The Nike Economy: Why Vietnam Is America’s Hidden Factory Floor
10 April 2025 - 33 minsWhat do Nike runners, IKEA furniture, and half a million Vietnamese workers have in common? They’re all caught in the crossfire of Trump’s tariff tantrum. This week, we trace the hidden supply chains behind the global economy, from Vietnam’s rise as a manufacturing powerhouse to how a sneaker company now employs more people abroad than Ford and GM do at home. We break down how the MAGA tariff regime threatens to crater entire economies, sour U.S. relations in Asia, and hand China the long game. Plus, what it all means for Ireland, Africa, and the American empire itself. Are we witnessing a pivot, or a pullback from the world stage? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information...
Series Episodes
Why Trump Is About to Come for Ireland
Made in Kinsale, sold in America, the Ozempic boom is making Ireland rich and dangerously exposed. We unpack how three companies now pay nearly half our corporate tax, and what happens when Trump finally notices. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
41 mins
2 June Finished
How Trump Could Kill the Dollar
Monetary historian Brendan Greeley explains why the dollar's power has nothing to do with the Fed, why crypto is just a bank in disguise, and why politicising the dollar might be the fastest way to end its reign as the world's reserve currency. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
48 mins
28 May Finished
Why Nobody's Having Babies Anymore
Birth rates are collapsing, not just in rich countries, but everywhere from Mexico to Tunisia. The FT's John Burn-Murdoch joins us to unpack the surprising culprit, why young people aren't just having fewer kids, they're not even coupling up, and what it means for the future of work, wealth, Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
50 mins
26 May Finished
Britain Is Broke
Britain is running out of money, in a currency it prints itself. We unpack the gilt market panic, Starmer's impossible bind, and why the UK is starting to look more like 1970s Italy than the country that invented modern finance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
36 mins
21 May Finished
Immigration: What's The Plan?
No policy. No plan. No housing. Sinead O'Sullivan is back to explain why Ireland took in more immigrants per head than any country in Europe, and why the middle class is about to feel what the working class has been shouting about for years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
44 mins
19 May Finished
China Is Winning, Trump Doesn't Know It Yet
China is winning, and Trump doesn't know it yet. As the two leaders sit down in Beijing today, we explain why the Chinese think America is an empire in decline, and why they might be right. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
39 mins
14 May Finished
