The David McWilliams Podcast Podcast By David McWilliams & John Davis cover art

The David McWilliams Podcast

The David McWilliams Podcast

By: David McWilliams & John Davis
Listen for free

The aim of this weekly podcast is to make economics easy, uncomplicated and accessible. With the world at a political, technological and financial tipping point, economics has never been so important to all of us and yet, it’s made inaccessible and complicated by so many.

I’ve always thought what is complicated is rarely important and what is important is rarely complicated.


That will be our motto.


Every week we are going to tease out some big economic or political issue facing us, not just here in Ireland but in Europe and further afield. Globalisation has brought us all together. We all face similar challenges whether you live in Dublin, London, Minnesota or Milan.


If you would like to enjoy all of our content ad-free and have early access to episodes, subscribe to DMCW+ on Apple Podcast.


Want to join our crew? Join at davidmcwilliams.ie/crew, where you can enjoy ad-free listening, as well as exclusive bonus content such as premium episodes, our macroeconomics course, early access to episodes and pre-sale access to tickets for Dalkey Book Festival & Kilkenomics.

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David McWilliams Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Did Big Tech Ruin the Internet? with Cory Doctorow

    Did Big Tech Ruin the Internet? with Cory Doctorow
    Mar 31 2026
    What happened to the internet? Why did the platforms that once felt useful, fun and liberating become manipulative, cluttered and hostile? In this episode, we talk to writer, activist and digital theorist Cory Doctorow, the man who coined the term enshittification, about how tech platforms decay: first they are good to users, then they are good to business customers, and finally they become good only to shareholders and executives. From Facebook and Instagram to Amazon, ad fraud, app lock-in, monopoly power and the slow death of the high street, this is a conversation about how digital capitalism corrodes the things we rely on. But it is also about what can be done, why regulators failed, how political will may be shifting, and why the fight against corporate power is suddenly back on the table.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    40 mins
  • Is the West Losing Africa to China?

    Is the West Losing Africa to China?
    Mar 26 2026
    South Africa is one of the places where the 21st century is being made in real time. Against the backdrop of war in the Middle East, we ask what rising energy prices mean for countries already struggling with poverty, unemployment and fragile infrastructure. If you want to see the decline of American influence and the rise of Chinese power, Southern Africa is where it’s happening. Along the way, we get a street-level feel for modern South Africa, from the fading grandeur of central Joburg to the sprawling reality of Soweto, where apartheid’s legacy still shapes daily life, but where democracy has also held in ways many once thought impossible. We talk about inequality, migration, religion, corruption, black economic empowerment, and the strange new elite of “slay queens,” all as windows into how power and money now move through South African society. With exploding population growth, vast mineral wealth, and huge renewable energy potential, the continent is becoming central to the global economy. China understands that. The West, increasingly, does not.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    45 mins
  • Why Some Countries Create Jobs and Others Export People

    Why Some Countries Create Jobs and Others Export People
    Mar 24 2026
    Broadcasting from South Africa, a country of huge energy, huge potential, and brutally high unemployment, we use that lens to ask what actually creates jobs? From there, we go back to Ireland in 1990, when employment had barely moved in forty years and emigration still felt like the national destiny. So what changed? We unpack the extraordinary shift that turned Ireland from an economy exporting its young people into one of the strongest job creators in Europe: devaluation, falling interest rates, the Berlin Wall dividend, peace in the North, American investment, and a transformed national mood. Politicians love talking about “job creation,” yet jobs are not created by speeches, slogans, or government press releases. Jobs come after demand, after sales, after risk, after somebody decides to build something, sell something, and back themselves. In other words: jobs are derived from entrepreneurship.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    40 mins
All stars
Most relevant
I genuinely love the David McWilliams Podcast. What really keeps me coming back is the way David and his co‑host banter back and forth, it feels relaxed, curious, and sharp without ever being intimidating. They don’t just throw big economic ideas at you; they ask the questions you’re already thinking, then break down the answers in a way that actually makes sense.
I feel like I'm sitting on the couch having a pint listening and learning from these geniuses

Economics explained like it should be

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Excellent perspective from a former central bank ‘chair’. Clearly expressed breadth of knowledge. Excellent interviews

Antidote anecdote

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