Odd Lots

• The Plan to Get America Building Big Ships Again

  The US is a dominant force in a number of important industries, but it's been lagging behind in one crucial area: shipbuilding. Today, there are about 80 US-flagged ships involved in global trade, compared to more than 5,500 China-flagged vessels. The worry is that the US has been falling behind in this important component of international commerce, and that the country's entire economy could be at risk of being choked off. The SHIPS for America Act is a rare bipartisan proposal that aims to address these concerns by getting America to build commercial vessels again. But how exactly do you go about reviving an industry that's been all but moribund for decades? We speak to Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona, and Senator Todd Young, a Republican from Indiana, co-sponsors of the bill, about their plan.Read More:US Lawmakers Seek to Bolster Shipbuilding at HomeThe Shipping Industry Is Getting a Slew of New Vessels—Right as Demand CoolsOdd Lots is coming to Washington, DC! Get your tickets here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• This Is How Derivatives Trading Swallowed the Entire Market

  For a long time, the world of derivatives trading was a niche thing, largely occupied by professional investors who used them for hedging purposes. During the pandemic and the Robinhood boom, the retail masses started discovering them, and activity exploded. Since then, the use of options, swaps and other levered positions has grown among both individual traders and the big professionals on Wall Street. There are countless influencers on social media promising "guaranteed" returns from various options selling strategies. New ETFs have been launched that embed derivatives inside them. And institutions which might historically have employed simple, sleepy investments, are now making them part of their core mix. So how did this happen, and what effect is it having on the market? On this episode, we speak with Benn Eifert, partner at QVR Advisors, about the evolution of this world, why you should not get your trading advice from Instagram, and how this trend has reshaped the entire market. Read more: World’s Largest Options Market Weathers Indian Regulatory Curbs Odd Lots is coming to Washington, DC! Get your tickets hereSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• This Is Why People Are So in Love With Gold

  The price of gold is basically at record highs. But what is it about gold that people love so much? Why have people always craved a metal that has no real industrial uses? And what does owning or wearing gold represent? On this episode of the podcast, we speak with Maksud Agadjani, the founder of TraxNYC, a jewelry store based in NYC's Diamond District. You may recognize Maksud from the movie Uncut Gems, where he played a character similar to himself, working in the fast-moving world of precious metals, rare stones, and flashy jewelry. We talked to him about the persistent demand for gold and why people are so into it right now. Read more: Gold’s Price Surge Drives Narcos Into Illegal Mining in the AmazonOdd Lots is coming to Washington, DC! Get your tickets here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• How the Fed Distributes Billions of Dollars in Cash

  We all know that the Federal Reserve tries to stabilize the economy by raising or cutting interest rates to balance inflation and unemployment. But the central bank’s mandate actually goes beyond monetary policy. The Fed is also responsible for reviewing and distributing billions of dollars in cash to banks all over the US. In this episode, we go deep inside the vaults of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to see how physical money actually gets moved around. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee is our guide for the tour, and you’ll hear how the central bank gets its cash, how it checks it for authenticity and condition, and how it gets currency to where it needs to be.Read more: Fed’s Goolsbee Sees Uncertainty Driving Shallower Rate-Cut Path Odd Lots is going to Washington, DC! Get your tickets here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• This Is Why It's So Hard To Cut Public Spending

  The Trump administration has come into office with big ambitions to lower the size of the US deficit. So far, a number of small items have been identified as possible waste. But to meaningfully bend the curve on spending, there's widespread agreement that we'd have to look at things like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and defense. This is hard stuff to cut and it's something that governments around the world have long struggled with. How do you pull back on a prior commitment that your constituency has come to expect? In this episode of the podcast, we speak with Firtz Bartel, an assistant professor of international affairs at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M. He is also the author of the recent book The Triumph of Broken Promises, which examines the simultaneous economic crisis in the US, UK, and Soviet Union during the 1970s, and how each country was forced economically to essentially "break promises." We talk about what it takes politically to maintain domestic credibility for any government while undergoing such wrenching choices, and why some systems are better suited for it than others. Read More:Trump Tax Cuts’ Cost Estimated at $5 Trillion to $11 TrillionJudge Temporarily Halts Trump, Musk Federal Worker ‘Buyout’ Only http://Bloomberg.com subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox each week, plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlotsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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