Davos Dispatch: World Order on Edge

Summary

Prof G Markets

Episode Summary: "Davos Dispatch: World Order on Edge"

Date: January 26, 2026
Hosts: Scott Galloway & Ed Elson (guest: Scott Bessent)
Context: Real-time reporting and analysis from Davos, focusing on a year marked by political drama, shifts in global power, market volatility, and a pivotal speech by Canada’s Mark Carney.

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Episode Overview

This episode delivers a sharp, behind-the-scenes account of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, 2026. Scott Bessent joins Scott Galloway to dissect the existential unease roiling this year’s gathering—marked by declining U.S. hegemony, the rise of AI, erratic leadership, high-stakes geopolitical drama, and global market uncertainty. The socio-political importance of Davos is framed through inside stories, personal observations, and candid analysis, culminating in a dramatic discussion of ruptures in the world order, the decline of American leadership, and the rise of new voices (notably Mark Carney’s).

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Davos Atmosphere & Hierarchies

Badge Status, Access, and Vibe

• Opening Scene [01:00 - 04:00]:

  • Bessent describes the social pecking order at Davos: badge color signals level (white = VIP). He compares badge-watching to social scrutiny and jokes about “having a white badge… is the equivalent of big tits” ([03:00] Scott Bessent).
  • Initial mood comparison: 1999 was optimistic, now “the vibe is unsettled and restless” ([05:00] Scott Bessent).

• Notable Quote:

  “The only way you get anyone hard here is you tell them you can introduce them to the Saudi delegation.”
  — Scott Bessent [00:52]

2. From 1999 to 2026: Themes & Tech Hype

• The forum in 1999 was about the Internet and optimism; 2026 is about AI, chaos, coercion, and corruption ([04:45] Scott Bessent).
• Shift from startup optimism to anxiety about overvalued giants and hype cycles.

3. Record Interest in Davos This Year

• Dramatic rise in public, press, and market attention:
  • Search interest in Davos is double last year, five times 2022 ([07:40] Scott Galloway).
  • Why: Trump’s presence, global unrest, market-moving policies.

4. Fraying of World Order & America’s Waning Operating System Status

• Bessent likens past U.S.-led world order to a dominant “operating system” (iOS); now America’s role is up for grabs; people may be considering switching to “Android”—i.e., new leaders or systems ([11:30] Scott Bessent).

• America looks less like the global OS, more like just another app maker.

• Notable Quote:

  “The vibe is unsettled. The masters of the universe are sitting on overvalued companies with real externalities… the operating system for the West is up for grabs.”
  — Scott Bessent [09:47]

5. Political Drama & Market Volatility

• Trump dominates headlines by threatening, then walking back, invasion of Greenland and tariff threats, prompting wild market moves ([06:30] Scott Galloway, [19:31] Scott Galloway).

• Major drama: Howard Lutnick heckled at a dinner; European Central Bank president walks out ([14:00] Scott Galloway).

• The mood is “unsettled,” marked by “cowardice,” “drift,” and a sense that “everyone agrees—whatever setup we have isn’t working” ([12:21] Scott Galloway).

• Notable Quote:

  “It’s kind of just reality TV playing out on the global stage.”
  — Scott Galloway [19:31]

6. Mark Carney’s Speech: “A Rupture, Not a Transition”

• Mark Carney (Canada’s PM) delivers the speech of the conference, widely praised for eloquence and candor ([17:29], [30:29] Scott Galloway).

  • Key Carney Excerpt:

    “We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition. Great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons... The middle powers must act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”
    — Mark Carney [30:29]

• Bessent and Galloway analyze this as marking the effective end of “American hegemony” and a pivot towards regional alliances and trade blocks without the U.S. ([30:53] Scott Galloway, [31:49] Scott Bessent).

7. American Leadership: Decline, Backlash, and Perception

• Widespread frustration with the U.S., its erratic moves, and lack of global cooperation ([21:18] Scott Bessent).

• Europeans in particular seen as polite but ineffective—needing unification, leadership, and concrete action ([38:20–54:37]).

• Notable Quote:

  “If I believe what he’s done has shown that he’s reckless, putting us in real harm’s way, physical danger, increase the likelihood of nuclear conflict, bad for the economy… this would be cause for impeachment.”
  — Scott Bessent [50:45]

8. Market/Finance Dynamics & Tech Bets

• Observation that despite global political chaos, bets on U.S. innovation and capital markets are robust:
  “American innovation doesn’t seem to be sputtering… these guys are making multi billion dollar bets…” ([54:37] Scott Bessent).

9. European Unity (or Lack Thereof) and Response Options

• EU is still too fragmented (“the Seven Dwarves,” “they don’t speak with one voice”) to mount an effective strategic response to U.S. policies; they lack a clear leader ([37:52–41:35] Scott Bessent).
• Speculation that coordinated debt action or divestment is possible, but unlikely without real EU political unity.

10. Celebrity and the Spectacle of Davos

• Juxtaposition of serious world issues with pop-culture influencers like Sacha Baron Cohen, Katy Perry, and Justin Trudeau (“his skin… there’s no way he works that hard as Prime Minister of Canada… the guy looks 19.” — [26:28] Scott Bessent).
• Hosts question the seriousness of high-level discourse vs. celebrity distractions.

11. Predictions & Looking Forward

• Bessent’s key prediction: looming U.S. strike on Iran, based on military movements and political momentum ([57:08] Scott Bessent).
• Belief that U.S. actions are more “chaotic and coercive” than strategic alliance-building—damaging long-term American interests.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (w/ Timestamps)

• On Davos Social Hierarchies:

  “A white badge is the equivalent of big tits… People look at your chest to see what kind of badge you have.”
  — Scott Bessent [03:00]

• On Global Unrest:

  “In 1999, it was more optimistic. Now everyone’s sort of like, ‘I hope it doesn’t get worse.’ Meanwhile, everyone’s making a lot of money.”
  — Scott Bessent [05:16]

• On Current U.S. Standing:

  “We’re no longer the good guys. That really pisses me off. People used to be cynical about Americans, but they would’ve said we were the good guys. Now more people globally think China.”
  — Scott Bessent [22:44]

• On the EU’s Role:

  “Europe is not a union. They do not speak with one voice. They need to, and you’re right, it might be Carney.”
  — Scott Bessent [38:21]

• On the Importance of Davos:

  “It’s easy to be cynical, as am I. But I think this stuff’s actually important because when you look someone in the eyes and get to know them, you’re less likely to shitpost them.”
  — Scott Bessent [08:25]

• On Mark Carney’s Speech:

  “We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition… If we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”
  — Mark Carney [30:29]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Social Satire of Davos Badges: [01:00–04:00]
• Comparing 1999 vs. 2026: [04:45]
• Surge in Public/Market Attention: [07:40]
• The Fraying of World Order: [09:47–12:21]
• Market-Moving Trump Drama: [18:44–19:31]
• Heckling & Dinner Drama (Lutnick, Lagarde): [14:25], [24:29]
• Mark Carney’s Speech Excerpt and Reaction: [30:29–31:58]
• Debate on EU Leadership & Response: [38:20–41:35]
• Celebrity/Pop Culture at Davos: [24:19–26:54]
• Predictions: Iran Strike: [57:08]

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Language & Tone

The episode is candid, irreverent, and sharply analytical, blending humor (“sex appeal of a Marriott lobby”), pop culture, and serious geopolitical analysis. The hosts are direct, occasionally profane, and unfiltered, capturing both the absurdity and gravity of the Davos moment.

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Conclusion: The State of the World Order

This episode frames Davos 2026 as a pivotal moment of rupture—not transition—where world leaders confront their own impotence vs. the backdrop of U.S. unpredictability, European fragmentation, and rapid market/AI change. The Mark Carney speech is highlighted as a rallying call for middle powers and a eulogy for the era of confident global integration. The show ends with a warning: More major moves (potential U.S. military strikes on Iran) are likely, escalation is ongoing, and the world is now reconfiguring alliances—potentially without the U.S. at the center.

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Transcript

[Scott Galloway]

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[Scott Bessent]

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[Scott Galloway]

Is the Saudi delegation there?

[Scott Bessent]

Oh yeah. There's a lot of people from the kingdom here. Yeah. You know who's not here is the people who are benefiting from threats to invade a block of ice is the Chinese. There aren't that many Chinese people here.

[Scott Galloway]

Who do people most want to hang out with? Like I remember you were saying on your Instagram that certain people have different colors which represents your your status like on your badge. Like who'? The highest status, most high value type of individual at Davos.

[Scott Bessent]

Even the PG13 version of what I said. Essentially whenever mammals congregate, there's going to be a hierarchy and the way you sniff the butt of other mammals here at Davos is You look at the color of their badge. They're like vendor badges, partner badges, which means you paid your way in. Nonprofit badges, which means they tolerate your wokeness to pretend that, you know, Adavos is full of people who are like, claim to be socialists and then have to peace out in their talk about income inequality to catch a helicopter.

[Scott Galloway]

Are you part of this group? Where do you stand in this?

[Scott Bessent]

Yeah, I was just saying. Wait, is that me? Is that me? Will's up at 9:30, just in case you're wondering. But I'm very concerned about the climate. This is our planet. Yeah. Anyways, back to me. So. And the ultimate badge is a white badge. And I figured out what it's like to be a woman, because first people look you in the eyes and then they look at your chest to see what kind of badge you have. And a white badge is the equivalent of big tits. That's what I figured out Here. People look me in the eyes and like, oh, I think I know him. I think he's that weirdo online. And then they'll look at my badge and they're like, I love your content.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, so you've got a good badge. What's your badge?

[Scott Bessent]

I got the white badge. I'm. I'm all access because.

[Scott Galloway]

And what does the white badge mean? It's just like you're vip.

[Scott Bessent]

I don't know what it means. It means that you're in the main.

[Scott Galloway]

Congress, friends with Larry Fink.

[Scott Bessent]

Yeah, I think that's what it means. It means you're in the main congress hall and you're not one of the satellites roaming around. I was last here. I know you want to know about this. I was last here in 1999. I don't know. I peaked very early. And then I went to. I've just figured out what happened, why I've been invited back in 26 years. I went. Klaus Schwab, who was the chairman and founder of the World Economic Forum, invited me to have lunch with him at his new office in the hills of Zurich. And I went up there and I'm like, Jesus Christ, this is like a bond layer. And I wrote about it and said, no nonprofit should have an office that nice. And someone from wef, the World Economic Forum, emailed me and said, Klaus did not appreciate those comments, did not get invited back for 26 years. And then the year he steps down, I get invited back. So anyways, I'm back at DeVos. You want to know the difference between the vibes between 99 and 2025? Or 2026 is how you were dying to ask.

[Scott Galloway]

Please.

[Scott Bessent]

Well, Ed, in 1999, it was about the Internet and America. Bill Clinton gave the biggest speech when I was here the last time, and it was about kind of cooperation and alliances and also competition, consumerism, using a lot of Cs. And now it's about AI. And the biggest speech was again from the President of the United States. But it's about chaos and coercion and I would argue with a smattering of. Of corruption. I've sat next to the guy from finance last night.

[Scott Galloway]

Changpeng Chow.

[Scott Bessent]

Yeah, he got pardoned by President Trump for. And now his kids are in. Anyway, so things have changed dramatically. The tone and the vibe. I would say that Generally speaking, in 99, everyone kind of wanted more. It was more optimistic. Now everyone's sort of like, I hope it doesn't get worse. Meanwhile, everyone's making a lot of money. I had, I was at a dinner, I spoke at the BlackRock dinner, and they had. I don't know if it's off the record. Anyways, they had a bunch of AI masters in the universe and everyone, every startup here in 99. I was pitching everyone on my startups and now everyone's literally like, come to the Eny House and learn about my AI platform that's helping optimize a workflow for manufacturing company. I mean, it's just everyone has an AI startup. It feels very reminiscent of 99 on a business level, in terms of. In terms of the hype cycle. What's just different is America's role in the world and how people perceive our role in the world. But anyways, I'm here.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, we're going to keep on unpacking this. I'm going to get us started with this episode. We are going to be talking about Davos this week. So the World Economic Forum, as we are just discussing, convened in Davos last week, and this time people were actually paying attention. Unlike many recent years, the conference has been dominating headlines. Top political and tech leaders have all gathered in one place. President Trump has obviously made a splash, walking back two earlier positions on Greenland. He ruled out the use of force to acquire Greenland, and then he walked back. Tariff threats against European countries standing in the way that, of course, sent markets rallying in the U.S. in addition to Trump's speech, which covered everything from relations with Europe to his affordability plans, the conference also featured remarks from Canada's Prime Minister, Mark Carney, which we will get into. Also, France's President, Emmanuel Macron, who is wearing a strange pair of glasses, and EU President Ursula von de Leyen. In total, nearly 65 heads of state and government attended alongside some of the most powerful figures in tech and finance, including Jensen Huang, Jamie Dimon, Satya Nadella, and others. Scott, we've been getting a vibe check from you. I think the first thing I would point out and get your reaction to. It seems like this year was a uniquely big year for Davos. You know, this happens every year, and usually it's like, you know, maybe one or two headlines in the news and you see maybe a clip of someone talking about it. But it seems like this was a really big deal in a way that it hasn't been in the past. And in fact, we have verified this by just looking at the search interest in Davos. It is already double that of last year and five times that of 2022. Search Interest in the World Economic Forum has almost doubled as well compared to last year. For whatever reason, maybe Trump. Everyone cares a lot about Davos this year. It's actually important, which is kind of surprising because I think a lot of people have been saying over the past few years that these kinds of conferences don't matter anymore. Suddenly this one seems to.

[Scott Bessent]

Yeah. So, first of all, it's easy to be cynical about the World Economic Forum, as am I and Davos, but I think this kind of stuff's actually important because it gets people together who speak. And I think when you look someone in the eyes and you get to know them, you're less likely to shitpost them or raise terror. I don't know. I think it's good that people get together and talk at this level. Even the guy who read Davos, man, which is basically kind of shitposting, the people are here, they invite him. You know, they're comfortable with that. So the, what you're talking about, Davos, isn't about the content. It's about having access to the crowd and the people, as is our most good conferences. It's all about the people, not the content. They do a reasonable job of the content. I think it's fine the way. I. I don't know. A decent litmus test for how crowded an event is is the. The hotel room rates. And as you can see from the background here, I'm in the equivalent of a Swiss Days Inn. This is not luxury. They don't even offer a lunch. I've been living off cereal, no joke. And it's 2,200 Swiss francs a night, so what is that, about 2,500 or $3,000. And if Trump gives another speech, the dollar, this will probably be $11,000 by tomorrow. So, look, it is. It is packed. The energy, the energy is high. But the vibe is like the world order is fraying and it feels.

[Scott Galloway]

You.

[Scott Bessent]

Know, it just feels insecure. There's just a lack of optimism, and it doesn't feel like anyone's stepping into the void. And I felt like it was a big opportunity for the Chinese delegation to be here and basically try and say, we are your friends. And by the way, I don't think it's a good idea for all of these Western nations to decide, oh, we're going to cozy up to China. And I interviewed Neil Ferguson, the historian, yesterday, and his whole thing was, yeah, the US May be bullying and pushing around people, but what's the plan B here to go to an authoritarian government? Like, what's the plan B? And I'm like, well, they can work with each other. It's a very weird vibe here. I kind of wish you were here. I'd be curious to get a young person's take on it. This is the most powerful assembly of people in the world, I think. And the vibe is unsettled. The vibe is restless like, not restless like, let's get out and do something together. It's restless like the masters of the universe are sitting on companies that are overvalued, that also seem to present real externalities, as did the Internet in 99. And we didn't realize it then, but now we realize it now. And the individual that everyone's focused on is threatening invasions, then pulling back, threatening tariffs, then pulling back. And there's just a lack. I'll use one metaphor and get your response. Two of the four most valuable companies in the world. I was saying, in 1999, it was. Microsoft was the most valuable company in the world. Then it was General Electric, then it was Saudi Aramco, and then it was number four. Oh, Walmart. And now the most valuable companies are Apple, Nvidia, Saudi Aramco. It was Exxon back then. Now it's Saudi Aramco. So there's still an oil company in there. And number four is Alphabet. Two of the four companies that are the most valuable companies in the world basically have operating systems that everyone kind of lives their life on, right? Android and iOS. And when you have the operating system that everyone operates on top of, you get to dictate terms and building code that naturally advantages your applications and monetization. It's great to own the operating system for all in Business. Right. And the analogy I was used is that America was really the operating system for the entire west and all democracies. People largely mimicked our laws, our economy, our universities. When we spoke, everyone tried to kind of follow. When we went into wars, people followed us. And now I think people are potentially saying we might have to switch to Android or another operating system. So definitely a state of flux and unease. What is it like? It's hard to read the label from inside of the bottle. What are your impressions from outside of. Of Davos?

[Scott Galloway]

It seems pretty consistent with what you're experiencing to me, and that is everyone's gotten together and they're all saying different flavors of the same thing, which is we're fucked in some way. You know, whether it's valuations or more importantly, I would say just the global order, which, in fact, the Trump administration has expressed. The reason that they are going, or at least Howard Lutnick wrote this, the reason they're going to Davos is he said not to support the existing global order, but to challenge it directly. And I think he probably thought that he was the one who was going to go in and have that hot take. It seems like that's pretty much everyone's take at this event. Everyone agrees whatever setup we have right now isn't really working. And I think the same thing is true of the inequality problem that we keep on talking about. I noticed that was one of Larry Fink's big points, is that the inequality that we're experiencing is untenable. And it is interesting to have the CEO of BlackRock saying that to all of the most powerful and probably richest people in the world. And they're saying it, you know, in. In the mountains of Davos while everyone's wearing their Laura Piano coats. Like, it's visually quite interesting. And, yeah, I think unsettling is a good way to put it. I think one thing else that's been interesting, I want to hear if you have been around for this. It sounds like a lot of beef is just exploding over there. And I think one example would be that I read that Howard Lutnick got heckled at a dinner. Apparently he was, like, talking and people in the audience were literally heckling him. And then the president of the European Central bank gets up and leaves while he's talking. I'd be curious to know if you were there for that, if that's true. But that's a good story. So I think that contributes to why people are so interested in Davos this year.

[Scott Bessent]

It's funny so you knew more about what's going on than I did. And it all makes sense now. I sat at a table and I had the ultimate flex. I sat at Larry Fink's table and there was Madame Lagarde, the head of the European Central bank. And she joked that she was called on because so she wouldn't leave. And I didn't understand the joke, but I guess the joke was she left another dinner with Howard Lutnick. I think people are pretty fed up with Americans and especially the American leadership. The best speech and the most well received speech was Prime Minister Mark Carney. I think a key kind of call sign for leadership is to be forceful yet dignified. He wasn't personal. He didn't, you know, he didn't call Trump names. He didn't, he wasn't emotional. He just basically said, look, Canada is not as big as the US but we are a very well resourced nation. We have a lot of fantastic industry, we have debt, capacity. We don't want to lose this partnership. But if we're forced to and we're not being treated like partners, Canada will take some pain and we'll be fine. And that we need to acknowledge we're moving to a new world order. And supposedly I talk to someone in the Canadian delegation. He wrote the speech himself. And I thought it was very powerful. I remember thinking, so back to in early 90s, in the early 90s, my first company out of business school I started ran strategy room called Profit. My biggest client was Levi Strauss Co. And we were just over at what's called the Plaza, like every day having meetings. And the CMO of the company, a guy named Gord Shank, really thoughtful, you know, smart guy. Said the woman running the whole engagement for me, basically running the firm because it was like 40% of our revenue was a woman named Connie Hallquist, who is arguably the most competent, impressive person I've ever worked with. And everybody just loved working with Connie. And Gord said, I have this great idea. And he called me and I called him back and he said, you know how they have student exchanges? What if we exchange one of our great employees at Levi Strauss and Company with Connie Hallquist and she could come here for six months. And I'm like, who do you want to exchange Connie with? And he gave me the name of this woman. And this woman was just so awful in every way. I'm like, so you're trying to take out the trash and take my A rod. And the reason I bring this up is, is there any way we can exchange, like, do like a presidential swap for just like six or 12 months. This is the guy the west needs right now. And it's just too bad that I don't know if he was like, Chancellor of Germany. I mean, I like Macron, he's fine, but this guy Carney, I wish he kind of commanded a larger economy with a bigger military, so to speak, but I don't know. Canada's still pretty big, but I didn't know that about Ludnick. That makes sense. And actually, I find that kind of encouraging. I don't believe in heckling people at a dinner, but I gotta be honest, it sort of tickles my senses. What else have you heard of?

[Scott Galloway]

We'll get to Connie's speech in a moment. You're right. It is unanimously agreed upon that this was the speech of the conference, potentially the speech of the year. People in Canada, Canadians, are calling it the best speech in Canadian history. So this speech is a big deal. Just I want to hit some more kind of drama points, which I just find kind of interesting. As you say, tickles the senses. There was this great clip where Howard Lotnick was speaking on a panel talking about the future of America. And I don't know if you saw this, but the reactions from the others who are on the panel was absolutely hilarious. This will really be for our YouTube crowd. You kind of need to watch it. Let's just play that clip.

[Donald Trump]

Why would Europe agree to be net zero in 2030 when they don't make a battery? So if they go 2030, they are deciding to be subservient to China, who makes the batteries. Why would you do that? Why would the United States of America, which has oil and natural gas, try to convert to all electricity? China does not have oil and natural gas. Electricity and electric cars make perfect sense to them. That is practical and logical.

[Scott Galloway]

Okay. Another clip that has been making the rounds, I think is pretty important is when Trump was speaking about the Greenland situation, which was obviously the most important news event in the world, and he confused Greenland with another country.

[Donald Trump]

I'm helping NATO. And until the last few days, when I told them about Iceland, they loved me. They called me Daddy, right? Last time, very smart man, said, he's our daddy. He's running it. I was like, running it. I went from running it to being a terrible human being. I don't know that they'd be there for us. They're not there for us on Iceland, that I can tell you. I mean, our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland. So Iceland's already cost us a lot.

[Scott Galloway]

Of money, which was probably the most remarkable event of the week. And then also there was this drama with Gavin Newsom, which Gavin Newsom talked about, but apparently the White House denied him from entering an event which he had been invited to speak at. And then a White House spokesperson issued a statement. They said, quote, no one in Davos knows who third rate Governor Newskum is. So, I mean, it's kind of just reality TV is playing out on the global stage right now. And I guess it's hard to know what to make of that because at one time it seems like, you know, performance art, it feels like wwe. But then at the same time, we're seeing these massive market moving decisions, such as the decision to, I guess not use force against Greenland, or at least that's what Trump said, which spiked the markets around the world. And then Taco ing, which we need to get into. And that is Trump decides to pull the tariffs on the EU because he says that we have reached a framework of a future deal for Greenland. And then the S and P and the NASDAQ and the Dow, they all rise. And then you see bond yields which had jumped to their highest levels since September. It was a big deal when he was threatening Greenland. And then those yields came back down. So a lot of market activity that seems very important. But then you look at what's actually happening in Davos, I mean, it's all kind of looks like a joke from the outside. So then we'll get into Mark Carney's speech. But I guess I want to get your reactions to all of that.

[Scott Bessent]

They're making us and that as Americans look like assholes. Just, there's just no other way around it. And Howard Ludnick at Davos is a little bit like, you know, a repo man is the valet at your daughter's wedding. It just. He just shouldn't be here. He just. He is. He is what he says is stupid, that somehow that we've been exploited, that we're a victim. If you look at 1945-2000 and global trade and every time we increase globalization, America disproportionately. If anyone was going to bitch about globalization in the context of America, it would be our trading partners as we sit as we ship them iPhones and Nvidia chips at 45 to 95 points of gross margin, and they ship us lower margin products and we massively get much greater shareholder value. I mean, who on earth. I mean, you could argue China over the last 30 years. But who on earth over the last, who has benefited more from globalization than the U.S. so what he says makes no fucking sense. And they're all over the place. Their decisions are totally sclerotic. Trump looks like a. You know, he doesn't even seem old. He just seems bumbling and, like, he doesn't do his homework and he doesn't. Can't get the name of the place right and doesn't have good aids. He doesn't have good teleprompters.

[Scott Galloway]

That speech was absurd. I mean, were you at the speech?

[Scott Bessent]

You couldn't get in, so I watched it outside, and quite frankly, I know this sounds weird. I didn't want to be in the same room as the guy. I just find the whole idea of him and what he says and the way he represents America is so counter to everything. I believe our American ideals of strength, liberty, grace, being the good guys. We're no longer the good guys. That really pisses me off. People used to be cynical about Americans and how obnoxious we are, but I think most people, if they had to point to who the good guys were, they would have said the US and now more people globally think China. They'd rather be. They trust China more, which is insane. But back to about Governor Newsom. I'm biased because I like the governor, but I walk down the hall into the main area, and there was an enormous crowd around one guy and beaming like fucking Rihanna meets Arnold Schwarzenegger meets. He just like. I don't know if it's his height, his hair, his presence. He literally is walking around Davos with this sort of, I am the next president energy, and not in an arrogant way. Everyone is just fascinated.

[Scott Galloway]

The Chad.

[Scott Bessent]

Yeah, everyone is just fascinated with the guy, and his comments are. You know, he's definitely. There's a bunch of presidential hopefuls here, and they, you know, they all look like, you know, they've been pulled out of the bargain bin. And then. And then Governor Newsom shows up. Ton of senators here. What's hilarious is no one gives a. I literally saw Lindsey Graham, Senator Graham. You know, he's an important man in a corner, trying to find someone to talk to, to speak to, you know, and no one. No one, you know, no one wanted to talk to this old man in the corner.

[Scott Galloway]

I love that vis. That's amazing.

[Scott Bessent]

But by far, the biggest flex of the best thing. I sat next to Sasha Baron Cohen last night, and we rolled together. We went and had drinks together.

[Scott Galloway]

Wow.

[Scott Bessent]

And my. My favorite thing is I got invited to this after party. And he said, can you leave my name at the door? And I'm like, brother, I. I don't think you're gonna have trouble getting in. But I love how Sasha Baron Cohen is worried about getting into an after party at Davos. He's, by the way, middle class Jew from the suburbs of London, super nice, super intelligent. We went to Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry. Hold your jokes. Had a dinner, talking about AI, and they invited us. And Sasha spoke. He is really. He was like. He's very smart. I mean, he really gets this shit.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah, no, he's a legend. His comedy is brilliant too. There is a sense in which it feels a little bit like celebrity masturbation circle. Like, why is Sasha Baringer. Why is this comedian there?

[Scott Bessent]

He got asked by Larry.

[Scott Galloway]

No, exactly.

[Scott Bessent]

And he adds some spice. He adds some sex appeal to the whole thing, and the whole place doesn't.

[Scott Galloway]

That's the thing. It's sex appeal. So does Katy Perry. It's like, Katy Perry's there on the arm of Justin Trudeau.

[Scott Bessent]

Oh, she's there for Justin.

[Scott Galloway]

Right. But it all starts to seem a little bit like pop culture. Y. What are we doing here? Is this just to hang out with celebrities? Which, you know, I agree. I'm sure it's cool a little bit.

[Scott Bessent]

I'm leaving early. I was supposed to leave tomorrow. I'm going home tonight. I'm kind of like, I'm not raising money. I'm not running for office. Why am I here? I want to go home. I want to see my boys. But, like, up until this moment, I remember I was really reminiscing in 1999, when I was, I don't know, like, 30 or 34. I. It was like the biggest moment of my professional life was getting invited here. And now I'm. It's like Vegas for me. I was fine for the first 24 hours. Now I just can't wait to get out. But most importantly, the most striking thing is Sasha. I'm sorry. It was Justin Trudeau's skin. There's no way he worked that hard as Prime Minister of Canada. He does not look like a man who's ever endured any stress. I think he slept 12 hours a night, got up, did some Pilates, did a juice cleanse.

[Scott Galloway]

He's an expert on face masks, right?

[Scott Bessent]

Yeah. Or someone spread the DNA or platelets of some young Honduran boy from the village or something on his face. The guy looks 19. I just. I couldn't stop staring at the guy. And he's been a world leader already. Like Lindsey Graham looks like he worries a lot. Lindsey looks like he's endured a lot of stress in his lifetime. But not Justin. Not Prime Minister Trudeau.

[Scott Galloway]

We'll be right back after the break. And if you're enjoying the show so far, be sure to like and subscribe to the Prof. GPOD YouTube channel.

[Scott Bessent]

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[Nilay Patel]

Right now in the world of AI, two things are happening simultaneously. One, the technology is getting better fast. People are finding new uses for it. It's more popular than ever. And two, every company that makes AI is absolutely hemorrhaging cash. On the Vergecast this week we're talking about what OpenAI and other companies are doing to try to finally find, figure out how to make some money off of this technology. Spoiler alert, it's mostly ads and we're talking about whether any of it's actually going to work. All that plus some stories about the Chinese company that appears to be beating Tesla on the Vergecast. Wherever you get podcasts.

[Scott Galloway]

We're back with Profg Markets. Let's talk about this Mark Carney speech because this was probably the most pivotal moment at the conference. I mean, the central message is basically that the American hegemony doesn't really work anymore, that America's abusing its power and that this era of globalization that seemed to work isn't working. Let's just listen to some of the highlights.

[Scott Bessent]

We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition. Great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited. The middle powers must act together because if we're not at the table, we're on the menu. This is not sovereignty. It's the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination.

[Scott Galloway]

So it seems like the takeaway, and I'd be interested to know if everyone agrees with this at Davos, but the way the world is set up, our globalist world where we have all of these relationships and we all kind of get along with these trade alliances and we're part of these communities and we're shipping stuff over from China and shipping stuff over to China and everyone's sharing each other's stuff, that, that no longer works, that we're transitioning into a more nationalist world where it's sort of every man for himself. And I guess the thing that is striking is that this is the thing that the US has been pushing. We, we want this. And then the president of Canada comes out and says, well, yeah, if you guys are bailing on this, then okay, we can't do this anymore. This doesn't work if you guys don't sign up for it. What has been the reactions from Davos? What did you make of that speech?

[Scott Bessent]

Like I said, I thought it was the best speech to Davos. I love that line he said, this is not a transition, it's a rupture. What was the line there? He's.

[Scott Galloway]

I thought it was.

[Scott Bessent]

He's just an incredibly impressive, eloquent man. I hope at some point. One thing about America is it does tend to like ping back and forth between different parties and different sort of, I don't know, thought leadership. And I'd like to think the next president is going to be incredibly intelligent and Mark Carney is that kind of guy. He wrote that speech himself. To be fair, though, and this was kind of Neil Ferguson's whole thing was. I mean, and I think there's some truth to this. The EU hasn't. The EU has been free riding off the US's defense spending, assuming they don't have to spend for military, for defense. I mean, to a certain extent, we're by far the largest contributor to NATO. And I get that a war on Europe would be bad for everybody, but it'd be really bad for the Europeans. And the fact that the US has been providing this defense umbrella so they can spend money, more money on their seniors and social citizens, and quite frankly, that is not, that's asymmetric. That is not fair. I think Trump got that right. I just hope that the music matches the words here and they begin coordinating and commanding the space they occupy. And one of the masters of the universe in the finance world said something really powerful last night. He said, look, difference between Europe and the US is, as I said simply put, is our capital markets. And the EU is just not holding its own from a economic standpoint in France, from an incentive standpoint in France now pensioners make more money than working age people. We keep talking about how the US keeps voting seniors more money, the old people voting themselves more money. Take that times two or three. And that's what Europe is like. And talking a big game about Ukraine. I mean, I think some of the nations have really stepped up, but others have not. And so I think there's some truth, there's a kernel of truth. Now the question is, is it going to help anybody? The way I think of it is just economically, the most powerful nation will be the one with the biggest GDP. I think we're about 25% of the world's GDP, but we were the operating system for 60 or 70% of it, which made us unchallengeable. The biggest mistake I believe the Trump administration is making is believing that a power that controls 25% of the world's GDP, or 30% even, maybe it's a third, can muscle around everyone. Our ability to muscle around everyone was to check with our other limbs, other great democracies, or they would take our lead. But if they say we're out and you're now just a third of the world's GDP and a third is somewhere in the middle, not knowing what the fuck to do based on your blood sugar level, and a third is, quote unquote, is our adversaries, whether it's China or Russia, that's a terrible place to be. I feel like they just don't understand the kind of, the basics of math and game theory.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, I think you can point out the EU's reliance on the US for defense spending without threatening to invade their territories. You can make that point and get somewhere with it without pissing everyone off. And further than pissing everyone off, literally threatening military action and then obviously going back on it because we saw Taco and Trump appears to, just in the middle of that speech realize, oh yeah, maybe I shouldn't invade, maybe that's not a good idea. But in terms of the consequences of this behavior and this delivery of that point, it does seem that this is, I mean, we've said this before, this is sending our allies, allies into our adversaries, arms. This is basically pitting the rest of the world against America. Canada and China just struck a new deal. So did the uk. They're preparing a new deal with China. EU and India just struck a deal. The EU and Mexico have a new deal. As we've said, deals are happening, they're just not happening with us. And I think the question becomes what's next in this story? Like, agreed Europe and the relationship with America. Questions should be asked, as they always should be asked. We should be investigating what is the real dynamic here? Who has the leverage? Is someone getting more out of the relationship than the other? But now that we've escalated things the way we have, it could be that the rest of the world just decides, you know what, we can't trust these Americans. And in fact, Neil Ferguson makes the point like, well, who are you going to trust? China? It's like maybe, in fact, that appears to be what these nations and these nations leaders are doing right now. That appears to be what Keir Starmer is pursuing with China at the moment. And then there's the question of what power do they actually have over us? And this is the big question. I'm not sure they have much, but people are asking the question. There's this question of a coordinated attack on our debt, which is more and more relevant. Because just this past November, foreign holdings of U.S. treasuries hit a record high. And the holders that had the biggest increases were the uk, Japan, Belgium, Canada. People are asking the question, could they just sell our debt as China was doing earlier on, and just explode our interest rates? Maybe they could. Could they just sell their holdings of US Stocks? Again, I don't think they will, because as you say, US Stocks are very important. I don't think you can just back out of that and expect things to be all right. So I guess the question would be, what could Europe do in response to America? Or what could the rest of the world do? Could they coordinate with Canada and could they coordinate with Japan and perhaps China and launch an attack on America in some way? Is that even probable or likely? Is that even worth talking about? What do you think?

[Scott Bessent]

It's hard to even imagine or outline something to damage America, but they're not. Europe is still not a union, and this is unionizing them, so to speak. But the Prime Minister. I think he's the Prime Minister. President of Finland, very powerful voice. But okay, who speaks for the eu? I just don't. Is it Matt Cron with his cool glasses? We know it's not Starmer. Who is it? Is it Lagarde? I mean, who is it?

[Scott Galloway]

Mark Carney?

[Scott Bessent]

Fair point.

[Scott Galloway]

He seems to be representative of the whole movement.

[Scott Bessent]

If I were of them, I would have stood on stage with Mark Carney and said, you know, Mark has shown real leadership around this issue and have the head of the, you know, the EU and all the member nations saying, these are the actions we're taking, and we've decided to divest 10 to 20% of our holdings of Treasuries. We've decided as we no longer can count on this as a reserve currency, we're creating a new trading block of Western nations that doesn't include the US but how you defeat an enemy is you atomize them, you fragment them. And the EU is already fragmented. Also, the EU has not shown a willingness to sacrifice. They've not. They're like, oh, wait, cut pensions such that we can increase our military budget. No way. I mean, you know, and so look, the. The core competence of Russia and the reason why they're invading Europe and. And we might end up with a terrible peace that just schedules the next war is while there is financial support. You know, if. If. If somebody was invading Canada and threatening if Cuba all of a sudden invaded another nation proximate to us, I think we would put American troops on the ground. So I Think the EU is, you know, Europe is not a union. They do not speak with one voice. They need to, then they need to identify that leader. And two, and you're right, it might be Carney. They need to massively increase their military spending. They claim they're doing it. So far, there's not a lot of evidence they're actually doing it. And then I would outline a series of, you know, a series of responses. A lot of people say they've been more mature, they haven't responded. I don't know. I think the only thing that the Trump administration understands this point and the only way you treat a bully is at some point you just got to turn around and kick him in the nuts, even if he's bigger than you, and see what happens. So unification, picking one voice to speak with and outlining a series of actions that are sequential, not all at once. But I think our vulnerability is around our debt. You can't be in this kind of debt without vulnerabilities. And everyone says China's the biggest owner. It's not, it's Japan. But combined. But combined the EU is. And Britain. But these guys cannot command the space they occupy because they're not the largest, they're not the second largest economy in the world, which they would be in aggregate. They're a series of kind of one off economies. There's the seven dwarves. None of them can, you know, it's like the, the 4th, the 6th, the 9th, the 14th, the 22nd economy. They don't. It's as if, if we get split up and New York decides to become a finance hub with its own currency and Texas becomes an energy economy and the, the Midwestern states become a manufacturing economy. Trading with Canada, none of those nations would be able to dictate or strike back at China. But we have a United States of America with one military, whether you like them or not, one president that speaks for us and commands, you know, our economic policy and our military. The EU is just theoretically a union.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah, I think that definitely comes out at conferences like this where, you know, Trump is, is swinging his dick around in various ways. And then everyone from Europe kind of gets together and they, they get up on a stage and they stand in front of a podium. This will not stand. This is not acceptable. And Emmanuel Macron gets up there with his aviator glasses and sort of waves his fist around and talks about these ideas about how this is a problem. And I agree. At a certain point it's like, okay, what are you gonna do about it? Is it just gonna be another speech in front of another congregation of white people in suits and ties, or are you actually going to take some action? You know, I think, I think a similar thing could be said about Trump where he makes these threats and he does move markets because he's so erratic and also because he's so much more powerful than anyone else on this stage. But then ultimately he doesn't really do much about it. For example, this taco situation, he says, I'm gonna put these tariffs up. We're gonna take Greenland, we're gonna use any means necessary. And then he shows up to the conference and he says, no, no, we won't use force. And actually, no, we figured out a framework of the no, it's fine, we're not going to do the tariffs anyway. You could make the argument that even he is not really getting anything done himself. We'll be right back. And for even more markets content, please sign up for our [e-mail] Subscribe.

[YourRichBFF Host]

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[Scott Galloway]

We're back with Crafty Markets. If you look at the polling data right now, and I think this is probably relevant to what we saw in Davos. Trump currently has the worst approval rating of any second term president in history, except for Nixon. So people do not trust him right now. And I don't think the kinds of things he's doing in Europe where not only does he look untrustworthy, he also looks weak because he's Chickening out. That's how everyone is describing it. And then we're seeing similar numbers coming from the Gen Z group, which I also think is interesting. Trump's net approval rating among Gen Z is now at negative 32. Compare that to February of last year. About a year ago, the number was plus 10%. So we're seeing just a decimation of his favorability on various issues. And I think a big question going forward is, what did that speech in Davos and what did this Taco do to his legacy? What did it do to his popularity in America? Are people watching what's happening in Switzerland, and do they care? It seems like they probably do, yeah.

[Scott Bessent]

We're closer to it than most people. But, I mean, a couple observations. One, I think people are incorrectly saying that this is the end of globalization and it's a retreat to, like, regional or spheres of influence. I would argue Trump's rhetoric is expediting globalization just without us, and that is free trade. Barriers are coming down. It's making for strange bedfellows. I gotta think that the EU and Latin America and nations in Africa are really looking to trade right now, to establish alliances, free trade zones, political alliances across border. People aren't saying, well, the operating system of America is weakening, so we should withdraw and go inward. They're saying, no, we just need new partners. And I think think this has created a level of promiscuity and willingness to say, okay, we won't place taxation on your wine here in Chile, France, because you have a wine industry you're trying to protect. We want to have more free trade, and we want to be less dependent on selling our wines into America. And the way you do that is by both of us lowering trade barriers and agreeing to get along. And so I think globalization is actually on super drive or overdrive right now because there's so much economic benefit to it. It's just that all the supply chains are being rooted around us.

[Scott Galloway]

And then.

[Scott Bessent]

The thing I would push back on a little bit, though. I mean, one Trump is hugely unfavorable. This doesn't appear to be working. But every time we take a poll, everything goes down. It just seems like people are just getting disgusted with institutions in power. The Democrats aren't doing much better. And the reality is, and I hate to admit this, this isn't just a rogue Trump because he's got 53 Republican senators who all of them seem to be kind of. I mean, we celebrate one of them maybe saying, you know, Bill Cassidy, I'm a doctor, he realizes how dangerous and stupid RFK Jr is, but he doesn't actually fucking do anything about it cuz he's still scared of Trump. So the majority of US Senators are still kind of walking in step with the President and they're elected.

[Scott Galloway]

But don't you think people are beginning to see that like quite viscerally, don't you think the cowardice is becoming almost too big too ignore, too obvious to Americans? And I think someone who's doing a great job of pointing that out is Gavin Newsom. I mean, you look at his speech at Davos, compared to these other leaders who seem to kind of tiptoe around the problem. I mean, he's being bold. And as you say, I forget the words you use, but I think the word that I would use would be aura. His aura is big, it's strong. He presents as powerful now because he actually is standing up. And it seems that that actually is a winning move now, not this cowardice and sycophantry that we've gotten so tired of and so used to. I mean, Scott Besson, every time he gets on stage, he looks like a total fool. And I think people are seeing that because it's so obvious how weak these people are. So to see someone present a vision of stress month, to have an actual spine, to have stones, to have balls, that's quite interesting. That's quite compelling right now.

[Scott Bessent]

Yeah, I see it on the Democratic side, at least in some form. I would still argue they haven't shown real testicles. I'd be drawing up all sorts of criminal indictments and reminding people the statute, the statute of limitations for murder is never. And I would be coming out and saying I believe the following ICE agents are probably guilty of reckless endangerment of life and perhaps second degree murder. And I plan to try and encourage our Department of Justice to investigate them when we have a real Department of Justice. I want to remind our ICE agents that the statute of limitations on murder is never. And there's no such thing as absolute immunity. It doesn't exist. But I haven't seen, I haven't heard a Democrat do that or propose it in a way and show up at Minnesota or large gatherings of ICE and say, hey guys, I just want to, to communicate something about this, this law I'm planning to pursue on January of 2029. So just think about, you know, just think about what you're doing. Anyways, the. And I don't see a lot of it. I still don't see a lot of it on the Republican side. I don't see the backbone. We celebrate small instances of it and we highlight it, but I don't, unfortunately, yet. I don't see a lot of. Have the cracks we've all been waiting for. In my view, if you're honest about this, they're not. I mean, if I believe what he's done has shown that he's reckless, putting us in real harm's way, physical danger, increase the likelihood of a nuclear conflict, bad for the economy, I think, corrupt. He's increased his net worth by $1.2 billion. I think under any other president, a Democratic president, this would be cause for an impeachment. And you would need. We have 47 senators. It would get through the House, probably. Would it now? I don't know. But then you need 66 senators. It started. You would need 19 Republican senators. If eight or 10 Republican senators showed up and said, boss, you are out of control and you need to dial it back, or if they bring up impeachment, we'll be 8 or 10 of the 16. I think he would. I think Susie Wiles would whisper in his ear, okay, you need to dial it back. All of them are scared to do that because if one or two said, he's like, I'm primary ing you and I'm still the man, and I'll get you kicked out and you won't get reservations at your favorite place in D.C. so I see an incredible. I see. You know, if you were to write a book about Republican leadership right now in the Senate would be Profiles and Cowardice. I mean, supposedly they're all saying behind the scenes, this guy's off the rails, but they won't fucking do anything about it. I mean, well, boss, that's why you're elected. You're elected to do the hard things when it's hard or to do the right thing when it's hard.

[Scott Galloway]

I think one interesting question. You actually are behind the scenes. I mean, Davos is as far into the swamp as you could perhaps get. I mean, I'm astounded by the cowardice on both sides. I'm astounded by the cowardice in business leadership as well. I'm sort of astounded. Sometimes I'll do like a, a media hit and they'll be like, oh, like, is it okay if we talk about Trump? Like, can we talk about something that he said? I'm like, yeah, obviously, like, that's totally fine. I'm very surprised with the, with how scared everyone is, with the extent to which people seem to want to tiptoe around these issues. You are in the room right now. Is that the vibe in the room? Are people being kind of hesitant and concerned and holding themselves back when it comes to expressing their true opinions on the issue?

[Scott Bessent]

I think American senators and special interest groups are afraid because Donald Trump, like any strong man, has figured out the algorithm is to reward your allies with monetary compensation, whether it's the kids of Howard Lutnick who get an investment in their shitcoin from the UAE after we, we agree to let the UAE have our most sophisticated chips. I mean, just, I can't even, I, I just can't even imagine what would have happened if Obama tried a fraction of this.

[Scott Galloway]

Unbelievable.

[Scott Bessent]

So, and then also to punish your enemies, to go after them and really try and make their lives miserable, including threatening prison, having FBI agents raid your house at early in the morning if they don't like, you know, former security advisor John Bolton, what you've said. So that's working. I think people are really intimidated. The Europeans, I would describe the meetings I've been in, they're just so damn polite. They don't. There's so many Americans in the room.

[Scott Galloway]

It'S the end of them.

[Scott Bessent]

They're also trying to curry favor with a lot of these startups to build offices in their regions. They don't want to cut off their nose, despite their face. So they're incredibly, I won't even say, you know, they just demonstrate a lot of grace and they're very polite. But I wouldn't describe it as they're kowtowing or scared of them. They're just, these people are just very dignified. These people like all went to prep school in Switzerland and are, you know, they eat with the right fork.

[Scott Galloway]

Isn't that the problem, though? It's almost like that's the problem. It's like these people, they're too polite, they're too sheltered and we've got this wrecking ball who's fucking everything up wherever he goes and everyone's too polite to do anything about it, to confront the problem, to say things as they really mean it. That's gotta be one of the biggest obstacles in the way of Europe is their own politeness, that they're not willing to just say what they think they could have said.

[Scott Bessent]

Look, Carney, you've captured the moment. We want you to turn up the volume. And during your speech, we want two things. One, at the end, we want you to outline a series of actions. And we're going to have all 27 member states of the EU sitting behind you. That's what I would have done. And, but yeah, it's all sort of, they're polite and atomized and all trying to get anthropic to open their next office in Helsinki. So. And it's true also. You got to give it to, you gotta. Right now. American innovation doesn't seem to be sputtering. It doesn't, you know, it, it's people. I was with Haman Taneha, the guy who runs General Catalyst. They're making enormous bets, enormous bets. I mean these guys, these guys have balls the size of Mars. They're making multi billion dollar bets on things and in different areas and healthcare and defense tech. And it's like, okay, Germany feels like it's paralyzed by the fact that it's waking up to the notion that it's getting the shit kicked out of it on a manufacturing level from China. I mean they're just like, okay, how do we deal with that? That's probably bigger threat to Germany right now is China. Anyway, this is, I mean just saying it, my blood pressure goes up. This is very, very unsettling. I do think this might be a pivot point that, that okay, we've kind of had it with these guys. Christine Lagarde walking out on, on the Commerce Secretary is a pretty big deal, you know. So anyways, anyway, I'm not supposed to say.

[Scott Galloway]

Anyways, anyway, I like. Anyways, we will be discussing this more on another episode but you've got more to do at Davos. So let's take a look at the week ahead. We will see consumer confidence for January. The Federal Reserve will make its first interest rate decision of the year on Wednesday. It's also a huge earnings week. We will see reports from Microsoft, Meta, Apple, Tesla, ASML, UnitedHealth, Boeing, Starbucks, Lockheed Martin, Blackstone, Exxon Mobil and Chevron. Scott, this is the part where I ask you for a prediction. I would love for a prediction on what is going to happen with this Greenland Europe situation. But I get that it's fresh so you can pass on that, but if you have one, I'd love to hear it.

[Scott Bessent]

I think Greenland Europe is nothing but just unnecessary self inflicted injury that further cements our brand as chaotic and coercive versus alliances. I also think it's a bit of a distraction from what is a more significant action. And this is my prediction. I think the US is going to strike Iran imminently. I think if you look at ship movements and things like boring stuff like movements of the, the, the, the aircraft that refuel bombers and fighter aircraft. I think there's a lot of military movements in the Middle east right now. This is all public information. The, you know, USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group is transiting from the South China sea towards the US Central Command area, have 15 fighter jets and himars have been repositioned in the region. And this might just be because it's hot there right now and they want to be ready. But I think that, I think Trump loves the flex and the recognition and the macho riz he earned from his actions in Venezuela. And also Neil Ferguson said something I agree with and that is if, if there aren't military strikes from the US and we don't weigh in against the regime with probably coordinating with Israel, he put the likelihood that the regime stands at 90%. And just given the opportunity, given that we have a president who loves the flex, the military and given the vulnerability right now of the regime and if Trump can take credit for toppling the Islamic Republic, I think that's a pretty significant win. So whether you think it's a good idea or not, I happen to think it's a great idea. And I'm just infuriates me that no one seems to give a shit about Iran in the US when they have been one of the most oppressive, misogynistic cultures of the last century. So anyways, in sum, I think that we're going to see military strikes against the Islamic Republic in the next couple weeks.

[Scott Galloway]

This episode was produced by Claire Miller and Alison Weiss. Mia Silverio is our research lead. Our research associates are Isabella Kinsel, Dan Shalon and Kristen o'. Donoghue. Benjamin Spencer is our engineer, Drew Burrows is our technical director and Catherine Dillon is our executive producer. Thank you for listening to Prof. G Markets from Profg Media. Tune in tomorrow for a fresh take on the markets.

[Scott Bessent]

In kind Reunion as the water. La.