Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

Mike Bird is the Wall Street editor for The Economist magazine and is the author of The Land Trap: A New History of the World's Oldest Asset. Mike returns to the show to discuss the conclusion of Abenomics, the origins of land as an asset, the surge in housing prices during the COVID-19 Pandemic, the unsuspecting story of Wolf Ladejinsky, how housing impacted Japan's lost decade, the modern history of land in China, and much more.


Check out the transcript (mercatus.org/macro-musings/mike-bird-land-trap-and-how-history-housing-impacts-global-economy) for this week's episode, now with links.


Recorded on November 4th, 2025


Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus (macroeconomicpolicynexus.substack.com/)


Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth (twitter.com/DavidBeckworth)


Follow Mike on X: @Birdyword (https://x.com/Birdyword)


Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings (twitter.com/Macro_Musings)


Check out our Macro Musings merch! (bonfire.com/store/mercatus-podcast-swag/)


Subscribe (youtube.com/@BeckworthDavid) to David's new BTS YouTube Channel


Timestamps


00:00:00 - Intro


00:01:27 - Abenomics


00:04:32 - Motivations for The Land Trap


00:7:58 - Land as a Different Kind of Asset


00:14:55 - COVID-19 Housing Prices


00:20:42 - Land as an Enduringly Important Asset


00:24:34 - Wolf Ladejinsky


00:37:14 - Japan from 1980s Onward


00:47:28 - Land in China


00:56:36 - Henry George


01:00:42 - Outro