While the appointment of a special master in the case involving ex-president Donald Trump's handling of classified documents raised eyebrows, the use of special masters in federal cases at large has risen 300% in the past 20 years and is the symptom of a much larger problem in the courts. Gabe Roth of Fix the Court discusses how judicial vacancies and an unproductive legislature create an environment where judges rely more and more on outside help and both victims of crime and those wrongly...

In 1944, 44 nations came together to create a set of economic reforms designed to promote economic stability and a lasting peace. Almost 80 years later, this order has given way to a runaway financial sector that has destabilized the world economy with repeated financial crises and asset bubbles, and increasing hazards created by climate change.  In this episode, Kevin Gallagher of Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center and Richard Kozul-Wright of the United Nations Conference...

David Feldman, Professor of Economics at William and Mary University, discusses the drivers behind the cost of education, why its rising costs can be a good sign for the economy as a whole, and how rising levels of income inequality contribute to the current problem. You can find David's paper with supporting data here: https://www.mhec.org/sites/default/files/resources/mhec_affordability_series7_20180730_2.pdf For additional commentary on this episode and other issues of the day, sign...

What impact will President Biden's executive action providing debt relief to those with student loans have on the cost of education and the economy as a whole? Marc Goldwein from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget discusses the impact this will have on inflation and how this program might make student loans more expensive in the long run. For additional information on this episode and other issues of the day, sign up for YDHTY's email list at www.YDHTY.com/news You can find a...

Michael Chernew of Harvard Medical School discusses the problems with taking a purist stance on government-sponsored or free market solutions to healthcare, how recent innovations that address healthcare consumption could help contain costs, and why there's no silver bullet that will solve the problem of access to affordable care in its entirety. Michael's study on the impact a payment reform known as AQC had on healthcare costs in Massachusetts can be found here:...

Arjun Moorthy and his colleagues at The Factual ran two polls on healthcare reform to see how Americans felt about single-payer healthcare and the more modest public option. In this episode, he shares the arguments for and against both and reveals one point of consensus all Americans share on the subject of America's healthcare system. You can find more polls and underreported news from The Factual here: thefactual.com Stay up to date on the latest episodes via YDHTY's weekly newsletter...

Jonathan Gruber played a critical role in the passage of Mitt Romney and Barack Obama's respective healthcare reform bills by helping include the individual mandate for insurance coverage in both. In this episode, Gruber discusses the process of working with both administrations, the backlash he faced as the debate over the ACA became more contentious, and whether our political environment discourages smart people from entering public service.

We're kicking off our third season with Dan Gorenstein, host of the Tradeoffs podcast, and was the healthcare reporter for NPR's Marketplace before that. We call that cred around the YDHTY offices.   Dan discusses the state of healthcare in America, what more needs to be done to ensure everyone has access to quality care, and how the solutions are more complex and involve more trade-offs than the solutions we commonly hear of.   You can find links to Dan's podcast and a slew of additional...

In this rebroadcast of YDHTY, Dan speaks with Mauro Guillén on his new book 2030: How Today's Biggest Trends Will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everything. In it, they discuss how an aging population, increasing automation, and the rise of the sharing economy will fundamentally change the economy as we know it. Mauro's book can be purchased here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250268181/2030howtodaysbiggesttrendswillcollideandreshapethefutureofeverything

In this rebroadcast of YDHTY, originally aired in the spring of 2021, Dan speaks with Chris Bosso of Northeastern University about how a change to US agricultural policy in the 1970s came at the expense of our health and the environment. For additional commentary on this episode and other issues of the day, sign up for YDHTY's weekly newsletter at ydhty.com/news

Originally recorded in February of 2021, Dan and the Data Monk the then-nascent bitcoin bubble and the potential for bitcoin or something like it to serve as the next global reserve currency. For additional commentary on this episode and other issues of the day, sign up for YDHTY's weekly newsletter via the following links: https://www.ydhty.com/news https://youdonthavetoyell.substack.com/

Has late-stage capitalism produced the same results as late-stage communism? In this rebroadcast of the June 25, 2020 episode of YDHTY, the Data Monk and Dan explore how US monetary policy has effectively served as a method of central planning. A recap of the episode can be found here: https://blog.ydhty.com/is-america-a-centrally-planned-economy For deeper analysis of this week's episode, sign up for the weekly email newsletter here: ydhty.com/news Or on Substack here:...

The Data Monk returns to discuss how easy money policies have created a feedback loop of unsustainable consumption in the United States and contributed to wage stagnation, income inequality, and rising populism. Time limitations created an unfortunate cliffhanger at the end of this episode, however you can learn more about Dan's proposal for a new global reserve currency via next week's newsletter at www.ydhty.com/news or at youdonthavetoyell.substack.com  

Ben Studebaker discusses how trade imbalances enabled by monetary policy have increased political polarization at home, instability abroad, and how reforming our current monetary system is necessary, but unlikely to happen without further unrest. Additional commentary on this episode and other resources are available via YDHTY's weekly email. Subscribe here: ydhty.com/news

With the Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe v Wade this month, Dan speaks with Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa of New Wave Feminists, a pro-life feminist organization focused on addressing the issues that make motherhood a difficult proposition for many women in America. In this conversation, we explore the nuances of a complex issue that's too often made out to be black and white. You can learn more about Destiny's organization at www.newwavefeminists.com For an overview of the polling...

What impact do agricultural markets have on political stability today, and how might climate change alter that? In this episode, Dan speaks with Cullen Hendrix, Professor at the University of Denver's Korbel School of International Studies, whose work focuses on the intersection of environment, food security, and conflict. Cullen explains how the financialization of the global food market has led to food insecurity in the developing world, how climate change will alter what we eat and where...

Jesus "Eddie" Campa, former Chief Deputy of the El Paso County Sheriff's Department and former Chief of Police for Marshall Texas, discusses the recent school shooting in Uvalde and how loose restrictions on gun ownership complicate the lives of law enforcement. Sign up for Dan's new weekly newsletter here, which will give additional resources on each episode, and previews of upcoming episodes: https://www.ydhty.com/news Eddie's book and other content can be accessed at...

Andrey Scherbak of HSE St. Petersburg discusses how changes in diet are often a predictor of democratic reform, and the surprising role lactose tolerance played in democratizing Europe. You can read Andrey's paper and the data he used to support his conclusion here: A Recipe for Democracy? The Spread of the European Diet and Political Change

Carey King of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin discusses how the last 70 years of economic and population growth have been fueled by the transition to petroleum, how a decreasing supply of it has increased political polarization, and what the future might hold as supplies continue to dwindle. Carey's book, The Economic Superorganism: Beyond Competing Narratives on Energy, Growth, and Policy can be purchased here: ...

The Data Monk rejoins YDHTY after a long hiatus to explain how the current debt driven model of global trade fuels consumption at the expense of future growth.

A recently leaked draft of a Supreme Court decision indicates the court might plan to overturn Roe v Wade has added heat to an already contentious issue. While the abortion debate seems to be a war between two intractable sides, a large group of Americans stand in the middle who are both uncomfortable with the practice of abortion and supportive of Roe v Wade. Arjun Moorthy from The Factual discusses some recent polls that show Americans' opinions on the subject are far more nuanced than the...

The Saudi government made headlines in March by hinting they might take payment for oil in China's currency, the yuan, breaking with a long history of buying and selling oil exclusively in USD. In this episode, Dan speaks with world renowned energy expert, Anas Alhajji, and learns why this is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Anas can be found on Twitter at @anasalhajji His research on the correlation between the US dollar and oil futures on the Shanghai Energy Exchange can be found here. ...

Macro-commentator, author, and PhD in Cosmology (not kidding), Bob Swarup, explains how the US built an economic empire around the dollar, how the last imperial era ended in two World Wars, and how the current trend of deglobalization could land us back in the same spot. Bob's book "Money Mania: Booms, Panics, and Busts from Ancient Rome to the Great Meltdown" can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/Money-Mania-Panics-Ancient-Meltdown/dp/1608198413

In last week's episode, we discussed China's ambition to replace the dollar as the world's global currency. In this episode, Benjamin J. Cohen of UCSB takes the conversation a step further as we discuss how the US became the dominant international currency, why China would need to implement democractic reforms to take its place, and why this is unlikely to happen. Benjamin's book, "Currency Statecraft: Monetary Rivalry and Geopolitical Ambition" lays the groundwork for our conversation. ...

Recording (at least some of it!) from San Juan, Puerto Rico this week, You Don't Have to Yell is the home for the politically homeless, and a haven for anyone that sees politics in colors other than red and blue.   Following up on last week's PetroDollar primer, we're jumping right into the thick of it. China recently offered to buy oil in Yuan/Renminbi (it's a context thing). As of press time, Saudi Arabia is considering the option. What comes next could rock the global economic landscape,...