Animal Spirits Podcast

The Perfect Price of Oil (EP. 456)

57 snips
Mar 18, 2026
A lively discussion about why oil prices stay muted despite geopolitical risk and how energy stocks became a retail meme. They debate market complacency, AI’s real-world productivity use cases and whether agentic AI implies a bubble. Other topics include Taiwan’s chip-driven GDP surge, improving housing affordability, private credit redemption risks, and changing retail spending patterns like DoorDash and Dick’s.
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INSIGHT

AI Productivity Gains May Not Show Up Immediately

  • Early productivity data don't yet show clear AI-driven gains; measurable improvements may lag adoption.
  • Michael and Ben note productivity metrics remain on trend and are noisy, so effects could take years to surface.
INSIGHT

Small Agent Deployments Can Deliver Real Business Value

  • Agentic AI can be valuable even with limited users because constant agents consume large compute and revenue potential is real for SMBs.
  • Michael shares an upholstery business example where an AI agent handled booking and quoting perfectly.
ADVICE

Pilot AI Tools Before Wide Rollouts

  • Proceed cautiously when adopting new AI tools; integration across tech stacks will be messy and early pilots should be limited.
  • Michael warns many companies will dip toes first and incumbents likely benefit from scale and resources.
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