 "Are 'Day Zero Droughts' Closer Than We Think? Here’s What We Know"
By Mariana Mastache-Maldonado
Published on Eos.org on 5 November 2025

Audio recording by Emily Gardner

Are “Day Zero Droughts” Closer Than We Think? Here’s What We Know

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of November 3, 2025.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we discuss a stunner: how Alaska takes more as a share of income from its middle & lower-income families than California takes under its income tax from its billionaires (2:14); 2) we explain why the Task Force on Education Funding needs to address how they actually intend to FUND the increased spending they want (19:49); and 3) we examine the irony of Alaska's SNAP funding "crisis," how many of the same legislators who are now outraged about the potential loss of funds themselves voted to take even more from the very same recipients in the last budget (38:03).

The Weekly Top 3 (11.3.2025)

Uncertainty is the buzz word in Washington as everyone waits to see how long the shutdown lasts, how the Supreme Court rules on tariffs, how far the Fed will cut interest rates and if a home sales boom is possible in the winter.

Uncertainty Reigns in Washington and For Housing

This is the latest in my series of podcasts explaining how economics works in the credit crunch and now virus pandemic era. This week I give my thoughts on Should the fiscal rules be scrapped as we can't forecast accurately? Will lower oil prices drive down inflation and if so how? Should UK interest-rates be set by government?  Are Income Tax rises in their way? How likely are capital controls for the UK?


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In this second episode of our two-part series on trade and economics, Plugged into Public Health host Lauren Lavin continues her conversation with Dr. Anne Villamil, professor of economics at the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business.

Dr. Villamil breaks down what tariffs really mean, such as who pays for them, how they influence industries like manufacturing and agriculture, and why trade wars can have lasting effects on local communities. She also explains how tariffs tie into larger issues like global competition with China, inequality in the U.S., and the challenge of making sound policy in a changing world.

This episode offers a clear, accessible look at how economics, politics, and public health intersect, and why thoughtful trade policy matters for everyone.

A transcript of this episode is available at https://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/news-items/plugged-in-to-public-health-understanding-global-trade-and-tariffs-with-dr-anne-villamil-part-2/

Have a question for our podcast crew or an idea for an episode? You can email them at CPH-GradAmbassador@uiowa.edu

You can also support Plugged in to Public Health by sharing this episode and others with your friends, colleagues, and social networks.

#publichealth #globaltrade #tariffs #trade #internationaltrade #economics #politics #policies #tradewars #healthcare

Understanding Global Trade and Tariffs with Dr. Anne Villamil (Part 2)

Dr. Per Hansen, Professor of Business History at Copenhagen Business School, shares insights from his acclaimed book “There Will Be the Devil to Pay: Central Bankers, Uncertainty and Sensemaking in the European Financial Crisis of 1931.”

The European financial crisis of 1931 marked a turning point in twentieth-century economic and financial history. Drawing on extensive archival research and a cultural conceptual framework, There Will Be the Devil to Pay offers a fresh and much-needed perspective on this critical episode. The book recounts the dramatic five months leading to the collapse of the gold standard, tracing the crisis through the experiences of central bankers, private financiers, and government officials. It presents a compelling narrative of how these key actors grappled with uncertainty and sought to make sense of unfolding events. Contributing to the growing body of work on radical uncertainty and narrative economics, the book illuminates how decision-makers confront ambiguity, construct narratives, and transform interpretation into actionable knowledge.

This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. For more information, please visit www.globalmanagementconsultancy.com.

Disclaimer:

A. The background music used in this video is the property of its respective developer and is protected by Copyright. Although it is a free version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy and Deepak Bhatt do not hold the rights to this music.

B. Dr. Per Hansen has generously shared profound insights from his book, “There Will Be the Devil to Pay: Central Bankers, Uncertainty and Sensemaking in the European Financial Crisis of 1931,” during his appearance on the Business Talk podcast channel. The uploaded video contains copyrighted material; therefore, any modifications to graphics, music, or the presence of the author or host are strictly prohibited.

Uncertainty and Decision-Making: The True Story of Europe’s 1931 Financial Collapse

A conversation with Dr. Cecilia Rikap on the influence of Big Tech on the development and control of AI.  Dr. Rikap is an expert on this topic and has been studying it for some time as a researcher with Univeristy College of London's Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose.

Economic Impact | Episode 58 | Dr. Cecilia Rikap on Big Tech and AI

Marco Polo’s record of money and wealth reveals how value moved across the thirteenth-century world. His attention to currency, trade, and precious materials emerged from a Venetian merchant’s discipline. The Polos understood liquidity as survival. When turmoil threatened Constantinople in 1260, Niccolò and Maffeo sold their holdings, converted assets into jewels, and fled east. At Berke Khan’s court they doubled their capital through commerce and diplomacy. When they later departed from Kublai Khan, they transformed his lavish gifts into rubies, sapphires, carbuncles, diamonds, and emeralds sewn into their clothes for safety. Near Trebizond, they were robbed of much of it, yet Marco’s reputation as Il Milione—the man of millions—endured, a name drawn from both his vast descriptions and the fortune believed to equal a million ducats. Venetian documents, however, portray moderate wealth carefully managed.

In Venice his estate papers trace the structure of real money. His will directed 2000 lire “for the good of his soul,” 8 lire of grossi annually to his wife Donata, and 100 lire of denari to his servant Peter the Tartar. He gave 20 soldi to hospitals and monasteries and 20 soldi of grossi to the notary. Family records list gifts of hyperperae and golden florins and a bequest of 1000 lire of public debt (imprestitorum). Legal files show him suing a broker for three lire of grossi, the value of sold musk, and 20 grossi for shortage in weight. These entries show Venice’s precise hierarchy of coinage—grossi, lire, denari, soldi—valued by metal and mint.

Across Asia he mapped systems where money changed form. In one fragment he noted that the people of Great Britain used “money of charters,” a phrase suggesting paper credit. In Kublai Khan’s empire he encountered the world’s first regulated paper currency, made from mulberry bark, stamped with the Khan’s vermilion seal, and enforced by decree. Merchants accepted it because imperial power guaranteed redemption. Polo wrote that the Khan “had the Philosopher’s Stone, for he made his money from the bark of trees.” The notes circulated from Cambaluc to the southern seas, creating an empire unified by symbol rather than metal. He also recorded currencies of salt in frontier regions, copper coins strung by the thousand in Yunnan, and barter with wool or grain in Tibet. Each medium reflected its landscape—metal from mines, paper from bureaucracy, salt from arid trade routes.

Polo valued goods with precision. Persian horses sold in India for 200 livres Tournois; Persian asses for 30 marks of silver. He described marriage payments where men of Kansu paid large sums for brides, and among Tartars, families burned painted paper replicas of dowries so the dead might receive the value in the next world. At Tabriz he saw a global gemstone market; at Yarkand a musk pod sold for 250 tankas, its best grade worth four times its weight in silver at Lusar. Such detail converts wonder into accounting.

His analysis of the Great Khan’s fiscal system defines the first Western study of fiat currency. Paper notes replaced metal in tax and salary payments. Old issues returned to the treasury and were exchanged for new, maintaining stability. The Khan’s reserves of bullion, silk, and pearls backed confidence in circulation. Polo understood that control of credit, not accumulation of gold, sustained imperial authority. The paper money’s reach across thousands of miles formed an administrative web as powerful as the Mongol army itself.

Returning to Venice, Polo re-entered a world ruled by metallic measure and public debt, yet his mind carried the concept of symbolic money. His will, with its layered currencies and precise legacies, reflects a man who had seen value in motion—metal, stone, bark, and salt all serving as instruments of trust. The Travels stands as a financial ethnography of the medieval world, a ledger of how wealth assumed form, moved through risk, and embodied power across continents.

The Travels of Marco Polo

Explores the potential of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and blockchain technology to fundamentally replace traditional corporate and financial systems.

DAOs: The Post-Capitalist Institutional Revolution

This week on TrendsTalk, ITR Economist Taylor St. Germain provides an update on the US Economic Policy Uncertainty Index. After record highs earlier this year, uncertainty has been cut in half, setting the stage for accelerating growth in both CAPEX and Industrial Production. Taylor explains why this shift supports ITR Economics’ positive outlook through 2026 and what it means for business leaders preparing for expansion. Are you ready to keep pace with growth?

Economic Uncertainty and What It Means for 2026 Growth

Forward Radio is independent, listener-sponsored, volunteer-powered, grassroots community radio WFMP-LP Louisville, Kentucky. We have been broadcasting at 106.5fm and live-streaming at forwardradio.org since April 9, 2017. Please donate at forwardradio.org to keep us on-air. It costs $20/day to keep this programming coming your way.

Welcome to Business Talk, your go-to podcast for the latest trends, insights, and thought-provoking discussions in the business world. Whether you're a business professional, entrepreneur, researcher, or academic, our episodes will challenge you to rethink conventional wisdom and inspire actionable ideas.

Brought to you by Global Management Consultancy, we are committed to driving innovation and excellence in the business community. All content Copyrighted 2024 by Global Management Consultancy.

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The University of Iowa College of Public Health is a top-ranked school of public health, meeting the public health challenges of the 21st century through education, research, outreach, and community engagement.

This is my series of podcasts explaining how economics works in the credit crunch era.

Our mission: We provide the best economic intelligence to reduce risk and drive practical and profitable business decisions.

Get the latest on the U.S. housing market, economics, and housing policy advocacy from National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) CEO Jim Tobin and COO Paul Lopez.

Eos is a leading source for trustworthy news and perspectives about the Earth and space sciences and their impact. Published by the American Geophysical Union.

New tracks tagged #Economics