Élena Panaritis

Reality Check with Élena

Business EN ↓ 6 episodes

Our new podcast explores the realities that lead to informality: a notion represented by reduction of the middle class, and spread of insecurity, through a series of dynamic on-the-ground interviews in Europe, the US, and the Global south. You will hear what informality is really like, from people who have lived in it all their lives; from those who have escaped it and risen to middle class; and others who have fallen into it. We invite global intellectuals, along with journalists, policy makers, and investors to share their views on what is informality and why we must tackle it now.

Author

Élena Panaritis

Episodes

Episode 6 — Todd Morley: How Impact Investing Can Formalize the Informal World 14.01.2026 22:22

In Washington DC this time, Élena sits with legendary investor and Guggenheim Partners co-founder Todd Morley to explore one of the most overlooked forces shaping the global economy: informality. With nearly 70% of the world’s workforce operating outside formal systems, Todd explains why this is not just a humanitarian challenge but the largest untapped economic opportunity on the planet, breaking...

Episode 5 – The Silent Journey: young African Refugees walking for the search of something better? 21.11.2025 18:17

Welcome to the new wave of change: https://linktr.ee/t4action - subscribe- share - donateToday I am broadcasting this episode from Lima, Peru. In this episode I have the privilege to talk with “The Doer” Pablo Bustamante. The man who innovated finance and helped move Peru’s informal sector into the middle class. In this video podcast, recorded in the spirit of untold stories that drive change, Pab...

Episode 4 – The Man Behind the Market: Pablo Bustamante and Peru’s Quiet Economic Revolution 02.09.2025 26:36

Episode 3 – The Hidden Key to Development and Progress is Property Rights: Charles Calomiris 08.08.2025 24:53

Today, I sit with globally influential economist Charles Calomiris at the foothills of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. We discuss the foundations of economic development. In this video podcast, Calomiris draws on decades of research and policy advise on economic equilibria, and international finance to deliver a compelling reality check on why secure property rights are the bedrock of development...

Episode 2 - What is Informality why it Persists: Francis Fukuyama on Broken Systems and Bold Fixes 22.07.2025 10:34

This time straight from Mexico, I meet with renowned political scientist and author Francis Fukuyama. In his characteristically eloquent and succinct style he offers a sharp reality check on what is informality and why it continues to persist around the world. He unpacks how weak institutions, lack of trust, and structural barriers shape informal systems, and recognises the concept of Reality Chec...

Episode 1 – "Germany's shrinking middle class affects daily its economy and politics" w/Jörg Luyken 19.02.2025 27:38

Today I’m in Berlin with Jörg Luyken, right beside a remaining part the infamous grim Berlin Wall — the barrier that for decades cut this city in two and became one of the most powerful symbols of the Cold War, that divided the West from the Soviet East. After liberal democracy won and the wall was teared down in 1990. We wondered whether the divide is still alive, yet invisible. We discuss how th...