Economic Rockstar

Latest Episodes:

015: Niels Kaastrup-Larsen on Trend Following Strategies and Stock Market Turmoil Ahead Jan 15, 2015

Show notes

Niels Kaastrup-Larsen is Managing Director of Dunn Capital (Europe). He is a trend follower with more than 20 years experience in the hedge fund industry, working for some of the largest CTAs or Commodity Trading Advisors in the world, including Chesapeake Capital. Niels co-founded, built and managed three businesses within the alternative investment space, including Rho Asset Management.

Niels trades futures markets in a systematic and highly-automated way. He is the founder and host of the popular podcast 'Top Traders Unplugged', where he uses his experience and contacts in the industry to deliver insightful, engaging and passionate interviews with the most successful hedge fund managers and traders.

Economic and Finance Themes:

In this interview, Niels mentions and discusses: Trend following, futures markets, gold, anomalies, confirmation bias, efficient market hypothesis, fixed-income securities, treasuries, bonds, the Great Depression, stock market portfolio, diversification, equities, systematic trading, stop-losses, technical analysis.

Find out:

about trend following and how to spot a trend.

what is a trend following strategy.

two ways in which we can take on market risk - one good and the other not so good.

how emotions can lead to losses.

why trend followers use computers with built-in trend following rules to make trades.

why we are more likely to buy a bar of soap that is reduced by 50% in a retail store than buy a stock that has fallen 50%.

how you should diversify a portfolio.

why Niels believes that global markets will be in turmoil within the next 5 years.

why Niels believes the economic cycle will turn by October 2015.

why events will unfold just like 1929.

if the Swiss and Germans should take back their gold reserves from the United States.

about whether there are job opportunities in the trading industry today.

and much more.

You can find all the links and book recommendations by Niels at www.economicrockstar/niels

Support the show by subscribing to the podcast or by becoming a patron of Economic Rockstar at www.patreon.com/economicrockstar.

014: Shoshana Grossbard on Why Dry Cleaners Charge Women More, on the Economics of Love & Marriage and on Polygamy Jan 08, 2015

Show notes

Shoshana Grossbard is Professor of Economics at San Diego State University and founding editor of the Review of Economics of the Household.

Shoshana obtained her Phd from the University of Chicago where she developed an interest in the New Home Economics from its founders, the late Nobel Laureate Gary Becker and the late Jacob Mincer. The main focus of Shoshana’s research is household economics, family economics and the economics of marriage.

Shoshana has published 5 books and more than 50 articles on the determinants of marriage, consumption and labor supply and on the law and economics of household decisions. She is fluent in English, French, Hebrew, Spanish, and Dutch and has presented her work at many universities in more than 13 countries.

Economic Themes:

In this interview, Shoshana mentions and discusses: household economics, family economics, economics of the household, household decision-making, sex-ratios, the economic and social impact of polygamy, determinants of marriage, opportunity cost, consumption and labor supply, immigration, population, marriage, price discrimination, government intervention and elasticity.

Find out:

about Shoshana being a 1970s hippie and her demonstrations against King Constantine of Greece.

about the differences in female educational participation between the 1960s and present day.

about the sexist advertisements that existed which placed the wife in the household.

about the origins of the New Home Economics.

how Shoshana transitioned herself from an interest in the economics of education to the economics of polygamy while a student of Gary Becker.

if there is an opportunity cost to marriage.

the implication on labor force participation as a result of marriage.

about the importance of the sex-ratio in determining labor force participation.

how women's participation in the labor force can be a direct result of fluctuations in the sex-ratio.

if Hilary Clinton's year of birth allowed her to be the successful and educated person she is today due to the low sex ratio in the US between 1946 and 1950.

about the marriage-squeeze hypothesis (in which there is a shortage of men or women for marriage).

how polygamy can be harmful for young men and why they are known as the lost boys.

about the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints in British Columbia.

who pays more for dry-cleaning services - males or females - based on their elasticity of demand.

if we should trust our spouse given the ideology behind economics that all market participants are self-interested and seek to gain wealth without any consideration of others.

if spousal love diminishes once you have children and that the love you have toward your child compensates for the lack of love from your spouse.

and much more.

To get the shownotes to this episode and all the books and links mentioned by Shoshana, please visit www.economicrockstar.com

013: Frank Conway Reviews the Personal Habits and Advice of the Economic Rockstar Guests of 2014 Jan 01, 2015

Show notes

The personal habits and advice of the Economic Rockstar guests of 2014 are highlighted in this epic and exciting episode. I explore each episode and find, what I believe, are invaluable nuggets of information. These may not necessarily be related to economics and finance, but given that it's a New Year, I'd like to share with you their habits and advice. I'll be personally adopting most of these for 2015. I hope that at least one will resonate with you.

Thanks for listening and enjoy.

The Personal Habits and Advice of the Economic Rockstar Guests of 2014

1) The Importance of Being Mentored

2) Help Others

3) Talk to People

4) Network and Build Your Community

5) Create a Vision and Take Risks

6) Take Responsibilty For Your Actions

7) Give Yourself Permission to Fail and Challenge Yourself

8) Work Hard and Be Disciplined

9) Don't Settle, Choose Adventure and Fulfill Your Potential

10) Be Careful Who You Listen To

11) Read - Education Is Important

12) Laughter Can Help You Learn

13) Pay Yourself First and Clear Your Debts

To find out more, visit http://www.economicrockstar.com/review2014

012: Yoram Bauman on Cartoons, Being a Stand-Up Economist & His Passion to Save the Environment Dec 25, 2014

Show notes

Yoram Bauman is considered the world's first and only stand-up economist and uses cartoons to explain economic concepts and theories. He has a PhD from the University of Washington and a BA in Mathematics from Reed College. Yoram lectured environmental and health economics at both Whitman College and University of Washington and was a visiting research scholar at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. Yoram has swapped the lecture hall for the comedy club and is on a mission to spread joy to the world and to reform economics education. Every year Yoram organizes the Humor Session at the American Economic Association annual meeting.

Yoram is an advocate for carbon pricing and other economic approaches to protecting the environment. Yoram has written extensively on these issues but has also published numerous micro and macro books with comedy and entertainment as its central theme. They include The Cartoon Introduction to Economics, The Cartoon Introduction to Climate Change and Stand-Up Economics: The Micro Textbook. Some of these books have been translated into over 10 languages.

In this interview, Yoram mentions and discusses: adverse selection, portfolio selection theory, the invisible hand, environmental economics, environmental taxes, market power, monopoly, corruption, opportunity cost, free market, revenue-neutral carbon taxes, consumption tax, tragedy of the commons, externalities, correlation, hyperinflation, population growth, economic growth, monetary base and rational expectations.

In this interview, Yoram mentions: George Akerlof, James Tobin, Adam Smith, Gregory Mankiw and Paul Krugman.

Find out:

about revenue-neutral carbon taxing

if we should keep economics serious or is there room for comedy?

why it's important to motivate people to open a textbook and how humor and comedy can do this.

how cartoons and humor can bring so much detail and understanding to economic concepts.

where it all began for Yoram when writing a cartoon economics textbook.

about the cartoon books written by Yoram that document the annals of economic theory.

how Yoram humorously depicts why some economists have won the Nobel Prize in Economics in a simplified and memorable manner.

how Adam Smith calls the winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics to interview them. Spooked? Find out how.

how Yoram found his true calling while reading Mankiw's economics textbook.

how Yoram uses cartoons and comedy to teach us economics and to inform us of the need for environmental taxes, something he is passionate about.

and much much more.

You can find more content and all the books and links mentioned on this podcast episode at www.economicrockstar/yorambauman

011: Steve Keen on Debunking Economics and the Misinterpretation of Keynes Dec 18, 2014

Show notes

Steve Keen is Professor of Economics and Head of Department of Economics, History and Politics at Kingston University, London. Steve's interpretative analysis is quite different to the norm. Steve likes to be known socially as an anti-economist and has spent 40 years fighting delusion in economics. That delusion has led us into a crisis and Steve may have finally won his battle... or has he? Steve is the winner of the Revere Award for being the economist who most convincingly warned of the economic crisis and whose work is most likely to prevent another one. He topped the poll beating Roubini, Shiller, Soros, Stiglitz and Krugman.

Economic Themes:

In this interview, Steve mentions and discusses: Keynesian economics, supply, demand and equilibrium,demand curves, Debt/GDP ratio, financial crisis, housing market bubble, IS-LM model,

Economists and Economic Schools:

In this interview, Steve mentions: Frank Stilwell, John Maynard Keynes, Hyman Minsky, John Hicks, Paul Krugman, Paul Samuelson, Marshallian economics (Alfred Marshall), Walrasian Economics (Leon Walrasian)

Find Out:

how Steve saw the 2008 financial crisis coming when he investigated Debt/GDP levels.

Steve's views on current economic teachings in many school, colleges and universities around the world.

what should be done at these colleges and how a pluralist approach to teaching economics is best.

about Steve's thoughts on the treatment of Keynesian economics.

about Steve's involvement in a Marvel-style comic book dedicated to teaching economics.

and much more.

You can find all the links and books mentioned by Steve at http://www.economicrockstar.com/stevekeen

010: Douglas Goldstein on How Chess Can Teach Us Lessons on Strategic Financial Planning Dec 11, 2014

Show notes

Doug Goldstein has over 20 years in the financial planning and services industry, beginning his career on Wall Street in 1992 at Dean Witter. Doug is a Certified Financial Planner, registered Investment Advisor, Trust and Estate Practitioner, and a licensed investment professional. Doug is the founder and director of Profile Investment Services, Ltd and hosts two podcasts on iTunes called Goldstein on Gelt and Rich As A King. Doug has authored numerous books on financial planning and building wealth and is co-author of Rich As A King: How the Wisdom of Chess Can Make You The Grandmaster of Investing. Doug is quoted in many publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Forbes, as well as guest lecturing on investment in colleges.

Economic Themes:

In this interview, Doug mentions and discusses: investment planning, stock markets, over-confidence, behavioral finance, loss aversion, prospect theory, personal finance, strategic finance, interest rates, bonds, risk, liquidity risk, hedge funds,

Economists and Economic Schools:

In this interview, Doug mentions: Terence Odean, Daniel Kahneman and Kenneth Rogoff.

Find Out:

about two women in Doug's life who smashed the glass ceiling in their respective careers.

about the financial planning lessons Doug learned from his mother and grandmother.

if women make better financial planners or investors than men.

if trading markets more frequently leads to better returns.

how the patience of chess playing is similar to the patience needed when planning your stock market trades.

why the fear of losing results in investors making bad decisions.

what you should do if you have a question about your business.

how the concepts of improving your game in chess is the same as that of investment and financial planning.

about the difference between short-term and long-term financial planning.

how a game of chess is bounded unlike the uncertainties of a stock market and what you can do to manage these uncertainties.

'how the News causes you to Lose'.

how goal-setting can get you out of the bottom of the socio-economic ladder.

who Doug would be if he was a chess piece.

and much much more.

Visit www.economicrockstar.com to get access to the show notes and all the links referred to by Doug in this episode.

009: Naomi Brockwell (Bitcoin Girl) on Bitcoins, Liberty, Government and Fiat Currency Dec 04, 2014

Show notes

Naomi Brockwell is an opera singer, film-maker and actress, and studied commerce at the University of Western Australia. Currently residing in New York, Naomi also runs her own company Rainsworth Productions and is a fellow at The Moving Picture Institute. Naomi speaks five languages, plays six musical instruments and, of course, is a gold medal-winning Irish dancer. Naomi is on the Advisory Council of the Mannkal Economic Education Foundation and is the always effervescent face of Bitcoin Girl.

Economic Themes:

In this interview, Naomi mentions and discusses: bitcoins, crypto-currencies, monetary policy, inflation, fiat currency, fractional reserve banking, central banks, living standards, international trade, negative externalities, unintended consequences,equilibrium, supply and demand.

Economists and Economic Schools:

In this interview, Naomi mentions: Victor Niederhoffer, Gene Epstein, Murray Rothbard, Jean-Baptiste Say, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, Carl Menger, Erik Voorheese, Paul Krugman, Austrian economics, Libertarianism, Keynesian economics and Hunter Lewis.

Find Out:

what Naomi's two favorite drinks are - they're Irish by the way!

and watch Naomi's video 'Bitcoin Girl' (see below), made with The Moving Picture Institute, in which she is featured.

what began Naomi's passion for economics after staying in New York City to study and train with other great opera singers.

how a discussion on the housing crisis and the housing bubble at Junto in New York City inspired Naomi to read economics.

how a chance email to Gene Epstein of Barron's developed a passion for Austrian and Libertarian economics.

Naomi's shared views with Gene on educating people in economics even if they disagree on some of the thinking.

why Naomi questions the foundation of fiat money after reading Rothbard.

why Naomi believes that the private sector can manage money better than the government.

why bitcoin is used voluntarily with no coercion.

what is a virtual or crypto-currency and how does it work when there is no physical coin to use.

what excites Naomi about Bitcoin and why, as Bitcoin Girl, she is becoming synonymous with Bitcoin.

what cryptography is and what it has to do with Bitcoin.

the difference between fractional reserve banking and how bitcoin operates.

what scares Naomi when she requested her Australian bank to transfer her own money into a Bitstamp account.

and much, much more.

You cna find all the links mentioned in this episode on the shownoates page at Economic Rockstar

008: Robbie Butler on Using Sports to Teach Entry-Level Economics Nov 26, 2014

Show notes

Robbie Butler is a lecturer of economics at University College Cork in Ireland, where he lectures on a multitude of modules, such as Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Growth Economics and Corporate Strategy. Robbie received his PhD from University of Hertfordshire in England, is published in a number of internationally renowned academic journals and is a regular economics contributor on media. Robbie's primary passion is in sports, namely football (soccer) and he has a Junior International cap for Ireland. Robbie managed to bridge his passion for sports with his career in economics and, along with his brother David and other colleagues, created and runs the popular website www.sportseconomics.org.

Find Out:

who lectured Robbie as an undergrad. Hint: He's the host of this show!

how Robbie's use of sports in explaining economics grew from fun and a personal interest into something that has grown and evolved into something quite serious.

how playing football at a highly competitive level has allowed Robbie view economics in quite a unique way.

how this unique view has given Robbie an ability to delve into economics with many sports analogies and examples in which students can relate.

how having played sports competitively has given Robbie a level of respect and credibility when using sports-related themes in economics.

the importance of working with like-minded people and how it makes life so much easier.

why a coffee break with colleagues can have the most intellectually-stimulating conversations bursting with ideas.

a great tip before publishing a blog post when working with others who share the same website - it cuts out the use of Google Docs, Dropbox, etc.

how working with a sibling makes the feedback on your work more critical and raw - something that could help with perfecting the right article.

about the Theory of Multiple Intelligence by Harvard educationalist Howard Gardner - we have 8 ways of learning.

how sports can be used as "a lens to the economic world" that empowers the student when learning and understanding economic theory.

how a change to the rules of a football/soccer game in the Caribbean between Barbados and Granada created incentives that reflects the behaviour of rational economic agent.

how a penalty shoot-out between Manchester United and Chelsea in the Champions League Final showcases the Volunteers Dilemma in economic game theory (Chelsea are instructed to take all penalties to Manchester United keeper's left but he finds out Chelsea's strategy when faced with the last penalty-taker by pointing to his own left - game theory demonstrated in football).

how watching the Simpsons can expose us to economic theory with its many parodies.

why Robbie believes that the English Premier League is in trouble and has all the hallmarks of a bubble.
how the different economic structures of the US (free market) and Europe (socialist) are reversed when it comes to the economic model of sports.

how the debt/GDP ratio imposed on EU countries is similar to the debt/income rules imposed on football clubs.

why big clubs may be willing to break the spending rules of the game despite the imposition of monetary fines.

about the use of metrics by Billy Bean's Oakland A's and how a 'mediocre' team could beat the cash-rich New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

Get the shownotes to this episode and all the links mentioned at www.economicrockstar.com/robbiebutler

007: Ryan Blair- Gangster turned Millionaire on Decision-Making, Game Theory and Incentives Nov 21, 2014

Show notes

Ryan Blair is a serial entrepreneur but his path to becoming a millionaire is both unique and fascinating. From a middle-class family who lost it all, Ryan became a gang member and, at times, carried an AK-47. life changed for Ryan due to a strong work ethic and a will to succeed. He overcame great obstacles to achieve extraordinary success. With six multi-million dollar companies by age 30, Ryan vowed to make his current company, ViSalus Sciences, be the first billion dollar company to come out of the Great Recession and to help many people along the way. He is a philanthropist and New York Times best selling author.

In this interview, Ryan mentions and discusses: decision-making, incentives, rewards, compensation, leveraging, poverty, entrepreneurialism, economic systems, philanthropy, venture capitalists, investors, Game Theory, complementary goods and capital markets.

How being a gang member is similar to being a business person:

"A gang is an economic system. Similarities exist between being an entrepreneur and a legitimate businessman and doing business as a gang member on the street".

"A gang is simply illegal entrepreneurship. It has a management hierarchy. Generally a gang will have various revenue streams. It has a compensation system. There are incentives and rewards as a recruiting system to recruit new members. There's replication that occurs as a business model. The gang will have different hubs and different cities and countries it operates in. There are so many similarities".

"Game theory is simply the idea of a game of chicken. Sometimes you have to be willing to risk it all and a lot of the time you have to be willing to walk away from a deal".

Find out:

what life was like for Ryan growing up with a violent, drug-addicted father and how his family lost everything.

how Ryan overcame this to teach people how to overcome their poor decisions or the decisions of their family or the environment they were born into.

what skeletons Ryan takes out of the closet (revealed in his book) giving us some insight in this podcast.

why people are shocked that he was in a gang but how people that he knew in the past are even more shocked by his appearance, level of education and his ability to articulate on subjects that he is passionate about.

how over-leveraging and keeping-up with the Jones' fuelled by credit in the economic 'good times' can be destructive for some families.

how Ryan went from middle-class to poverty to multi-millionaire.

how Ryan went from earning minimum wage at 18 to earning 6 figures within 2 years.

how staring at a 60-year old prisoner became the defining moment that changed Ryan's life-path.

how Ryan overcame dyslexia and ADD to create his own auditory learning system, something which the current educational system failed to do.

why Ryan believes that 'vision' is so important in your life.

how Ryan helps people facing life in adversity: Clue? - The creation of foundations and philanthropic work.

about Ryan's work with autism.

about the importance of having mentors and having a life purpose.

and much, much more.

You can find the shownotes to this episode'along with all the links mentioned, at www.economicrockstar.com/ryanblair

006: Andrew Heaton on Using Comedy to Explain Economic Concepts Nov 20, 2014

Show notes

Andrew Heaton is a comedian, writer and political satirist. He is the presenter of the witty and entertaining economics podcast, EconPop and has a Masters degree in International Politics. Andrew has been featured in a Bollywood movie, plays a lead role in the sitcom Cap South and has been voted best new comedian of 2013 in New York. Andrew hails from Oklahoma, is an Officer to a Prince and plays the Ukelele to enhance the mood of his friends’ amorous endeavors.

In this interview, Andrew mentions and discusses: wheat quotas, comparative advantage, protectionism, relative and actual growth, free markets and limited government, Austrian Theory of Monetary Creation, supply and demand, signalling, subjective value, negative externalities, tariffs and import duty, protectionism, corporation tax, scarce resources, population, abundance of resources, the Great Depression, US deficit, unintended consequences, behavioral economics and risk aversion.

Find Out:

how Andrew became interested in economics while studying abroad in Scotland.

what parallels Andrew draws between politics, economics and comedy.

what economists and school of thought Andrew draws inspiration from to carve out his own views.

where and from whom Andrew gets his inspiration for his anecdotal writings on economics concepts.

how economic concepts is in abundance in life and can be found in the many movies we may have watched.

what qualities Andrew believes makes a successful person.

about Andrew being an Officer to Prince Leonard of Hutt River.

what comparative advantage is and how Andrew explains it in an unusual but light-hearted way.

why Andrew believes we will never run out of resources and why we should not worry about scarcity.

For more information on this podcast episode and others, please visit www.economicrockstar.com

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected