The Breakdown

On this episode of Long Reads Sunday, we look at Professor Stephen S. Roach’s piece “The Covid Shock To The Dollar.”

In it, he argues:

• Americans have been squandering their savings potential 
• Because of this, we are forced to borrow surplus savings from abroad
• We have usually been able to do this on favorable terms
• That window may be coming to a close
• There could be a 35% drop in the dollar over the next 2-3 years

On The Breakdown’s Weekly Recap, NLW explores:

• The final tally on the TikTok Doge viral campaign 
• The growing geopolitical tension between China and the US and where it’s manifesting 
• Positive economic indicators in reduced jobless claims
• Negative economic indicators in growing COVID-19 cases and deaths
• Why bitcoin is sideways
• Why Treasury yields are down
• Why gold is up

Today on the Brief:

• Hong Kong re-closes schools based on COVID-19 growth
• Coinbase explores direct U.S. exchange listing
• China starts selling stock, easing massive rally 

Our main conversation is with Liberty Blitzkrieg creator and editor Michael Krieger. Michael announced just before recording that he is done publishing on the LB site. He and NLW discuss:

• How Michael became disaffected while working on Wall Street during the Great Financial Crisis
• How Zero Hedge amplified Liberty Blitzkrieg and sent Michael on a decade-long writing path
• How Michael discovered bitcoin and the bitcoin community in 2012
• Why social media platforms need to be regulated with the principles of the First Amendment 
• How all political parties use division to stay in power 
• How outrage culture has become endemic, commodified and co-opted by existing power 
• Why the only option to fight outrage culture is to opt out

Find our guest online:Website: libertyblitzkrieg.com

Twitter: @LibertyBlitz

Today on the Brief:

• Slight good news in new and continuing jobless claims 
• Record corporate equity and debt sales during the crisis
• USDC freezes $100k

Our main conversation: Introducing the Macro Media Index.

The Macro Media Index is a monthly summary of the best macroeconomic tweets, essays, podcast and videos from around the internet. 

In this inaugural edition, NLW looks at a few key themes:

• The disconnect between the market and the real economy
• The role of the Fed and monetary policy in growing wealth inequality and social unrest
• The Robinhood Rally and bankruptcy bet that took institutional investors by complete surprise 
• The great inflation vs. deflation debate

Featuring insight from previous Breakdown guests including Luke Gromen, Lyn Alden, Jesse Felder, Preston Pysh and more.

What’s old is new again!

What happens when you combine a mostly hibernating memecoin with the world’s most powerful (and controversial) meme platform, and throw in a new generation of daytraders that have become convinced that they can drive the price of anything up? 

The great TikTok Doge pump of 2020, of course. 

In this episode, NLW breaks down:

• The history of Dogecoin
• How TikTok became one of the most popular, influential, and controversial apps in the world 
• Why the r/WallStreetBets, Davey Day Trader Global Global, and Robinhood Rally day trader movement perfectly set up this pump 
• How #TikTokDogecoinChallenge began to trend 
• What has happened to Dogecoin since the trend started
• Why this all makes a weird sort of cynical sense

Today on the Brief:

• Social media apps get caught in geopolitical tensions 
• Pitchforks around the Paycheck Protection Program 
• Brazil blocks Binance

Our main discussion is with Daniel Lacalle. Daniel is chief economist at Tressis and is the author of numerous books including “Life in the Financial Markets,” “Escape from the Central Bank Trap” and his most recent, “Freedom or Equality.” He has been named one of the 100 most influential economists in the world by Richtopia. 

In this conversation, he and NLW discuss:

• Why the recovery will likely be “L” shaped and uneven, not “V” shaped
• Why the “bailout of everything” undermines capitalism and promotes zombie companies that can’t service their debts
• Why zombie companies crowd out space for startups and small businesses 
• How government programs can incentivize relationships with government over strong business practices 
• How the current economic crisis could become a banking crisis

Find our guest online:

• Website: dlacalle.com

In this extended Brief, NLW tells the story of the economy through five themes:

The story of the economy as told by five macroeconomic indicators including Chinese stocks, New York City real estate, coronavirus cases and more.

• China stocks surge – but how much is it driven by Chinese state-sponsored media hype?
• A tale of two cities – real estate in New York City and Hong Kong are telling very different stories
• A global currency crisis in Lebanon - foodstuffs are up 100% in the last two weeks as the pound continues to falter 
• The COVID-19 ticker - daily cases continue to grow in the U.S. but deaths are declining 
• The cost of the U.S. losing its place in the world - from travelers turned away in Italy to decreasing capital inflows 
• Plus a bonus: what the Nasdaq all-time highs really mean

An appropriate post-July 4th episode of the Breakdown's #LongReadsSunday featuring Human Rights Foundation CSO Alex Gladstein's "Why Bitcoin Matters For Freedom"

Read the original on Time

Follow Alex on Twitter 

Financial education and financial literacy are at crisis levels in this country. Financial advisers spend billions on advertising but a fraction of that on education. The resources that are available tend to be inaccessible and not designed for the people who need them most. Financial media remains a boring, exclusionary acronym game. 

The net result of all of this is a population of Americans who don’t have the mental tools to understand, make sense of and make good decisions around their finances. 

In this passionate conversation with NLW, financial adviser Tyrone Ross argues that all hope is not lost. According to Tyrone:

• Financial literacy is a cross-cutting crisis not limited to any one demographic
• Even the resources that do exist aren’t designed for the way their intended targets consume media 
• Despite all the bad things happening, this moment is also providing an inflection point where change is possible 

Find our guest online:Website: tyroneross.io

Twitter: @TR401

OKCoin and BitMEX recently came together to provide a $150,000 grant to Bitcoin Core developer Amiti Uttarwar. 

In this conversation, Amiti and OKCoin CEO Hong Fang discuss:

• Why OKCoin believes it is essential for companies in the space to support Bitcoin Core development
• How OKCoin and BitMEX came together around this grant
• Why Amiti is focused on the P2P layer
• Why Amiti believes Bitcoin should be private by default 
• Why Bitcoin Core will better serve more populations if more populations are represented in who is building it 

Find our guests online:

Hong Fang Website: https://www.okcoin.com/Twitter: @hfangca

Amiti Uttarwar

Twitter: @amizi