The Economics Show

China runs an enormous trade surplus, much to the chagrin of some of its trading partners: cheap exports of cars, chemicals and other goods are hampering major economies, especially in Europe. But the Asian nation, the world’s largest exporter, is a net importer of oil. Could higher oil prices help redress global trade imbalances? Soumaya Keynes speaks to Brad Setser, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss how global trade imbalances have changed, why Beijing’s surplus may be bigger than it looks, and what European leaders should be doing about it.

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Related reading
What's really shocking about the second China shock?
China shock 2.0: should Europe welcome Chinese investment?

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval and Sonja Hutson. Edwin Lane is the senior 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
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Donald Trump backed off his threats to wipe out “a whole civilization". Instead, we have a ceasefire – at least for now. But how much damage has the conflict between Iran, the US and Israel already done to the global economy? Where will that damage show up next? And how long will the effects of the Iran shock be felt? Soumaya Keynes speaks to the FT’s economics commentator Chris Giles to discuss the economic consequences of the war and what policymakers should be doing to mitigate them.

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Subscribe to Chris Giles on Central Banks here.

Further reading
The Iran war shock is about half the size of Covid-19
The ECB’s three-pronged monetary strategy

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music by Breen Turner. Sound design by Simon Panayi. The FT 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.

Warring countries have attacked each other’s economies for hundreds of years. But do the tools of economic warfare – sanctions, tariffs, blockades and embargoes – actually work? Soumaya speaks to Mark Harrison, emeritus professor of economics at Warwick university, and co-editor (with Stephen Broadberry) of Economic Warfare and Sanctions since 1688, about what centuries of economic conflict can teach us about Iran (and Russia) today.

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Further reading:

Which chokepoint wins in a game of geoeconomic Top Trumps?

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music by Breen Turner and sound design by Sean McGarrity. The FT 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.

Iran’s de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz has already rocked global oil markets and stock market indices, spooking everyone from politicians to central bankers. But if Iran wants to make matters worse, it can. Soumaya speaks to Edward Fishman, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of ‘Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare,’ to find out what this conflict means for the future of economic coercion. Soumaya and Edward also discuss how geographical chokepoints differ from economic ones (like rare earths, or the dollar system), and the unintended consequences of the war.

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Further reading:
Which chokepoint wins in a game of geoeconomic Top Trumps?
How to survive an energy crunch

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music by Breen Turner. Sound design by Sean McGarrity 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.

There’s a trope going around these days: western commentators travel to China, tour its factories and when they return home they say that when it comes to innovation, China has won the global race. But how true is that? Host Soumaya Keynes discusses the successes and shortcomings of China's evolving industrial policy with Kyle Chan, author of the High Capacity newsletter and a fellow in the John L Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution.

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Further reading:
How China pulled off a great tech reversal
Which chokepoint wins in a game of geoeconomic Top Trumps?
China’s growth target is a global problem

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval and Michela Tindera. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music by Breen Turner and sound design by Sam Giovinco. The FT 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.