The David McWilliams Podcast

Broadcasting from Paris, we bring a bottle of wine and a warning: the transatlantic honeymoon is over. As America turns inward under the MAGA banner, Europe, led in thought (and theatre) by France, is starting to ask tough questions: Can we still rely on the US? Should we even try? From Macron’s eerily prescient Sorbonne speech to the wild moves in the US bond market, this episode explores why France feels vindicated, why Ireland might soon have to pick a side, and why the real battlefield isn't Normandy or NATO, it’s the balance sheet. With detours through wine laws, de Gaulle in Connemara, and why Nike’s Vietnamese workforce matters more than you'd think, this is a global economic story told with Gallic flair and geopolitical bite.

Yes has always been more of a worldview than a word. In this episode, we channel the spirit of Molly Bloom’s iconic soliloquy from Ulysses to explore how saying “yes” can reshape economies. From Joyce’s sensual metaphor for self-abandon to the economics of openness, growth, and transformation, we dig into what it means to embrace change. Why does resistance stagnate nations? What happens when a country dares to say yes to innovation, to risk, to the unknown? This isn’t your average econ chat—this is a literary, philosophical, and economic exploration of transition, agency, and the power of possibility. Yes? Yes. Yes!

What do Nike runners, IKEA furniture, and half a million Vietnamese workers have in common? They’re all caught in the crossfire of Trump’s tariff tantrum. This week, we trace the hidden supply chains behind the global economy, from Vietnam’s rise as a manufacturing powerhouse to how a sneaker company now employs more people abroad than Ford and GM do at home. We break down how the MAGA tariff regime threatens to crater entire economies, sour U.S. relations in Asia, and hand China the long game. Plus, what it all means for Ireland, Africa, and the American empire itself. Are we witnessing a pivot, or a pullback from the world stage? 

This week, we watched the world’s biggest economy base its entire trade policy on a formula so dodgy it wouldn’t pass the Leaving Cert. We break down how Trump’s tariffs are chaotic, as well as economically illiterate, dangerously populist, and could have slammed Ireland with more than a 39% hit if not for the EU. This isn’t just bad maths. It’s billionaires mistaking personal instinct for macro strategy, and a White House mistaking nationalism for economic policy. We’re talking supply chains, tanking markets, flying cars in China, Trump channeling FDR, and why the U.S. might be about to run the world like a family business, forever. Strap in.

What if the future of capitalism isn’t tech or tax, but trust? This week, we’re talking about Employee Ownership Trusts: a radical rethink of who gets to own the companies we work for. We’re joined by Alan Coleman of Wolfgang Digital, the first Irish company to take the leap and hand ownership to its staff. It’s a story about building businesses that are more productive, more democratic and maybe even more human. From colonial corporations to AI takeovers, we trace why this small idea could be the start of something huge. And if you're a digital marketer who wants to own where you work, Wolfgang is hiring. Head to wolfgangdigital.com/careers to find out more.

On Wednesday, we watched in real time as America’s trade policy devolved into a parody of itself. Trump’s Liberation Day was part Caesar, part Mattress Mick, all empty bluster. A dodgy chalkboard of made-up numbers, a crowd in high-vis, and a president who thinks tariffs are just theatre. You may also have heard that Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic and friend of the pod, was accidentally added to a Signal group chat planning actual U.S. airstrikes. He joins us to talk about what it revealed: a deeply unserious administration where war, trade, and global diplomacy are being handled like a lad’s WhatsApp group. We break down the chaos, the consequences for Ireland and Europe, and why standing up to this kind of performative thuggery might be the only option left.And by the way you can get $20 off a digital sub to The Atlantic at theatlantic.com/dmwpod.