The Ben Shapiro Show: Ep. 2318

"Is There An Economic Bubble? And Will It BURST?"

Date: November 14, 2025
Host: Ben Shapiro
Podcast: The Daily Wire – The Ben Shapiro Show

Episode Overview

In this episode, Ben Shapiro dissects recent volatility in the stock market, focusing on whether the current surge in tech and real estate valuations signals an economic bubble—and what might happen if it bursts. He explores the mechanics behind the tech sector’s investment cycle (with special attention to AI), critiques the interventionist policies promoted by the political left, examines the state of institutional vs. retail investing, and considers policy responses to rising prices, job losses, housing unaffordability, and the broader cost-of-living crisis. The conversation also touches upon recent political controversies and developments in higher education.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Market Turbulence: Is the Tech Bubble About to Burst?

• Stock Market Decline:

  • The Dow Jones tumbled about 800 points, with futures also down. Major indices reported their worst day in a month.
  • "If the economy is this responsive to the possibility of a Fed rate cut or a Fed rate increase, that is not a strong economy. It isn't." (10:40)

• AI Investment Circularity:

  • Companies like Microsoft, Oracle, Nvidia, and OpenAI are engaged in massive, intertwined financial arrangements—investing in one another or providing services in exchange for investment, sometimes in complex, circular deals.
  • “If you keep betting on the same horses over and over and those horses don’t come in, things get ugly. What happens if OpenAI does not deliver the gains it has promised everybody?” (17:30)

• Market Liquidity & Fed Policy:

  • Speculation abounds about Fed rate cuts (“50-50 essentially,” per prediction markets), but Shapiro expresses skepticism that the Fed will cut rates due to persistent inflation and relatively easy current liquidity.

2. Institutional vs. Retail Investing Dynamics

• Trend Reversal:
  • Hedge funds and institutional investors have been net sellers, unloading over $67 billion in equities in 2025.
  • Retail investors are holding up the bull market—“Who’s more sophisticated, you or the hedge fund?” (22:30)
• Bubble Areas:
  • Shapiro identifies bubbles in tech and real estate, emphasizing risk even if a full-blown crash isn’t imminent.

3. Signs of Economic Weakness

• Foreclosures on the Rise:

  • 36,766 foreclosure filings in October alone, up 3% from September and 19% year-on-year.
  • “Both those things are true at the same exact time: more supply (good), but also a sign that people can’t afford things right now (bad).” (25:40)

• Layoffs at Major Companies:

  • Verizon plans to cut 15,000 jobs—the largest ever for the carrier.

4. Political & Policy Responses to Economic Strains

• Policy Divide:

  • Shapiro contrasts left-wing (Democrat) and right-wing (Republican) economic approaches:
    • Left: Redistribute wealth, regulate, tax, expand government involvement.
    • Right: Support innovation, deregulation, free markets, and competition.

• Critique of Left’s Affordability/Redistribution Promises:

  • “Punishing the rich doesn’t make everybody richer. It just makes rich people poorer, that’s all.” (34:10)
  • Warns against the historical failure of government housing and redistribution policies (e.g., St. Louis in the 1960s).

• Creative Destruction & AI:

  • Channels economist Joseph Schumpeter’s idea: market change (e.g., from AI) might disrupt jobs but ultimately creates growth and productivity.

• AI in the Workforce:

  • AI likely to threaten white-collar jobs (“Ironically...coders are going to have to learn to weld, because AI is actually quite good at the things that the coders taught the AI to do, like coding.”)(37:30)

5. Policy Solutions for Affordability & Growth

A. What Can Individuals Do?

• Personal Decision-Making:
  • “That personal decision may involve looking at your circumstances where you live and deciding you can get a better job elsewhere. That is not, in fact, a fundamental betrayal of the American contract.” (47:30)

B. What Can Policymakers Do?

• Interest Rates & Fed Limits:

  • Criticism of attempts to blame Fed policy or ‘talk people into’ feeling good about the economy.

• Tariffs and Trade Policy:

  • Trump administration cuts tariffs on bananas and coffee, a move Shapiro interprets as tacit admission that tariffs increase prices.
  • “If you want prices to go down, perhaps you should remove trade barriers on the countries that are going to supply you cheaper and better products.” (33:45)

• Deregulation and Housing:

  • Shapiro argues real housing affordability will only come from deregulation and allowing more supply—not from subsidies or mass deportations alone.

• Healthcare Reform:

  • Obamacare's cost continues to rise; suggests a market-based reinsurance model to subsidize pre-existing conditions, and more options for catastrophic coverage—especially for young people.

6. Political Hot Topics & Controversies

• Jeffrey Epstein Allegations:

  • Shapiro pushes back against attempts to link Trump to Epstein based on new emails and revived accusations, labeling the renewed focus as a political smear.
  • “I’m waiting for the supposed smoking gun in the same way that I was waiting for the Russiagate smoking gun for years and years and years and it never happened.” (44:10)

• Matt Gaetz Scandal:

  • Summary and harsh critique of the House Ethics Committee’s findings on Gaetz and underage sex allegations.
  • “I'm just going to put it out. I don't think he would have made a good attorney general." (46:20)

• Eric Swalwell Investigation:

  • Discussed allegations of mortgage fraud, with Swalwell calling it political targeting.

7. Education & University Policy

• Texas A&M Moves Against ‘Woke’ Curricula:

  • Texas A&M bans advocacy of race or gender ideology in class without academic review.
  • “What is the educational value of teaching queer theory at Texas A&M? And please explain.” (54:10)

• Academic Preparedness Crisis:

  • Cites reports of basic math failures among incoming college students; UC San Diego and Harvard place increasing numbers in remedial math despite high academic standards.
  • “We’re failing at the middle school level, we’re failing at the high school level, and we’re increasingly failing at the college level.” (57:01)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Tech Bubble Risk and AI Investment:

  • “There’s nothing particularly corrupt...but it’s everybody betting on the same horses over and over. If those horses don’t come in, things get ugly.” (17:30)

• On Fundamental Market Weakness:

  • “If what you’re worried about is whether there is going to be incrementally lower interest rates for businesses to artificially spice things up...that does not bode well.” (10:39)

• On Government Redistribution:

  • “The real question is what’s the kind of stuff that you can get today? Innovation makes your stuff better and it makes your stuff cheaper. Competition makes your stuff better and it makes your stuff cheaper.” (33:10)

• On Deregulation as the Solution:

  • “The actual thing that’s going to solve the housing affordability crisis is deregulation. It's going to be free market capitalism. It's actually going to be banks making real decisions about who can afford a home and where." (41:50)

• On Barriers to Homeownership:

  • “New York is never going to be as affordable as Des Moines, Iowa. ...That’s just not the way that it works. It has never worked that way. And literally all of human history has never worked that way.” (47:50)

• On Academic Failure & Wokeness:

  • “There are a lot of dumb theories that emerge from the universities. There is no reason the taxpayers should subsidize it.” (54:15)
  • “20% of college students got [basic math] wrong...80% of incoming college students couldn’t solve that [elementary algebra]. We got a problem in our educational system for sure.” (57:10)

Timestamps – Key Segments

• Market Volatility & Tech Bubble Discussion: 05:00 – 20:00
• AI Financial Circularity & Risks: 13:45 – 20:30
• Institutional vs. Retail Investing: 22:00 – 24:20
• Foreclosure Trends & Real Estate: 25:40 – 27:30
• Layoffs & Corporate Headwinds: 27:30 – 28:20
• Debate over Economic Policy (Left vs. Right): 29:45 – 37:20
• Tech, AI, and Creative Destruction: 37:20 – 40:00
• Affordability, Policy Solutions – Trade/Tariffs/Deregulation: 41:00 – 50:00
• Jeffrey Epstein & Related Scandals: 44:55 – 51:00
• Congressional Investigations (Gaetz, Swalwell): 51:00 – 53:50
• Texas A&M/Woke Education: 54:00 – 57:00
• College Remedial Problem: 57:00 – 58:30

Tone & Style

Ben Shapiro maintains his trademark rapid-fire delivery, directness, and caustic humor, interweaving factual data with pointed critiques of left-wing economics, Democrats, and “woke” ideology in academia. His rhetoric is polemical, laced with sarcasm, but also explanatory when breaking down complicated financial or economic topics.

Summary

Ben Shapiro delivers a comprehensive, conservative analysis of current economic anxieties, particularly the risk of economic bubbles in tech and real estate, and critiques attempts at top-down intervention, favoring free-market solutions. He highlights warning signals in market behavior, rising foreclosures, job cuts, and persistent inflation, and offers detailed criticism of both left- and right-wing policy missteps. Shapiro wraps up with a foray into current political scandals and the state of higher education, advocating for deregulation and academic rigor over ideological activism. The episode provides a broad primer on current economic tensions and the range of policy debates in play as the 2024 election campaign intensifies.