently co-hosts the Friends Talk Money Podcast (with my co-author, Terry Savage, and the equally amazing, Pam Kreuger), which focuses on personal finances for people 50+ and teaches a MasterClass in Unretirement at NYU. He is author of the books "How
to Avoid a Midlife Financial Crisis" and "The Money Book of Personal Finance" and served as Director of the NYU Summer Publishing Institute's Digital Media Strategy program for three years. Richard graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and lives in New Jersey.
Here's a terrific recent column by Richard on whether you should let AI give you personal financial advice. For a host of outstanding MarketWatch columns by Richard, click here. And here's a link to a wealth of additional columns by Richard posted at Muckrack. Finally, check out Richard's columns and podcasts for Next Avenue here.
Back in January 2023, Peter Fox Penner appeared on Economics Matters -- the Podcast to discuss his fabulous book, Power After Carbon, Building a Clean Resilient Grid.
Peter, who studied engineering in college and economics at the University of Chicago, where he earned a PhD, is surely among the most knowledge people in the country on America's energy system. He's back in this fascinating podcast to discuss a new study be co-authored with The Brattle Group. Its title is Affordability, Rates, and Clean Capital Efficiency: A Path for the Power Industry's Turbulent Next Decade.
Power is a huge issue for all of us. Will AI data centers drive up electricity demand, prices, and carbon emissions? Peter's joint study looks at what's coming on both the demand and supply sides. But it also also shows how we can meet our exploding power needs largely by improving energy-capital efficiency.
Please enjoy this timely presentation that's as relevant to climate deniers as it is to climate advocates. We are, for better and worse, all in the same boat. Peter explains in crystal clear terms both the rapids ahead and how to avoid them.
Peter received a B.S. in engineering from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. During the Clinton Administration, Peter worked closely with Vice President Al Gore's team, serving first as a senior official at the U.S. Department of Energy and then in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Before and after working for the federal government, Peter was engaged in economic and energy consulting. This included serving for over two decades as Principal and Chair of The Brattle Group, one of our nation's premier consulting firms. Peter left the Brattle Group to found and direct Boston University's Institute for Sustainable Energy and served as a Professor of Practice at BU's Questrom School of Business.
Peter is currently a Partner and Chief Impact Officer of Energy Impact Partners, one of the world's largest dedicated clean energy private equity fund groups. He also serves as Senior Advisor to The Brattle Group, as a member of the Global Leadership Council of the World Resources Institute, and as an Advisory Board member of Mobility Impact Partners. Peter's is a frequent speaker on energy topics and the author of numerous published articles and books. Peter's research has been widely cited, including in one Supreme Court decision. It spans electric power strategy, regulation, and governance, energy and climate policy, sustainable finance, and the relationships between public and private economic activity.
Jean Chatzky is one of America's leading personal finance journalists and authors. Jean and I are long-time buds. I'm delighted to have her on Economics Matters -- the Podcast.
Jean is in the midst of an extraordinary career. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in English, Jean did equity research for Dean Witter and then moved into financial journalism -- first with Working Woman, then Forbes, then Smart Money (as Senior Editor), then Money Magazine as well as Finance Editor and Reporter for NBC's The Today Show, and now AARP's Personal Financial Ambassador. (Go to AARP.org to read Jean's columns.)
As if this career, interspersed with appearances on Ophra, Live with Kelly and Regis, and the View and writing for Cosmopolitan, Parents, and Seventeen, weren't enough, Jean has authored 14 books on personal finance -- one better than the next. But, hold on.
Jean's real claim to fame is hermoney.com. Jean launched HerMoney in 2018 -- a multimedia company changing the relationships women have with money — inspired by her weekly podcast, HerMoney with Jean Chatzky.Please view this special interview with Jean, particularly if you are a woman. Jean has been helping this half of our population with their special financial needs, skills, and advantages for years.
As the podcast makes clear, Jean Chatsky is one of our nation's most important financial resources. But so are financial journalists, in general. I've been honored to interview of Who's Who of these special financial coaches. The full list includes Scott Burns, Terry Savage, Allan Roth, Allison Schrager, Liz Weston, Phil Moeller, Paul Solman, Mary Beth Franklin, Kerry Pecter, Rob Berger, Robert Powell, Nancy Lloyd, John Mauldin, Kerry Hanon, and Richard Eisenberg. These 15 podcasts plus over 100 more are yours for the free hearing/viewing by clicking here.
As Senator Ernst sweetly reminded us, we're all going to die. But not all of us will be prepared financially to die. Thinking about the afterlife is rather unpleasant for most of us. Yes, there's heaven to look forward to. But who knows if we'll make it. There's lots of religions, different from our own, that are convinced that we'll be rejected before we even apply. So, we put off planning for the end game and then put it off some more. Trouble is, game over can occur when you least expect or deserve it. And when you pass, you'll be passing on an estate, perhaps tiny, perhaps huge. But unless you do proper estate planning, what you leave may not go to the people you wish or in the form you wish.
The morbid moral here is that we all need to do estate planning and, indeed, do it on a routine basis as our finances change. There are a zillion estate attorneys out there to assist you. But it's critical to know the score before engaging anyone. This is why I invited Alan Gassman to talk about estate planning, particularly the value of trusts. Alan, as his bio copied below attests, is a big deal in the field of estate planning. He has a terrific estate, tax, and business law firm, has built outstanding software that handles all manner of estate issues, and is one of the most respected and acclaimed estate attorneys in the country. Do listen to this exciting -- yes, the end game is full of excitement -- discussion with Alan Gassman. He's a magnetic speaker and chock full of essential information and advice.
Economics PhD, CFP, President of Lyon Financial Planning, Jay Abolofia shows you how to do estate planning using MaxiFi Planner's new spending cap and other unique features. If you're a MaxiFi Planner user, you already know and trust Jay. Jay provides bi-monthly MaxiFi office hours and uses MaxiFi in his own financial planning practice. Jay also provides a terrific co-piloting service for MaxiFi users who like to have a true expert review their use of the tool. Jay is one of the best teachers I've yet encountered and I've met thousands. This podcast is typical of his ability to convey important information in clear, concise, and actionable terms. Please listen/watch Jay and I discuss MaxiFi's new estate planning capacities. This discussion is NOT about trust, wills, probate, living wills, powers of attorney, or any of other legal estate issues. Nor are we focused on reducing federal or state estate taxes. This podcast is about what we all do -- rich or poor, namely plan, either explicitly or by default, to leave assets to our heirs. Whether you have a billion dollars or are living on the margin, you have assets, be it just a house, a car, or furniture that you'll be passing on if you pass. MaxiFi shows you your contingent estates -- what you'll bequeath depending on when you die. Many MaxiFi users have significant means -- so many resources that they aren't able or interested in spending everything they spend on a safe basis. MaxiFi's new spending limit lets them tell the program not to spend beyond what they wish in any future year. By setting the spending cap or using other features in the tool that Jay describes, well-off and, indeed, all users can see the trade off between spending more on themselves and leaving more for their heirs.
I've known Larry Leamer forever thanks to my close friendship with Larry's recently departed, economist extraordinaire, brother -- Edward Leamer. Ed wasn't bowled over by any economist. But he was in awe of Larry, years before Larry became one of our nation's leading biographers. Much of Larry's work focuses on the rich and scandalous. Warhol's Muses certainty meets that bill. The book, which is fresh off the press, is Larry's umpteenth. The list includes Capote’s Women, Madness Under the Royal Palms, Mar-A-Lago -- Inside the Gates of Power, The Kennedy Women, King of the Night -- the Life of Johnny Carson, and, well, here's the now-outdated Wiki list. I copy below Penguin-Random House's careful description of the book. But, as you'll hear in the podcast, Larry raises a darker question than whether Warhol was a deeply evil person. He questions whether the art world fell for the NFT-artist of the day, specifically whether Warhol's oeuvre, including the $195 million The Blue Shot Marilyn, constitutes works of art or the art of self-perpetuating, financial fabrication.
From the jacket of Warhol's Muses by Laurence Leamer
“Now and then, someone would accuse me of being evil,” Andy Warhol confessed, “of letting people destroy themselves while I watched, just so I could film them.” Obsessed with celebrity, the silver-wigged artistic icon created an ever-evolving entourage of stunning women he dubbed his “Superstars”—Baby Jane Holzer, Edie Sedgwick, Nico, Ultra Violet, Viva, Brigid Berlin, Ingrid Superstar, International Velvet, Mary Woronov, and Candy Darling. He gave several of them new names and manipulated their beauty and talent for his art and social status with no regard for their safety, their dignity, or their lives.
In Warhol’s Muses, bestselling biographer Laurence Leamer shines a spotlight on the complex women who inspired and starred in Warhol’s legendary underground films—The Chelsea Girls, The Nude Restaurant, and Blue Movie, among others. Drawn by the siren call of Manhattan life in the sixties, they each left their protected enclaves and ventured to a new world, Warhol’s famed Factory, having no sense that they would never be able to return to their old homes and familiar ways again. Sex was casual, drugs were ubiquitous, parties were wild, and to Warhol, everyone was transient, temporary, and replaceable. It was a dangerous game he played with the women around him, and on a warm June day in 1968, someone entered the Factory and shot him, changing his life forever.
Warhol’s Muses explores the lives of ten endlessly intriguing women, transports us to a turbulent and transformative era, and uncovers the life and work of one of the most legendary artists of all time."
This is Fred's third appearance on Economics Matters -- the Podcast. I wanted to get Fred back on asap as part of my ongoing quest to keep people financially safe. Fred is the Founder and Managing Member of Lane Generational LLC, an independent registered investment advisor headquartered in Boston (www.lanegenerational.com). Lane Generational provides investment management services on a discretionary basis to individuals, families, trusts, foundations and institutions. Full disclosure. My wife and I are investors in Fred's fund. But I have no financial relationship of any kind with Fred. I'm not a financial advisor and am certainly not recommending any investments of any kind, including Fred's. This is an educational podcast. For investment advice, please consult with an investment professional. The market is down roughly 4 percent since President Trump took office on January 20th. But since then, it's experienced dramatic volatility with the "fear index" - the VIX -- rising, apart from COVID, to its highest value since the Great Recession. This week the Dow rose 1000 points in one day on the "good" news that rather than tariffing China at embargo-level rates, we've "paused" them at 30 percent. This means Mattel will be able to keep selling Barbie dolls, which are made in China, albeit at a far higher price. To be clear, a 30 percent tariff is astronomical. Even Google's AI gets this right. Yes, a 30 percent tariff can be considered astronomical, especially when compared to average global tariff rates and historical tariffs. Thus, most Americans with children will now be able to afford, say, 15 Barbies rather than the usual 30. That means Mattel will lay off perhaps a quarter rather than all of its salesforce. In short, we're not out of the dark. We're out of the pitch black. The U.S. market is partially benefiting from the potential lack of competition. But who knows where it will go once investors wake up and realize that, from a tariff perspective, it's likely the Great Depression all over again. How should anyone invest in this climate? That's the key question I asked Fred who is one of the most informed and savvy investors around. Don't take it from me. Take it from CNBC and other major media outlets who routinely invite Fred to comment on markets, the economy, and policy. Here's a brief bio. Fred has over 40 years of investment and corporate finance experience, as a portfolio manager, a private equity investor and an investment banker. Fred's clients have included Staples (where he was a founding investor); Advanced Micro Devices; Forest Laboratories; ULTA Beauty; Tractor Supply; Berlitz International; Rexnord; Fairchild Industries; Plantronics; and numerous others. Fred is also a highly experienced private equity investor, having invested in more than 80 private companies. Fred received his A.B, cum laude from Harvard College and his MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.Prior to founding Lane Generational in September 2020, Fred was Senior Vice President, Investments at Raymond James & Associates, Inc. from October 2014 to September 2020 and also served as Vice Chairman, Investment Banking from May 2009 to October 2014. Fred was Chairman, CEO and Founder of the investment banking firm Lane, Berry & Co. International, LLC (which was acquired by Raymond James in May 2009) from January 2002 through January 2013. Prior to that, Fred was a Managing Director and Principal of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corporation (DLJ). Fred joined DLJ in 1976 and was instrumental in the growth of DLJ's investment banking business. He also served as Co-Head of the Mergers and Acquisitions Department at DLJ and as Managing Director – Senior Advisor of Credit Suisse First Boston upon CSFB's acquisition of DLJ in 2000.
I'm just delighted to have Anders Åslund on Economics Matters -- the Podcast. I met Anders in the late 1990s when he asked me to go with him to Russia to discuss pension and other economic reforms with the Russian government. At the time, Anders was working for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is now Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council. This was a period of great hope for Russia, making it the first of many fascinating consulting and research (with the Gaidar Institute) trips to Russia. But the best part of returning to Russia (which my great grandfather had escaped on a stolen horse!) was meeting Anders, who is both a marvelous economist and extremely well informed about the global economy and geopolitics. Please listen to/watch this podcast to learn Anders assessment of the future of Ukraine, what's driving President Trump's policy, and his scary assessment of the world economy.
Mark and Kara are a 50-50 combination of Top Gun and The Right Stuff. Mark was chosen by the Airforce to fly the U-2 Spy Plane -- at 72,000 feet, in a space suit to keep from compressing to a raison. Kara was picked to fly the Airforce's enormous C-5 cargo plane -- large enough to hold five trailways buses. Mark was Kara's flight instructor years before they accidentally reconnected and ended up getting married. After leaving the Airforce, the two started flying for United. Mark still does, while Kara trains Airforce pilots to fly large military drones.
Mark and Kara are avid users of my company's MaxiFi Planner software, which is how we connected. Nicer people you won't meet. And they make "Thank you for your Service" as large an understatement as it gets. They also remind us why we feel safe entrusting pilots. They are that rarest of breed -- people on whom we can really count.
Please listen/watch this video to get simply fascinating, insider information on aviation, both military and commercial. Kara and Mark are starting to work with my company -- providing office hours to newbie users of MaxiFi, doing demos for financial advisers, and, shortly, offering concierge financial planning for clients who want real pilots in the cockpit.