About this episode

Rupert Russell discusses the hidden power of prices and the chaos of financial markets, exploring how economic systems shape history and society.

Rupert Russell joins me to discuss the hidden power of prices, the chaos of financial markets and whether the economy is really just a global game of Monopoly. Rupert explains how price shocks have shaped history, from bread riots and the Arab Spring to housing, oil, food and the financial crisis. We discuss derivatives, futures markets, commodity speculation, Goldman Sachs, central banks, inflation, asset managers and why the price of essential goods can become politically explosive. We also get into AI, scarcity, status, the future of work, whether the price system breaks in a world of abundance, and why Rupert thinks The Matrix is a better model for our future than Terminator or Ready Player One. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Is the Economy Just a Game? 00:00:56 - The Horror of Our Economic System 00:01:39 - Why Prices Shape History 00:05:15 - The Sandpile Theory of Society 00:07:38 - How Governments Manipulate Prices 00:12:00 - Housing and the Broken Social Contract 00:16:10 - How Derivatives Began 00:19:36 - Futures, Farmers and Speculators 00:23:24 - When Insurance Became Gambling…

People in this episode

Host: Peter McCormack

Guest: Rupert Russell

Topics covered

• economics
• financial markets
• price shocks
• commodity speculation
• political economy
• future of work

Keywords

• prices
• financial markets
• derivatives
• futures
• commodity speculation
• inflation
• economic history
• political economy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Goldman Sachs, central banks, AI

Books & works: The Matrix, Terminator, Ready Player One

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