December 7, 2015· 23 min

Episode 5: 6,000 Years of Interest Rates

Richard Sylla

Orality

Model

67%

Oral-dominant (speeches, podcasts, storytelling)

Speaker Breakdown

HostTracy Alloway(1,013 words)

M:28%

HostJoe Weisenthal(656 words)

M:27%

GuestRichard Sylla(2,541 words)

M:28%

Oral Indicators

Agonistic36%

literally, completely, very

Engagement66%

you, our, your

Memory Aids100%

listen, now, so

Repetition100%

rates (74x), interest (63x), know (48x)

Parallelism83%

And I'm Joe Weisenthal, managi..., But specifically, it is a 700 ..., And I have to tell you, it is ...

Sound Patterns61%

28 question(s), alliteration: "markets move", alliteration: "barclays brief"

Formulaic Phrases4%

i mean

Literate Indicators

Hedging19%

could, may, probably

Passive Voice14%

be charged, being used, be used

Abstract Nouns22%

investment, recommendation, hyperinflation

Subordination15%

since, because, therefore

Sentence Length48%

Avg: 17.1 words/sentence

Word Complexity48%

investment, analyze, anticipate

Academic Markers0%

Impersonal Style34%

300 personal pronouns found

Descriptive Style81%

literally, completely, specifically

Description

(Bloomberg) -- What better way to prepare for what may be the first U.S. rate hike in almost a decade than to tour 6,000 years of interest-rate history? This week, Joe and Tracy speak with NYU Stern finance professor Richard Sylla, co-author of A History of U.S. Interest Rates. We start in Babylonia, where Hammurabi codified the relationship between debtors and creditors, and end with zero percent interest rates in the U.S. in the 21st century. Along the way, we journey to the Roman city that pledged its public colonnades as collateral, learn why medieval French princes had such terrible credit histories and figure out why today's negative interest rates in parts of Europe really are a historical oddity. In other words, Odd Lots read a 700-page book on interest rates so you don't have to. (No, really, you should read it. It's a great book). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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