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PMQs #008 – Why the Financial World Order is Shifting - The Peter McCormack Show | Wave AI Podcast Notes

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PMQs #008 – Why the Financial World Order is Shifting

The Peter McCormack Show

Wed Jan 14 2026

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Peter McCormack Show – PMQs #008

Episode Title: Why the Financial World Order is Shifting
Date: January 14, 2026
Host: Peter McCormack
Featured Guest: Conor McCormack

Overview

This episode of The Peter McCormack Show dives deep into the unraveling of the financial world order, the dysfunction of Western democracies, and the rise of state authoritarianism, with a particular focus on the UK and US. Peter and Conor discuss how the debt-based economic system is fueling inequality, leading to societal and political chaos, and why traditional political solutions are no longer viable. The show is both analytical and candid, combining political ranting with economic critique and a libertarian flavor throughout.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Central Banks and Engineered Inequality

Scott Bessant frames the Federal Reserve as the “engine of inequality,” pointing out that quantitative easing (QE) benefits asset holders at the expense of everyone else.
Quote:

“Ben Bernanke famously said... he told everyone go buy equities. Well, not everyone could buy equities. So we ended up with this two tier economy where either you were an asset holder or you weren't. I called the Fed the engine of inequality.” (Scott Bessant, 00:00)
Peter expands on this, lamenting the broken mechanics of the debt-based system, which ensures the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, regardless of which party is in power.
Quote:

“This debt-based system will only make the rich richer and the poor poorer. The mechanics are screwed. It doesn’t matter who you vote in, you’re not voting yourself out of this.” (Peter McCormack, 00:22, 44:00, 43:59)

2. Political Dysfunction and Leadership Crisis in the UK

Peter and Conor mock current UK leadership:
- Both slam Keir Starmer’s government as chaotic, directionless, and defined by U-turns and weak leadership.
- Conor: “They are weak individuals. They do not feel like leaders.... I look at them and I’m like, how the... How have you got to that place where you are governing our entire country?” (03:04)
Peter suggests Starmer would go down as an historical non-entity or “the worst prime minister ever,” but ironically suggests Starmer could become a “legend” by rage-quitting and exposing the system.
Quote:

“Just rage quit. Come out and say, I’m done. I can’t do this. The whole system’s broken. ...You’ll go down as a legend.” (Peter McCormack, 05:54)

3. Free Speech, X (Twitter), and Authoritarian Drift in the UK

The hosts dissect Labour’s attempt to clamp down on X (Twitter) after “Bikini Gate,” where AI images of people in bikinis, some involving children, led to demands for censorship.
Keir Starmer clip:

“Disgraceful. ...X need to get their act together. We will take action on this because it’s simply not tolerable.” (Keir Starmer, 07:08)
Peter fiercely defends the necessity of free speech, especially speech we don’t like, and opposes platform bans in favor of prosecuting individuals who abuse the law.
The rapid government response to ‘Bikini Gate’ is contrasted with the sluggish or absent response to more serious issues such as grooming gangs, suggesting political self-preservation is the motive.
Memorable take:

"If they ban this, what are they going to ban next? Podcasts?” (Conor McCormack, 15:24)

4. Democracy, Managed Decline, and Political Hopelessness

The discussion shifts to the broader impotence of the political system:
- Voting no longer offers a solution; changing party only changes the “manager of decline.”
- Reform, Green, Labour, Conservative—it’s all the same, as none address the fundamental architecture of the debt-based financial system.
Quotes:

"Your only other option really is to vote it out. But if the mechanics of the system are broke itself, what are you really voting for? ...You’re voting for a new manager of decline.” (Peter McCormack, 20:40-21:39)
"This is why I don’t vote. And I think that... our choice is we either vote in a party who accelerate the decline or we vote in a party that decelerates the decline. But whatever happens, we get decline.” (Peter McCormack, 45:58)

5. Fed Drama and US Parallels

Discussion about the criminal investigation into Jerome Powell and the spiraling US debt.
The hosts see the battle for Fed control as a proxy for more inflationary juicing ahead, regardless of administration, as political actors on both left and right seek to keep markets afloat through “lefty right authoritarianism.”
Quote:

“The Fed is meant to be independent, right? ...Their job is to control and support the economy. But we know Jerome Power hasn't been doing what Trump wants and so he's stepping down. ...if we flood the market with cheap money, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” (Peter McCormack, 43:54–44:09)

6. Media Complicity and the Need for Systemic Reform

Peter and Conor speculate if mainstream media like the BBC are ignorant or complicit in propping up the financial order.
The debate is a “theater,” a distraction from the real underlying issue: government spending, money creation, and who benefits.
Quote:

“Not enough people are talking—there should be no bigger conversation right now... The only conversation we should be having right now is what is the debt? Why does it exist? Who benefits from it? Who gets destroyed by it? And how the fuck do we stop it?” (Peter McCormack, 48:25)

7. Is Democratic Change Still Possible? The Milei Example

The hosts reference Argentina’s election of Javier Milei as an example of a country that eventually embraced a radical libertarian Austrian solution when things got bad enough, but acknowledge the UK is likely a decade or more away from that level of desperation.
Quote:

“The UK needs ... a Milei type character... who understands libertarian principles and has the charisma and the media reach to sell this to enough people...” (Peter McCormack, 54:34, 55:45)

8. What Are the Options? Exit, Reform, or Adaptation

Peter’s three options for surviving the system:

Constitutional reform: Reduce government power to protecting life, liberty, and property.
Leave the country: Emigrate somewhere freer.
Exit as much of the system as possible while staying: Move savings into Bitcoin, shop local, build parallel economic networks, minimize dependence on the state.

Quote:

“I can exit the system but help other people exit the system. ...Put as much money as you can in bitcoin, do as much as you can in a cash based economy and then just focus locally... create parallel networks that operate outside of government.” (Peter McCormack, 61:59–62:23)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the Broken System:

“Nothing’s going to change if we get a reform government or we get a Green Party... It’s the same people. ...You’re voting for a new manager of decline.” (Peter McCormack, 20:40-21:39)
On Rage Quitting and Honesty in Politics:

“Just rage quit... I cannot fix this. ...I promise you, you’ll go down as a legend. But you’re not going to do it.” (Peter McCormack, 05:54–06:27)
On Free Speech:

“Free speech is a fundamental freedom that you want in a democratic society, and it’s not for the speech you like. It’s always to defend the speech you don’t like.” (Peter McCormack, 07:45)
On Boiling Frog Decline:

“It’s that slow decline, which is the boiling frog. Harder to see.” (Conor McCormack, 46:47–47:07)
On Media Complicity:

“Are they complicit? Are they stupid? ...Do they actually know about the mechanics of this?” (Peter McCormack, 48:10–48:21)
On True Libertarian Governance:

“Bastiat was very clear that the government should do one thing and one thing only, which is defend life, liberty and property. ...The fairest thing the government can do is as little as possible.” (Peter McCormack, 57:33)

Timestamps for Important Segments

Fed and QE’s role in inequality: 00:00–00:22; 38:00–39:12
Government and political incompetence (Keir Starmer): 02:34–05:54
Debate over free speech, 'Bikini Gate', and Labour's authoritarianism: 07:08–18:30
Political parties & managed decline: 20:33–21:39
Jerome Powell investigation and Fed/US parallels: 37:15–44:09
Why voting won’t fix it: 45:58–47:07
Discussion of libertarian alternatives and the example of Javier Milei: 53:09–56:20
Peter’s “three options” for escaping the system: 61:59–62:23

Tone & Style

The episode is irreverent, skeptical, and at times darkly humorous, with a recurring sense of frustration at institutional incompetence and the inertia of the status quo. Peter is passionate and unapologetic, while Conor provides pointed, youthful counterpoints and skepticism.

Conclusion

This episode is a bracing indictment of Western economic and political decay, with a call for radical libertarian reform or, barring that, individual and community-driven self-preservation. The hosts reject the possibility of electoral solutions within the current system and lay out the case for more fundamental change—either by a “Milei-type” leader or by opting out as much as possible.

[End of Summary]

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Transcript

Scott Bessant (0:00)

Ben Bernanke famously said when he was asked what's the purpose of qe, he told everyone go buy equities. Well, not everyone could buy equities. So we ended up with this two tier economy where either you were an asset holder or you weren't. I called the Fed the engine of inequality.

Peter McCormack (0:22)

You know, funny thing on this is keep talking about this. I mean it's pretty much what we focus most of the show on, the guests, the PMQs, that this debt based system will only make the rich richer and the poor poorer. We say the mechanics are screwed. It doesn't matter who you vote in, you're not voting yourself out of this. And I just find it, I find it really depressing that there are so many people out there who know how this works. They know the mechanics work. They know that it's going to hollow out society. They know it's making the lives of the poor even harder. You know, when he wants to do anything about it. This show is brought to you by my lead sponsor, Aaron the AI cloud for the next big thing. Aaron builds and operates next generation data centers and delivers cutting edge GPU infrastructure all, all powered by renewable energy. Now if you need access to scalable GPU clusters or are simply curious about who is powering the future of AI, check out iren.com to learn more, which is Irene.com hello. Hello. Welcome to another PMQs. I'm your host, Peter McCormack. Got your boy, the radical Conor McCormack with me. And it's been another chaotic week. Loads of crazy stuff is happening. We have seen Trump increase his military budget. Looks like World War 3 is coming and potentially prepping for that. Our own government is in absolute chaos. Keir Starmer doesn't appear to know exactly what he's doing or have control of his government. And we've seen a revolution from the Iranians. It's pretty wild stuff out there but it all for me is tying back to the same thing. We made a show with Simon Dickerson, you should go and watch that came out a few days ago where we talked about all the money and how the money system works. All ties back to the same thing. So we're going to get into that and I do, I do really need to talk about our government. I do need to talk about Keir Starmer and what's going on because it's just chaos everywhere, non stop. Feels like day, it feels like daily chaos.

Conor McCormack (2:34)

He has not got a Scooby. A Scooby.

Peter McCormack (2:38)

It's so weird, man. So, like, when I was a kid, Connor, I would look at these politicians or these prime ministers and I would see them as these, like, I don't know, like, godlike, these important people who ran the country, and now just look at them as morons.

Conor McCormack (2:56)

Peter McCormack (8:55)

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Peter McCormack (29:47)

Yeah, but it's because the debt pile gets bigger. The ability for the government to be able to pay for the things that it wants to pay for gets harder. So they have their levers. Which is? Create money or tax people more. Tax people more. Pisses off the public. Create money creation, generates the inflation. And whatever happens, whatever they do, everyone just gets squeezed more. And so what can they do? I mean, that's a bigger question. I mean, I wouldn't vote for any of this shit. This is why I don't vote. And I think that. Look, the interesting thing is this isn't just happening here. You look across to America, it's exactly the same. Trump is failing on his mandate. Not entirely, but a large part of his mandate he's failed on. Everything's still expensive. The debt's at, I don't know, nearly 40 trillion now. And it feels like they print another trillion nearly every month. And they're going to have midterms this year, which are going to be hotly fought, and they're going to have another election in two and a half years. And the Democrats are going to make out that whoever follows Trump, whether it's a third term for Trump or it's J.D. vance or your boy Marco Rubio. Conor has a crush on Marco Rubio. Whoever it is, the left are going to say it is an existential crisis to this country if the Republicans win another term. And the Republicans are going to say, I don't know, say it's Gavin Newsom. They're going to say it's an existential crisis. And these swings are getting bigger each time. And the hatred is getting cut. I mean just the ICE thing, Right. I think the icing is just again more signal of a country and a political system that is breaking. We should talk about that ICE thing. So do you know what I found really weird about the ICE thing? Right. It's like when it happened, all the Republicans got an entrenched position defending this guy for shooting that lady in a. I don't know her name but in the car in the face. And all the left wing Democrats entrenched their position that she was just trying to drive away and it was murder.

Peter McCormack (32:08)

Yeah. But you know the weirdest thing about it all is it was like day after day there were new explanations, new camera angles, there were uh, slow mo's showed of it and, and people going into the like this detailed nuanced reason for why he was justified to shoot her or why he wasn't justified to shoot her. And then he did. And if you think about they had to. If you think about how they had to get new kind of slow mos and different angles, they're spending time trying to slow motion, look at a justification. Wait, what, what angle's the wheel pointed at? All it really is. Let me finish. Let's just. And then you go, then you think about it. It's like if you need all that detail and to be able to look at the car angle and the angle of the wheel and a different. Can we just go to the reality of the moment? The guy with the gun and the woman driving the car aren't thinking like that. She definitely didn't want to get shot in the face. If you just said to her, if you drive off, you're going to get shot in the face. She's not driving anywhere. And if you said to him, look, if you shoot, you let off your gun, you're gonna shoot in the face, you're gonna live with the idea that you've killed somebody. I don't think either of them wanted that outcome. But the pressure of that situation is so high and so hot that people aren't making rational decisions. And we're talking about like people are talking about, similar to ice coming to the UK and to me. Look, I actually think people should go and watch the Dave Smith episode on this. He discussed it in the last episode and for me, Dave just like he just gets everything. Well, not everything. I agree with the majority of what he says. I mean we could almost call this show what Dave says. Just go and listen to Dave. But actually he's a guy voted for Trump probably swings a little bit more. Republican is definitely angry with Trump right now. Like, just feels totally let down for giving him his vote. But even he was saying, look, you're sending out these ICE guys into neighborhoods with guns, probably not as trained as police to forcibly remove people. You're going to create a very hot, hostile situation. And, like, how many people are you going to get rid of? Couple hundred thousand at best. Like, is this worth it? Anyway, I interrupted you, though.

Peter McCormack (57:33)

Well, you know, and she offered to give me the book and I said, no, I'll order it. I ordered it on Amazon then. But Bastiat was very clear that the government should do one thing and one thing only, which is defend life, liberty and property. Right. And with that, you can pursue happiness. But the minute the estate goes away from defending life, liberty and property and into redistribution that you invert the morality of the state. And honestly, it's so funny. Like all the libertarians and anarchists who were shouting at me for years, I was like, no, no, no, we need government. They're totally right. They've been 100% right the whole time. Government needs to do very, very little. The fairest thing the government can do is as little as possible. They should just defend life, liberty and property. And I know every one of these. Baylock's wrong, Farage is wrong, Tit Whisperer's wrong, Keir Starmer's wrong. They're all wrong. Every one of them is wrong because they are not dealing with the issues of a state that thinks it can redistribute. Malay is. And we need that character here. And if it's somehow Connor, hopefully this show, hopefully one. We're right. I am right, by the way, but hopefully we're right. And we're definitely right this show. There'll be somebody listening, somebody watching. Who is that person who. Who thinks, I've had enough of this? Pete's right, I'm right. I know some people are right. I just need to get out there and get the media exposure and the political party that allows me to push forward this agenda. And maybe it'd be something like, I don't know, advance. Maybe Ben Habib's advance. Maybe someone can sit down with Ben and say, look, you've got a vehicle and I'm the character. Let's go and do it. Maybe it's with, I don't know, Rupert Lowe and Restore. Restore becomes a party and they have that person who's got the charisma and ability. Because I don't think the great thing about this policy agenda is that it's neat. I don't think it's left or right. The left will dislike it more, sure. But pursuit of life, liberty and happiness, I think is. Who can argue against that? Yeah, I don't want. I don't want. I don't want to live. I don't want to be free and I don't want to be happy.