Best of Panic: Ben Hunt of Epsilon Theory on Rational Optimism and Countering a Coordinated Attack in Narrative on the United States (EP.267) This Episode was 1st published on May 4th, 2023
Ben Hunt of Epsilon Theory is back on Panic for a record-breaking sixth time! He may be the smartest guy I know, which is why I keep having him on. He’s just an explainer – the way he explains things very easily – and I like complex things explained simply. Ben is a former Professor, a beekeeper, and a market lover. He’s the co-founder and CIO of Epsilon Theory, where he writes outstanding essays about narratives in the market – backed up by data. I wanted to catch up with him to weigh in on my themes for the next 10 years in an America that’s becoming what I call the Rich, Angry, Degenerate economy. There are a lot of narratives to talk about; Ben was unfortunately right on the one that was inflation. And we get into the latest narrative around the U.S. dollar. You’re really going to learn a lot. Enjoy! Guest - Ben Hunt, Co-Founder and Partner at Second Foundation Partners, Author and Co-Founder at Epsilon Theory howardlindzon.com, epsilontheory.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @epsilontheory, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/bhunt #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Time Stamps: Intro (00:42) Welcome back Ben (07:05) Gold as a metaphor for the economy (08:32) GFC was different (09:49) “Fiat” news (10:50) Rational optimism (14:24) The Peter Thiel Industrial Complex (18:19) Rich Man, Angry Man, Degenerate Man Economy (23:07) We’re treated as a cog in a powerful machine (27:09) The inflation narrative (27:59) The de-dollarization narrative (31:06) Who’s Chamath? (35:36) Internet trolls (37:37) Generative AI (38:30) Astroturf campaigns (40:25) Why ‘they’ create chaos (41:27) Ruthless pursuit of creativity (43:37) European companies (45:59) Time to get back to work (47:04) Intersection of narratives and markets (48:38) Wrapping up (52:08) Outro (53:16)