# The Next Global Recession? Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast-512453/the-next-global-recession Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast-512453/the-next-global-recession.md Podcast: [The David McWilliams Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast-512453) Published: 2026-04-02T03:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast/episodes/the-next-global-recession Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast/e/69cd3a7f3908885dc4ca7b73/media.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast-512453/episodes/the-next-global-recession Duration seconds: 2658 ## Resource What does Muhammad Ali’s Rumble in the Jungle have to do with the next global recession? In this episode, we go back to the 1970s oil shocks, when a geopolitical crisis sent energy prices soaring, wealth flooding into oil states, and Western economies into deep recession. The pattern is striking: in 1973, 1979, 1990, and even before the 2008 crash, surging oil prices were followed by collapsing growth, falling trade, and rising unemployment. The numbers are brutal. Global growth fell from 6% to 1.4% in the mid-1970s. Trade swung from double-digit expansion to contraction. In Ireland, inflation hit over 20% and recovery took years. Each time, even when oil prices fell back, the damage stuck, factories closed, jobs disappeared, and economies never fully reset. Now it’s happening again. Another oil shock, another geopolitical crisis, and the same underlying vulnerability: we are still deeply dependent on fossil fuels. Ireland is now among the most energy-dependent countries in Europe, with some of the highest electricity costs in the EU. If every oil shock in modern history has triggered a recession, why would this time be any different? Who’s on the ropes now, and who’s about to take the hit? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast-512453/episodes/the-next-global-recession/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast-512453/the-next-global-recession.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.