Uploaded July 2024 | Updated September 2026, 9 hours ago
This week on ECON 102, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg discuss the Republican Party platform and its focus on economic issues. They also cover the influence of Trump-era policies, the evolving stance on immigration policies, cost reduction on education, housing and healthcare - and what Noah would do if he was the enlightened despot in charge of the US.
🔥 Apply to join over 400 founders and Execs in the Turpentine Network: hmplogxqz0y.typeform.com/to/JCkphVqj
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Recommended Podcast: The Riff with Byrne Hobart
Byrne Hobart, the writer of The Diff, is revered in Silicon Valley. You can get an hour with him each week. See for yourself how his thinking can upgrade yours.
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/6rANlV54GCARLgMOtpkzKt
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-riff-with-byrne-hobart-and-erik-torenberg/id1716646486
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SPONSORS: BEEHIIV | BABBEL | COMMANDBAR | WARP
🌐 Ready to achieve your 2024 goals? Start learning a new language with Babbel in just three weeks. Enjoy app lessons, live classes, and podcasts designed for real-world conversations. Get up to 60% off at get.babbel.com/econ102
🐝 Head to Beehiiv, the newsletter platform built for growth, to power your own. Connect with premium brands, scale your audience, and deliver a beautiful UX that stands out in an inbox. Go to beehiiv.com and use code "MOZ" for 20% off your first three months
🦾 Level up your ineffective website chatbot with CommandBar. CommandBar builds a new type of web assistant which delivers highly personalized responses, real time co-browsing, and can perform actions on behalf of the users. Learn how Hashicorp, Gusto, Freshworks and more use CommandBar at commandbar.com/moz
This episode is brought to you by Warp. Don’t let payroll and compliance hold your startup back: visit joinwarp.com/peel to get started and receive a $1000 gift card when your first run payroll.
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SEND US YOUR Q's FOR NOAH TO ANSWER ON AIR: Econ102@Turpentine.co
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LINKS:
Let's evaluate the whole Republican party platform!: https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/lets-evaluate-the-whole-republican
Noahpinion: https://www.noahpinion.blog/
_
TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Intro
(00:19) Analyzing the Republican Party Platform
(01:53) Economic focus of the platform
(02:25) Cultural shifts in the Republican Party
(05:19) Comparing past and present platforms
(09:10) Immigration policies and their impact
(12:03) Sponsors: Beehiiv and Babbel
(14:38) Inflation and economic strategies
(20:15) Merit-based immigration and family reunification
(24:48) Building the greatest economy in history
(27:47) Sponsors: CommandBar and Warp
(29:59) Role of government in elder care
(33:42) Proposed solutions for California's budget
(36:26) Reducing costs in education, housing, and healthcare
(42:04) Boosting exports and trade policies
(45:41) Manufacturing productivity and challenges
(57:08) Trump's impact on Republican policies
(01:00:36) Wrap
This week on ECON 102, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg discuss the Republican Party platform and its focus on economic issues. They also cover the influence of Trump-era policies, the evolving stance on immigration policies, cost reduction on education, housing and healthcare - and what Noah would do if he was the enlightened despot in charge of the US.
🔥 Apply to join over 400 founders and Execs in the Turpentine Network: hmplogxqz0y.typeform.com/to/JCkphVqj
--
Recommended Podcast: The Riff with Byrne Hobart
Byrne Hobart, the writer of The Diff, is revered in Silicon Valley. You can get an hour with him each week. See for yourself how his thinking can upgrade yours.
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/6rANlV54GCARLgMOtpkzKt
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-riff-with-byrne-hobart-and-erik-torenberg/id1716646486
--
SPONSORS: BEEHIIV | BABBEL | COMMANDBAR | WARP
🌐 Ready to achieve your 2024 goals? Start learning a new language with Babbel in just three weeks. Enjoy app lessons, live classes, and podcasts designed for real-world conversations. Get up to 60% off at get.babbel.com/econ102
🐝 Head to Beehiiv, the newsletter platform built for growth, to power your own. Connect with premium brands, scale your audience, and deliver a beautiful UX that stands out in an inbox. Go to beehiiv.com and use code "MOZ" for 20% off your first three months
🦾 Level up your ineffective website chatbot with CommandBar. CommandBar builds a new type of web assistant which delivers highly personalized responses, real time co-browsing, and can perform actions on behalf of the users. Learn how Hashicorp, Gusto, Freshworks and more use CommandBar at commandbar.com/moz
This episode is brought to you by Warp. Don’t let payroll and compliance hold your startup back: visit joinwarp.com/peel to get started and receive a $1000 gift card when your first run payroll.
--
SEND US YOUR Q's FOR NOAH TO ANSWER ON AIR: Econ102@Turpentine.co
--
LINKS:
Let's evaluate the whole Republican party platform!: https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/lets-evaluate-the-whole-republican
Noahpinion: https://www.noahpinion.blog/
_
TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Intro
(00:19) Analyzing the Republican Party Platform
(01:53) Economic focus of the platform
(02:25) Cultural shifts in the Republican Party
(05:19) Comparing past and present platforms
(09:10) Immigration policies and their impact
(12:03) Sponsors: Beehiiv and Babbel
(14:38) Inflation and economic strategies
(20:15) Merit-based immigration and family reunification
(24:48) Building the greatest economy in history
(27:47) Sponsors: CommandBar and Warp
(29:59) Role of government in elder care
(33:42) Proposed solutions for California's budget
(36:26) Reducing costs in education, housing, and healthcare
(42:04) Boosting exports and trade policies
(45:41) Manufacturing productivity and challenges
(57:08) Trump's impact on Republican policies
(01:00:36) Wrap

![How the Fed Works, Currency Crises, and TikTok ban [Listener Mailbag]
In todays episode of Econ 102, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg tackle more listener questions: the Feds impact on inflation and the economy, theories behind interest rates unexpected effects, and greedflation. The discussion also extends to shifts in Japans economic policies amid currency valuation concerns, housing price disparities between the US and Canada, gentrification, balanced budget amendments, and the geopolitical dynamics between Saudi Arabia and Iran, finishing with thoughts on TikTok. Thank you to everyone who sent in questions. Keep em coming: Econ102@turpentine.co
Recommended Podcast: @CompanyBreakdownsTurpentine
Each episode of Company Breakdowns dives into S-1s and series B-and-beyond companies, interviewing founders and investors to break down the companies. First episodes are on Reddit and Rubrik - which just IPOd.
SPONSORS: BEEHIIV | WARP | HARMONIC
Head to Beehiiv, the newsletter platform built for growth, to power your own. Connect with premium brands, scale your audience, and deliver a beautiful UX that stands out in an inbox. 🐝 https://beehiiv.com and use code MOZ for 20% off your first three months
Hundreds of startups already trust Warp to handle their payroll and compliance needs - you can go from zero to payroll live in just two days. Dont let payroll and compliance hold your startup back – visit https://joinwarp.com/peel to get started and receive a $1000 gift card when you first run payroll.
🧲 Learn why Craft, Bedrock, NEA and 100s more trust Harmonic’s data to source deals. Harmonic is the most complete startup database, finding new companies as soon as they incorporate and tracking them through IPO. Head to https://bit.ly/harmonicturpentine (and make sure to mention Turpentine VC during your demo.)
_
SEND US YOUR Qs FOR NOAH TO ANSWER ON AIR: Econ102@Turpentine.co
_
LINKS:
Noahpinion: https://www.noahpinion.blog/
TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Intro
(00:35) Demystifying the Federal Reserve
(04:11) Greedflation and the role of corporate pricing in inflation
(08:03) Central banks vs. Market-based interest rates
(11:49) Nominal GDP targeting
(17:36) Sponsor: Beehiiv and Warp
(19:41) Canada’s housing market explained
(23:11) YIMBY policies and gentrification
(27:43) Sponsor: Harmonic
(28:49) Keynesianism and deficit management
(31:55) Exploring political influence on economic choices
(34:58) Choosing allies in the Middle East
(35:46) Navigating currency crises in Japan
(45:12) The future of TikTok and digital strategy
(46:26) Wrap How the Fed Works, Currency Crises, and TikTok ban [Listener Mailbag]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/d7ZpZQVUAks/mqdefault.jpg)








