Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)

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Complexity & SystemsEconomicsSoftware EngineeringPolicyFinancePayments Infrastructure+2

We live in a world where our civilization and daily lives depend upon institutions, infrastructure, and technological substrates that are _complicated_ but not _unknowable_. Join Patrick McKenzie (patio11) as he discusses how decisions, technology, culture, and incentives shape our finance, technology, government, and more, with the people who built (and build) those Complex Systems.

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Featured Episode

The show's latest episode

⁠⁠The $900 million wire that wasn't final

10/8/202633:10

0:0033:10

Latest Episodes

⁠⁠The $900 million wire that wasn't final

with Guest

Oct 8, 202633m

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) reads his 2022 Bits about Money essay "Finality does not exist in payments." It argues that how final a payment is depends on the rails, the parties, and the governing law, not on the payment method alone. He explains why the reversibility of credit cards is what made inte

Why banks pay you to use their credit cards

with Guest

Oct 1, 202625m

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) reads his Bits about Money essay on how credit cards make money. The prompt was a listener who wondered how a card can include free travel insurance for someone who never carries a balance. He covers the four ways a card earns revenue (net interest, interchange, fees and m

Stranded? Who pays when air travel breaks

with Guest

Sep 25, 202641m

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) got stranded overnight after a backhoe severed a single fiber optic cable, knocking out air traffic control across much of the eastern US. His airline declined to pay for the hotel. In this episode, he walks through who actually owes you what when air travel breaks: federa

Forced vacations are a fraud control

with Guest

Sep 17, 202628m

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) reads his Bits About Money essay "Financial systems take a holiday" (originally published February 2024), prompted by a conversation with a prior guest about how even exchanging calendars between financial institutions is hard. He explains why banks run at something closer

Everyone wants to be your wallet

with Guest

Sep 3, 202633m

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) reads his Bits About Money essay on the business of wallets, with new commentary, prompted by paying his barber $100 over Venmo and wondering why PayPal so badly wants to be in the middle of that transaction. He walks through the economics that make wallets irresistible to

How AI detection actually works, with Pangram’s Max Spero

with Pangram’s Max Spero

Aug 27, 20261h 4m

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) is joined by Max Spero, co-founder and CEO of Pangram Labs, which builds models that identify AI-generated text and images. Max goes under the hood to explain how AI detection actually works. They also discuss the institutions that quietly assumed writing was expensive: cr

Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)

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Featured Episode

⁠⁠The $900 million wire that wasn't final

Latest Episodes

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Featured Episode

⁠⁠The $900 million wire that wasn't final

Latest Episodes