In an effort to explain the current state of the economy as well as the political ramifications of some parts of the Biden agenda coming down the pipeline, Jonah invited Michael Strain, his colleague at the American Enterprise Institute, for a return appearance. Strain explains complicated issues without confusing the plebeians among us who can’t look at numbers for very long before developing a headache. Speaking of headaches, near the end of the podcast the guys get into a relitigation of the ending of Lost, in addition to a brief discussion of WandaVision, Peaky Blinders, and Deep Impact, of all things.

Show Notes:

-Michael R. Strain, American Enterprise Institute

-Michael’s latest book, The American Dream is Not Dead (But Populism Could Kill It)

-Larry Summers: “The Biden stimulus is admirably ambitious. But it brings some big risks, too”

-Michael in National Review: “When Will the Pandemic End?”

-Consumers to unleash trillions of dollars in excess savings when pandemic ends

-Paul Volcker’s war on inflation

-Michael in Bloomberg Opinion: “How to Make a (Modest) Minimum Wage Hike Work”

-Josh Hawley’s minimum wage proposal

-Jonah’s love of public sector unions

-Lost as a metaphor for lack of payoff

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