Podcast Summary: Slate Money – "The End of the World As We Know It"

Date: December 14, 2019
Host: Felix Salmon (with Emily Peck & Anna Chymansky)

Overview

This episode tackles a week in which the pillars of the global postwar order—trade institutions, international alliances, and globalist politics—seem to be crumbling. The hosts discuss the implosion of the WTO’s appellate body, Brexit’s imminent reality, the passing of legendary Fed chair Paul Volcker and his complicated legacy, and finish with an exploration of workplace culture and gender dynamics, using the tech luggage startup Away as a case study. As always, it’s a whirlwind tour through business, economics, and finance with Slate Money’s sharp, conversational tone.

Key Discussion Points

1. The Collapse of the WTO's Court (00:00–06:16)

• Background: The World Trade Organization’s appellate body, a unique judicial system where countries could hold each other accountable, was rendered inoperable due to the U.S. blocking new judicial appointments, leaving the body without enough judges for binding rulings.
• Context:
  • This development marks a return to pre-WTO relations—a “Westphalian” system where each nation is fully sovereign and no supra-national body can enforce binding trade judgments.
  • Trump's administration accelerated this process by refusing to appoint judges, but the WTO had been strained by issues like China's rise and the inability to update rules for new realities (e.g., the internet).
• Notable Quotes:
  • "The Trump administration just said, well, we're not going to allow any more judges to be appointed... There are no binding rulings anymore. And the one thing that the WTO was still kind of doing effectively... it now can't do." —Felix (04:06)
  • "The irony here... the United States has won a majority of cases at the WTO." —Emily (05:09)

2. Brexit and the Rejection of Globalism (06:16–12:24)

• Election Fallout: Boris Johnson’s landslide UK election victory (despite only earning 43.6% of the vote) enables Brexit, symbolizing an ongoing trend away from internationalism (the EU) and back to national sovereignty.
• Deeper Issues: The hosts discuss how the dream of globalism failed to deliver for ordinary people, especially post-financial crisis, fueling discontent and populism.
• Discussion on Labor Mobility:
  • Intended EU benefits like labor mobility didn’t materialize as strongly as expected, with high youth unemployment persisting in places like Spain. Native British backlash to immigration added to EU skepticism.
• Notable Quote:
  • "It's not in Britain's economic interest to do that, but it's clearly... a sort of atavistic reversion to this kind of, you know, everyone against everyone else. Hobbesian nightmare situation. Yay." —Felix (07:47)

3. Globalization’s Invisibility and Backlash (12:24–14:12)

• Consumer Benefits: Globalization has benefited most people, especially as consumers (e.g., cheap iPhones), but these gains are less visible than losses.
• Salient Struggles: People register economic struggles far more sharply than the convenience and low prices globalization brings.
• Memorable Exchange:
  • "If... you notice the struggles much more than you notice the things that are easy." —Felix (13:54)
  • "Struggles are more salient." —Emily (13:56)

4. Paul Volcker’s Legacy and the Politics of Technocracy (14:16–23:12)

• Setting the Stage:
  • Paul Volcker, celebrated former chair of the Federal Reserve, passed away. He is most famous for "slaying inflation" in the late 1970s/early 80s by raising interest rates, causing deep recession, but ultimately bringing inflation under control.
• Controversies and Revisionism:
  • New arguments suggest Volcker’s aggressive anti-inflation approach hurt labor and was more responsive to concerns of capital (the wealthy) than workers.
  • Volcker is held as a symbol of technocracy—a data-driven approach that seems increasingly out of favor today.
• Notable Quotes:
  • "[Volcker] saw numbers... he didn't care in the moment that that kind of tough work would lead more people to lose jobs. And everyone kind of fell in line with his technocratic viewpoint... But now people are not buying into that anymore." —Emily (20:58)
  • "One of my favorite Paul Volcker factoids:...he never actually got his PhD because he wound up like, chasing a girl instead. And I just, I was like, yeah, get your priorities." —Felix (23:12)

5. The Tech Startup “Away” and Gendered Narratives (24:27–36:12)

• The Backstory:
  • Away, a direct-to-consumer luggage startup known for marketing and Instagram, was rocked by a scathing Verge article exposing a toxic workplace culture under co-founder/CEO Steph Korey—including public Slack shaming, anti-private messaging policies, and firings of minority and LGBTQ+ workers.
• Rapid Fallout:
  • Korey was quickly ousted and replaced by a male C-suite veteran from Lululemon.
• Discussion Themes:
  • The illusion and cost of believing in a company’s “mission” too literally.
  • The fragility of the “girlboss” ideal: whether female founders are held to higher/different standards than male counterparts.
  • Tech startup leadership’s lack of class, gender, and even racial diversity.
• Notable Quotes:
  • "You should... we're teaching you something really important here." —Emily mocking Korey’s Slack language (29:14)
  • "If you're a true believer in Away, then, like, what's wrong with you? Like, they sell luggage." —Anna (30:57)
  • "There absolutely a double standard... for women founders... it's hard to stereotype men based on Adam Neumann, though I would try." —Emily (32:41)

6. Numbers Round (37:20–39:35)

• Emily: 160 — Number of U.S. revenue-generating minor league baseball teams (37:25)
• Felix: 43.6% — The vote share Conservatives won in the UK, yielding a large majority in Parliament, highlighting distortions of first-past-the-post (37:56)
• Anna: $30 billion — Value of non-performing loans to be removed from Greek banks through a new “Hercules” asset securitization program (39:06)

Memorable Moments and Quotes (with Timestamps)

• "Everything is falling apart." — Felix (01:43)
• "America could just sue Europe at the WTO court... That just didn't exist before 1995. And now it doesn't exist anymore." — Felix (02:56)
• "One of the main benefits of globalism is labor mobility... but people didn't really take advantage of it in quite the way that you thought they would." — Felix (11:08)
• "The biggest benefit of global trade is... things are really cheap." — Emily (13:04)
• "No human being is unprobed, obviously. Like, you can really, really respect Paul Volcker and not necessarily agree with every single thing he ever did." — Anna (15:17)
• "Struggles are always more salient." — Felix & Emily (13:54–13:57)
• "If you're starting a company... you're probably gonna be an incredibly difficult person to work with... but if a guy does that... they still have these other opportunities." — Anna (33:36)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [00:00–06:16] – WTO Appellate Body Breakdown and Global Order
• [06:16–12:24] – Brexit, UK Elections, Skepticism on Globalism
• [12:24–14:12] – The Benefits and Perceptions of Globalization
• [14:16–23:12] – Paul Volcker’s Mythos and Legacy
• [24:27–36:12] – Away Suitcases, Tech Culture, and Gender in the C-Suite
• [37:20–39:35] – Numbers Round

Tone and Style

The conversation is brisk, irreverent, and naturally digressive, but always intelligent and anchored in real-world financial and political developments. The hosts’ teasing and skepticism ("struggles are more salient", "if you're a true believer in Away, what's wrong with you?") offer both humor and sharp critique, which are hallmarks of Slate Money.

Summary for Non-listeners

This episode is a state-of-the-world check-in for December 2019, as the hosts skillfully connect headlines—the evisceration of global institutions, election results, the legacy of a central bank legend, and rising workplace scandals—to underlying questions about trust, technocracy, and the difficulties (and disconnects) of globalization. It’s essential listening for anyone trying to make sense of how the economic and political narratives of recent decades are rapidly coming undone.