Odd Lots

Bloomberg

Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway explore the most interesting topics in finance, markets and economics. Join the conversation every Monday and Thursday.

  • 42 minutes 23 seconds
    This Is What the Crypto Industry Actually Wants From Trump

    We all know that the new Trump administration is likely to be more friendly to the crypto industry than the Biden administration was. And we know that the industry has generally been rather supportive and enthusiastic about the change at the White House. But what's actually coming next? What does being favorable to the industry really look like in practice? What does the crypto industry actually want to see in terms of changing regulations under a new administration? On this episode, we speak with Austin Campbell, professor at NYU's Stern School of Business and the CEO of stablecoin company WSPN USA about the possibilities ahead, and what moves the industry is hoping to see from the SEC and bank regulators.00

    Read More: Trump Plans to Designate Cryptocurrency as a National Priority

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    20 January 2025, 9:00 am
  • 34 minutes 10 seconds
    Lots More with Lev Menand on the Eurodollar Market Now

    Odd Lots has been exploring the history of the eurodollar market in a special three-part series hosted by Columbia Law School's Lev Menand and the New York Fed's Josh Younger. But why should we care about the origins of this market at all? How do eurodollars fit into the global financial system right now? And what role do they play in maintaining the dollar's reserve currency status? In this episode, we bring back Lev to give an update on the modern eurodollar market. We discuss why some policymakers have been sounding the alarm and whether stablecoins are the new eurodollars.

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    17 January 2025, 2:06 pm
  • 37 minutes 32 seconds
    The Hidden History of Eurodollars, Part 3: Spinning Out of Control

    In this special three-part series, Odd Lots is exploring the history of the eurodollar market. By the 1970s, eurodollars are hitting the headlines — and not in a good way. While this new form of money initially acted as a pressure valve for the Bretton Woods system, many now think the eurodollar market has spun out of control. What happens next — including Richard Nixon's decision to take the US off the gold standard — will not only shape the ultimate contours of today's eurodollar market, but will also give us the modern financial system itself. The story is told by Columbia Law School Professor Lev Menand and Federal Reserve Bank of New York Policy Advisor Josh Younger.

    Read More:
    US Aims to Tighten Flow of TSMC and Samsung Chips to China
    Russian Crude Oil Piles Up Near Chinese Coast After US Sanctions

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    16 January 2025, 9:00 am
  • 43 minutes 25 seconds
    The Hidden History of Eurodollars, Part 2: Defending the Dollar System

    In this special three-part series, Odd Lots is exploring the history of the eurodollar market. As we enter the turbulent 1960s, the eurodollar market has grown big enough to catch the eye of regulators. The Federal Reserve mounts a fact-finding mission to better explore this rapidly-expanding market. And soon, policymakers have to decide just how helpful eurodollars can be when it comes to solidifying and expanding the greenback's role in international finance at a time when the gold-backed dollar is about to be put under massive pressure. The story is told by Columbia Law School Professor Lev Menand and Federal Reserve Bank of New York Policy Advisor Josh Younger.

    Read more:
    Trump Team Studies Gradual Tariff Hikes Under Emergency Powers
    Canadian Ambassador Warns of ‘Tit-For-Tat’ Retaliation to US Tariffs

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    15 January 2025, 9:00 am
  • 33 minutes 52 seconds
    The Hidden History of Eurodollars, Part 1: Cold War Origins

    At more than $10 trillion outstanding, the eurodollar market is one of the biggest forms of shadow banking activity out there. It's also one of the most interesting markets in existence, allowing non-US banks to hold and lend offshore dollars that effectively sit outside of the Federal Reserve's control. But where did eurodollars actually come from? Why did the US allow these "shadow dollars" to exist at all? And what do eurodollars mean for the greenback's role in the global financial system? In this special three-part series, we look back at the hidden history of the eurodollar market. The story is told by Columbia Law School Professor Lev Menand and Federal Reserve Bank of New York Policy Advisor Josh Younger. We start in the aftermath of World War II, when Europe is in the midst of an expensive reconstruction and the world is in the early throes of the Cold War. It's here that the eurodollar is born.

    Read more:
    Russia Sanctions Arm Trump for Talks With Putin
    Scholz Steps Up Criticism of Trump’s Expansionist Rhetoric

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    14 January 2025, 9:00 am
  • 48 minutes 26 seconds
    Why Government Hiring Is So Inefficient

    Regardless of your political ideology, it's easy to agree that government should work well; that it should be able to hire talented officials, and build things in a timely, cost-effective manner. Of course, what that means in practice is open for debate, and different people will have different priorities. But at the moment, there are reasons to believe the public sector isn't operating optimally. Things move incredibly slow in many cases. Software systems are often old and extremely costly, and don't do a good job serving the public's needs. It can be extremely difficult to bring on the best workers, even setting aside questions about public sector salaries. Jennifer Pahlka is the author of Recoding America, and was the founder of Code for America. She has also served as the US Deputy Chief CTO and has seen how much of government operates up close. We talk to her about what she's seen, how waste happens, how government operations get bogged down by inertia, and why simply identifying things that are going wrong isn't enough to change them. She talks to us about Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, and why a major jolt may be necessary to get better results.

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    13 January 2025, 9:00 am
  • 16 minutes 33 seconds
    Evolving Money: A Faster, Cheaper Way to Pay (Sponsored Content)

    In the 1950s, a businessman, looking for a new way to settle his lunch tab, sparked a payments revolution and paved the way for today’s cashless economy. Now, the growing use of stablecoins like USDC is leading businesses and consumers to an era of digital payments that’s even faster and cheaper than a credit card.

    This episode is sponsored by Coinbase.

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    12 January 2025, 11:00 am
  • 22 minutes 6 seconds
    Lots More on the Global Selloff in Government Bonds

    One of the biggest stories in markets right now is the huge selloff in government bonds. And we're not just talking about the US here. The UK is seeing multi-year highs in long-end yields. So is Japan. And of course, the US 10-year Treasury is close to its highest level in a year, despite the recent rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. So what's going on? Is it just about inflation and growth expectations or is there more to it? On this episode, we speak to Jay Barry, head of global rates strategy at JPMorgan Securities, who breaks it all down and gives us his estimate of where fair value now stands.

    Read More: Fed’s Barkin Says Term Premium Moving Long Rates, Not Inflation

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    10 January 2025, 9:00 am
  • 43 minutes 43 seconds
    This Is How Electricity Rates Are Actually Set

    Utilities in the US have a couple big jobs to do. On the one hand, they need to deliver affordable and reliable power to their customers. On the other hand, they also need to maintain and upgrade huge amounts of fixed infrastructure. Balancing those two jobs is getting more complicated thanks to America's aging electricity grid and the shift towards renewables. So how are big utilities squaring those two objectives? How do they decide how much money they need to fund new capital investment? How do they decide which customer pays what rate? And what role do regulators play in all these discussions? In this episode of the podcast, we speak with Lon Huber, senior vice president of pricing and customer solutions at Duke Energy, one of the largest utilities in the US. We talk about why the ramp-up in renewable energy hasn't led to lower electricity prices for everyone, why fuel is ultimately the most marginal cost of electricity generation, and how utilities are handling booming demand from data centers.

    Read More:
    AI Needs So Much Power, It's Making Yours Worse
    UK Set to Spend £1.8 Billion as Wind Power Overwhelms Grid

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    9 January 2025, 9:00 am
  • 43 minutes 43 seconds
    What It Felt Like When Everyone Was Hopeful, Happy, and Rich

    If you look at various surveys, Americans feel grim about the state of the economy. But even outside of the economy itself, you see negative readings for faith in various American institutions. Pessimism seems to be in right now, at least on a societal level. But it wasn't always this way. In the 1990s, we were between the Cold War and the War on Terror. The stock market boomed through much of the decade. Optimism was in. So what was that like, and then how did it come to an abrupt end in the early years of the new millennium? On this episode, we speak to Colette Shade, author of the new book Y2K: How the 2000s Became Everything, about this time period in America, what stood out, and what is relevant today.

    Related reading: Author of 'Dow 36,000' Book on Lessons Learned Since the 1999 Prediction

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    6 January 2025, 9:00 am
  • 46 minutes 46 seconds
    This Is How China Builds So Much Nuclear Power

    In the US right now, there is a lot of talk about a so-called "nuclear revival." But it remains to be seen whether we'll see a meaningful uptick in actual power generation, from either new reactors, or old reactors getting a restart. Meanwhile, in China, nuclear construction is full steam ahead. In the last decade, China has built 37 nuclear reactors, and several more are coming down the pipe. So what does it take to build nuclear at scale? On this episode, we speak to David Fishman, a China-based energy analyst at The Lantau Group. He walks us through all the elements of the country's nuclear success, from financing to manufacturing to its domestic power markets. We also discuss what, if any, lessons could be applied elsewhere.

    Previously: What’s Next for Uranium After the Big Price Surge

    Only Bloomberg.com subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox — now delivered every weekday — plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots

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    3 January 2025, 9:00 am
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