Carol Roth @caroljsroth, a “recovering” investment banker, financial television commentator, entrepreneur, and best-selling author, joins Julia La Roche on episode 48 to discuss her last book “The War On Small Business: How The Government Used The Pandemic To Crush The Backbone of America.”

Carol’s book highlights how the government's actions during the COVID-19 pandemic favored the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of small businesses. This has led to a consolidation of power and wealth, with small businesses struggling while the stock market reached new highs. According to Carol, this is not a new problem, but the pandemic exposed it. In "The War on Small Business,” Carol details the abuses of power inflicted on small businesses during the pandemic and argues that government is the problem, not the solution. The book also advocates for decentralization to help small businesses and individuals participate in wealth creation.

In this episode, Carol discusses how capitalism in the U.S. is being replaced by cronyism, the Fed’s role in this epic wealth transfer, the nonsense surrounding ESG and the nefarious side of that movement, her biggest fear when the next pandemic arises, and more.

0:00 Intro

1:05 “Recovering” investment banker

3:04 Cronyism replacing capitalism in the markets

4:00 Didn’t have Fed tipping the scales and picking winners/losers

5:40 A focus on short-termism

6:15 ESG nonsense

7:23 Why write “The War On Business”?

9:30 The underreported story of the epic wealth transfer

10:40 The “Black Swan” was the government’s reaction to the pandemic

12:50 Partial lockdowns, not full lockdowns

15:00 “All in this together” got “completely bastardized”

16:00 Impact on small business owners like Shelly Luther

19:05 Carol’s “biggest concern” about future pandemics

20:40 Less trust in government, media

21:28 Covid amnesty?

24:30 Importance of small businesses in U.S.

26:38 Central planning is “America’s worst trade deal”

27:33 Capitalism is freedom and choice

30:00 Assessment of capitalism today

32:34 The Federal Reserve is a “failed experiment for the average American”

36:30 Ways to reform the Fed

38:50 The Fed’s actions got us here

41:48 The epic wealth transfer

44:38 Millennials, Gen-Z making more money, but don’t have as much wealth

47:05 Fed’s role in financial institutions buying up homes

47:33 Nefarious side of ESG

50:25 Worried about personal recessions

54:15 Parting thoughts