Morning Brew Daily

We’re all but certain that recreational adult-use marijuana will become legal in all 50 states at some point. We’re not sure when...but we are sure there’s money to be made on the inevitable.

Who makes that money, though, is another question entirely. Will it be small marijuana startups that have cornered one small, specific part of the market? Will it be major multinational corporations that got in on cannabis early with paradigm-shifting investments? Will it be both?

That’s what we’re taking on in this episode with Karan Wadhera, managing partner at Casa Verde Capital.

If you’re seeking an insightful guide to the legal weed world, chock full of predictions for profitability, look no further. We’ve got you.

Rethinking the entire economic paradigm of any country would be almost impossibly difficult. Try to do it in the midst of a dual recession and pandemic, and you’re facing unbeatable odds.

But the truth of the matter is that we’re inching closer to thinking the deficit actually doesn’t matter each day here in the U.S., especially after Congress passed enormous stimulus to keep Americans afloat with alarmingly few chirps of “who pays for it.”

Last episode, we learned about the effort to debunk the deficit myth. This time around, we’re talking about how realistic or unrealistic that mindset shift really is with Kai Ryssdal, famed radio journalist and host of Marketplace and Make Me Smart.

Listen if you want an honest conversation about inflation, a jobs guarantee, monetary vs. fiscal policy, wealth inequality...and how only some economic indicators matter in a year as unprecedented as this one.

Who pays for it? It’s a question you hear all the time, especially when we’re talking about trillions of dollars in government spending.

And with the U.S. government operating at a $3.1 trillion deficit in 2020, it’s an especially relevant question. But more and more, economists are beginning to wonder if it’s worth asking. Since the U.S. issues its own currency, does it need to bother thinking about who foots the bill?

That’s what we’re exploring today on the show with Stephanie Kelton, professor, economist, author of The Deficit Myth, and face of the modern monetary theory movement.

You might not agree with what Stephanie has to say...but she’ll certainly give you some food for thought. Listen now.

We know there’s an ungodly amount of money tied up in politics, much of it collected in the campaign finance stage. What we often don’t know is where it comes from and what its aims are.

What if we could shift the way we interpret and regulate campaign spending? That kind of shift might just root out deep-seated corruption in our electoral process...according, at least, to today’s guest: Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard Law professor who ran for president in 2016 on a campaign finance reform platform.

You don’t want to miss this one. You might not agree with Lessig’s unorthodox ideas of campaign finance reform...but I guarantee his views will make you think differently.

How often do you think the biggest spender wins the election here in the U.S.? Would you be surprised to find out it’s 88.5% of the time in the House and 82.9% of the time in the Senate?

Far more often than not, the best fundraiser wins. As a result, campaign finance stateside has exploded in recent years to records we could scarcely imagine. Where does the money come from, where is it going, and how has it impacted our democratic process?

That’s what we’re answering today with Sheila Krumholz, executive director for the Center for Responsive Politics, the organization behind OpenSecrets.

Listen for an honest, nonpartisan account of how money begets influence in politics. There’s never been a better time to learn about the relationship than now.

You’re going to need more than a good idea to become the next Jeff Bezos. It takes resources, information, connections, talent, and so much more to win...and even just to survive year one. 

So where do those resources come from? And who gets access to them? That’s what we’re talking about today on Business Casual with Michael Seibel, partner at Y Combinator and CEO of the YC startup accelerator program. Aka principal of Silicon Valley’s unicorn finishing school.

If you want 1) an honest look at how the cards are stacked in entrepreneurship and 2) the tl;dr on what it takes to catch the eye of the wealthiest backers in tech and beyond, listen to this episode.

Want to keep up with Kinsey over email? Sign up here: businesscasual.fm/signup.

By the end of April of this year, women’s job losses had erased a decade of employment gains...in a matter of months. The numbers for people of color are no less disheartening. 

But why? How did we end up in a recession so deeply skewed against already marginalized groups? Let’s figure it out with Dr. C. Nicole Mason, president and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

If you’re wondering 1) how we created an economic system capable of discrimination 2) why marginalized groups are suffering most right now and 3) what this all means for efforts to shrink gender and racial pay gaps...listen to this episode. 

Want to keep up with Kinsey over email? Sign up here: businesscasual.fm/signup.

Every recession causes its economic fractures in different ways. This one has disproportionately wrecked the service economy...and along with it, the young workers, women, and people of color who make it tick.

Listen to today’s episode with NYT econ reporter Eduardo Porter for an honest understanding of how we ended up in this recession, who stands to lose the most, and how we stage a recovery.

Want to keep up with Kinsey over email? Sign up here: businesscasual.fm/signup.

Technology in its endless forms has given us so much—fire to make food, language to communicate feelings, and iPhones to look at in the bathroom. 

But for each of these technology-enabled pros, there’s a technology-enabled con.

So how do we make sure that technology is used more for good than for bad? For starters, we focus on the ways the public and private sectors are working to ensure inevitable bad actors are kept in check. It’s a joint effort, and it has to be—especially as high tech like artificial intelligence learns to mimic and outperform human decision making.

To help us get to the bottom of a complicated, interesting, nuanced idea, I’m welcoming to Business Casual Kevin Roose, tech columnist for the New York Times.

Kevin brings up a lot of mind-boggling questions...but he’s quick with an answer, too. Some thought starters from the interview:

Where’s the real danger in tech? It might be a little less apocalyptic and a little more pedestrian than you think.

What would our biggest tech firms look like if they’d been created in China, Myanmar, Brazil, or anywhere else in the world? Different.

Listen now.

Want to keep up with Kinsey over email? Sign up here: businesscasual.fm/signup.

He’s not punching in at the DMV or collecting litter on a roadside. He’s helping the U.S. to develop responsible technology that can both ensure equitable access to the tools that will enable our future and win our government rulemaking rights over high tech like artificial intelligence and facial recognition.

If that sounds a little intense, that’s because it is. But if anyone’s up for the job…?

It’s Eric Schmidt, former CEO and executive chairman of Google. He’s seen the best and worst of both the public and private sectors. Now, he’s talking about the intersection of the two—how they improve one another, accelerate one another...and occasionally butt heads with one another.

There are countless reasons why we’re having this conversation right now, but to name a few:

The 2020 presidential election is a few short weeks away, and it’s a huge test for Big Tech’s supposed efforts to protect our democratic process. 

Our economy is getting more automated each day—who gets to make the calls as the robots roll out?

China. Tech war. Enough said.

Seems like everyone, from Big Tech in Silicon Valley to lawmakers in D.C., has an interest in owning the tools of the next generation. Listen now to understand it all.

Want to hear Eric ask the questions on his own podcast? Check out Reimagine.

Want to keep up with Kinsey over email? Sign up here: businesscasual.fm/signup.