Competent Man Podcast – Tom Bodrovics, Released on 11/21/25

Tom Bodrovics welcomes Danielle DiMartino Booth, CEO and Chief Strategist for QI Research, to discuss the latest economic developments and the Federal Reserve’s role. The conversation begins with the recent Fed Minutes, which reiterated a hawkish stance and coincided with the cancellation of the October payrolls report, providing the Fed with an excuse to delay rate cuts. DiMartino Booth suggests that the Trump administration’s actions, such as proposing a $2000 tariff rebate, have been met with resistance from Congress due to concerns about inflation. She also highlights the recent surge in layoff announcements from major corporations, attributing it to a combination of overhiring during the pandemic and the current economic downturn. Tom then shifts to the politicization of the Fed, with DiMartino Booth arguing that the institution has become more overtly political in its policymaking. She criticizes the Fed’s use of data as a “weapon of mass destruction” to serve its needs and calls for more accountability. DiMartino Booth also expresses concern about the Fed’s handling of liquidity issues, noting that the recent repo rate spike signals potential problems ahead. She suggests that the Fed may need to provide more liquidity to the system, but cautions that this could exacerbate existing bubbles in the equity markets.

00:00:00 – Introduction
00:00:27 – Fed Minutes Analysis
00:01:28 – Government Shutdown Data
00:02:43 – Scott Bessent Challenges
00:04:49 – Stimulus Checks Critique
00:05:15 – Corporate Layoff Trends
00:07:55 – Fed Data Manipulation
00:10:46 – Fed Politicization History
00:12:55 – Fed Leadership Candidates
00:14:40 – Stacking Fed Reserves
00:16:46 – Repo Rate Spike
00:21:08 – Personal Finance Advice
00:23:17 – Wrap Up

Danielle DiMartino Booth is CEO & Chief Strategist for Quill Intelligence LLC, a research and analytics firm. She spent nine years as an advisor to Richard W. Fisher at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Danielle left the Fed in 2015 to found Money Strong, LLC, an economic consulting firm and launched a weekly economic newsletter She is the author of Fed Up: An Insider’s Take on Why the Federal Reserve is Bad for America. DiMartino Booth began her career in New York at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and Credit Suisse, where she worked fixed income and the public and private equity markets. Danielle earned her BBA as a College of Business Scholar at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She holds an MBA in Finance and International Business from the University of Texas at Austin and an MS in Journalism from Columbia University.

  economy, Fed, market crash, stock market, stock market crash