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Magnificent Noise x Richard Kramer x Will Page
Bubble Trouble features conversations between economist and author Will Page and independent analyst Richard Kramer that lay out some inconvenient truths about how financial markets really work. Like the “boy who cried wolf,” financial markets have a peculiar tendency to repeat past mistakes and get themselves into “bubble trouble.” They party hard, drink too much of the Kool Aid, and wake up with a pounding hangover...only to do the same thing the next day. With tech dominating daily headlines and teenage traders driving stocks to unprecedented valuations, you might be asking “What’s really going on?” “What am I missing?” Imagine having a set of tour guides to tell you the “story behind the story” of the world’s largest tech companies, and how they bend - or break - the rules of economics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
After the Goldrush
Bubble Trouble has spent 90+ episodes in the studios exposing sycophants and stenographers. More recently, we went from the studio to the stage, with both of us top billing the Financial Times Weekend Festival at Kenwood House. Richard’s panel, aptly titled ‘The new goldrush: how to make money out of tech.' So this week we want to get back to the show title - ‘Bubbles’ and ask: Is the bubble back? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
46:0402/10/2023
Gatekeepers and Regulatory Bubbles
This week we turn to regulatory bubbles and the new buzz word: Gatekeepers! What are they, and what are they not and what gates do they actually keep? In forty five days, the European Commission drummed up an answer, while the US DoJ starts a court case about Google paying for search bar placements like Heinz beans play for shelf space in the grocery store. We’ve got 45 minutes with one of the best brains on the topic, Konstantina Bania, a Partner at the top firm Geradin Partners to understand all this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
42:4325/09/2023
The Complicated Dance Around ARM with James Ashton
This week James Ashton joins us to talk about the complicated dance around the re-listing of ARM in the first tech IPO in some time. Few IPOs come this big, and few have had to revise down their target market price so quickly. All chips are on red, and we’re ready to spin the wheel and see where this UK tech darling lands on the US NASDAQ. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
43:0518/09/2023
AI and Digital Doppelgangers with Jessica Powell
You may have heard about the recent collaboration between Drake and The Weeknd that wasn't a real collaboration, but an AI-generated fake. This incident is a canary in the coalmine not just for the music industry, but any creator or rights holders across numberous industries. Joining us to discuss is Jessica Powell of AudioShake, an A.I. startup that builds sound separation software to help musicians make additional revenue for their work. (Repeat from May, 2023.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
54:2611/09/2023
Dan McCrum (FT, Wirecard) Part 2
This week, the second of two episodes with Dan McCrum of the Financial Times about his investigative reporting into the massive fraud at the German financial firm Wirecard. (Repeat from October, 2022.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
22:4304/09/2023
Dan McCrum (FT, Wirecard) Part 1
This week we have the first of two episodes with Dan McCrum of the Financial Times about his investigative reporting into the massive fraud at the German financial firm Wirecard. (Repeat from September, 2022.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
28:4228/08/2023
Designing for AI with Professor Chris Speed
We continue our exploration into the dinner party topic of converation on everyone’s lips: AI with the first of many very special guests on the topic, Professor Chris Speed. This week, we take a design lens to the problems (and the solutions) that AI presents us with. (Repeat from April, 2023). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
36:3421/08/2023
Pivot, The Afterword
We don't do shameless plugs here on Bubble Trouble, but we're making an exception for our esteem co-host Will Page on the publication of the paperback edition of Tarzan Economics, renamed Pivot: Eight Principles for Transforming your Business in a Time of Disruption. (Repeat from January, 2023). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
37:2414/08/2023
UGC (User Generated Content) in Music with Mayk.it's Stefán Heinrich Henriquez
We’ve talked to some of the biggest names in AI, - Audioshake, Stability and Boomy but this week, we’re going to Mayk.it with Stefán Heinrich Henriquez - and his new start up Mayk.it. His plans appear to be making all the world a stage and musicians of us all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
53:2607/08/2023
Taking Eight Million Creators to Eight Billion People
We’ve talked to some of the biggest names in AI, but today, we want to get behind the controversy over Boomy, with co-founder Alex Mitchell. To date, Boomy “artists” have created 16 million “original” AI-generated songs. That’s more music than the iTunes Music Store had at its peak. And most of the Boomy songs, apparently, are now on Spotify available to stream after a controversial takedown episode we’ll get into. Moreover this is AI in action, whether this is a dystopian future or the shape of things to come. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
47:2924/07/2023
Has Innovation Moved The House? with guest Dror Poleg
One of the giant bubbles of the last decades has clearly been, in many regions of the world, real estate. For this week's episode, we're looking forward, not backward with Dror Poleg, an economic historian and inspirational thinker who's figuring out how we work, where we work, and what work we might be doing in this post pandemic world. (Repeat from December, 2022) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
46:2903/07/2023
Judging the Old Bailey
This week we want give a hat tip to the Financial Times, reporting on how the "Bank of England to review use of economic forecasts." As so often happens with the FT, the comments were even better than the article, which like us have been despairing for years about central bank economic models constantly getting wrongfooted by the real world. Asleep at the wheel or making the best of an impossible job? A second helping of Bailey’s many shortcomings as head of the regulator (the FCA) or victim of circumstance? We put the head of the BoE, Andrey Bailey and the economists and forecasters on the dock about the record of causing, not popping bubbles. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
46:2819/06/2023
Podcast Bubbles Popping
This week we catch up with the subject that is near and dear to our hearts: the business of podcasting. Will is fresh from two days at the industry's leading event in London where thousands of people got together to figure out can they actually make money from podcasting, an emerging new medium that is yet to find its footing as a commercial enterprise. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
39:0505/06/2023
SVB: Damned by Duration
In recent episodes we’ve been boasting ”if there’s a bubble that burst, we pricked it first” but events at SBV caught us off guard. This bubble burst before our eyes and now the one word on the market's lips is contagion. But we’ve been here before, AND we’ll be here again - banks are being bailed out for their incompetence and central banks are scrambling to respond . (Repeat from March, 2023) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
29:0629/05/2023
Generative AI - A Solution That's Finding Its Way Into Every Possible Problem
We’ve been training our respective brains on the dinner table topic de jour, artificial intelligence, for three episodes now and we’ve generated views about banking analyst notes, academia, mixtape culture. This week, we land one of the most important voices there is - a founder who built the first generative AI company on the block - jukedeck - to ByteDance and now finds himself in the front line of AI trench warfare: Ed Newton Rex - one of the few who can say ‘been there done that’ as we grapple with what AI means for the rest of us further down the line. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
46:3122/05/2023
Theatrics of the Market
This week, we want to lay out the current theatrics of the market - blink and you’ll have missed banks avoiding collapse and earnings beats and misses. So with eyes wide open, take your seats in the stalls so we get up and personal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
40:4415/05/2023
History Doesn't Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes: With guest Kurt Andersen
Joining us this week is writer Kurt Andersen discussing his books Fantasyland and Evil Geniuses. (Repeat from March, 2022). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
31:4601/05/2023
Buy. Borrow. Die.
Today, we're treading deep in some chicken sh*t with Propublica investigative journalist Jesse Eisenger. (repeat from May, 2023) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
34:2917/04/2023
ChatGPT Enters the Echo Chamber
This week, we dig into some of the hype around AI, with the announcement from financial markets data provider powerhouse Bloomberg’s BloombergGPT, a 50-billion parameter large language model, purpose-built from scratch for finance. Is this the needle mover AI has been waiting for? We’re bubbling on the use cases: sentiment analyst, news story summaries, bespoke research. What does this mean for our pen pals - the sycophants and stenographers in that echo chamber of Wall Street? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
42:3111/04/2023
Just The Ticket
This week: concert tickets. Recently The Cure announced a series of shows in the US where the band wanted to keep prices low. But when fans bought low priced tickets, the end price was much higher than they expected. What gets paid for in the ticket and who gets paid for what? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
31:0404/04/2023
Mobile Bubbles in Barcelona
This week we free-ride off Richard’s travels, meaning he mingled with over 100,000 Telco executives so we didn’t have to. When you gather the population of a small city into a conference venue for a whole week, there’s got to be some bubble trouble brewing amongst the telecom delegates. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
39:3113/03/2023
Sucking on Subsidies
This week, sucking on subsidies. Government grants, fat contracts, tax credits, state aid, all the cash a company didn't generate on its own. Does it help? Or does it stoke up problems for a future date? (Repeat from October, 2021.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
29:3206/03/2023
Inflation: The Hope Parade
This week,we’re going to be discussing - read arguing - if the price is right. We’re back to that topic of inflation, where Will has been a self-proclaimed dove over recent months. Well the doves need to fly off as the hawks are coming into land - the hope parade needs a serenade. Prices are up and, in Richard's view, they’re staying up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
38:1327/02/2023
First Cut is The Deepest
This week’s episode will “cut like a knife” (pun intended) in that we’re going to make sense of the headcount reductions and cost-cutting strategies we’re witnessing across tech large and small. First cut is the deepest, sung by Cat Stevens, then Rod Stewart, but there’s more than one verse to that song. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
30:4821/02/2023
Troubles with Podcast Bubbles with guest Lauren Jarvis
This week we look into the spectacular rise and potential plateau of a not so new medium...our very own: the podcast. Staying power or flash in the pan? Hit driven or long tail smorgasboard of choices. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
36:4406/02/2023
Pivot
We don't do shameless plugs here on Bubble Trouble, but we're making an exception for our esteem co-host Will Page on the publication of the paperback edition of Tarzan Economics, renamed Pivot: Eight Principles for Transforming your Business in a Time of Disruption. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
37:2323/01/2023
Passing the Tech Ethics "Hot Potato" with Stephanie Hare
Today we wrestle with ethics and technology. Stephanie Hare's wonderful new book. Technology Is Not Neutral, gives us a much needed framework for thinking about how the technologies we interact with every day affect our moral lives more. (Repeat) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
41:0309/01/2023
Culture Eats Strategy For Breakfast
With all the emphasis on hard metrics and financials, it's often easy to overlook the culture of companies and the role it plays in their success (or failure). (Repeat) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
34:2826/12/2022
Conversation with a Virtual Llama Owner with guest Clément Pouget.eth-Osmont
In our last new episode of 2022, we talk with Clément Pouget.eth-Osmont, whose post on LinkedIn mocking the dubious NFTs ratcheted up a record 8 million impressions. We ask: Where do NFTs go from here? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
39:3719/12/2022
Chokepoint Capitalism with Cory Doctorow Part Two
Today we have our second episode with Cory Doctorow, co-author of Chokepoint Capitalism. In this second installment, we dig deep into copyright and how artists can take back control of their precious works. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
44:4612/12/2022
Chokepoint Capitalism with Cory Doctorow Part One
Today we welcome the co-author (along with Rebecca Giblin) of Chokepoint Capitalism Cory Doctorow over two episodes. In this first installment, we focus on market structures. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
32:1805/12/2022
NFTs - They're Not For Me
This episode, we'll get Will Page’s impressions of the bubbles gathering around that island and what tsunami warning horns ought to be blaring when we talk about NFTs. (Repeat)Visit https://www.bubbletroublepodcast.com/ for the transcript for this episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
36:2028/11/2022
The Bubbles are Already Bursting with Sir Martin Sorrell
This week we continue our exploration of the bait of all click baits, the bandwagon that's traveling across the internet, that is The Metaverse. We're gonna move our dialogue up a gear with our very special, legendary guest, Sir Martin Sorrell, the founder of the WPP Group, and since 2018, the chairman of S4 Capital. He's described her current foray into the metaverse as being in the foothills. So let's get climbing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
42:3021/11/2022
Music’s Worth $40bn
This week Will’s out of his bat cave and produced his annual global value of music copyright which - when rounded up - would hit $40bn. That means all the worlds music is worth almost as much as Twitter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
39:5614/11/2022
Right of Reply: The Future of the Free Press
This week we give the right of reply to an earlier episode (BT 49: Newspaper Subscriptions Versus Music Subscriptions) that raised more than a few hackles in the publishing community and opened a can of worms. Our guest is James Hewes, CEO of FIPP. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
42:5231/10/2022
Can't Truss It
There are bubbles in politics just like there are in markets, and we're going to talk today about how the markets look at bubbles bursting in the political sphere, what they make of them, and whether this spells more trouble to come. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
34:5925/10/2022
When the Levee Breaks
This week we want to take stock of the central banks and the hiking interest rates. Those rates are still way behind the rate of inflation. So what does that all mean for bubbles? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
35:4117/10/2022
The Downfall of Wirecard with Dan McCrum (Part Two)
This week, the second of two episodes with Dan McCrum of the Financial Times about his investigative reporting into the massive fraud at the German financial firm Wirecard. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
22:4203/10/2022
The Downfall of Wirecard with Dan McCrum (Part One)
This week we have the first of two episodes with Dan McCrum of the Financial Times about his investigative reporting into the massive fraud at the German financial firm Wirecard. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
28:4026/09/2022
Summer Troubles, Autumn Bubbles
As we're all back from our holidays this week is just Will and Richard trading postcards, anecdotes, and observations of what they've seen during our time away. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
39:4619/09/2022
How Good is Goodwill?
This week we get to the good, the bad and the ugly of "goodwill," how it's supposed to be used and how it can often be abused in bubble trouble. (Repeat) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
22:1412/09/2022
Someone Else's Money
This time we discuss the most important subject of them all: money. More importantly, someone else's money. We'll get to the basics. Where does money even come from? (Repeat) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
27:0105/09/2022
Stenographers and Sycophants
We talk about financial analysts and why it's sometimes more accurate to call them sycophants and stenographers, and how these analysts become cheerleaders of the companies they're supposed to cover. They praise as opposed to appraise. (Repeat) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
26:3529/08/2022
Peak FOMO
We're back to blowing bubbles, the original source of this inspirational podcast, and we deep dive into the force that's driving markets to record highs. Peak FOMO, fear of missing out. (Repeat) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
29:3622/08/2022
Achieving Presence: More Meta-Troubles with Seth Gerson
On this episode, we’re going to keep this deep dive on the metaverse going with another doer, not a thinker--a three-stripe veteran of the gaming industry whose career dates back to Sega in the early 90’s, Survios CEO Seth Gerson.We’d really appreciate if you could take just a few minutes to fill out our listener survey. Please visit survey.prx.org/bubble to give feedback on the show. Thanks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
44:0915/08/2022
Newspaper Subscriptions Versus Music Subscriptions
This week we talk about subscriptions, specifically how the subscription business model in newspapers struggles, while half a billion people are willing to pay subscription fees for music.We’d really appreciate if you could take just a few minutes to fill out our listener survey. Please visit survey.prx.org/bubble to give feedback on the show. Thanks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
46:5908/08/2022
Metaverse Perceptions versus Reality
This week we're gonna blow the halftime whistle on our travels into the metaverse on Bubble Trouble. Today Will quizes Richard: Is the metaverse the next big thing? Or are we back in bubble trouble? What's the perception and where's the reality. If Richard was at a casino sitting behind Zuckerberg, watching him put all his chips on metaverse, would Richard be leaning over and moving his arm in the same direction--or would he be thinking that this isn't gonna work out well?We’d really appreciate if you could take just a few minutes to fill out our listener survey. Please visit survey.prx.org/bubble to give feedback on the show. Thanks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
32:0001/08/2022
Metaverse...Curb Your Enthusiasm with Eric Kress
This week we continue to deconstruct the metaverse with our brilliant Eric Kress of Gossamer Consulting Group, an independent research boutique that provides investors and industry clients with primary research on console mobile and other related technology companies.We’d really appreciate if you could take just a few minutes to fill out our listener survey. Please visit survey.prx.org/bubble to give feedback on the show. Thanks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
36:2625/07/2022
The Metaverse and Virtual Experiences with AmazeVR's Ernest Lee
We’re going to keep this deep dive on the Metaverse going with a doer, not a thinker - someone with skin in the game, bacon not eggs! AmazeVR had longer queues at SXSW than any live band and there’s a reason for that: they are the real deal. We have the founder and CEO Ernest Lee.We’d really appreciate if you could take just a few minutes to fill out our listener survey. Please visit survey.prx.org/bubble to give feedback on the show. Thanks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
30:4818/07/2022
Hyper-competition in Advertising with Mike Follett
On this episode, we're in conversation with our third special guest, the source of truth and the mad men and women of advertising, Mr. Mike Follett. The point where quantity goes up and quality goes down, we call that hyper competition, and certainly there's a lot of advertising competing for our time. (Repeat)We’d really appreciate if you could take just a few minutes to fill out our listener survey. Please visit survey.prx.org/bubble to give feedback on the show. Thanks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
25:0011/07/2022