OBEY

1/19/2021 - In a cynical, but necessary, episode, we talk about the two dueling narratives around COVID. On one hand, people are getting vaccinated and Andrew Cuomo has called for New York to re-open. On the other hand, the WSJ tells us vaccines won't stop asymptomatic spread and we need 100 day mask mandate from Biden. Biden is going to pick the narrative that matches his agenda and run with it, so let's chat about the narratives and why he'll pick one or the other.

1/12/2021 - This might be a controversial one. I go through why storming the capitol building is a win for libertarians - even if the people rioting were right wingers. I remind everyone that democracy is what got us here and shouldn't be protected. I explain why this event isn't remotely similar to the BLM riots in the summer of 2020. I also touch on the takeaways from this event. This will be used to tar any right wing person for a while, that will increase polarization, and more polarization is the road to a national divorce.

1/11/2021 - On this one, we forecast what Q1 and Q2 of what 2021's economy might look like. It doesn't look like lockdowns are going away based on some cues from Biden and the media. I give some reasons for why the economy is much more tied to the lockdown regulations than any stimulus. We also discuss why the stimulus won't result in much economic growth - at best, it will maintain where we're at. Not the most optimistic forecast!

1/5/2021 - This one is kind of a myriad of articles that I tie together to explain why the recent stimulus package is awful. We go from a piece on FDR in Foreign Affairs magazine that says the quiet part out loud to a Wall Street Journal piece that criticizes the stimulus. We talk a bit about why it's insane to expect the stimulus bill to help bring back jobs, but it's not a relief bill because it's so poorly targeted.

Wall Street Journal 12/31/2020: It Is Possible to Have Too Much Stimulus by Greg Ip

Foreign Affairs January/February 2021: Desperate Times, Desperate Measures: The Lessons of the New Deal by Meg Jacobs

Feel free to tweet at me @TheObeyPodcast or @MatthewTKeck

1/4/2021 - In the first episode of the new year, I decide to be controversial and talk about the LP. I talk about why I'm hesitant to support the LP, the problem with people like Justin Amash and Tulsi Gabbard, the huge limitations of our political framework, why we should vandalize your state representative's office, and why public school teachers should be considered the scum of the earth. This is borderline fed-posting and may be a Ted pill to some. Definitely a rant that's been brewing for a while. 

You can direct all of your hate and vitriol to me on Twitter @TheObeyPodcast or @MatthewTKeck

12/4/2020 - In this episode, we give a few examples of politicians capitalizing on world events and tragedies to push their legislative agenda - often in misleading ways. We touch on gun policy after mass shootings, bad economic policy after the 2008 crash, and "The Great Reset".

12/3/2020 - We look at a viral Ilhan Omar tweet that conveys the low level of thinking that goes into the economic policy of statists. We throw out several bad incentive structures or rippling effects that could occur if this type of policy is passed, and how it isn't unreasonable to think that this will hurt more people than it will help (regardless of your feelings about redistributive policies). 

12/3/2020 - We're back! In this one, we break down why it's odd that the default stance is that a given election was free and fair. Maybe we should be agnostic on an election's validity because the people running the elections are highly motivated for certain results. Maybe assuming the election is fair is a faith-based statement that we should question. 

9/8 In this episode, we look at the "Building A Stronger, Fairer Economy" section of the Biden-Sanders United Task Force Recommendations report. There is A LOT in this report, the economics section is under 30 pages, yet there is a lot to discuss. I personally broke it down into several sections, and I focused on the general ideas of the "Worker Protections" policies in the report - most specifically the national $15 minimum wage, idea of a living wage, and increased pro-union policy. I talk about the secondary and tertiary effects of these policies, and the way these policies often can hurt who they are designed to help.

9/5 - I talk about some more of the mainstream narratives that are being pushed this news cycle (Michael Reinoehl, Daniel Prude, and the Atlantic report about Trump's negative comments regarding veterans). Of course, none of that is substantive in terms of policy or your life. Then, I give a small intro to the World Economic Forum's "The Great Reset" podcast series, where they really like saying the quiet part out loud. This isn't a deep dive into their suggestions, but it's good to be aware of. The policymakers (especially on the left) take a lot of their cues from the WEF and other think tanks.