Capital Record

We all got a lesson this week in one of the most powerful forces in world history. It is maybe the most important political dynamic on the globe today -- even more powerful than the separation of powers found in the Constitution. Indeed, unlike the latter, market discipline cannot be willed away. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The limit of a 10 percent interest rate on credit card debt is a perfect storm, an unintended consequence, a territory for bad policy. Since that Friday night announcement of the president, inspired by the Sanders/Warren wing of political ideology, we have now seen support from the president for the Credit Card Competition Act. Here, more nuances abound, and more opportunities for shaking one’s head exist. In this episode of Capital Record, David:Takes on the “credit card fees are usury” argument, some conveniently jump onto.Explains who is hurt the most by a government price control on credit card interest.Unpacks the Credit Card Competition Act.Reminds us of the most important law in economics -- “there’s no free lunch” -- accompanied by the most important question in economics -- “compared to what?” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The president of the United States has ordered Fannie and Freddie to buy $200 billion of mortgage bonds (in a week where he has said and done a lot of things, some of which he is even allowed to do). On today’s Capital Record, David unpacks what this means, what it doesn’t mean, and why it doesn’t represent any solution to the housing affordability mess in which we find ourselves.Show Notes: The Saddest Part of This Recent Economic Lunacy  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On Wednesday, January 7, President Trump sent out two messages via social media: First, that he was “banning institutional ownership of residential real estate.” Later, that he was “outlawing return of capital to shareholders.” The Warren/Sanders/Mamdani wing of the Democratic Party is celebrating. The Reagan/Hayek/Laffer wing of the Republican wing is scratching its head.Today, David goes back to the utterly incoherent idea that institutions putting investment into residential real estate (all 0.4 percent of the single-family residences this represent) is behind the affordability issues. He reminds listeners what “supply-side” growth means. And he does a quick refresher on capital formation, and how capital is needed to innovate, and that how capital gets treated is somewhat relevant to that process. It’s a plea to remember first principles when it comes to economic policy, and why we have spent a lifetime rejecting this Marxian drivel. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The new mayor of New York City is praising collectivism and urging optimism for what it can do. Many freedom lovers want to give a history lesson to the mayor about the 20th century’s horror of collectivist failures around the globe. But in addition to those needed history lessons, New Yorkers are welcome to their own current rent laws and the debacle they have created for those who claim to want more affordable rent options. In the first episode of Capital Record this new year, David explains how bad policies with good intentions do the same damage that bad policies with bad intentions do, and uses a real-life policy illustration to demonstrate why collectivism has always failed. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Are exclusive deals of private companies for select investors exacerbating the divide between haves and have-nots? Or is there an entirely different lesson in the fact that there are substantially fewer public companies than there used to be? Is this a class struggle issue, or rather, a by-product of certain unavoidable realities combined with unintended consequences of policy decisions. Put differently -- are there some trying to have their cake and eat it, too?Show notes:Inside the Invitation-Only Stock Market for the Wealthy  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Scott Galloway is no conservative, and I am not sure he would like me nearly as much as I like him. But despite his professed atheism and center-left political leanings, a certain common grace has enabled Galloway to become a counter-voice in today’s responsibility-averse culture.  His new book, Notes on Being a Man, offer a few truisms that are desperately needed, desperately lacking, and profound for their counter-cultural tenor. In today’s Capital Record, we will look at how this message may be the lowest hanging fruit for a free and virtuous society in this current societal moment. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If tariffs are “making us rich,” and if tariffs are “beautiful,” and if tariffs are “finally making things fair again,” and if tariffs are everything the administration has told us they are, why have there been exemptions, exclusions, and carveouts on $1.7 trillion of imports so far? Don’t get me wrong -- I would favor excluding tariffs on 100 percent of imports. But the question we address on Capital Record today is why we have exempted so many special parties and particular products if tariffs are such a force of good? As you will see, the question answers itself. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

President Trump announced on Monday that he was signing an executive order to have ONE RULE (his words, not mine) when it comes to artificial intelligence, seeking to suppress the Tenth Amendment rights of states to have their own regulatory framework around, well, every single other industry on the planet. Over the weekend the president said he was concerned about the Netflix purchase of Warner Brothers because “that might give them too big of a market share.”These feigned antitrust/monopolistic concerns and blatant disregard for states' rights in favor of a behemoth federal government control are longstanding beliefs and practices of the New Deal, big government left. They have been anathema to the right for time eternal. These are deeply concerning shifts in both action and philosophy that must be fervently resisted by those who still revere the Constitution and cherish the very concept of economic liberty. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A little debate broke out on social media when a left-wing progressive mocked the idea that “absolute” standards of living are more important than “relative” ones. To some, what people aspire to is merely “to have a better life than the people around them,” and not “to have a better life.”What is the truth here? And does it matter? If people really are merely concerned with “upping” their neighbors, couldn’t we do that pretty easily without driving burdensome things like “progress”?On today’s Capital Record, David takes on the reality of human nature and the fundamental aim of economics. Ultimately, we find ourselves back to the Tenth Commandment to resolve one tension, and to the Garden of Eden to resolve another! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Nobel Prize for economics has gone to some serious winners over the years -- Hayek, Friedman, and Mundell come to mind. But the Nobel committee has shamed itself over the years as well (looking at you, Krugman), and more recently seemed to indicate a bias toward so-called economic justice than actual economic productivity and prosperity. That is why this year’s winners are an encouragement to those of us who see growth as a moral good, and a rising standard of living for all as dependent on progress, innovation, and growth. It is good for the field of economics when good work is rewarded that explains how the world works, and why. It is far better than rewarding econometrics that explain neither.Show Notes:WSJ article by David Henderson Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We all know President Trump is counting the days until Jerome Powell’s term as Fed chair ends. He may be rooting for the right thing for the wrong reason, but it is not debatable that this is where things are headed. In today’s Capital Record, David looks at the various candidates for Fed chair and makes the case for the obvious pick (of the major pool of candidates that exists). Let’s send this episode to President Trump if we have to! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Now that New York has elected a self-avowed socialist as its mayor, many are concerned with how to combat his dangerous ideas and policies. In this episode of Capital Record, David offers the wild suggestion that one way to defeat Mamdani’s ideas is to not replicate them ourselves! From class warfare to price controls to government ownership of production, Mamdani does not have a monopoly on bad ideas in 2025. For conservatives to win this debate, they need to be debating on the right team. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The ‘Greedflation’ line is back, only it isn’t coming from Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, or Joe Biden. With beef prices up nearly +13 percent over the last year, many are wondering why, and many are providing answers that don’t pass the smell test. Fortunately for those of us on the Capital Record, first principles go a long way toward helping us sort this out. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

David devotes this week’s Capital Record to the folly of the “game-changing” idea of a 50-year mortgage. He stands within first principles by allowing risk takers to freely transact, but points out the economic reality of how people who believe they get a cheaper house by paying for it over an extra 20 years are, well, wrong. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The “conservative” world lives in interesting times, navigating on one hand the challenges of being a movement based on ideas and then on the other hand the personalities and frustrations that have recently entered the fray, often at odds with the movement and ideas they claim to have joined. We have spent ample time in this podcast defending the conservative ethos against those who would undermine its core orthodoxies either for coalitional benefits at the ballot box or for “street cred” in the desire to be popular, no matter where it leads ideologically.But what if the issue at hand is not merely where to draw the line on government intervention in the marketplace, but what to do with full-blown lunatics like Nick Fuentes? Is antisemitism, conspiratorialism, racism, and broad kookiness part of the membership package in today’s conservative world? In today’s podcast, David explains why the challenges of gatekeeping for economic cogency are less different than people may think when it comes to gatekeeping full-blown extremism. And the stakes are equally high for those who prize the American and conservative ideal. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The NBA world was rocked last week as a current head coach and two players were arrested in a major FBI investigation. The entire matter has led to great consternation over the world of sports betting and the explosive growth of how this is marketed and normalized in society. David does what this podcast exists for him to do: apply first principles to the discussion of sports betting -- its pitfalls and boundaries -- for those who value free markets but also the virtue and character we want for our society. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The pro-work message has found a resurgence, but it has hardly won the war. It is not merely up against pop psychologists and a wide array of confused thought leaders, but the allure of algorithmic screen addictions and other acts of sloth that are hurting society in more ways than one. On today’s episode of Capital Record, David argues that bemoaning the influence of social media and video games is not enough -- that we must know what is at stake, and what our counterplan is to restore a healthy society. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

David is inspired today by a recent WSJ op-ed from the widow of Apple founder, Steve Jobs, arguing that too many philanthropists are using their donations for control rather than impact. David takes the position that too many philanthropists are driven by vanity, too many charities are driven by grift, and not enough philanthropists are wisely maintaining their leverage -- not for control, but for intended impact. A nuanced Capital Record with a message a lot of people will not like.Show notes:Beware of Philanthropists Who Want Control in Exchange for Their Giving  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It feels that New Right Republicans are sometimes trying to out-socialist Bernie Sanders, and in bemoaning the extraordinary results of Amazon in building opportunity for pay and wealth for its workforce and pitting that against the executive C-suite in standard class warfare lunacy, we have teed up all that is wrong with wage controls, price controls, and the class envy that does so much damage to the cause of a free and prosperously employed society.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.