#219 Risk: An Economist Walks Into a Brothel. Allison Schrager

September 5, 2019 Richard Davies

From dating to switching jobs and managing retirement. We all manage risk. Want to get better at it?

The best way to learn is to ask some of the real experts: Magicians, gamblers, big-wave surfers, horse breeders, and prostitutes. That's what economist, journalist and risk advisor Allison Schrager did. She's our guest in this episode.

Allison is the author of the new book "An Economist Walks Into a Brothel: And Other Unexpected Places to Learn About Risk." She visited Nevada's Moonlight Bunny Ranch brothel, hung out with paparazzi who stalked celebrities, spoke with movie makers in Hollywood, and went to a risk conference for surfers in Hawaii as part of her extensive research for the book.

#217 Rising Risks of Recession: Diana Henriques

August 22, 2019 Richard Davies

Is the U.S. economy about to fall off a cliff? Declining growth, financial market jitters, and a growing rift between the U.S. and China are all fueling fears of a recession.

For the first time in 12 years, since shortly before the last recession, interest rate yields on 10-year government notes are lower than for short-term loans. This inverted yield curve is highly unusual and the latest sign that a sharp slowdown could happen soon.

"The inverted yield curve has accurately predicted seven out of the last seven recessions in the past half century, says our guest, award-winning financial journalist and best-selling author Diana Henriques.