David Lin, Released on 11/21/25 (Recorded on 11/19/25)

Steve Hanke, Professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University, warns that New York’s new mayor’s plans for free buses, rent freezes, and $30 minimum wage will bankrupt the city and hurt the people they are meant to help.

0:00 – Intro.
1:11 – Mamdani’s economic proposals and affordability
7:32 – NYC’s historic affordability and budget crisis
12:01 – Is Mamdani actually a socialist?
18:35 – Free buses and congestion pricing
23:10 – City-owned property
26:39 – Grocery stores
34:30 – Lessons from Cuba, China, and Russia
36:45 – Housing and rent-freezes
41:30 – Minimum wage and impact on business
46:12 – Mamdani’s fundraising and what NYC will look like 10 years

Steve Hanke is an American applied economist at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He is also a senior fellow and director of the Troubled Currencies Project at the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, DC, and co-director of the Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise in Baltimore, Maryland. Hanke is known for his work as a currency reformer in emerging-market countries. He was a senior economist with President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers from 1981 to 1982, and has served as an adviser to heads of state in countries throughout Asia, South America, Europe, and the Middle East. He is also known for his work on currency boards, dollarization, hyperinflation, water pricing and demand, benefit-cost analysis, privatization, and other topics in applied economics. Hanke has written extensively as a columnist for Forbes magazine and other publications. He is also a currency and commodity trader. His latest book is Capital, Interest, and Waiting: Controversies, Puzzles, and New Additions to Capital Theory.

  economic collapse, economy, mamdani, steve hanke