The AI Bubble: More Subprime Than Dot Com

Investment in AI infrastructure has exploded over the last few years, with big players like Google, Meta, OpenAI, Nvidia, and Oracle, striking deals involving hundreds of billions of dollars to build out AI data centers. These deals are single-handedly buoying the otherwise-flailing US economy, but where are these billions actually coming from? And why do all these deals seem to involve the same players in increasingly circular arrangements? Even the most optimistic observers are starting to state the obvious: we're in an AI bubble. Today on the show, Matt and David talk to Herb Greenberg of Herb Greenberg's Red Flag Alerts to discuss the hubris of the current moment, how this moment is both alike and different from past bubbles, and how this thing might pop. If you love Organized Money, support us! Go to Organizedmoney.fm to subscribe to our newsletter, or Organizedmoney.fm/donate to throw us a donation. It helps us keep the lights on!

What happens when Wall Street sinks its teeth into your smile? David and Matt talk with Dr. Jill Tanzi, dentist and founder of the Alliance of Independent Dentists, about the corporate takeover of dentistry. She pulls back the curtain on how corporate consolidation and giant insurers like Delta Dental are reshaping what happens in the chair, from pricing to patient care, and why it should matter to anyone with teeth.  Jill shares what it’s like trying to keep an independent practice afloat and ways dentists and patients can push back. Check out dentistalliance.org to search for independent dentists in your area.  If you love Organized Money, support us! Go to Organizedmoney.fm to subscribe to our newsletter, or Organizedmoney.fm/donate to throw us a donation. It helps us keep the lights on!

As American farmers struggle under Trump’s tariffs, the Trump Administration is preparing to bail out…Argentinian farmers? Today on the show, a sprawling, international story that you might have missed: how an electoral blow to the market-friendly government in Argentina is causing panic across the financial sector, bringing together forces like The International Monetary Fund, the US Treasury, and hedge funds to save the flailing government of President Javier Milei; an ascendent libertarian icon, now desperate to stabilize his economy.Matt and David discuss the situation with Matías Vernengo, professor of economics and director of the Bucknell Institute for Public Policy, and Rohit Chopra, former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. They discuss how we got here, why right-leaning American farmers are furious, and the utter weirdness of the situation, including Milei’s talking dead dog. If you love Organized Money, support us! Go to Organizedmoney.fm to subscribe to our newsletter, or Organizedmoney.fm/donate to throw us a donation. It helps us keep the lights on!

We are at the Antimonopoly Summit  - where David and Matt sit down for some candid conversations with some of the leaders in the field -  Sen. Chris Murphy (D–CT) on the political stakes, Lina Khan on enforcement and where hope still lives. Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) on hearings and state-level power, David Seligman (workers’ rights attorney and candidate for Colorado Attorney General) on how consolidation squeezes workers, and Alex Oshmyansky (CEO, Cost Plus Drugs) on how incumbents block disruptors in the drug supply chain. They take on media consolidation and the Jimmy Kimmel fallout, the Paramount-Warner worries, PBMs and pharma transparency, and why state attorneys general and creators might be the next line of defense.If you love Organized Money, support us! Go to Organizedmoney.fm to subscribe to our newsletter, or Organizedmoney.fm/donate to throw us a donation. It helps us keep the lights on!

What happens when two gamers-turned-lawyers decide to take on one of the biggest monopolies in the video game world? On this episode of Organized Money, David and Matt dig into a David-versus-Goliath story from the world of PC gaming. Their guests, attorneys Will Bucher and Judson Crump — both gamers themselves — are taking on Valve, the company behind Steam, which  which controls nearly all PC game sales and takes a 30% cut from every purchase. Instead of being crushed by the fine print of arbitration, they’ve figured out how to use it against Valve, filing thousands of individual claims and forcing the company to play by its own rules.If you love Organized Money, support us! Go to Organizedmoney.fm to subscribe to our newsletter, or Organizedmoney.fm/donate to throw us a donation. It helps us keep the lights on!

Senator Elizabeth Warren is here! The Massachusetts democrat she sits down with David and Matt to talk about the fights that keep her fired up—from Wall Street and Big Tech to pushing Democrats to get serious about the cost of living. In this wide-ranging interview, we discuss how democrats should respond to Trump's second-term victory, the Google antitrust trial, spar on Fed independence, and much more. According to Warren, housing, healthcare, and antitrust aren’t just policies—they’re positions that reveal who the government and our representatives really work for. It’s a candid, sharp, and fiery conversation—just like Senator Warren herself.If you love Organized Money, support us! Go to Organizedmoney.fm to subscribe to our newsletter, or Organizedmoney.fm/donate to throw us a donation. It helps us keep the lights on!

Google just lost a huge antitrust case—but somehow seems to have walked away the winner. In this emergency episode David and Matt explain how a federal judge ruled that Google is an illegal monopolist, then turned around and let the company keep the very deals that entrench its dominance. From billion-dollar payments to Apple to the future of AI, they dig into what the ruling means, why critics on both the left and right are calling this a huge win for Big Tech and what it tells us about the fight against monopoly power.If you love Organized Money, support us! Go to Organizedmoney.fm to subscribe to our newsletter, or Organizedmoney.fm/donate to throw us a donation. 

The biggest story in football this season isn’t on the field, but in the boardrooms and backrooms of the NFL. In this episode David and Matt dig into the collusion scandal rocking the league—where billionaire owners conspired to block star quarterbacks from getting guaranteed contracts, in cahoots with the NFL Players Association, the union meant to represent player interests.We're joined by the journalist who cracked the story, Pablo Torre, host of Pablo Torre Finds Out, along with Doha Mekki, Former Acting Assistant Attorney General. Together, we try and piece together how how this scandal's collusive DMs, strip club meetings, shady union politics, and brazen conflicts of interest, form a case study in contemporary power, labor, and corruption.If you love Organized Money, support us! Go to Organizedmoney.fm to subscribe to our newsletter, or Organizedmoney.fm/donate to throw us a donation. 

The business of skateboarding has grown from an independent, DIY culture into one almost completely dominated by private equity groups. How did it get gobbled up? In this episode David teams up with former “skate rat” and researcher Daniel Stone of the Center for Economic and Policy Research to expose how private equity has quietly, and sometimes catastrophically, taken over the world of skateboarding. What started as a subversive, counter-cultural movement has become a hunting ground for financial firms snapping up iconic skate and surf brands, only to leave them saddled with debt, stripped of their soul, and disconnected from the local shops and skaters that built them. From the leveraged buyout and hollowing out of World Industries, the collapse of Dwindle Distribution and Enjoi skateboards, and Boardriders’ massive bankruptcy we see how  these firms disconnected iconic brands from their roots, gutted skate teams, and contributed to the decline of local skate shops. This episode is a cautionary tale, showing how even the most rebellious sides of youth culture aren’t safe from Wall Street’s relentless appetite. Check out Daniel's report, No Comply: Private Equity and Skateboarding here.Love Organized Money? Support us! Go to OrganizedMoney.fm to subscribe to our free newsletter, and throw us a donation if you're able. It helps keep the lights on.  

Organized Money is on vacation this week, but we still have a fantastic monopoly story for you. Around the globe, tuberculosis kills more people than any other infectious disease, despite the fact that it's treatable. This episode is about a drug that would otherwise save lives, but is so expensive that many of the people who desperately need it, can't afford it. The reason is because of the ways healthcare companies keep the price of drugs high via patents and loopholes, both here and abroad—and how one man led thousands of people to fight back. This story, which originally ran in 2023, comes from our friends at the podcast An Arm And A Leg, a show about why medical care costs so much, hosted by Dan Weissman. If you like this episode, go check out An Arm And A Leg, and subscribe.