2008. Albuquerque, New Mexico. The first business meeting of what would become the best-known chemist team since Nobel-prize winners Molina, Crutzen and Rowland was not auspicious. Pinkman wanted to cook as an artist, with chili powder. White, called Pinkman's chili-p recipe -- garbage. In-turn, Pinkman dismissed White's science; all he needed was a big jar. He was actually referring to a volumetric flask, which as - the appalled chemistry teacher Mr. White responded - is for general mixing and ...
Jul 20, 2020•50 min•Ep. 18
Plato, Kant, Nietzsche, Buddha, Confucius, Rousseau, Aristotle, Bastiat, Molinari, Cicero, Hegel, Hobbes, Kant... LL Cool J. The contemporary philosopher sits on the social and political branch of the Western tradition. He began releasing treatises in 1985 after collaborating with Def Jam. Radio was his first. Two years later, Bigger and Deffer . But 1989's Walking with a Panther was 'too pop-y', said the Philosophical Review . 'So much empty fluff,' pondered the British Society for Phenomenolog...
Jul 11, 2020•49 min•Ep. 17
After half-a-century, some 8,000 episodes and numerous tournament of champions the American television game show Jeopardy! decided to hold its definitive contest to determine its ultimate victor. The trial featured three accomplished champions: Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer. The selection of these three remains one of sports' great scandals -- right up there with the Czechoslovakian judge in Lillehammer. The three contenders were fine, having won more than a 100 contests and $10....
Jul 04, 2020•38 min•Ep. 16
Published in 1862, Les Misérables by Victor Hugo is "the novel of the century" according to David Bellos, professor of French and comparative literature at Princeton University. When asked on The Great Books podcast what qualifies this novel to be on the show Bellos responded, "It tackles a huge range of human experience, with an enormous amount of passion. If there ever was a great book, it must be Les Misérables." The story focuses on 'the suffering ones', 'the humiliated'. It's set in the soc...
Jun 27, 2020•47 min•Ep. 15
Your podcaster shunned traditional university education and instead sought a guild apprenticeship. Drawn to parapsychology and the occult even as a sma' one, it was natural this podcaster's inclinations were in alchemy, phrenology, gryphography, cryptozoology and economics. However, The Inquisition and Salem Trials had somewhat narrowed opportunities in these first options; opportunities which are now reserved for only the most gifted. With an aptitude optimistically scored by one high-school co...
Jun 20, 2020•50 min•Ep. 14
Upon its release the book was met with popular indifference. And no wonder. A cautionary tale about indulgence, extravagance and social upheaval? Right into the racing heart of the Roaring Twenties and its cloche hat wearing flappers, smoking Lucky Strikes and listening to jazz? No thanks. When Fitzgerald asked his editor about the book's reception he was told, "Sales situation doubtful, but excellent reviews." The author, in response, closed with, "Yours in great depression." It wasn't until th...
Jun 12, 2020•38 min•Ep. 13
Legendary figures took on the mantle of "Mail Carrier!" including: founding father Benjamin Franklin, Wells Fargo cowboys of the Pony Express, and nice guy Mr. McFeely from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood . In more recent decades the profession saw its reputation sullied. Represented at one end of the spectrum by the austere, virginal, trivia-oracle Clifford C. Clavin, Jr. and at the other end the covetous and lurid Newman. But in this episode of Making Sense , Jeff Snider endeavors to bring back the p...
Jun 05, 2020•43 min•Ep. 12
In the mid-80s parents allowed their children to watch an innocent-looking television program titled V thinking it was some kind of Sesame Street offshoot. Imagine little Johnny and Suzy Q's horror when, instead of Reading Rainbow , they were watching a sci-fi melodrama about disguised reptilians. The Visitors, presenting themselves as competent, benevolent beings here to teach the backwards ape a few things, were hiding behind masks -- including their beautiful smokeshow of a leader Diana -- an...
May 29, 2020•37 min•Ep. 11
We are informed by the financial press the agitated creation of reserves are, to capital market participants, a mix of whiskey and Felix Felicis; liquid courage and luck. The first manifestation of the wealth effect, which will encourage households to consume and corporations to invest. The financial market animal spirit. The economist's Patronus Charm. But what did the Federal Reserve do - and more importantly not do - in 1929, 1987 and throughout 2008-20 to support US stock markets? When was t...
May 22, 2020•39 min•Ep. 10
It is often said that there is, "nothing new under the sun", and with a few exceptions (e.g. negative nominal interest rates, negatively priced oil, TikTok) that is true, even with a monetary gewgaw like quantitative easing. Japan, so as to revive its economy, has been implementing different flavors of QE for just under two decades now (that's all one really needs to know about its effectiveness). In this episode we explore what lead up to the first QE program with a tour guide: Milton Friedman....
May 15, 2020•33 min•Ep. 9
Will unlimited dollar swaps by the Federal Reserve solve the dollar shortage? How does collateral shortage in the repo market affect, for example, equities? Why does the gold price plunges when there are collateral fails in the repo market? Does re-pledging and/or re-hypothecation take place in the repo market? If there's liquidity crisis, why do corporations get such cheap loans still? Interest rate swaps go negative; what does it mean? Why aren't bank reserves useful to the monetary system? Wh...
May 12, 2020•45 min•Ep. 8
Quantitative easing, like foie gras, is controversial. The gavage-based production of duck and goose livers is considered cruel to the animal, gorged helplessly as it is in a pen. Central banks likewise perform a force-feeding, a monetary gavage of reserves forced onto the private bank balance sheet. What makes it a peculiar practice is that the monetary farmer expects this gorged banking goose to then dance around carefree - honking out credit at every passing leaf or tussled blade of grass. Si...
May 08, 2020•40 min•Ep. 7
In 1929 a plague struck Florida resulting in an overwhelming government response. The consequences were not only agricultural but financial as banks, heavily exposed to the Sunshine State's horticulture sector, approached insolvency. Bank stability, Federal Reserve responses and a suitcase stuffed with six million dollars are all part of the thrilling story. But so is the notion of bureaucratic delay, wild swings from hope to despair (and back), contemporary titans of industry offering reassurin...
May 01, 2020•39 min•Ep. 6
The Earl of the Eurodollar Jeff Snider ( @JeffSnider_AIP ), Chief Investment Officer at Alhambra Investments and Emil Kalinowski ( @EmilKalinowski ) discuss the four topics. First, what happened this past week when the price of oil to be delivered in May was priced at a negative $50(ish) dollars per barrel? And much more importantly than the bizarre price, what does the back-half of the oil futures curve say about the medium-term condition of the global economy? Nothing good unfortunately. Secon...
Apr 24, 2020•46 min•Ep. 5
Jeff Snider, Chief Investment Officer of Alhambra Investments and Baron of the Balance Sheet @JeffSnider_AIP and Emil Kalinowski, Not Hard on the Eyes @EmilKalinowski. The World Trade Organization offered two outlooks for 2020-21, one that is not terrible and the other distinctly so. Jeff and Emil discuss how getting back to previous levels would be an impressive achievement in itself and how it suggests that central bank actions are limited in their impact on the broader economy. The US labor f...
Apr 17, 2020•35 min•Ep. 4
We draw on five articles posted at Alhambra Investments to draw out the difference between a central bank - central to money supply - and a bank authority - central to a smooth functioning banking system. Jeff notes that we are not facing a local banking crisis that requires a banking authority but an international 'money' supply problem (there's not enough of it). Not only is the Fed not central to that money supply but nobody is. Interestingly Jeff is not concerned about another banking crisis...
Apr 03, 2020•32 min•Ep. 3
Jeff Snider, Alhambra Investments Chief Investment Officer (@JeffSnider_AIP) and Emil Kalinowski (@EmilKalinowski) review three topics. We review three articles Jeff wrote this week, trying to explain them a bit more than perhaps may be apparent at first glance. Firstly, why repurchase agreement stresses materialize prior to quarter-end. Secondly, why low-low-low-limbo-proof interest rates (e.g. effective Federal Funds, overnight repo market rates) are not signalling success but further interban...
Mar 27, 2020•37 min•Ep. 2
This inaugural episode discusses the goal of building a collaborative, educational community to discuss the creation, destruction and redistribution of modern monetary formats throughout the global economy. A strange kind of money, so unlike what we're used to seeing in our pockets, but a money that is needed to finance activity, trade and progress. We briefly touched upon the nature of money, the un-centralness of central banks and identified the financial collateral markets - not cash or bank ...
Mar 23, 2020•37 min•Ep. 1
