Podcast 234

Market Plunge. If it wasn’t for Ebola, this week’s Market Plunge would be the top story and we’d all be talking about it. Was it really less than a month ago that President Obama said the market and economy had come roaring back? And this week the market gave back all the gains so far of 2014. Will it come back. Analysts aren’t so sure. As the rest of the economies in the world contract, all hope was placed in US economic growth which the fantasy world created by the media hyped. Bad retail sales numbers this week dashed those hopes. Meanwhile the world’s governments and central banks that depend on inflation to wipe away debts, are very concerned about disinflation turning into deflation. Are lower commodity prices a good sign, or a bad sign? In the final analysis, the US economy will probably not be enough to act as a counterweight to fading growth in the Euro Zone and China, even with lower commodity prices. The worry on Wall Street? Faltering demand among consumers. Surprise! While the President touts economic ‘recovery’ the number of Americans on SNAP benefits (in other words Food Stamps) skyrockets, the clearest indication yet that the newly employed are in low wage part time jobs, and those out of the work force may stay out as long as government programs pay them to. Not a good combination, and certainly not one that indicates dynamic growth. What’s going on? Steve Forbes has five suggestions that are pretty good. The upshot? We’re a long way from the kinds of radical reforms that will change the scope, cost and size of the Federal Government and get things back on track. It isn’t gridlock causing the problems, its the people. It’s our politics. How do we put away creaky old Keynesian concepts moderate Republicans, democrats and progressives have championed going back to the New Deal? How do we cut away regulation, spending and taxation and reduce government power, so that new decentralizing technologies can empower the individual to innovate, generate tomorrow’s successes, and power the US out of the malaise we find ourselves in? Yes, there are Republicans afraid of radical change just as there are democrats afraid to reduce the size and power of government. We have to stop expecting creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial instincts from politicians. News Flash! Your congressman is not Steve Jobs. Not by a long shot. Some ideas to consider when thinking about the other major story chronicling the failure of ‘big government’ these days; The economy. Sponsored by Depotstar. 

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Podcast 217

What’s on Your TV? Sometimes, when you look at the day’s news, it’s hard to tell whether the news is real, or whether it is season 7 of some show on Netflix. So why not talk about what you’re watching on Netflix, HBO GO, Apple TV or some other distributor of content. And why not wonder whether the development of time-shifting whole seasons of TV shows might eventually replace the constant thrum-thrum-thrum of nonsense from the Cable News Channels, TV Networks and Network News Shows? Sitting out on the deck, with a fire and a cup of coffee, enjoying an early fall night to talk about how the lines between what is real and what is make believe are becoming more blurry. Like the lines between real acting and drama, and porn. How do we know what we ‘know’. How do we tell the difference between what is real and what is make believe, when politicos, pundits, politicians and reporters are appearing in movies and movie-like TV shows, which sometimes include situations that are oddly predictive, or reflective of what ‘really’ happens. Compare your viewing habits to the host of the Bob Davis Podcasts viewing habits. Homeland, Boardwalk Empire, Mad Men, The Last Ship, Tyrant, Revenge, Reality Shows, Californication, House of Cards, The Walking Dead, Mob City, The Stand, Weeds, Russian and Swedish Crime Movies, Hong Kong and Taiwanese Chinese Mafia Movies, documentaries, 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s network series, You Tube, Torrents and more. There’s so much to watch, and so little time. Who needs reality? Besides, there’s only so many more evenings we can sit in our lounge chairs with the warm breeze blowing through the windows until 5 AM, watching and watching…and watching more. Season 5 of ‘whatever’ is on! Sweet! Sponsored by X Government Cars! 

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Podcast 206

Boardwalk Empire and the 1920’s. A new guilty pleasure and obsession is HBO’s award winning ‘Boardwalk Empire’. 1920’s America was a time of great upheaval, social change and prosperity. Innovations like Radio, telephones, automobiles, commercial flight, electricity and mass production enabled some to make enormous sums, but also created a burgeoning middle class. As the nation’s wealth doubled, the Jazz Age began. Prohibition, depressed crop prices, waning unions and progressivism, the shift of population from small towns to cities gives this era real bite. What’s not to like about the 1920’s. ‘Boardwalk Empire’ is doing a great job showing the good – and the bad – from 1920’s America. If your image of the 1920’s is crowds milling around Wall Street in October of 1929, you’re really thinking about the 1930’s. In fact the 1920’s was an era throughly embraced by its young people, for its raw growth, music and opportunity. But it was also an America that had not been fully transformed by a national ‘image’, a time when cities were smaller (Chicago only could claim 2.5 million citizens), and every place still still claim some level of ‘uniqueness’. Even train travel as we know it today was still relatively new. Still ahead was the depression, the run up to World War II, and the post war world. Behind the 192o’s was World War I. It was a time of peace and prosperity. Generally speaking, good times. How does this era compare to the 1920’s? What kinds of discoveries, innovations and developments are on the horizon to explode, and transform our world – for the better – if and when prosperity returns? Sponsored by Autonomouscad.com. 

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