Hoover Institution fellow Jon Hartley and hedge fund investor Kyle Bass discuss Kyle’s career and upbringing, the 2000s housing crisis, the 2010s European sovereign debt crisis, the rise and fall of Japan’s economy, China’s rising aggression and decoupling from the US, shifting tides in the Middle East, the sclerosis of Europe, and why the US remains the best place in the world to continue to invest as an innovation hub.

Recorded on June 13, 2025.

ABOUT THE SERIES:

Each episode of Capitalism and Freedom in the 21st Century, a video podcast series and the official podcast of the Hoover Economic Policy Working Group, focuses on getting into the weeds of economics, finance, and public policy on important current topics through one-on-one interviews. Host Jon Hartley asks guests about their main ideas and contributions to academic research and policy. The podcast is titled after Milton Friedman‘s famous 1962 bestselling book Capitalism and Freedom, which after 60 years, remains prescient from its focus on various topics which are now at the forefront of economic debates, such as monetary policy and inflation, fiscal policy, occupational licensing, education vouchers, income share agreements, the distribution of income, and negative income taxes, among many other topics.

For more information about the podcast, or subscribe for the next episode, click here.