Our guest this week is Binyamin Appelbaum, the lead business and economics writer for the New York Times’ Editorial Board. He was part of a team at the Charlotte Observer in 2007 discussing the high rate of housing foreclosures and questionable sales practices during the subprime mortgage crisis that won a Gerald Loeb award, a George Polk Award, and was a finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in public service. He is the author of The Economists’ Hour: False Prophets, Free Markets, and the Fracture of Society.
Appelbaum has been covering the Federal Reserve since before the Great Recession. We discuss how financial deregulation and groupthink at the Fed helped to create the Financial Crisis in 2008-09.
His book traces the rise of the economists, beginning in the United States and then going global. Economists ideas of deficits, monetary and fiscal policy. Late 20th century economists saw impacted how the modern world grew, why government activities fell into disrepute, and gave rise to unlimited corporate power. He explains how economist Milton Friedman had a greater influence on 20th century American life than any economist of his generation
His favorite books are here; A transcript of our conversation is available here.
You can stream/download the full conversation, including the podcast extras on Apple iTunes, Overcast, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Bloomberg, and Stitcher. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.
Next week, we speak with Fran Kinniry, principal in Investment Strategy Group, and Global Head of Portfolio Construction at Vanguard.
Binya Appelbaum’s Book
The Economists’ Hour: False Prophets, Free Markets, and the Fracture of Society by Binyamin Appelbaum
Binya Appelbaum Favorite Books
Civilization & Capitalism 15th-18th Century [3 Volume Set: Vol. 1 the Structures of Everyday Life; Vol. 2 the Wheels of Commerce; Vol. 3 the Perspective of the World by Fernand Braudel
The Americans: The Colonial Experience by Daniel Boorstin
The Americans: The National Experience by Daniel Boorstin
The Americans: The Democratic Experience by Daniel Boorstin
