The Sound of Economics

The Chinese economy is at a crossroads. The investment-driven growth model, which the government had relied on for the last four decades, is running out of steam. Fiscal deficits are widening and public debt is rising. Furthermore, population aging is becoming more visible and the pandemic had some scarring effects which have taken a toll both on consumer and business confidence.  The very rapid r...

In June 2018, the US Trump administration introduced tariffs on European steel and aluminium exports, starting a long-time dispute between the two trade partners. On 31 October 2021, the European Union and the United States agreed on temporary measures to settle their dispute over US Section 232 ‘national security’ tariffs on EU steel and aluminium products. In addition to opening tariff rate quot...

Today, the mitigation of climate change is one of the most important issues worldwide. However, governments also need to prioritise geopolitical resilience and economic growth when designing their industrial policies.  In this episode of the Sound of Economics, Giuseppe Porcaro is joined by Philippe Aghion , Simone Tagliapietra and Reinhilde Veugelers to discuss what an innovative, European-level...

The Sound of Economics is bringing you a summer 2023 special series, ' Read with Bruegel .' In this series, we have the pleasure of hosting renowned authors who will discuss various economic issues based on their insightful books. We hope this conversation will inspire you to explore their books and offer you some food for thought during your summer break. In this episode, Giuseppe Porcaro invites...

The Sound of Economics is bringing you a summer 2023 special series, ' Read with Bruegel .' In this series, we have the pleasure of hosting renowned authors who will discuss various economic issues based on their insightful books. We hope this conversation will inspire you to explore their books and offer you some food for thought during your summer break. In the first episode of the series, Brueg...

China's economic ties with the Gulf States have undergone significant changes in recent years. Although historically there was little interaction between China and the Middle East, the past decade has seen a transformative shift with far-reaching implications for trade, business and politics.  According to the IMF, trade between China and the Gulf countries has doubled from approximately $90 billi...

In recent years, European Commission borrowing on behalf of the European Union has changed significantly in both scale and nature. This is mainly due to the financing of the Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) and NextGeneration EU (NGEU) instruments introduced in response to Covid-19. For the first time, the EU is now faced with its own debt, which will have to be paid f...

China’s astounding growth has slowed down over the last decade. Despite enormous progress and investment in research and development, China’s medium-term GDP growth is expected to fall to 2.4% by 2035. The Chinese economy will not grow much larger than the US economy in the foreseeable future, which has important geopolitical implications.  In this episode of the Sound of Economics, Giuseppe Porca...

Digitalisation, robotisation and automation are changing the nature of jobs at an unprecedented rate. Newly emerging technologies are not only reducing the jobs performed by humans but also transforming the way people work. EU economies are undergoing a significant transition leading to the displacement of workers across all industries and workers find themselves in need of reskilling and upskilli...

In 2022, Europe managed to safeguard the security of energy supply during a turbulent time for the energy sector. Moreover, the EU industry has, also thanks to public support, remained resilient beyond expectations. As the peak of the crisis seems to be behind us, Europe now needs to assess its longer-term industrial repercussions. In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Jeromin Zettelmeyer inv...

The tech sector has become key player in the internal interconnection between economics and geopolitics. It is an essential industry that plays a critical role in shaping national security, supply chains and the consumer side of the economy. However, navigating through the geopolitical and economic challenges facing the tech industry requires an understanding of the bigger picture. In this episode...

EU finance ministers met at the April 2023 informal ECOFIN meeting to discuss the reform of the fiscal governance framework as proposed by the European Commission. Bruegel researchers were asked to contribute to this discussion by providing information on the long-term fiscal needs that countries will have and how well they may be able to meet these needs. In this episode of The Sound of Economics...

The collapses in rapid succession of Credit Suisse in Switzerland along with the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank in the United States have reawakened debates on banking policy.  In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Giuseppe Porcaro is joined by Silvia Merler and Nicolas Véron . Together they explore the lingering effects of the recent banking turmoil and how this controversy may...

Cryptocurrencies have become more popular and established in recent years. Simultaneously, crypto financial services, like lending, have also emerged. Given the increasing importance of digitalisation, it is fair to ask whether these digital decentralised services will become established and normalised. In this episode of The sound of economics, Giuseppe Porcaro invites Maria Demertzis and Catarin...

Since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1947, Africa has been crucial to China’s foreign policy. First, China supported several African liberation movements during the Cold War. Second, in November 2003, the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was created to improve cooperation between China and African states and third, Xi Jinping announced China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013,...

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a record number of people have begun to work from home. However, the seeming flexibility of remote positions is not without its limitations, since the spatial distribution of such roles is vastly uneven.  In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Giuseppe Porcaro is joined by Fabian Stephany and Monica Stephens to explore how remote work contributes to...

In March 2023, the European Central Bank (ECB) launched its quantitative tightening (QT) policy, to unwind its portfolio of assets that resulted from its quantitative easing (QE) policy of the last decade.  Despite the scarce evidence on the effects of QT, it was never attempted in the Euro area. Most lessons can only be drawn from the 2017-19 experience in the United States. In this episode of Th...

The Critical Raw Materials Act, proposed by the European Commission on the 16 March 2023, sets clear benchmarks for domestic capacities along the strategic raw material supply chain and to diversify EU supply.  In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Giuseppe Porcaro sits down with Bruegel researchers Marie Le Mouel and Niclas Poitiers to discuss critical raw materials and the role they play in...

When the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was first announced in 2013, its official objective was to improve connectivity. However, many things have happened since then, from the US-China trade war to US containment of China’s technological rise, as well as China’s much more belligerent approach to the West. How is the BRI changing in this new reality? In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Gius...

 What is happening with the Silicon Valley Bank? In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Giuseppe Porcaro invites Rebecca Christie and Nicolas Véron to unpack the ongoing SVB crisis and what it entails for global financial markets.

On International Women’s Day 2023, Giuseppe Porcaro is joined by Nancy Folbre , one of the pioneering economists in the area of feminist economics.  Together they discuss the findings published in Folbre’s latest book The rise and decline of patriarchal systems , where she examined the contradictory effects of capitalist development. She explains why the work of caring for others is under-valued a...

Europe has survived the energy crisis in the past year; however, it is time to look forward and prepare for winter 2023-24. In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Jeromin Zettelmeyer invites Simone Tagliapietra and Ben McWilliams to present their latest paper , where they explore in detail the future of LNG imports, how much natural gas demand must be reduced to avoid crisis. They discuss the...

When the sanctions against Russia were first implemented, Giuseppe Porcaro invited Nicolas Véron and Elina Ribakova on The Sound of Economics to discuss the possible implications of those sanctions. On 24 February, it will be one year since the invasion of Ukraine. As this anniversary approaches, they revisit this topic to reflect on how effective the sanctions have been, its implication on the in...

As China moves closer to fully re-emerging from three years of government imposed Covid isolation and as they begin to reintegrate with the rest of the world, economic expectations are high. Beijing’s recent pivot from its stringent zero-Covid strategy — which had long choked businesses — is expected to inject vitality into the world’s second-largest economy next year. But what will this reopening...

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 is a milestone in US climate policy. Unfortunately, it also contains protectionist elements, such as linking green subsidies to local content requirements (LCRs). This is prohibited under WTO rules. Legislating such LCRs is a first for the United States, and a blow to the multilateral trading system. In this episode of the Sound of Economics, Bruegel direc...