Terranet Ventures, Inc. executive in residence Carole House discusses the illicit financial risks associated with cryptocurrencies.
Carole House, executive in residence at Terranet Ventures, Inc. and a former White House Official, joined Consensus 2024 to discuss the illicit financial risks associated with cryptocurrencies and how agencies should approach crypto regulation.
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Consensus is where experts convene to talk about the ideas shaping our digital future. Join developers, investors, founders, brands, policymakers and more in Austin, Texas from May 29-31. The tenth annual Consensus is curated by CoinDesk to feature the industry’s most sought-after speakers, unparalleled networking opportunities and unforgettable experiences. Register now at consensus.coindesk.com.
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This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie. “First Mover” is produced by Jennifer Sanasie and Melissa Montañez and edited by Victor Chen.
At the start of the twentieth century, Argentina was one of the wealthiest countries in the world. The capital, Buenos Aires, was known as “the Paris of South America.”
A lot can happen in a hundred years. Argentina today is in grave crisis. It has defaulted on its sovereign debt three times since 2001, and a few months ago it faced an annualized inflation rate of over 200 percent—one of the highest in the world. What happened?
Today's guest, Argentina’s new president, says it’s pretty simple: socialism.
When Javier Milei took office in December 2023, he became the world’s first libertarian head of state—and maybe its most eccentric. During his campaign he made his intentions clear: “The [political] caste is trembling!” “Let it all blow up, let the economy blow up, and take this entire garbage political caste down with it.” Which is exactly what he’s doing now. He’s eliminating government ministries and services, cutting regulations, privatizing state-run companies, and purposely creating a recession to curb the out of control inflation.
This is also why people voted for him: change. They saw someone who could shake things up in a way that could turn out to be lifesaving—even if it meant short-term economic pain. But will it work? Not all Argentines think so. And not everyone is willing or able to wait for things to improve. In April, with food prices rising and poverty up 10 percent, tens of thousands of Argentines took to the streets to protest Milei’s aggressive austerity measures.
Milei is a strange and idiosyncratic creature. There are the obvious things: he says he doesn’t comb his hair (and he doesnt appear to). He has four cloned mastiffs that he refers to as his “four-legged children,” and which he’s named for his favorite free-market economists. He was raised Catholic but studies the Torah. He used to play in a Rolling Stones cover band. And he has been known since grade school in the ’80s as El Loco, on account of his animated outbursts, which would later bring him stardom as a TV, radio, and social media celebrity.
But what really makes him unusual is that he is the ultimate skunk at the garden party. In a world of liberals and conservatives, he is neither. He has ultra-liberal economic views but right-wing, populist rhetoric. He is anti-abortion but pro-legalization of sex work. He wants to deregulate the gun market and legalize organ trade.
He calls himself an anarcho-capitalist, which basically means that he believes the state, as he told me, is “a violent organization that lives from a coercive source which is taxes.” Essentially. . . he’s a head of state who really doesn’t believe in states. A few months ago Milei showed up at Davos, the Alpine mountain resort that hosts the annual World Economic Forum. This is a place where, historically, people who all think the same way go to drink champagne and tell each other how smart they are. Milei arrives, flying commercial, and blows all that up: “Today, I’m here to tell you that the Western world is in danger. And it is in danger because those who are supposed to have defended the values of the West are co-opted by a vision of the world that inevitably leads to socialism and thereby to poverty.”
All of this is why we were eager to talk to Milei—and put some of these questions to him: How long will it take for things to look up in Argentina? Why does he believe the Western world is in danger? What’s the difference between social justice and socialism? Can the free market really solve all of our civic problems? What is the state actually important for? And how does he feel about being the skunk at the garden party? (Spoiler: he loves it.)
And despite having called journalists “extortionists,” “liars,” “imbeciles,” “freeloaders,” “donkeys,” and “ignorant”—for some reason, he agreed to sit down with us.
Note: The interview was conducted in Spanish with the help of a translator. Watch the video version of this interview at thefp.com
In Seeding Empire: American Philanthrocapital and the Roots of the Green Revolution in Africa(University of California Press, 2024), Dr. Aaron Eddens rewrites an enduring story about the past—and future—of global agriculture. Dr. Eddens connects today's efforts to cultivate a "Green Revolution in Africa" to a history of American projects that introduced capitalist agriculture across the Global South.
Expansive in scope, this book draws on archival records of the earliest Green Revolution projects in Mexico in the 1940s and 1950s, as well as interviews at development institutions and agribusinesses working to deliver genetically modified crops to millions of small-scale farmers across Africa. From the offices of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to the halls of the world's largest agricultural biotechnology companies to field trials of hybrid maize in Kenya, Dr. Eddens shows how the Green Revolution fails to address global inequalities. Seeding Empire insists that eradicating hunger in a world of climate crisis demands thinking beyond the Green Revolution.
This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars.
On June 6, 1944, the largest amphibious landing in world history took place on the shore of Normandy, France. The allied forces called it D-Day.
The landing marked the commencement of Operation Overlord, a strategic move that heralded the long-awaited opening of the second front in the European war.
D-Day was the start of the most meticulously planned events in history and one of the greatest logistical operations of all time.
It was also the day that saw some of the war's most horrific and heroic actions.
Learn more about D-Day and the start of the liberation of Western Europe on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign rode his felony conviction to a banner fundraising day last week, raking in more than 50 million dollars within 24 hours of the verdict, according to aides. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are in California this week to court big donors to grow their campaign war chests with the November election less than six months away. Meanwhile, both campaigns have reportedly seen a significant decline in small-dollar contributions during this election cycle. Arjun Singh, a podcast producer with the investigative outlet The Lever, explains the state of fundraising in the race so far.
And in headlines: The Georgia Court of Appeals said prosecutors cannot move forward with Trump’s election interference trial until it decides whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can stay on the case, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for a global ban on fossil fuel advertising to combat climate change, and Senate Republicans voted to block a bill that would have protected access to contraception.
We'll tell you how the world is commemorating a day that changed history forever with some of the last few surviving heroes.
Also, what we know about giant, flying spiders moving across parts of the U.S.
Plus, another milestone was reached in space travel; a vegetable recall has made Americans sick, and teams are battling for championships in a couple of different sports.
Those stories and more news to know in about 10 minutes!
The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.
A Note on Notes:
I always prefer that the listener goes into each episode cold, not knowing what it's going to be about. So, you might want to tread carefully, as there are spoilers in the notes below.
Music
L'espagne pour memoire by Michel Portal
Find me Tomorrow from Christophe Beck's score to Charlie Countryman
The old Soviet philharmonic plays some Shostakovich.
The London Symphony Orchestra plays The Blue Danube Waltz.
We hear Walt by Mother Falcon.
Sombolero by Luiz Bonfa
Notes
Like a lot of people below, say, 55, I first heard about Olga Fikotova-Connolly when reading her obituary in the New York Times.
By far the best thing you can do if you want to know more about her is track down her out-of-print memoir, The Rings of Destiny, which, despite its rather puffed-up title, is so warm and detailed and intimate. It's a delight.
About Us: From the creators of Robinhood Snacks Daily, The Best One Yet (TBOY) is the daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. 20 minutes on the 3 business, economics, and finance stories you need, with fresh takes you can pretend you came up with — Pairs perfectly with your morning oatmeal ritual. Hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.
The mayor of Miami has an ambitious goal—to reach a “functional zero” homeless population within his bustling city.
“We reached functional zero veteran homeless, and I realized … that we could, we should, take it a step further and get to a functional zero,” says Mayor Francis Suarez, a Republican who leads Florida’s second-biggest city.
Miami is partnering with several organizations—including Hermanos de la Calle, Lotus House, and Camillus House—to meet the varied needs of the homeless and create a model that other cities could duplicate to tackle their own homelessness crises.
But Suarez says addressing homelessness extends beyond meeting the physical, mental, and emotional needs of the homeless—cities must also create an economic environment that allows all citizens to thrive.
If city leaders want to effectively address homelessness, Suarez argues, they also must consider a “broader macroeconomic reality” that plays a role in creating or alleviating the problem. To this end, the mayor says Miami’s government has followed three rules: “We've kept taxes low; we've kept people safe; and we've leaned into innovation.”
Suarez joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain how Miami is advancing toward a “functional zero” homeless population and to share the exciting results of a recent event toward reaching that goal.
