E121: Elon vs. D.C. - Can DOGE Fix America’s $36 Trillion Debt Bomb? w/ Dr. Dirk Mateer

In this episode, Jesse is joined by Dr. Dirk Mateer, award-winning educator and professor of economics at the University of Texas at Austin. Together, they dive deep into the growing U.S. national debt, the rise of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and whether Elon Musk can really trim $2 trillion from the federal budget.Topics covered include:The real scale of government waste, fraud, and inefficiencyCreative destruction and whether government can be “run like a business”What students today think about the $36 trillion national debtWhy Social Security is a demographic time bombLessons from Japan’s debt and what a U.S. default could look likeModern Monetary Theory and why Dirk doesn’t buy itThe risk of de-dollarization and losing global reserve currency statusWhether AI could shrink the size of governmentWhy U.S. education needs to be reimagined for a post-industrial worldMateer also shares his favorite films for learning economics and gives a final message on how individuals can prepare for fiscal turbulence ahead.📚 Books: Principles of Economics by Dirk Mateer (Norton)📬 Contact: [email protected] | @dirkmateer on X 📺Watch the full episode on YouTube➡️https://youtu.be/OoKzo2N2pPo 🎙 The Pod is hosted by Jesse Wright💬 For guest suggestions, questions, or media inquiries, reach out at https://elpodcast.media/📬 Never miss an episode – subscribe and follow wherever you get your podcasts.⭐️ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review the show. It helps others find us. Thanks for listening!