In today's episode hosts Cameron Abadi and Adam Tooze preview the upcoming Italian election and the rise of Giorgia Meloni. Her party, Brothers of Italy, is leading in the polls and has a lineage that connects it directly to former Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. They also examine the current appeal of far-right rhetoric in Italy and the long term implications a Meloni government would have on the country's economy.

In the second segment the two dissect the economic history of Australia, from its beginnings as British penal colony to its more recent decades-long run of positive growth.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices