{"podcast":{"title":"The Invisible Hand","slug":"the-invisible-hand-7719857","podcast_index_feed_id":7719857,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/PODAGEN6867737009","website_url":null,"image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/ecd55da6-0690-11f1-8a35-87d682d10069/image/bd2556a194f47efd83996cc639d08bec.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Emma Reid","episode_count":232,"summary":"Economics isn't boring when Emma Reid explains it. This former Wall Street finance analyst quit her corporate job after watching too many people get scammed by get-rich-quick schemes, including her own father who almost lost his retirement to a pyramid scheme. Now she breaks down everything from inflation to interest rates using stories from her small-town grocery store and her neighbor's questionable crypto investments. Every day, Emma takes one economic concept and makes it make sense. Monday might be why gas prices actually work the way they do. Tuesday could be the real reason your mortgage rate just jumped. She's not trying to make you an economist, just someone who can spot financial BS from a mile away and make smarter money decisions. You'll get the kind of economic education they should have taught you in high school but didn't. No textbook jargon, no boring theory, just practical knowledge you can use when your bank tries to sell you a new credit card or your brother-in-law pitches his latest investment idea. Follow now for daily episodes that actually explain how money and markets really work. New episodes every day—follow now!","last_synced_at":"2026-07-31T16:18:06.182989+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-invisible-hand-7719857"},"episode":{"title":"The World Bank's $100B Problem: Are We Funding Poverty Instead of Fighting It?","slug":"the-world-bank-s-100b-problem-are-we-funding-poverty-instead-of-fighting-it","published_at":"2026-07-21T09:18:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-invisible-hand-7719857/the-world-bank-s-100b-problem-are-we-funding-poverty-instead-of-fighting-it","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-invisible-hand-7719857","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/PODAGEN8134685682.mp3?updated=1776261298","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/PODAGEN8134685682.mp3?updated=1776261298","summary":"The World Bank hands out $100 billion a year to fight poverty, but here's what they don't advertise: the US controls the money, China gets loans despite being filthy rich, and the countries getting \"help\" now owe over $400 billion in debt. In this episode, Emma Reid breaks down how the world's biggest anti-poverty organization might actually be making things worse. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • Why the US gets veto power over a \"global\" institution (and how this shapes every major decision) • How China scored $1.3 billion in loans between 2017-2021 while sitting on the world's second-largest economy • The real reason every World Bank president has been American since 1946 • Why owing $400 billion might not be the path out of poverty 👤 Perfect for: lifelong learners who want to understand how global finance actually works behind the headlines. 📍 Chapters: [00:00] Emma Reid reveals the World Bank's $100 billion problem [01:45] Why the US controls a \"global\" organization [04:20] China's billion-dollar loan spree (while other countries starve) [06:50] The American president tradition nobody talks about [09:15] How $400 billion in debt became the solution to poverty [11:30] What this means for countries actually trying to develop Ever wonder why foreign aid seems to create more problems than it solves? This isn't about conspiracy theories. It's about following the money and asking the uncomfortable questions about who really benefits when we \"help\" developing countries. 🔔 Never miss an episode: Follow The Invisible Hand on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and turn on notifications. New episodes drop daily, your next favorite insight is one tap away. 🔍 Topics: World Bank, foreign aid, development economics, global finance, poverty reduction Get new episodes at The Invisible Hand ------ Ke…","meta_description":"The World Bank hands out $100 billion a year to fight poverty, but here's what they don't advertise: the US controls the money, China gets loans despite b…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":816,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-invisible-hand-7719857/episodes/the-world-bank-s-100b-problem-are-we-funding-poverty-instead-of-fighting-it/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-invisible-hand-7719857/the-world-bank-s-100b-problem-are-we-funding-poverty-instead-of-fighting-it.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}