Videos
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David McWilliams: The power of unconventional thinking -
David McWilliams: The Waterstones Interview -
Is this the end of the US dollar as the global reserve currency? | David McWilliams, Janne Teller
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RockED 2021 | David McWilliams - What James Joyce tells us about economics
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What happens when trust in money breaks down? Economist David McWilliams explains why this matters -
Trump's tariffs wreak havoc: David McWilliams explains how they were arrived at | Newstalk
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One of the world's most followed economists discusses what the future holds
Learn More About David McWilliams
Imagine an economist who can make the history of money feel like a Hollywood thriller — and leaves your audience quoting him everywhere from the office to the bar the next day.
That’s David McWilliams: bestselling author, hit podcaster, festival founder and one of the most compelling economic storytellers of our time.
The sixth most influential economist in the world according to Richtopia,McWilliams has made it his life’s work to wrestle economics from the jaws of economists and bring it vividly to life for the rest of us. A former central banker and head of European economics at UBS, he quickly became disillusioned with the insular world of finance. “People want to understand economics, but they’re a bit afraid of it,” he explains. “My job is to give them the permission and the tools to see it differently.”
Today, McWilliams reaches millions through his international #1 bestseller, “Money: A Story of Humanity” – named a BBC Book of the Month and a Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2024 by Waterstones and publishing in the U.S. in 2025 as “The History of Money” – his record-breaking podcast with more than 42 million downloads, and his exceptional TED Talk, which has been viewed over 1 million times.
McWilliams has written six bestsellers, hosted television and radio programs, and in 2010 launched Kilkenomics, the world’s only economics-and-stand-up comedy festival, hailed by Financial Times as “simply, the best economics conference in the world.” He also co-founded the Dalkey Book Festival, Ireland’s largest literary and ideas festival.
What sets McWilliams apart is not just his uncanny record in forecasting shocks like the 2008 financial crisis, Brexit and the rise of Trump, but his rare ability to decode global complexity with humor, poetry and humanity. As he quipped in his TED Talk: “Now, if I were an American economist, I’d come armed with charts and maths. But I’m Irish — I come armed with poetry.”
For organizations facing constant disruption, McWilliams’ talks are both energizing and empowering. He replaces confusion with confidence and leaves audiences buzzing with new ways of seeing the world.
Economics: The Business of Everyday Life
To most people, economics feels like an unfamiliar language – technical, detached, boring. McWilliams flips that script. For him, economics is the hidden architecture of our lives, shaping everything from the price of coffee to the rise and fall of nations. He derives genuine delight from sharing this with curious audiences. “There’s an amazing sense of satisfaction when the eureka light goes on in people’s heads,” McWilliams notes.
That moment of recognition is what drives his work. In classrooms, corporate boardrooms and conference halls, McWilliams helps audiences connect dots between history, human behavior and today’s headlines. His delivery, according to one client, has “the X factor” – a rare combination of performance and insight that makes people sit up and listen.
Unlike many economists, McWilliams is no intellectual bully. He respects his audiences, coaxing them to probe their imaginations while handing them what he calls “social ammunition”: the shareable insights that help leaders make sense of markets, geopolitics, generational dynamics and organizational risk.
Whether unpacking tariffs and trade wars or reframing generational divides, McWilliams equips decision-makers with clarity and perspective. As he often tells audiences, “There are weeks when decades happen, and we’re living through those weeks. We need to give ourselves permission to think unconventionally.”
David McWilliams is a former central bank economist, author, podcaster, journalist, documentarian and adjunct professor of global economics at Trinity College Dublin. He is driven by a mission to wrestle economics from the jaws of economists and bring it vividly to life for the rest of us.
McWilliams’ latest book “Money: A Story of Humanity,” an international bestseller, was named Book of the Year by the Economist, Financial Times and The Observer. “Money” received a coveted starred review in the prestigious Kirkus Reviews, where McWilliams was described as “a clever and irreverent guide with a knack for turning economic concepts into easy conversation.” In addition, he has written five bestsellers, including “The Pope’s Children: Ireland’s New Elite,” “The Good Room,” “Follow the Money,” “The Generation Game,” “Renaissance Nation: How the Pope’s Children Rewrote the Rules for Ireland” and “Money: The Fifth Element.” He also writes a weekly column for The Irish Times and contributes regularly to The Financial Times.
McWilliams studied economics at Trinity College Dublin and the College of Europe in Bruges.
David McWilliams is available to advise your organization via virtual and in-person consulting meetings, interactive workshops and customized keynotes through the exclusive representation of Stern Speakers & Advisors, a division of Stern Strategy Group®.
Economics: The Business of Everyday Life
To most people, economics feels like a foreign language – too technical, too detached, too…boring. But what if economics was actually the most important set of tools we have for decoding the world around us? In eye-opening and entertaining presentations, economist and bestselling author David McWilliams pulls back the curtain on how economics shapes the choices we make every day, from how we shop and save to how we vote, love and build community. With stories drawn from his top-ranked podcast and decades of global market experience, McWilliams shows how economics is fundamentally a story not about markets or models, but about people. Audiences leave this talk equipped with the ability to make sense of anything happening in the world and explain it to others through a new, clearer lens – what McWilliams calls “social ammunition.” Gifted with a flair for injecting humor into even the driest of charts and forecasts, McWilliams presents economics like you’ve never heard it before: accessible, actionable and unforgettable.
Money: The Most Powerful Technology Ever Invented
From Mesopotamian clay tablets to Bitcoin wallets, the history of money is the history of human civilization. In this electrifying presentation drawn from his international bestseller “Money: A Story of Humanity” (titled “The History of Money” in the U.S., set for release in November 2025), David McWilliams traces how money transformed us from tribal groups into complex societies, unlocking religion, rule of law, writing and everything we now associate with modern life. But unlike most economists, McWilliams doesn’t treat money as math, but as magic. As he explains in deeply researched and engaging sessions, money is collaborative, social, degenerate, sexy and profoundly misunderstood. With humor and storytelling prowess, McWilliams’ highly entertaining and provocative presentations make the sociology of money come alive to show leaders how financial systems shape geopolitics, identity and generational opportunity. More than a history lesson, audiences walk away with a fresh understanding on why the next phase of economic evolution – from crypto to climate pricing – demands that we understand money not only as currency, but as a culture.
"The Event was remarkably successful with over 600 attendees … David’s participation certainly enhanced the profile of our line-up of international speakers."
"David’s presentation was perfectly pitched and brought exactly what we had hoped…delivered with wit and intelligence in an engaging and entertaining style."
"David’s speech was fantastic and very well received by the audience. Many thanks to you and your team for assisting us in organising this wonderful conference."
Praise for "Money: A Story of Humanity"
"A breathtaking, expansive and imaginative ride through the history and future of money from an author who truly understands it."
"Exceptional."
"A cracking book that is as enjoyable as it is readable."
"Equally entertaining and insightful."
"An impressive journey that fizzes with facts."
"An eye-opening history of what makes the world go round."
"David McWilliams is the best explainer of economics I know. He's the kind of writer who makes you feel clever, because he helps you grasp the things you never understood before. "
"Compelling, funny and original."
"If, as David McWilliams complains, economists take the fun out of money, then he is the exception that proves the rule: a man who could not write a boring sentence if he tried, and who, in this brilliantly informative and entertaining book, has done his subject splendid justice."
"Money has found its greatest biographer. The subject of this book has spent most of its life on the run from being well understood. At least until now. In this swashbuckling epic of grand sweeps and tight close ups, David McWilliams brilliantly excavates the history of money, which is our history too. Evolution and revolution. He is a master storyteller of rare talent."
“‘Most economists do not really understand money… They take the fun out of it.’ Thus begins Irish economist David McWilliams’s rollicking ride through the pecuniary past. From the 20,000-year-old Ishango Bone (the first known accounting instrument) to today’s M-Pesa (Kenya’s mobile phone payments system), the reader is whisked at the speed of a Weimar printing press through the history of financial evolution. If Flann O’Brien and Milton Friedman had ever collaborated, this might have been the result. I was entertained. But I also learned.”
"It’s a crime, it can’t buy me love, it’s the root of all evil, it makes the world go around, it’s what I want. Money has long been the subject of song and sayings. And now, at last, we have The History of Money: a clear and endlessly fascinating explanation of what this is all about and how it all works."
