Hidden Forces

Demetri Kofinas updates his audience on the latest developments with Hidden Forces - his trip to the Santa Fe Institute and what his plans are for monetizing the show - as well some of the subjects that he will be covering in the months to come. Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod

In Episode 18, Demetri Kofinas speaks with economist Samuel Bowles about behavioral psychology, moral philosophy, and the history of economic thought. The two cover the works of Adam Smith, F.A. Hayek, John Nash, and Milton Friedman, in search of the origins of homo economicus. What has come of rational expectations and utility maximization? What types of systems can we design that are better suited towards the citizens of Aristotle’s legislator than to the aberrations of modern economic man?

In Episode 17, Demetri Kofinas speaks with famed investor and founder of INET, Robert Johnson about our political economy, rising levels of inequality, and the failures of technocracy. How does money drive politics? How have markets and the economy changed in the years after the fall of communism and the rise of the Washington Consensus? Johnson also recounts his famous trade with George Soros against the Bank of England. Follow us at @hiddenforcespod

Demetri Kofinas speaks with one of the men responsible for breaking the Bank of England. They explore the new political economy, rising inequality, and the failures of technocrats to stem the crisis. How does money drive politics? How have markets and the economy changed after the fall of communism and the rise of the Washington Consensus? What has globalization wrought, and what role is technology set to play? Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @hiddenforcespod

In this Market Forces segment, Demetri Kofinas covers all things blockchain related with Andrew Keys of Ethereum’s Consensus Systems. The two explore the explosive growth of the cryptocurrency industry and its potential to shape our collective future. They also examine issues of security, government regulation, the problem of energy consumption. If you have been looking to learn more about Ethereum or the blockchain, then this is the episode for you. Follow us at @hiddenforcespod

In Episode 16 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Anne Stevenson-Yang about the state of the Chinese economy. Total debt in China recently surpassed 300% of GDP. In the first 7 years since the financial crisis, bank liabilities in the Chinese financial system grew by nearly $15 trillion dollars - the near equivalent of the consolidated size of all US commercial banks. How much longer can the country go without a badly needed recession, and what will the fallout be when it finally does?

A Look at the Crisis Building in the Chinese Financial System | A Sneak Peak into Ep.16!

In Episode 15, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Dr. Eric Schadt, founding director of the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology about the progress we have made in the 15 years since mapping of the human genome. How has our ability to sequence new genomes created a paradigm shift in medicine? What is the role of big data and A.I. in finding the correlations needed to treat malignancies and prevent diseases? What stands between us and some superhuman future? Follow us at @hiddenforcespod

In this Market Forces segment, Demetri Kofinas speaks with famed investor Marc Faber, about the growing wealth and income gap seen across the world, with particular emphasis on the United States. They examine the role that central bank policy, government bailouts, and ultra-low interest rates have played in exacerbating this trend towards inequality and financial system instability. The two also discuss the latest news out of Asia and the growing instability on the Korean peninsula. @hiddenforcespod

In this Market Forces segment of Hidden Forces, host Demetri Kofinas speaks with transportation industry veteran and analyst, Hubert Horan about the ridesharing company Uber, which may not have the ability to survive more than 2 years without raising additional capital or selling part or all of its remaining assets. As Demetri Kofinas has said in a prior discussion with Evan Lorenz of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, "This could be the biggest financial blow-up in the history of private placements.”

In Episode 14 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Christian Madsbjerg, the founder of ReD Associates, a consultancy group focused on helping companies bridge the qualitative divide between themselves, their products, and their customers. Together, the two examine the world from the perspective of human experience - what philosophers call "phenomenology." Follow us at @hiddenforcespod

In Episode 13 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with James Grant about the history of interest rates and their importance for the healthy functioning of a capitalist economy. How is the rate of interest determined? What are the consequences, realized and yet to be discovered, of the extraordinary actions taken by governments in 2008 to douse the flames of deflation by collapsing interest rates and printing trillions of dollars in new money? Follow us at @hiddenforcespod

Chinese Banking System, Uber’s Losses, and more Fed action with Grant’s Interest Rate Observer

In Episode 12, Demetri Kofinas speaks with economist Steve Keen about the history of economic thought from the time of the physiocrats to the present day. Where did our ideas of rational preference, utility maximization, and market equilibrium come from? How have these ideas been debunked by the events, insights, and theories of the last 100 years?

A Tale of Two Balance Sheets: The Great Unwinding of Trump and the Federal Reserve