93: Ed Conard - The Upside of Inequality, Optimizing Prosperity

Ed Conard is an AEI visiting scholar who authored two top 10 New York Times bestselling books: The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the MiddleClass (2016) and Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About the Economy Is Wrong (2012). He has written op-eds for most major news outlets and has made hundreds of media appearances. He is a retired partner at Bain Capital, where he headed the firm’s New York office. On this episode, Ed corrects the misconceptions about the middle-class wagers being squeezed by the top 1% as we are all made to believe. He gives a fresh perspective of the upsides of inequality relative to economic growth. He also shares his vision of what the U.S. economy would be like in the next couple of years. At the end of this episode, Ed discloses his own personal portfolio including how he manages his money and where he invests.   Where we are: Johnny - Bulgaria Sam - Florida   Links: Edwardconard.com   Books: The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the Middle Class Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You've Been Told About the Economy Is Wrong   Time Stamps: 04:30 – The Middle Class vs. the Top 1% 06:21 – What’s driving slow growth for the middle class? 09:32 – Understanding the American economy 16:04 – Measuring GDP 18:57 – Financial stability of households now and then 23:30 – American households’ savings 26:44 – Taxes on Government Services 30:02 – To what point will taxes slow down growth? 33:38 – His stand on the Trump Economy 35:12 – What he sees in the future economy 38:32 – Ed’s personal asset allocation 41:09 – Long-term upsides of inequality   If you enjoyed this episode, do us a favor and share it! Also if you haven’t already, please take a minute to leave us a 5-star review on iTunes and claim your bonus here! Copyright 2017. All rights reserved. Read our disclaimer here.