Cam Harvey: Through the Noise

Duke University's Fuqua School of Business
  • 5.0 (2)
  • BUSINESS

Fuqua economist Campbell Harvey gives his insights on pressing topics within the worlds of economics and finance.

  1. MAY 13

    What’s Going on with World Liberty Financial

    In this episode of Through the Noise, Cam Harvey returns to dive deeper into the rapidly expanding stablecoin landscape. Building on the previous discussion of Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC), Cam unpacks USD1 - the World Liberty Financial stablecoin connected to the Trump family. He explores why nearly every major financial institution is launching a stablecoin, the critical distinction between centralized and decentralized tokens, and the long history of family conflicts of interest in politics from Billy Carter to Hunter Biden. The conversation then turns to the Justin Sun lawsuit involving 800 million locked WLF governance tokens, the surprising 60% Trump-family voting control, and the 75% revenue split flowing to a related entity.

    15 min

  2. MAY 6

    Banks Are Terrified of Stablecoins

    While bitcoin and dogecoin grab headlines, a far less flashy corner of crypto has quietly overtaken Visa and Mastercard in annual transaction volume. In this episode of Through the Noise, Cam Harvey walks Robert Olinger through stablecoins - dollar-pegged tokens that settle in seconds for pennies instead of days for dollars. Cam unpacks how Circle's USDC actually works, why the model is structurally safer than fractional-reserve banking, and how the GENIUS Act now puts token holders first in line if an issuer fails. He revisits the brief 2023 USDC depeg tied to Silicon Valley Bank, explains why Tether earns a staggering $33 million in profit per employee, and lays out the brewing fight over the Clarity Act - where stablecoin issuers want to pay interest, and the bank lobby is fighting hard to stop them.

    18 min

  3. APR 29

    The END of Banking and Why Your Savings Account Earns NOTHING

    Why does your savings account earn essentially zero while money market funds pay nearly 4%? In this episode of Through the Noise, host Robert Ollinger sits down with Duke finance professor Cam Harvey to unpack the massive gap between bank deposit rates and market yields - and why giants like Chase pay just 0.01% APR on savings deposits. Harvey explains how large banks exploit market power to maximize their funding spread at the expense of smaller depositors, then lays out four powerful forces disrupting traditional banking: fintech, private credit, stablecoins, and AI. The conversation turns to regulatory failures from the global financial crisis to Silicon Valley Bank, the case for narrow banks, and why the Clarity Act's stablecoin interest provisions could transform the entire financial system.

    17 min

  4. APR 21

    Is There ANYWHERE Safe to Put Your Money?

    In this episode of Cam Harvey's Through the Noise, host Robert Olinger sits down with finance professor Cam Harvey to examine whether truly safe assets still exist in today's turbulent global economy. With US debt at $39 trillion and geopolitical uncertainty rising, institutional investors are rethinking their allocations. Harvey unpacks the real story behind China's shifting Treasury holdings, explains why gold now exceeds Treasuries on central bank balance sheets, and walks through the eight essential attributes of a reserve currency—revealing why the dollar's dominance remains hard to displace despite mounting challenges. The conversation closes with a provocative look at tokenized gold as an alternative medium of exchange that could provide much-needed discipline against central bank inflation. Essential listening for anyone navigating today's evolving financial landscape.

    15 min

  5. APR 16

    The Debt Bomb Ticking Toward 2033

    Is America's national debt a slow-moving crisis hiding in plain sight? In this episode of Through the Noise, Duke finance professor Campbell Harvey breaks down why the U.S. debt is far larger than headlines suggest - closer to $39 trillion once Social Security obligations are counted - and why politicians have little incentive to act before 2033, when the Social Security Trust runs dry. Harvey unpacks Ferguson's Law, the Triffin dilemma, and the alarming fact that 20% of federal tax revenue now goes just to servicing interest on the Federal debt. He weighs the unattractive fixes: raising taxes, inflating the debt away, cutting costs, against the one genuinely promising path forward - productivity-driven growth.

    16 min

  6. APR 8

    The Four Horsemen of Technological Disruption

    Cam Harvey reveals why AI is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. In this episode, he outlines four simultaneous technological disruptions — artificial intelligence, quantum computing, decentralized technologies, and multiomics — arguing that nothing in history compares to having all four converge at once. Harvey explains why AI productivity gains are imminent in 2026, how quantum computing will solve optimization problems that today's supercomputers can't touch, why stablecoins will become the financial backbone for AI agents, and how the combination of all four could revolutionize personalized medicine within years, not decades. The synergies between these technologies, he argues, will dwarf the changes we've seen in recent history.

    17 min

  7. APR 1

    Why Executives Are Dangerously Wrong About AI's Impact

    The latest CFO Survey, directed by The Fuqua School of Business in partnership with the Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond and Atlanta, suggests AI won't meaningfully shrink payrolls. In this episode, Professor Harvey argues that CEOs and CFOs are dramatically underestimating AI's reach.  The real disruption isn't replacing clerks; it's AI rewriting code for security and speed, redesigning websites and apps, drafting and reviewing contracts, prepping earnings call questions, and serving as an always-on strategy consultant. Harvey details how "agents" — not mere tools — are already reshaping legal, finance, and sales workflows. He also flags additional disruptions on the horizon: quantum computing, decentralized technologies, and "multiomics” (an integrated approach to DNA, RNA, and protein structure).  The future is closer than most managers think.

    13 min

  8. MAR 18

    AI and the Decoupling of Jobs from Economic Growth

    What if working fewer hours coincided with stronger economic growth? New labor data reveals a puzzling trend: employment is being revised downward even as the economy keeps growing. Professor Harvey explores whether AI is the variable that can help us understand that divergence. The conversation moves beyond the familiar narrative of job displacement to examine a structural shift in how AI functions. As systems evolve from tools into agents, they can organize tasks, execute workflows, and contribute to their own development. As structured, repeatable white-collar work becomes increasingly automated, productivity gains may allow output to grow with fewer hours worked per person. The result may be a reallocation of labor rather than a simple reduction, with potential implications for economic growth and fiscal capacity.

    10 min
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Ratings & Reviews

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About

Fuqua economist Campbell Harvey gives his insights on pressing topics within the worlds of economics and finance.

Information

  • Creator
    Duke University's Fuqua School of Business
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    18
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Cam Harvey: Through the Noise
  • Show Website
    Cam Harvey: Through the Noise

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