May 14, 2025· 29 min

Perry Mehrling on Trump's Echoes of the Nixon Shock

Orality
Model
85%
Oral-dominant (speeches, podcasts, storytelling)

Speaker Breakdown

HostTracy Alloway(1,020 words)
M:94%
HostJoe Weisenthal(1,010 words)
M:29%
GuestPerry Mehrling(3,446 words)
M:29%

Oral Indicators

Agonistic30%
obviously, very, totally
Engagement67%
you, our, your
Memory Aids100%
listen, so, now
Repetition100%
know (70x), okay (52x), that's (38x)
Parallelism83%
So why would I pay for stuff I..., So take a listen...., And I'm Joe Weisenthal....
Sound Patterns100%
72 question(s), alliteration: "markets move", alliteration: "barclays brief"
Formulaic Phrases10%
you know what, i mean, the bottom line

Literate Indicators

Hedging12%
may, maybe, might
Passive Voice6%
was recorded, be exhausted, was accepted
Abstract Nouns22%
investment, business, verizon.com/business
Subordination15%
since, because, although
Sentence Length26%
Avg: 11.6 words/sentence
Word Complexity46%
investment, analyze, anticipate
Academic Markers0%
Impersonal Style33%
410 personal pronouns found
Descriptive Style58%
exactly, apply, monthly

Description

There's been a lot of talk recently about parallels between Donald Trump's economic policies and the Nixon Shock of the early 1970s. That was when the former president took the dollar off the gold standard, introduced hefty tariffs, and pressured the Federal Reserve to ease monetary policy. The moves sparked stagflation in the US and shook up the global monetary order. Now, given Trump's determination to rebalance the US relationship with global trading partners and his criticism of the Fed, could history repeat itself? On this episode, we speak with Perry Mehrling, professor of international political economy at Boston University's Pardee School of Global Studies, and the author of the book Money and Empire. We talk to him about similarities and differences between the Trump administration's current economic policies and the Nixon Shock, as well as why he thinks dollar dominance won't be dislodged anytime soon. Read more: Dollar Poised for Worst First 100 Days of Presidency Since Nixon The Problem With the Fed Isn’t Independence, It’s Accountability Only Bloomberg.com subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox — now delivered every weekday — plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.