The Call by the Global Intelligence Desk

China enters 2026 targeting 5% growth. But behind the numbers, it grapples with weak domestic demand, a property hangover, high local government debt, and growing external pressure on trade and technology. Beijing’s answer is increasingly framed around expanding ‘new economy’ investments in advanced manufacturing and clean tech. Will that be enough for China to achieve its growth targets? Probably...

Amid a dramatically shifting global environment, Europe enters 2026 with pressure coming from every direction: security threats from Russia, economic threats from China, political fragmentation, a lagging digital sector, energy insufficiency, rapid aging, surging public debt, and a stagnant economy suffocating in red tape. The stakes for business will be significant, given the trade flows across t...

Washington policymakers will again navigate a dramatically shifting playing field in 2026, not least because of the midterm elections in November. We can think of no better guide than our very own Neil Bradley to help us understand not only the stakes of the election, but what to expect across the issues that matter most for business.      In this conversation, amid the continued uncertainty, we s...

Beata Javorcik, Chief Economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development is the lead author of the EBRD’s landmark new report, “Brave Old World,” which lays out one of the defining long-term challenges of our time: the demographic reversal. Populations are aging, fertility rates are falling, and fiscal systems, whether in high-income economies or the global south, are coming under...

America’s alliances - and the businesses that bind those partnerships - are recovering from the strain of this year’s trade tensions. Amid the rise of China, uncertainties remain over how best to pursue our immediate economic goals while also pursing less tangible, long-term strategic interests.  Jay Sapsford asks Ambassador Rahm Emanuel: As alliances evolve, can Washington and its friends effecti...

Traffic at America’s ports is one of the most underappreciated indicators of economic prospects - and at the Port of Los Angeles, the nation’s largest, traffic is slowing. That begs a question: Is the slowing port traffic a red flag? Few people see real-time demand, supply chain stress, and geopolitical pressure points as clearly as Gene Seroka, Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles. Jay S...

Seven years ago, economists at Capital Economics, an independent macro-economic consultancy, issued a paper entitled The Coming Slowdown in China. At a time when much of the world was convinced China would overtake the U.S., they argued that tailwinds were already turning into headwinds.   Our guest on this episode of The Call is Mark Williams, Chief Asia Economist at Capital Economics, and co-aut...

Adam Posen, in the most recent issue of Foreign Affairs, published a stark argument that has generated buzz here in DC: The U.S., in his telling, has leveraged its role as a ‘global insurer’ underwriting the risks of the world’s economic system, to extract ever richer premiums from allies, demanding more and more as the price of U.S.-led security.   At a time when the world was already undergoing...

From autonomous systems to AI-driven targeting, warfare is being redefined by innovation. This week’s guest, former Defense Under-Secretary Michèle Flournoy, argues that America’s ability to deter and win wars, now, depends less on troop strength and more on its capacity to out-innovate its rivals through cutting-edge research, skilled talent, and fast investment. She will outline how deterrence i...

With the U.S. and Chinese leaders meeting on the sidelines of APEC this week, the stakes are high: renewed tariff threats, tighter tech and minerals controls, allies under pressure to align, and a security backdrop that refuses to stay quiet. Supply chains, investment plans, and boardroom risk maps all hang in the balance. The question on our mind this week: Can Trump and Xi Find a New Normal? The...

Japan has made history by electing Sanae Takaichi as its first female prime minister, but her Liberal Democratic Party was forced to shift rightward after centrists lost the premiership. Having just secured Japan’s top post, Takaichi has only days to prepare to meet with President Trump and will have to navigate a slew of difficult issues with a famously unpredictable U.S. leader.    David Boling,...

As the dust of the IMF Annual Meetings settles, the world is now defined by uncertainty.  The weaponization of trade, the steep price of resilience, and debt levels set to reach 100% of global GDP by 2030 – all combine for difficult terrain to navigate.  This brings forward our question: Who leads in a fragmented world?      Robert Zoellick, Chairman of Americas, at Temasek, Singapore’s Sovereign...

Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas joins the Call live from the IMF meetings in Washington., which is happening amid surging public debt levels, growing trade restrictions, and technological advances that promise to reshape labor and productivity. - The Call is a series of live video conversations featuring expert guests from the U.S. Chamber's Global Intelligence Desk. Live access to The Call is a be...

Gita Gopinath joins The Call just days before the IMF Annual Meetings, at a moment when the question for governments and businesses alike is clear: Can the global economy grow in a fragmented world? With debt levels surging, trade disputes escalating, and AI transforming labor markets, the stakes for CEOs and policymakers have rarely been higher. - The Call is a series of live video conversations...

Absolutely not, says this says this week’s guest. Mark Sobel, U.S. Chairman at OMFIF and former U.S. representative to the IMF, explained, “dollarization is not the answer. What Argentina needs is a flexible exchange rate, not a trap with no exit.”  Sobel joins Jay Sapsford to explore why Argentina keeps stumbling into crisis, the risks of Washington’s latest bailout, and why the peso still matter...

The UN General Assembly is convening next week, for the fourth time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—and once again, the war will be high on the agenda. As the conflict nears its fourth year with no end in sight, the war is contributing to a global military build up, which reached a record $2.7 trillion in 2024, a surge not seen since the Cold War. John Lough, Head of Foreign Policy at the New E...

With markets bracing for the Fed’s rate decision today, former Cleveland Fed President & CEO Loretta Mester joins Jay Sapsford on this week’s episode to weigh the risks: insurance cuts vs. the danger of reigniting inflation. - The Call is a series of live video conversations featuring expert guests from the U.S. Chamber's Global Intelligence Desk. Live access to The Call is a benefit to t...

Jeffrey Currie, Chief Strategy Officer of Carlyle’s Energy Pathways, joins the Call to unpack copper’s price whiplash, the coming U.S. tariffs, and why this ancient metal’s resurgence has become a heated subject matter in corporate boardrooms. Currie, widely known for calling copper the “new oil”, will explain its surging demand, driven by its growing role in semiconductors and EVs, in AI plans an...

John Neuffer, President & CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association, joins host Jay Sapsford to provide the broad context of the cross-border tensions for perhaps the world’s most innovative sector, a $600 billion chips industry that supplies the brains embedded in everything from computers and cars to cell phones and refrigerators. - The Call is a series of live video conversations featur...

The Fed is facing growing discontent among some – including the President – over Fed Chair Jay Powell’s failure to ease interest rates, as well as criticism from Congress over cost escalations in a Fed office renovation. Former CEO and President of the St. Louis Federal Reserve, James Bullard, and one of the earliest voices to warn of inflation risks joins the Call to discuss this tension. Current...

President Trump’s threat to impose a 25% tariff on Japanese auto imports has jolted the U.S.–Japan alliance days ahead of Japan’s July 20 upper-house elections. Despite repeated rounds of negotiations, a deal remains elusive, raising questions about the future of one of the world’s most important bilateral security relationships between Tokyo and Washington. This week’s guest, Dr. William Chou, a...

The U.S. will assume the presidency of the G20 in December, presenting a unique moment next year for Washington to demonstrate global leadership by hosting perhaps the most important multilateral forum, the G20’s annual summit. It is also a moment of consequence for the U.S. Chamber, as it convenes the B20 ahead of the G20 summit, providing the business community an opportunity to help shape the G...

The U.S. dollar reigns supreme, but its role as the default global currency is increasingly under scrutiny. In his new book, Our Dollar, Your Problem, today's guest Ken Rogoff argues the greenback’s primacy might erode faster than expected. The biggest challenge might not be the status of the dollar as a reserve currency, but as the preferred unit of global exchange. Some of the U.S.’ biggest...

After U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, many expected oil prices to soar. But they didn’t. Why? This week’s guest, Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Prize and Vice Chairman of S&P Global, joins Jay Sapsford to explain how U.S. shale reshaped the oil market, and why America still defends flows it no longer relies on. - The Call is a series of live video conversations feat...

The Pentagon is reviewing plans for the joint provision of nuclear submarines to Australia, a deal seen as the pillar of the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the U.K., and the U.S., or “AUKUS.” The review has sparked alarm in both Canberra and London and raises hard questions about U.S. shipbuilding capacity, defense readiness, and Washington’s long-term vision for deterrence in...