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IrelandMichael Lewis warns America's trust problem could become a financial one
The Big Short author joins Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell to connect damage to government institutions with risks far beyond Washington.
The Rest Is Politics: Leading
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 168,413 views a day, 9.9 times a normal first day on this channel (16,948).
Why the Man Behind ‘The Big Short’ Thinks America Could Become the Next Greece
Things we can learn from the video
Press to jump
- 3:30Lewis argues Trump's second administration is deliberately reshaping the civil service, unlike the indifference he describes in the first.
- 20:10Lewis describes an IRS official resisting demands to hand over undocumented workers' tax returns for deportations.
- 30:56The title's central question arrives: eroding trust in America could threaten confidence in US Treasury debt.
- 38:21Lewis advises foreign leaders to avoid Trump's attention, use flattery and explain their tactics to citizens.
- 44:37Lewis finds grounds for optimism in local communities, American resilience and potential reforms after the midterms.
What happens when confidence in an American president becomes a question about confidence in American debt? Michael Lewis puts that connection at the center of his return to The Rest Is Politics: Leading, warning that a breakdown of trust could have financial consequences around the world.
The interview drew more than 100,000 views in ten hours, already several times the channel's usual full-day audience for a regular video. For readers who know Lewis through The Big Short, the subject has a familiar thread: institutions people depend on, and vulnerabilities they may not fully understand.
Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell begin with Blockers, Lewis's book about DOGE and the civil service under Donald Trump. Lewis draws a distinction between what he describes as indifference toward government in Trump's first administration and a deliberate effort to dismantle and reshape it in the second. He argues that cutting spending is not the central purpose of the changes.
His examples bring the discussion down from presidential politics to individual public servants: an IRS official resisting demands for taxpayer information, and a federal researcher whose work examines wildfires and building failures. The episode includes a paid sponsor segment for IG.
The question promised by the title arrives about halfway through. Stewart and Lewis examine what could happen if distrust of American leadership spreads to US Treasury debt, turning political credibility into a financial risk. Lewis presents that as a danger, not an announcement that a crisis has already arrived.
His outlook is not entirely bleak. Later in the conversation, Lewis places his hopes in local communities, American resilience and the possibility of rebuilding institutions through future reforms.
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- Subscribers
- 204,000 ▲ 4,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 1,196,505
- Channel views, pace per day
- 76,719 (on a normal day: 132,813)
- Video published
- October 26, 2026
- Video views so far
- 103,393 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 168,413
The numbers
Lewis's return has already drawn several times the audience of a usual full first day for Leading's regular videos.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which sport is at the center of Michael Lewis's Moneyball?
Moneyball follows the Oakland Athletics and their use of statistical analysis to build a baseball team.