The Economics Show with Soumaya Keynes
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143 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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The Wolf-Krugman Exchange: Trump’s ‘vibecession’
26 november 2025 · 41 min
As President Donald Trump approaches the one-year anniversary of his second term in office, the FT’s chief economics commentator Martin Wolf, and Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman sit down to discuss the US economy and the state of American democracy. Are American consumers finally feeling the effect of Trump’s tariffs? Is AI to blame for the frozen labour market? Or is the spectre of a weakening democracy and plutocracy to blame for slumping consumer sentiment? In the first of four weekly episodes, Wolf and Krugman unpick the US and world economy, with Krugman explaining why he’s less pessimistic now than he was earlier this year. Lees meer
Subscribe and listen to this series of The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Read Martin’s column here.
Subscribe to Paul’s Substack here.
Find Paul’s cultural coda here.
Find Martin’s cultural coda here.
Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Coming soon: The Wolf-Krugman Exchange: One year of Trump
24 november 2025 · 2 min
In this four-part series starting on Wednesday November 26, FT chief economics commentator Martin Wolf and Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman take stock after (almost) a year of Donald Trump’s second term and assess the impact of his presidency on the US and world economy and democracy everywhere. Lees meer
Martin Wolf is the FT’s chief economics commentator. You can find his articles here: https://www.ft.com/martin-wolf
You can find Paul Krugman’s Substack newsletter here
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Martin Wolf. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Did globalisation kill neoliberalism? With Branko Milanović
21 november 2025 · 33 min
Thirty-five years ago, the global economy could be neatly divided into market economies, socialist economies and poorer non-aligned countries. Today, that picture is rather more complicated. Western-style neoliberalism – expected to become the dominant economic system after the end of the cold war – is in retreat; socialism is no more; China has emerged as a global superpower; and formerly-poor countries in the global south are rising rapidly – all while neoliberalism itself becomes, well… less liberal. If neoliberalism is on the way out, what will replace it? And what does the rise of Asia mean for western consumers who find their spending power dwindling? The FT’s European economics commentator, Martin Sandbu, speaks to Branko Milanović, senior scholar at the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality at the City University of New York, and a visiting professor at the International Inequalities Institute at the LSE. Lees meer
Further Reading
Globalisation: Where on the elephant are you? (BBC)
Branko Milanovic: ‘The forces of self-interest and technology cannot be undone’
The economic losers are in revolt against the elites
Martin Sandbu is the Financial Times's European economics commentator. You can find his articles here: https://www.ft.com/martin-sandbu
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
To sign up for free to the new FT Alphaville newsletter on substack, go to ftav.substack.com
Presented by Martin Sandbu. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval and Lulu Smyth. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Coming soon from Tech Tonic: Defying death
19 november 2025 · 2 min
Investors are spending billions of dollars on novel ways to extend human life through inventive treatments, therapies, and even manipulating our genes. And increasingly, it seems as though anti-ageing efforts have moved from the super rich to a mass market consumer industry. In this series, we’re covering the past, present and future of the longevity movement. We’ll be looking at where the fixation on longevity is coming from, and trying to understand the practical and ethical issues at the heart of this cutting-edge field of research. Lees meer
From Silicon Valley fantasies, to Singaporean health spas, to Colombian genetic clinics and beyond, the FT’s Hannah Kuchler and Michael Peel ask whether breakthroughs in science and technology can really help us live longer, and even stop us aging altogether.
Free to read:
US ‘wellness’ industry scents opportunity to go mainstream
The quest to make young blood into a drug
This season of Tech Tonic was produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Fact checking by Simon Greaves, Lucy Baldwin and Tara Cromie. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.
The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The limits of monetary policy, with Agustín Carstens
14 november 2025 · 31 min
Money, it’s often said, is a form of trust and central banks are the custodians of that trust; it’s their job to guarantee that the money they issue maintains stable purchasing power. More recently, that’s been no easy task. Witness President Donald Trump’s attacks on the independence of the US Federal Reserve. The FT’s chief economics commentator, Martin Wolf, speaks to Agustín Carstens, former general manager of the Bank for International Settlements – the “central bank of central banks” – and one-time governor of the Bank of Mexico, to discuss what central banks can do to maintain trust in a fractured world and asks if they must modernise to maintain authority. Lees meer
Martin Wolf is the FT’s chief economics commentator. You can read his columns here: https://www.ft.com/martin-wolf
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Martin Wolf. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music from Breen Turner, and sound design by Simon Panayi.
Register for a November 28 live webinar on what the UK Budget will mean for your money and put your questions to FT journalists Claer Barrett, Stuart Kirk, Tej Parikh and special guest, tax expert Dan Neidle. Get your free pass now at ft.com/budgetwebinar
The webinar will also be broadcast as a bonus edition on two FT podcasts: Claer's Money Clinic and the weekly UK politics show Political Fix, presented by George Parker while Lucy Fisher is on maternity leave.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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What economics gets wrong about human behaviour, with Richard Thaler
7 november 2025 · 33 min
Economists like to model people as rational creatures who make self-interested decisions. But humans don’t act that way. Why do investors, politicians and ordinary people act against their best interests – and how can they be nudged into making better decisions? To find out, FT economics commentator Chris Giles speaks to Richard Thaler, the founding father of behavioural economics. Thaler is a professor at the University of Chicago who won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on how humans make (often irrational) decisions. Lees meer
On November 28, the FT will be holding a live webinar on what the UK Budget will mean for your money. Viewers will be able to put their questions to FT journalists Claer Barrett, Stuart Kirk, Tej Parikh and special guest, tax expert Dan Neidle. To sign up, get your free pass here.
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Chris Giles. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music by Breen Turner. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Our broadcast engineer is Andrew Georgiades.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Are Trump’s tariffs legal? With Jennifer Hillman
30 oktober 2025 · 33 min
US President Donald Trump’s tariff programme has been a central pillar of his second term in office. But a case being heard by the US Supreme Court could throw this central tenet of his trade policy into disarray. Trump has argued that tariffs are a matter of national security for which the president is ultimately responsible; others say they’re an economic issue, and should be set by Congress, as set out in the US constitution. Which way will the Supreme Court vote – and what could that mean for Trump’s tariff regime? To find out, FT senior trade writer Alan Beattie speaks to Jennifer Hillman, a law professor at Georgetown University, former general counsel of the US trade representative, and one of the few people who predicted Trump’s tariffs were vulnerable to legal challenge. Lees meer
Alan Beattie is the FT’s senior trade writer. You can find his articles here: https://www.ft.com/alan-beattie
Sign up to Alan’s Trade Secrets newsletter here: https://subs.ft.com/spa3_tradesecrets?segmentId=357afa03-959c-93ed-0842-58e2115025d4
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Alan Beattie. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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How to kickstart the UK economy. With Tim Leunig
23 oktober 2025 · 32 min
Many governments in western Europe are grappling with sluggish economic growth and the UK is no exception. From rising unemployment to weak public finances, the UK economy is in the doldrums and there’s pressure on chancellor Rachel Reeves to fix it. Tim Leunig, a former adviser to two chancellors and now a professor at the London School of Economics and chief economist at innovation think-tank Nesta, talks to the FT’s economics editor Sam Fleming about the policy steps he’d take to breathe new life into the UK economy. Lees meer
Sam Fleming is the FT’s economics editor. You can read his articles here.
To subscribe to Sarah O'Connor and John Burn-Murdoch's new newsletter about AI and the labour market, go to ft.com/AIShift.
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Sam Fleming. Produced by Persis Love and Lulu Smyth. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Our broadcast engineer is Andrew Georgiades.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Introducing Untold: Toxic Legacy
20 oktober 2025 · 2 min
Introducing Toxic Legacy, a new season of Untold from the Financial Times. Host Laura Hughes uncovers a lead poisoning epidemic across the UK. You might be living with lead and not know it: the toxin is often invisible to the human eye, but wreaks havoc on our bodies once we’re exposed. The first episode of Untold: Toxic Legacy launches October 22. Lees meer
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts.
For information on how to live safely with lead, please visit the LEAPP Alliance website.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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What’s up with the US economy? With Austan Goolsbee
13 oktober 2025 · 25 min
Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and a voter on the Fed’s interest rate-setting committee, speaks to the FT’s economics commentator Chris Giles about the outlook for the US economy amid a boom in AI investment, sluggish hiring, President Donald Trump’s tariffs and continued attacks by the White House on central bank independence. Lees meer
Chris Giles is the FT’s economics commentator. You can sign up to his newsletter here.
Chris’ FT interview with Austan Goolsbee is here: ‘Top Federal Reserve Official warns against a quick series of rate cuts’
Join top FT journalists Chris Giles, Katie Martin, Claire Jones and special guest Lael Brainard on October 23, 1200 GMT for an exclusive subscriber webinar, Markets on edge: central banks, bonds and the risks ahead. Register now and put your questions directly to our panel. Visit ft.com/edge
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen. This episode was produced by Lulu Smyth and Persis Love with original music from Breen Turner. Sound design and mix by Jean-Marc Eck. Andrew Giorgiadis is our broadcast engineer. Our executive producer is Manuela Saragosa.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The economics of birth control. With Martha Bailey
8 oktober 2025 · 32 min
When it comes to women controlling their own economic destinies, perhaps nothing has had a more profound impact than the contraceptive pill. But the US may be on the cusp of change. Earlier this year, the Trump administration froze some federal funding for subsidised access to contraceptive services and more changes are on the horizon. That has made understanding the economic impact of contraception all the more pressing. In this week’s episode, the FT’s Sarah O’Connor speaks to Martha Bailey, economics professor and the director of the California Center for Population Research at UCLA. Lees meer
Sarah O’Connor is employment columnist at the FT. You can read her articles here.
Join top FT journalists Chris Giles, Katie Martin, Claire Jones and special guest Lael Brainard on October 23 1200 GMT for an exclusive subscriber webinar, Markets on edge: central banks, bonds and the risks ahead. Register now and put your questions directly to our panel. Visit ft.com/edge
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Sarah O’Connor. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon and Lulu Smyth. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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How to get immigration right. With Adam Ozimek
2 oktober 2025 · 34 min
Many argue immigration is key to America’s economic success. So as President Trump clamps down on it, what might he be getting wrong and what does the optimal skilled immigration landscape look like for the US and elsewhere? John Burn-Murdoch, the FT’s chief data columnist, speaks to Dr Adam Ozimek, chief economist at the Economic Innovation Group, who co-authored a recent paper on high-skilled immigration, Exceptional By Design. Lees meer
Find details of the EIG report here.
John’s article, co-authored by Stephen Bush: ‘The truth about immigration’. Plus his column on the dangers posed to liberal democracy by failing to address imperfections in immigration policy.
John Burn-Murdoch is the FT’s chief data columnist and writer. You can read his column Data Points here.
Join top FT journalists Chris Giles, Katie Martin, Claire Jones and special guest Lael Brainard on October 23, 1200 GMT for an exclusive subscriber webinar, Markets on edge: central banks, bonds and the risks ahead. Register now and put your questions directly to our panel. Visit ft.com/edge
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen. This episode was produced by Lulu Smyth with original music from Breen Turner. Sound design and mix by Simon Panayi. Our executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Andrew Giorgiadis is our broadcast engineer.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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China’s economy vs the world. With Michael Pettis
24 september 2025 · 34 min
US President Donald Trump has railed against his country’s trade deficit with China. But as Chinese surpluses continue to flow into other countries, it’s worth asking how China got to where it is today, and whether Chinese growth can lift all boats. In this week’s episode, Martin Sandbu, the FT’s European economics commentator, speaks to Michael Pettis, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment. He’s the author of several books, including most recently co-author of Trade Wars Are Class Wars: How Rising Inequality Distorts the Global Economy and Threatens International Peace. Lees meer
Listen to bands signed to the record label Maybe Mars, formerly owned by Michael Pettis, here, including Carsick Cars, Yang Fan, PK14 and White+
Find details of Michael Pettis’ book choice, Martin Daunton’s The Economic Government of the World, here
Martin Sandbu is the FT’s European economics commentator and writer of the Free Lunch newsletter. You can sign up for his newsletter here and read his articles here.
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
This episode was produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon with original music and sound design from Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Our executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Andrew Giorgiadis is our broadcast engineer.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The ugly truth about Trump’s ‘beautiful tariffs’. With Martha Gimbel
19 september 2025 · 33 min
Customs duties on imported goods used to be a crucial part of US government funding – in fact, the customs service was among the first federal agencies set up after the constitution. Now, Trump is hoping that – among other things – tariffs could transform the US budget. But do the revenues they raise for government coffers help outweigh their negative economic impacts? Martha Gimbel, executive director of the Budget Lab at Yale and former adviser at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, speaks to Claire Jones, the FT’s US economics editor. Lees meer
Claire Jones is US economics editor. You can read her articles here.
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Claire Jones. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Samantha Giovinco and Breen Turner.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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China and the limits of its ‘engineering state’. With Dan Wang
12 september 2025 · 28 min
China has become a superpower because of its ability to build bridges, cars and electronics at an astonishing pace. But breakneck growth comes with problems. The country is grappling with overproduction and deflation, and policymakers in Beijing are attempting to jumpstart consumer demand. How can China keep building without jeopardising its economic future? Dan Wang, research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover History Lab and author of 'Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future' speaks to the FT’s financial reporter Aiden Reiter. Lees meer
Aiden Reiter co-writes the Unhedged newsletter. You can read his articles here.
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Aiden Reiter. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval and Josh Gabert-Doyon. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Samantha Giovinco and Breen Turner.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Fed independence? Here’s why you should worry. With Peter Conti-Brown
5 september 2025 · 31 min
President Donald Trump's attempt to fire Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate-setting board, is not the first time in the Fed’s history that there has been an attempt to politicise central banking. But Peter Conti-Brown, associate professor of financial regulation at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, tells the FT’s Chris Giles why Trump’s intervention is different and why there are now reasons to fear for the survival of a key pillar of US and global economic stability. Lees meer
Going to the FT Weekend festival at Kenwood House Gardens in London on Saturday September 6? FT Live has a 10% discount for all FT podcast listeners with promo code FTPodcasts. Find a registration link with discount here
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Chris Giles. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon and Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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After globalisation: What's next for a fractured world? With Neil Shearing
1 september 2025 · 32 min
It’s a widely held assumption that US President Donald Trump has put globalisation into reverse. But Neil Shearing, group chief economist at Capital Economics and author of The Fractured Age: How the Return of Geopolitics Will Splinter the Global Economy, tells the FT’s world trade editor Peter Foster that Trump’s policies are a symptom and not the cause of the global trading system unravelling. They discuss how economic rivalry between the US and China is reshaping world trade – and where it might lead. Lees meer
Peter Foster is the FT’s world trade editor. You can read his articles here
Book your FT Weekend Festival tickets here
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Presented by Peter Foster. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Samantha Giovinco and Breen Turner.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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How Asia is coping with Trump’s tariffs. With Mari Pangestu
25 augustus 2025 · 29 min
President Donald Trump thinks that Asia's goods exports are automatically America's loss and as part of his ‘reciprocal’ tariff policy, he has imposed some of the highest import taxes on goods from south-east Asia. So what does this mean for the region? And are Trump's policies pushing those countries further into China's orbit? Alan Beattie, the FT’s senior trade writer, discusses these questions and more with Mari Pangestu, Indonesia's former trade minister and a former managing director at the World Bank. Lees meer
Alan Beattie is the FT's senior trade writer. He writes the Trade Secrets newsletter every Monday.
Read Alan’s columns here
Sign up to the Trade Secrets newsletter here
Book your FT Weekend Festival tickets here
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Alan Beattie. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval and Persis Love. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Why Russia’s wartime economy is starting to crack, with Elina Ribakova
18 augustus 2025 · 28 min
When the EU and US hit Russia with fresh sanctions in 2022, many analysts expected the country’s economy to crack. Instead, Russia has shown strong GDP growth, powered in large part by a massive boost to war-related industries. Now, the effects of that boost appear to be fading. Have western sanctions finally started to bite? What would happen to Russia’s economy if the Ukraine war were to end? And how difficult might it be for the country’s economy to return to normal? To find out, the FT’s economics editor Sam Fleming speaks to Elina Ribakova. Elina is a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a non-resident fellow at Brussels think-tank Bruegel and vice-president for foreign policy at the Kyiv School of Economics. Lees meer
Sam Fleming is the FT’s economics editor. You can find his articles here: https://www.ft.com/sam-fleming
Want more? Free links:
Russia moves to contain concern over banks’ bad loan exposure
Vladimir Putin’s war economy is cooling, but Russians still feel richer
Russia’s central bank speeds up rate cuts as war economy cools
There's no money to be made in Russia
The FT Weekend Festival returns for its 10th edition on Saturday, September 6 at Kenwood House Gardens in London. Get details and tickets here
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Sam Fleming. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. Original music from Breen Turner, and sound design by Breen Turner & Sam Giovinco.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Introducing the Rachman Review: Is the US heading for a debt crisis?
11 augustus 2025 · 24 min
This week on the Economics Show, we're bringing you an interview with Ray Dalio, from our foreign affairs podcast, the Rachman Review. It originally broadcast on July 3. Lees meer
Gideon talks to Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund and author of a new book: How Countries Go Broke. They discuss the size of the US debt and what history tells us about identifying warning signs.
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Clip: CBS
Read more:
Is Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ a political curse for Republicans?
Fears over US debt load and inflation ignite exodus from long-term bonds
Donald Trump’s big, beautiful act of self-harm
The fall in the dollar is not scary
Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.
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Can we still trust US economic data? With Erica Groshen
8 augustus 2025 · 30 min
After the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a worse-than-expected US jobs report, President Trump fired the agency’s head, Erika McEntarfer, claiming her numbers were ‘wrong’ and manipulated. There’s no evidence this was the case but many agree gathering reliable data on the health of the economy is getting harder. The FT’s chief data reporter, John Burn-Murdoch, discusses why that’s happening and what to do about it with Erica Groshen, the former BLS commissioner. Lees meer
Clip: NBC
Further Reading:
US labour data agency was teetering even before Donald Trump fired its chief
Trump’s war on data will do lasting harm
Donald Trump’s attack on US labour statistics agency spooks investors
John Burn-Murdoch is the FT’s chief data reporter. You can find his articles here
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by John Burn-Murdoch. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music from Breen Turner, and sound design by Jean-Marc Eck.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Development funding is in crisis. What now? With Mark Suzman
4 augustus 2025 · 36 min
The first two decades of the 21st century were a golden age for global development. International co-operation and funding drove remarkable progress in the developing world. Now, that progress threatens to stall as wealthy nations, including the US and UK, withdraw their support. A global meeting held in Spain last month ended with a new international agreement, the Seville Commitment, on funding development – but will it succeed where others have failed? What role do rich countries, and organisations such as the World Bank, have to play? And will anyone be willing to relieve developing nations of their onerous debt obligations? Financial Times associate editor Pilita Clark speaks to Gates Foundation chief executive Mark Suzman. Lees meer
Want more? Free links:
Trump shadow hangs over global development talks
Development funds dash for donor cash at World Bank and IMF meetings
Pilita Clark is an associate editor and business columnist at the FT. You can read her columns here: https://www.ft.com/pilita-clark
Follow Pilita on Bluesky or X: @pilitaclark.bsky.social or @pilitaclark
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Pilita Clark. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Has Argentina’s Milei proved his critics wrong? With Alejandro Werner
28 juli 2025 · 34 min
In the early 20th century Argentina was one of the world’s richest countries. For most of the past 50 years, it has been an economic disaster. But after nine debt defaults, 23 IMF programmes and two years of triple-digit annual inflation, the country’s radical libertarian president, Javier Milei, has steadied the ship. How has Milei revitalised the economy? Can he persuade investors to trust Argentina again? And, most crucially, can his transformation last? The FT’s Latin America editor, Michael Stott, discusses with Alejandro Werner, former head of the IMF’s western hemisphere department, founding director of the Georgetown Americas Institute, and fellow of the Peterson Institute for International Economics Lees meer
Clips: Sky Australia, Javier Milei via Storyful/ELPELUCAMILEI, Global News, Poder360
Want more? Free links:
Javier Milei’s risky bet on a potent peso
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch says she is Britain’s Javier Milei
Javier Milei lowers Argentina’s monthly inflation below 2% for first time since 2020
Michael Stott is the FT’s Latin America editor. You can find his articles here: https://www.ft.com/michael-stott
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Michael Stott. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Can Europe afford to rearm itself? With Jeromin Zettelmeyer
21 juli 2025 · 27 min
European countries have committed to higher defence spending to face down Russian aggression. But preparing for war isn’t cheap – and in many countries, budgets are already stretched. How will European members of Nato hit their defence targets, a hefty 5% of GDP? Will EU states look beyond their own national champions, and commit to greater co-operation on defence funding and purchases? And what kind of new institutions would be necessary to make that happen? To find out, Sam Fleming speaks to Jeromin Zettelmeyer. He is the director of the Brussels-based think tank, Bruegel, and has previously held senior roles at the IMF, the Peterson Institute, and in the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Lees meer
Clips: BBC, Bloomberg Television, European Commission, French Armed Forces
Sam Fleming is the FT’s economics editor. You can find his articles here: https://www.ft.com/sam-fleming
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Sam Fleming. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. Original music from Breen Turner, and sound design by Breen Turner & Sam Giovinco.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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What Trump’s tariffs deadline has (not) achieved, with Dmitry Grozoubinski
11 juli 2025 · 38 min
July 9 marked the end of President Trump’s 90-day pause on his so-called reciprocal tariffs. Now that deadline has passed … what has actually changed? The FT’s senior trade writer Alan Beattie discusses with former trade negotiator Dmitry Grozoubinski, author of ‘Why Politicians Lie About Trade’. Dmitry explains why Trump’s tariff threats are as ineffective as they are unusual, how countries are approaching his ‘vibes-based’ trade policy, and what Dmitry would advise if he was negotiating with the US now. Lees meer
Want more?
Trump’s tariff shambles is a helpful warning to the world
Donald Trump threatens new tariffs on Canada
Alan Beattie is the FT's senior trade writer. He writes the Trade Secrets newsletter every Monday.
Read Alan’s columns here: https://www.ft.com/alan-beattie
Sign up to the Trade Secrets newsletter here.
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Presented by Alan Beattie. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Mix by Sam Giovinco.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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The Wolf-Krugman Exchange: your questions answered
9 juli 2025 · 44 min
In the sixth of this six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman tackle a selection of questions, and even some criticisms, sent in by their audience. Lees meer
Listen to Paul Krugman’s cultural coda, Carole King’s It's too late, here
Listen to Martin Wolf’s cultural coda, Va Pensiero from Verdi’s Nabucco, here
Subscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Episodes are also available on the FT’s YouTube channel.
Read Martin’s FT column here
Subscribe to Paul’s substack here
The Wolf-Krugman Exchange was produced by Sandra Kanthal and Mischa Frankl-Duval, and the broadcast engineer was Andrew Georgiades. The sound engineer was Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Wolf-Krugman Exchange: The future of the postwar system
2 juli 2025 · 44 min
In the fifth of this six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discuss the way American politics is crashing against both the guardrails of a stable, democratic system and the rules and norms of the postwar economic order and how this could jeopardise the importance of the US on the world stage. Lees meer
Paul Krugman’s Cultural Coda:
Stephen Sondheim: "We had a good thing going"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTbrbiM-slg&list=RDNTbrbiM-slg&start_radio=1
Martin Wolf’s Cultural Coda:
Jonas Kaufmann: Freiheit from Beethoven’s Fidelio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvfhmGsFMEo
Subscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Episodes are also available on the FT’s YouTube channel.
If you’d like to get in touch and ask Martin and Paul a question, please email economics.show@ft.com
Read Martin’s FT column here
Subscribe to Paul’s substack here
The Wolf-Krugman Exchange is produced by Sandra Kanthal. The broadcast engineer was Rod Fitzgerald. The sound engineer is Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Wolf-Krugman Exchange: AI hype vs reality
24 juni 2025 · 42 min
In the fourth of this six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman ask if advances in artificial intelligence will reshape the working world as we know it. Or are we hearing an old familiar story that has been told many times before? Lees meer
Paul Krugman’s Cultural Coda:
Loretta Lynn - "Coal Miner's Daughter": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9eHp7JJgq8&list=RDf9eHp7JJgq8&start_radio=1
Martin Wolf’s Cultural Coda:
Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain, published in 1924.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Mountain
Read Martin Wolf's selection of the best economics summer reads for 2025 here
Read Martin’s FT column here
Subscribe to Paul’s substack here
If you’d like to get in touch and ask Martin and Paul a question, please email economics.show@ft.com
Subscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Episodes are also available on the FT’s YouTube channel.
The Wolf-Krugman Exchange is produced by Sandra Kanthal and Mischa Frankl-Duval, and the broadcast engineer is Andrew Georgiades. The sound engineer is Jean-Marc Eck. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Wolf-Krugman Exchange: The economy in an uncertain world
18 juni 2025 · 43 min
In the third of this six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discuss the dangers facing the world economy and wonder what outcomes are possible at summits such as the G7 in times of political and economic risk. Lees meer
Paul Krugman’s Cultural Coda:
Peter Gabriel: “Games Without Frontiers”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xZmlUV8muY&list=RD3xZmlUV8muY&start_radio=1
Martin Wolf’s Cultural Coda:
"The Second Coming" - by William Butler Yeats, 1919
https://youtu.be/QI40j17EFbI
Subscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Episodes are also available on the FT’s YouTube channel.
If you’d like to get in touch and ask Martin and Paul a question, please email economics.show@ft.com
Read Martin’s FT column here
Subscribe to Paul’s substack here
The Wolf-Krugman Exchange was produced by Sandra Kanthal and Mischa Frankl-Duval, and the broadcast engineer was Andrew Georgiades. The sound engineer was Breen Turner. Our executive producer is Flo Phillips. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Wolf-Krugman Exchange: how the old economic order fell out of favour
11 juni 2025 · 47 min
In the second of this six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discuss the way economic trends have fractured societies on both sides of the Atlantic and the jeopardy that poses to liberal democracies in Europe and America. Lees meer
Paul Krugman’s Cultural Coda: Let America Be America Again by Langston Hughes
https://poets.org/poem/let-america-be-america-again
Martin Wolf’s Cultural Coda: The Tariff Song by Dan Shore
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eWtn6kWXAsQ&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Subscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Episodes are also available on the FT’s YouTube channel.
If you’d like to get in touch and ask Martin and Paul a question, please email economics.show@ft.com
Read Martin’s FT column here
Subscribe to Paul’s substack here
The Wolf-Krugman Exchange was produced by Sandra Kanthal and Mischa Frankl-Duval, and the broadcast engineer was Andrew Georgiades. The sound engineer was Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Wolf-Krugman Exchange: the crisis of trust
6 juni 2025 · 44 min
In part one of this six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discuss how trust in the postwar world economic system is being lost and weigh the costs and consequences of that. Lees meer
Paul Krugman’s Cultural Coda: Quarterflash, ”Harden My Heart”-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNFSED77-GM
Martin Wolf’s Cultural Coda:The Beatles, “For No One”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELlLIwhvknk
Subscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Episodes are also available on the FT’s YouTube channel.
If you’d like to get in touch and ask Martin and Paul a question, please email economics.show@ft.com
Read Martin’s FT column here
Subscribe to Paul’s substack here
The Wolf-Krugman Exchange was produced by Sandra Kanthal and Mischa Frankl-Duval, and the broadcast engineer was Richard Topping. The sound engineer was Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Coming soon: The Wolf-Krugman Exchange
4 juni 2025 · 2 min
In a special six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discuss the economic events reshaping the world in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s election. Lees meer
Subscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Episodes will also be available on the FT’s YouTube channel.
If you’d like to get in touch and ask Martin and Paul a question, please email economics.show@ft.com
Read Martin’s FT column here
Subscribe to Paul’s substack here
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How economics wins wars, with Duncan Weldon
2 juni 2025 · 26 min
Churchill never said “we will fight them in the spreadsheets…”. But maybe he should have done. The second world war, like every other war in human history, was decided by how each side allocated its resources. In this episode, Duncan Weldon, author of the new book ‘Blood and Treasure, The Economics of Conflict from the Vikings to Ukraine’, explains how countries have historically thought about the economics of war – and how the Ukraine war is changing that. He and host Soumaya Keynes also discuss how conflict shaped economic institutions and the modern world. Lees meer
Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Further reading:
Vladimir Putin’s war economy is cooling, but Russians still feel richer: https://www.ft.com/content/485aba41-1148-4f2c-b0ab-97aac5e50727
Russia’s war economy fuels rustbelt revival: https://www.ft.com/content/559ca59f-7fdc-4c47-8e87-edb562acdc7b
Defence spending is up – but on all the wrong things: https://www.ft.com/content/11a6b844-fe57-4e39-86ba-bb04e839bf2f
Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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What does China want from the US? With Jay Shambaugh
26 mei 2025 · 30 min
The tit-for-tat tariff escalations between the US and China are on pause, at least temporarily. But if the world’s two biggest economies don’t make progress by July, they could return with a vengeance. How can the two parties make progress? And what does China actually want from the US? Soumaya Keynes speaks to Jay Shambaugh to find out. Shambaugh was the US Treasury’s undersecretary for international affairs under Joe Biden. In other words, he was in charge of the US’s economic relationship with China. He and Soumaya discuss how the Trump administration could negotiate with China, and how interwoven trade policy and national security have become. Lees meer
Clips: CNBC Television, PBS News
Further reading:
Will Trump’s tariff climbdown save the US from recession?
The markets are declaring tariff victory too soon
US-China trade war is pushing Asian nations to pick sides, ministers warn
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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How should central banks respond to US tariffs?
19 mei 2025 · 27 min
US tariffs have sent financial markets into a frenzy in recent weeks, but how much should central bankers be taking trade into account when setting monetary policy? To find out, Soumaya Keynes sits down with Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Swati Dhingra – one of the committee’s more dovish members. They discuss why the UK’s open economy makes it more vulnerable to trade shocks, what Dhingra saw in the data that her MPC colleagues didn’t, and why she didn’t vote for an (even) sharper rate cut earlier this month. Lees meer
Further reading:
Two BoE policymakers warn against rushing to further cut interest rates
Bank of England vote split hits hopes for faster interest rate cuts
Brexit lessons for Trump’s trade war
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Bonus: Globalisation can be slowed, but not stopped
15 mei 2025 · 32 min
Donald Trump’s trade policies have put global markets through the mill in recent weeks. But his policies didn’t come from nowhere. Aspects of US protectionism preceded Trump’s second term – and countries across the world have been pushing for greater self-sufficiency for some time. Is this drive for greater self-sufficiency misguided? Is true self-sufficiency even possible? Or might the secret to economic security come from more co-operation, not less? The FT’s senior business writer Andrew Hill sits down with Ben Chu to discuss the findings from his new book: "Exile Economics: What Happens if Globalisation Fails." Chu is the policy and analysis correspondent at BBC Verify and was previously the economics editor of BBC Newsnight. Lees meer
For further reading:
The old global economic order is dead
Britain’s trade deal with Trump may not be good news for the world
Tariffs are a bet on the free market rather than free trade
The business lessons to draw from Trump’s dealmaking
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Andrew Hill. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Bill Gates: how international development can survive the Trump presidency
12 mei 2025 · 28 min
Over the past 25 years, the Gates foundation has given away more than $100bn. Much of that money has gone to healthcare and education projects outside the US – and the organisation plans to give $200bn more to various programmes in the next twenty years. But as Elon Musk and Doge feed USAID, a key partner of the foundation, “into the wood chipper,” how can Bill Gates press ahead? The FT’s Africa editor, David Pilling, speaks to Gates about running an apolitical, philanthropic entity in a politically challenging time. Lees meer
Read more:
Bill Gates is giving away $200bn. Can his plans survive in the Trump era?
Bill Gates accuses Elon Musk of ‘killing’ children with USAID cuts
Elon Musk’s painful departure
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by David Pilling. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Martin Wolf talks to Kenneth Rogoff: Trump is accelerating the dollar’s decline
5 mei 2025 · 30 min
The US dollar has been in slow decline for around a decade – so says Kenneth Rogoff, Harvard professor, and former chief economist of the IMF. Donald Trump’s trade policies have raised a lot of questions about the future of the dollar – and how its decline could affect the rest of the world’s currencies. Rogoff joins Martin Wolf to discuss how the decline of the dollar could empower China, capital flight from the US, and why cryptocurrency is a bigger threat to dollar hegemony than most people realise. Lees meer
Martin Wolf is chief economics commentator at the Financial Times. You can find his column here: https://www.ft.com/martin-wolf
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Martin Wolf. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Should we be optimistic about the US economy? With Michael Strain
28 april 2025 · 31 min
Almost a month since ‘liberation day’, the potential impacts of President Donald Trump’s tariff regime are starting to sink in. US hard data isn’t yet showing much negative impact from changes to US trade policy – but economists are gloomy on US growth prospects. The IMF last week warned of an increased risk of US recession, and lopped nearly a full percentage point off its forecast for US growth this year. Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, joins FT economics editor Sam Fleming to discuss how Trump’s tariff agenda may play out, which forces could force the president to change tack, and what that might look like. Lees meer
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Martin Wolf talks to David Autor: could AI be a bigger threat to US jobs than China?
21 april 2025 · 32 min
When China joined the World Trade Organization at the start of this century, its surging exports rattled US manufacturing. Prices fell, jobs became less lucrative, and communities that relied on these jobs were hit hard. President Donald Trump seems determined to bring those jobs back to the US. Is that realistic or even desirable? The FT’s chief economics commentator Martin Wolf speaks to MIT economics professor David Autor about the "China shock" and the (potentially more significant) AI challenge that lies ahead. Lees meer
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Martin Wolf talks to Mervyn King: why central banks got inflation wrong
14 april 2025 · 31 min
Former Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King has never shied away from expressing his opinion. Here, he sits down with his friend Martin Wolf — the FT’s chief economics commentator — to discuss some of the thorniest problems central banks now face: Will rate-setters manage to stay independent in the era of Trump 2.0? What should they do about cryptocurrencies? And how can they regain credibility after getting inflation so wrong? Lees meer
Martin Wolf is chief economics commentator at the Financial Times. You can find his column here
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Martin Wolf. Produced by Laurence Knight. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music by Breen Turner. Audio mix by Simon Panayi. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Are US tariffs just the beginning? With Abraham Newman
7 april 2025 · 32 min
As Donald Trump declares a trade war on the rest of the world, it’s time to learn about a field of economic research known as “weaponised interdependence”. The bad news is that the US president’s weapon of choice – imposing tariffs on goods imports – is a fairly outdated tool of economic warfare. Globalisation and advances in financial and communications technology have created an arsenal of additional weapons, which may yet be fired off by the US or by other big players such as China and the EU. To find out more, the FT’s Alan Beattie speaks to the leading world expert on weaponised interdependence, Abraham Newman, professor of political science at Georgetown University, and co-author with Henry Farrell of 'Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy.' Newman warns that Europe, in particular, needs to completely change its gameplan in response to this new world of dominance relationships. Lees meer
Presented by Alan Beattie. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval and Laurence Knight. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music by Breen Turner. Audio mix by Simon Panayi. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Can Germany escape its economic doldrums? With Ulrike Malmendier
31 maart 2025 · 32 min
For the past few years, Germany has begun to look like the ‘sick man of Europe’ again. Its economy has barely grown since 2019, while its famous manufacturing sector has shrivelled. But earlier this month, financial markets were buoyed by a vote in the German parliament to relax the constitutional limit on government borrowing, the so-called debt brake. It means that Germany’s likely new conservative-led coalition government will be free to borrow unlimited amounts to fund a defence sector build-up, and can also draw on a €500bn fund to spend on infrastructure over the next 10 years. But will more government spending be enough to address Germany’s structural economic problems? The FT’s Martin Sandbu speaks to economist Ulrike Malmendier of the University of California, Berkeley, who is a member of the German Council of Economics Experts, which evaluates the government’s economic policies. Lees meer
Martin Sandbu writes a regular column for the Financial Times, which you can find here. It includes recent columns on Berlin’s about-turn on debt spending, and the economic choice facing Germany.
Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Martin Sandbu. Produced by Laurence Knight. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Audio mix and original music by Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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How big a fiscal hole is the British government in? With Paul Johnson
24 maart 2025 · 31 min
The UK’s Labour government had already inherited a tricky fiscal situation when it came to power last July. But since then, growth has stagnated, borrowing costs have risen, and now the government has committed to a big increase in defence spending. Where will the money come from? The FT’s Sam Fleming interviews Paul Johnson, the long-time director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an independent think-tank that has been adjudicating the UK’s public finances for more than half a century. As Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver her Spring Statement on Wednesday, should she break her government’s pledge not to raise personal taxes? Lees meer
Sam Fleming is the FT’s economics editor. You can find his latest features and columns here.
Subscribe to The Economics show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Why do companies make terrible decisions? With Dan Davies
17 maart 2025 · 32 min
Modern industrial economies were made possible by automation and mass production, but also by something similar going on inside the world of management. Where once all the decisions were made by an identifiable boss, now they are farmed out to rule books, bureaucracies and computer algorithms — and nobody is individually accountable for them. The FT’s Andrew Hill speaks to Dan Davies, economist and author of The Unaccountability Machine, who explains how the industrialisation of management decision-making was inevitable in our increasingly complex world but has had unforeseen consequences, such as “accountability sinks” and the rise of populist politicians. Nonetheless, there are solutions, including AI, the 1950s management theory of cybernetics and the return of the much-maligned middle manager. Lees meer
Andrew Hill is senior business writer at the Financial Times and consulting editor at FT Live. You can find his latest features and columns here, and enjoy his Big Read on the woes of America’s industrial giants here.
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Andrew Hill. Produced by Edith Rousselot and Laurence Knight. The editor is Bryant Urstadt. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Audio mix and original music by Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Martin Wolf talks to Keyu Jin: Has China’s economy run out of gas?
10 maart 2025 · 31 min
After decades of double-digit growth, China's economy has been expanding at less than half that since the pandemic. A property market crash, youth unemployment and now a trade war with the US are all adding to the country’s woes. So has the Chinese juggernaut finally run out of gas? Martin Wolf speaks to Keyu Jin, a Chinese economist who has lived and worked most of her life in the US and UK, and is currently a professor with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, as well as at Harvard. She says that China remains widely misunderstood in the west. Lees meer
Martin Wolf is chief economics commentator at the Financial Times. You can find his column here
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Martin Wolf. Produced by Laurence Knight. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Audio mix and original music by Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Martin Wolf talks to Adair Turner: Can the world decarbonise fast enough?
3 maart 2025 · 31 min
The world economy is emitting carbon dioxide faster than ever before, meaning our planet is heating up faster than ever before. Martin Wolf speaks to someone who has spent much of the past two decades at the forefront of the climate debate. Lord Adair Turner chairs the Energy Transitions Commission, a think-tank focused on climate mitigation, and was previously the first chair of the UK government’s committee on climate change in 2008-12. While he fears that US President Donald Trump will act as a drag anchor on international progress in cutting emissions, he believes the EU and China can strike a deal to help the whole world transition to cheap renewable energy. Lees meer
Martin Wolf is chief economics commentator at the Financial Times. You can find his column here
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Martin Wolf. Produced by Laurence Knight. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Audio mix and original music by Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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What future for aid and development? With Minouche Shafik
27 februari 2025 · 33 min
US President Donald Trump has frozen all foreign aid payments, while Elon Musk is putting America’s biggest development agency, USAID, “through the woodchipper”. Meanwhile, the UK government has just announced it will slash its aid budget from 0.5% to 0.3% of GDP. So are the days of generous programmes to promote health and education in the poorest nations now over? And should we fear that rising authoritarian powers, most notably China, are stepping into the breach with their own funds and parallel institutions? In an interview recorded just before the UK’s announcement, Alan Beattie speaks to economist Minouche Shafik, who is a veteran of the international development scene. She has worked at the World Bank, IMF, and the UK’s Department for International Development. And she is not optimistic. Lees meer
Alan writes the Trade Secrets newsletter. You can sign up here. He is on Bluesky at @alanbeattie.bsky.social.
Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by Alan Beattie. Produced by Laurence Knight. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Audio mix and original music by Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Martin Wolf talks to Richard Baldwin: What’s the future of global trade?
24 februari 2025 · 36 min
Donald Trump’s tariffs are a twentieth century tool that simply won’t work in the 21st century global trading system. That’s the view of today’s guest, Richard Baldwin, professor of international economics at the IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland. Speaking to the FT’s Martin Wolf, Baldwin explains how the shift towards global manufacturing supply chains since the 1990s, and the more recent explosion in digital services exports, mean that the impact of across-the-board import taxes such as the ones proposed by the new US administration will be counterproductive and much more limited than in the past. Nonetheless, should we still worry about the harm that Trump’s policies may be doing to the global trading system, and how should other countries respond? Lees meer
Martin Wolf is chief economics commentator at the Financial Times. You can find his column here
Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Why are birth rates falling? With Alice Evans
21 februari 2025 · 34 min
Birth rates are falling fast and not just in highly developed countries. And as populations age, it’s becoming harder to fund pensions or raise labour productivity. But falling fertility could also be harming social cohesion and impeding the innovation needed to solve problems such as climate change. Today on the show, John Burn-Murdoch talks to Alice Evans, a senior lecturer at King’s College, London, and the author of the newsletter, The Great Gender Divergence. Together, they try to figure out why fewer people are choosing to have children, or even coupling up in the first place, and what should be done about it. Lees meer
John Burn-Murdoch writes a column each week for the Financial Times. You can find it here
Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
Presented by John Burn-Murdoch. Produced by Edith Rousselot. The editor is Bryant Urstadt. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Audio mix and original music by Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.