This episode's current events:

• The Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint alleging illegal coordination between the PAC Never Back Down and Ron Desantis's official campaign
• Nikki Haley is surging at the right time to have a chance against Trump
• Trump continues spewing hateful, war-like rhetoric against immigrants, ignoring backlash from the press
• Japanese company Nippon agreed to buy out U.S. Steel, but apparently they didn't ask the union first
• We've seen deflation for certain specific goods leading up to Christmas
• Battery and solar cell efficiency and adoption have been skyrocketing in recent years, right when we need them to
• New President Javier Milei's economic shock treatment in Argentina is coming with a healthy dose of authoritarianism
• A U.S. led task force has committed to protect shipping companies in the Red Sea who have been harassed by Houthi militants in Yemen

This week's deep dive was on Germany's economy since World War II. First, we examine the German miracle, when West Germany's economy exploded in the 1950's. Was it due to reconstruction? Was it due to a currency change? Was it due to neoliberal policies? Or was it something else? Then, we look at the economy of post-Cold War Germany. We discuss the challenges of reunifying West Germany with a much poorer east Germany and liberalizing the former state-run East German economy. Then, we look at how Germany has grown since, its strengths and its weaknesses, and why it is struggling right now. Finally, we connect it all to the new budget released by the German government for 2024 after a crushing ruling from the country's highest Court prevented it from using pandemic funds, leaving a 60 billion euro gap.