{"podcast":{"title":"The David McWilliams Podcast","slug":"the-david-mcwilliams-podcast-512453","podcast_index_feed_id":512453,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/20b97d01-ba9b-5fb0-9acf-161391a88cb0","website_url":"http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/61b9fedc1a8cbefa383cf076/show-cover.jpg","author":"David McWilliams","episode_count":678,"summary":"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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-06T18:19:51.080822+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast-512453"},"episode":{"title":"What Happens to an Economy When Credit Stops Flowing?","slug":"what-happens-to-an-economy-when-credit-stops-flowing","published_at":"2026-02-17T04:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast-512453/what-happens-to-an-economy-when-credit-stops-flowing","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast-512453","url":"https://shows.acast.com/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast/episodes/what-happens-to-an-economy-when-credit-stops-flowing","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast/e/69930a74b1ca974bbcb32947/media.mp3","summary":"Credit is the lifeblood of a modern economy. When it expands, ideas turn into companies, small builders become employers, and innovation compounds. When it contracts, the damage is slower, quieter, and far harder to see. In this episode, we trace what happens when banks stop lending and money stops doing its real work. Using Ireland as a case study, we show how domestic credit has collapsed since the crash, from banks lending 160% of deposits at the peak of the Celtic Tiger to barely 40% today, and why that matters far more than headline GDP figures. Drawing on history, from the silver mines of Potosí to Spain’s long decline, we explain why money is never neutral, why credit fuels growth in ways governments cannot replicate, and how multinational windfalls can mask a dangerously hollowed-out private economy. The result may look like prosperity, but it behaves more like stagnation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"Credit is the lifeblood of a modern economy. When it expands, ideas turn into companies, small builders become employers, and innovation compounds. When i…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2426,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast-512453/episodes/what-happens-to-an-economy-when-credit-stops-flowing/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-david-mcwilliams-podcast-512453/what-happens-to-an-economy-when-credit-stops-flowing.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}