The Root of All Evil
A podcast for curious individuals who don't work in finance but want to stay informed about finance, economics, monetary and fiscal policy, and miscellaneous topics. Each week, the hosts dig into the root of a financial scandal, debate, or news event, reviewing source material and forming their own opinions. They aim to be honest in their search for understanding while keeping the discussion fun and accessible.
Episodes
E107 | French Bonds blow up; Circular AI Financing, different this time
Joe's amazing music video, Bullish Somehow, is still relevant this week as both bond yields and stock prices hit huge highs. We joke about the lyrics and present the full music video at the end. Joe gives us the download on the main finance story in Europe, the French bond yield blow up. France is not looking like a good credit anymore, which is a meaningful downgrade in where the country sat righ
E105 | Can Anything Slow AI Down? Rates, China & Regulation
This week, we ask whether anything can actually slow the AI buildout. Higher interest rates, rising energy costs, U.S.–China competition, and growing calls for regulation would normally look like meaningful constraints—yet investment keeps charging ahead.We start with the strange macro backdrop and Bill Ackman’s argument that AI investment may be unusually insensitive to higher rates. Then we turn
The World Hikes; CLARITY Dies; VantageScore is born; the Fed Protects
Luke, Joe and Lexi talk about how central bankers around the world went hiking this week, the demise of the CLARITY Act (for now), some drama in the FICO / VantageScore world, and Michelle Bowman and the Federal Reserve are fighting for the little guy in some new regulatory guidance on Third Party Risk Management. Timestamps: 00:00 - The Lavish Buffet of Financial News this week04:35 - Financial H
E103 | Can the U.S. Government Control the Markets?
“I have asymmetric information. I am the house now.”Scott Bessent’s challenge to traders sets up this week’s question: how far can Washington actually bend markets to its will?Joe and Luke unpack the yen’s rally, Treasury buybacks, rising bond yields, and the pressure from oil and inflation. Is the market mispricing the fundamentals—or simply delivering an answer policymakers don’t like? We also d
E102 | China buys Gold, Get's Isolated, & Fed Predictions
Luke and Joe talk China this week as they are buying up gold, got isolated at the G20, and economists continue to question what the "real" exchange rate should be. Luke also gives a prediction in regards to the Federal Reserve's little known third mandate. Time StampsTopic 1: China's Buying Gold00:00 - Luke apologizes for being dumb00:40 - Central Banks moving away from the dollar? 01:45 - Why the
E101 | Who Really Controls Interest Rates? FED vs TREASURY | The Root of All Evil Podcast
Kevin Warsh used his first Jackson Hole speech as Fed chair to lay out a different philosophy for monetary policy: less forward guidance, fewer promises about the path of rates, and more reliance on markets to reveal information.But at almost the same time, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been taking increasingly active steps in the bond market as long-term yields remain volatile. So who real
E100 | Modelling A new Class of Compute-Backed Securities; Treasuries Rates & Scotty B, Diva
This week, Alexis joins us again for a discussion about a new class of securities: the Compute Backed Security, or CBS. This is a project set up by NVIDIA to, at the end, increase the demand for his product by increasing the financing available to them. But what are the underlying economics of hyperscalers, and what risks are they most sensitive to? Luke presents a simple model to help answer that
E99 | The Yen Won't Strengthen. Yields Won't Fall. AI Won't Listen. | The Root of All Evil Podcast
This week we look at the weakening yen, rising U.S. Treasury yields, and the limits of how much policymakers can really control market outcomes. We also revisit my AI evaluation project after scaling it to thousands of runs, then connect that work to recent examples of unexpected agent behavior—including the Hugging Face incident and the role of persistent agent loops.How much control do we really
E97 | The AI Revolution Will Happen One Workflow at a Time
The conversation begins with an introduction and preparation for the AI model demo. The hosts discuss the AI model, its purpose, and its potential impact on productivity and automation. They explore the data processing and automation involved, the output and analysis of the AI model, and the workflow and repair plan for the model's narrative generation. The conversation delves into the use of AI m
E96 | A soccer-noob on Argentina in the WC Final | Bank Crush it | Brazil & Canada Tariffs
Luke, someone who doesn't follow soccer / futbol, watched the second half of the World Cup. His takeaway: Argentina is a dirty team. He discusses how he formed his opinion on that one. We discuss bank's earning season, and how banks absolutely crushed it. Joe says that volatility is back, which is good for those market makers in banks. Luke has a different take: with the AI buildout, lots of compa
E94 | Evaluating California Elections - Fraud, or no?
We're back! Joe is back from his trip to Japan and has nothing to say about it. We decry all the great topics we had to miss over the month before we dig to the root of today's topic, the California Election System. Spurred by what happened to Pratt during the LA Mayoral primaries, plus the discussion on the All-In Podcast (David Friedberg and David Sachs), Luke spent way too much of his time tryi
E89 | China Subjugates its Financial System; Treasury Considers Repo Investments; Star Wars Speech
This week we focus on a deep dive into a new (proposed) Financial Law in China that gives the CCP expansive, total control over Financial Institutions. It's shocking! We compare the US and Chinese process for passing these kinds of laws, show why this might be form over function. We cover specific Articles that grant the regulators expansive powers: things their US counterparts absolutely do not h
E81 | Private Credit, Debanking, Oil Prediction, A New American Bank, Bringing Mortgages Home
Joe and Luke discuss the last few weeks of financial news as perceived by finance professionals. We got an update to the Donald Trump JP Morgan Debanking case. The JP Morgan defense issued a responses and (SCANDAL!) "admitted" to debanking Trump! Really, all they did was confirm what no one denied: they closed Trump and Trump-adjacent accounts. Luke presents his thoughts on the uphill battle befor
E79 | The collapse of a bank that wasn't a bank; Scotty B's Prediction; Iranian Sanctions Story
Luke and Joe continue to advance against their ignorance in this episode. First, Luke provides six topics which he did not have time to research so that you can research them if interested. The main topic was Scott Bessent's response to a question about Iran posed at a recent Congressional hearing (early Feb, 2026). He mentioned bank, economic, and currency collapses. Sounds interesting! But what
E76 | Kevin Warsh, Potential Regime Shfit at the Fed, and Dollar Credibility
We break down the surprise nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve Chair. Are we witnessing a shift in tone at the Fed — or something more structural?Separately, we discuss two other developing stories:• Renewed government shutdown brinkmanship in Washington• Rumors of potential yen intervention and questions around the strong dollar policyWhile a short shutdown may have limited oper
E77 | Credit Card Competition, RMB Reserve Currency, Inflation by Household
The Credit Card Competition Act will not help the affordability issue; Xi Jinping wants the RMB to be the Global Reserve Currency, but has a long ways to go; and a new study shows that households experienced inflation in very different ways.
E75 | Japan Interest Spike, 1929 Book Review, Union Baggage, and the Billionaire Tax Act
Lots of interesting happenings this past week. Joe and Luke follow up on E68 and discuss the recent spike in Japanese Government Bonds on the back of PM's announcement to lower consumption taxes. Luke finished reading the recent pop-finance book from Sorkin, 1929, and offers a recap and review of the book. In preparation for the root dive discussion on the proposed 2026 Billionaire Tax Act, Luke t
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