The Decisive Podcast: Insights and analysis to empower confident decision-making.

Semiconductor shortage: Examining the data behind the bottleneck

13 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The news is filled with articles about the semiconductor shortage: how it's impacting car manufacturing, slowing electronics production, and delaying ...

Why establishing a Social License to Operate practice is critical

30 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The concept of social license to operate has been around for a long time in both the mining and energy sectors. Many companies have established practi...

Afghanistan and what it means for transnational Jihadi terrorism

25 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Having defeated the Afghan government militarily and negotiated the departure of foreign forces from the country, the Taliban's focus is now on formin...

The economic impacts of climate change

20 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Choices made today by consumers, corporations, and governments are leading to consequences in the latter half of this century that determine whether w...

Beyond banking - The possibilities provided by block chain technology in Sub-Saharan Africa

15 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Fintech is a major force shaping the structure of the financial industry in Sub Saharan Africa and it is rapidly changing the competitive landscape. B...

How complete is your risk profile? Looking at LNG projects in Mozambique and Tanzania

07 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Understanding the full scope of the risks underlying your proposed projects is critical – from fiscal risk to political, operational, legal, and sec...

Help wanted: Global labor shortages and disruptions

28 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Tight labor markets are causing issues for services and manufacturing industries around the globe. These labor shortages are creating and exacerbating...

Climate shifts: Unrest, policy, and growth

20 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

With growing concerns around the increase in natural disasters, water shortages, and rising temperatures we are closely watching related unrest and ev...

Out of stock – Manufacturing in South East Asia

13 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Malaysian factories suffered shutdowns in June due to the rise in Delta variant cases and, as of now, are still not operating at full capacity. Our PM...

Zambia's election outcome

07 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Hakainde Hichilema, the leader of the United Party for National Development, won the 12 August Zambian presidential election. In today's episode, our ...

What goes up for machinery...may not come down?

23 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, our Pricing and Purchasing experts looking at the next level downstream at how the changes in commodity prices and shortages are impa...

Tunisia's struggles

14 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Often held up as the only democratic success story to come out of the Arab Spring, Tunisia has struggled through a decade of consistent unrest and poo...

What our global manufacturing surveys are telling us

07 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What's driving growth in manufacturing production around the globe? Our PMI economists join us to discuss what our PMI surveys are telling us in real-...

Semiconductor shortages cause ripples across markets

31 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

After many choppy weeks for commodity markets, the transition in pricing is finally beginning. However, the same cannot be said for the semiconductor ...

The economic impact of unrest in South Africa

27 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What began as violent protests calling for the release of former president Jacob Zuma from prison in several parts of KwaZulu-Natal province on 9 July...

The future of Afghanistan

19 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The US recently announced a long-awaited withdrawal despite the fact that the Taliban is making advancements in the country. Progress in many fronts s...

Ethiopian election - Impacts to ongoing conflict and economic growth

19 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Prosperity Party of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won 410 out of 436 seats in the Federal Parliament in an electoral process that excluded one-fifth o...

The impact of the Delta Variant in Southern Africa

10 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The third wave of COVID-19 is heavily impacting Southern Africa. Infection rates have risen over 20% and deaths rose 15% in recent weeks. Our Economic...

Realistic Disaster Scenario - What if Latin America sees a surge in violent unrest?

06 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, we are once again talking about an incident that is highly unlikely to happen – it's called a Realistic Disaster Scenarios (RDS)...

Volatility in building materials - A classic supply and demand story

29 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The news, and our podcasts, have been filled with stories about the dramatic rise in lumber prices – until 2 weeks ago when prices fell. Join our Pr...

Consumer outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa

19 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Sub-Saharan Africa suffered a sharp economic contraction over the last year. Pandemic lockdowns, trade and supply Chain disruptions, and employment di...

Realistic Disaster Scenarios: Iran regional war risk

12 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, we are doing something a little different- we are talking about an incident that is highly unlikely to happen – it's called a Re...

Commodities may have reached their peak - Looking at the signals

08 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Commodity prices have experienced a spectacular rally since March of 2020. Are we finally seeing some weak signals that prices may be stabilizing? Joh...

Implications for Mozambique's insurgency in the northern Cabo Delgado province

29 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, our Sub-Saharan team discusses the insurgency in the Cabo Delgado province (something we have been watching this year https://ihsm...

What's next for the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) region?

22 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On the heels of Chad announcing it wanted to participate in the IMF-G20 debt restructuring initiatives, our Africa experts sit down to talk about the ...

Supply chain issues compound as freight woes continue

08 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Transportation issues are compounding an already troubled supply chain as demand for goods outpaces supply around the globe. This is hurting procureme...

COVID-19 outbreak in India

06 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

With the rise of COVID-19 cases in India filling the news, our analysts take a look at what is unfolding on the ground and then provide some analysis ...

COVID-19 Vaccine rollout across the Middle East and North Africa

05 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It's a divided and disparate recovery story across the MENA region depending on each country's ability to access and provide vaccines to their citizen...

Covid-19 vaccine rollout across Europe

29 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Europe and the UK have experienced an uneven rollout of vaccines. In today's episode, our country risk and life science experts come together to talk ...

Lumber climbs sky-high

19 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Lumber prices are making headlines in the United States as they are sitting at a record high. Today's episode, our lumber expert, Deni Koenhemsi, sits...

The geopolitical challenges of COVID-19 vaccine delivery: Sub Saharan Africa

10 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Sub-Saharan Africa is facing a dearth of vaccines and will be reliant in 2021 on external vaccine supply, particularly through pooled procurement sche...

Sub-Saharan Africa debt relief - Is the international community doing enough?

03 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Join our Sub-Saharan Africa team in their discussion on the debt relief efforts being offered by the IMF and the G20 to the region. Is it enough? Will...

Sovereign level ESG in Latin America

27 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Most of us discuss ECG at the corporate level, but what if we looked at the country level? Last year we launched a Sovereign ESG index to provide a qu...

Steel markets - The big picture

23 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

With steel prices hitting record highs, and supplies being tight in many regions, our Director of Pricing & Purchasing, John Anton, sits with us to di...

Covid-19 vaccine rollout across the Asia-Pacific region

16 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Asia-Pacific region is well-placed in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine rollout, with both India and China having sufficient domesti...

Box and board packaging prices feeling pressure

09 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Join John Anton and Patrick Warren from our pricing and purchasing team as they talk about the increases in packaging costs in the first half of 2021....

China's Economic Outlook in the Year of the Ox

23 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

2020 was the worst year for the global economy in a long time. And the same can be said for the Chinese economy. In today's episode, we join our China...

Supply Chain Diversification: Trade opportunities for Sub-Saharan Africa

20 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

One of the many fallouts from the Covid-19 pandemic is disruptions to global supply chains. As we start to restructure supply chains, our Sub Saharan ...

Geopolitics of Covid-19 Vaccine role out: Latin America

13 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, we explore the operational, security, and political challenges Latin American countries will face as they roll out their vaccine p...

Chinese bond defaults - It's not the monetary size that matters

09 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

While bank defaults are not uncommon in Mainland China, a few recent defaults have triggered a strong response. What makes these different? Well, it's...

When will APAC economy recover? A regional outlook for 2021

30 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

With the worst economic contraction in recent history (-1.5%) in 2020, the Asia Pacific region is poised for 5.7% y/y growth in 2021—that is, assumi...

Supply chain disruptions - Continued shortages in materials and labor

25 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, our pricing and purchasing experts, John Anton, John Mothersole, and Sophie Malin discuss the continued shortages being felt acros...

Covid-19 pandemic trajectory - What you need to know

16 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We have entered 2021 with the pandemic still in full swing. While many of us held out hope for an end to the disease spread and a fast effective vacci...

Steel price outlook - Markets in turmoil

09 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In our first pricing focused podcast of 2021, John Anton talks about the very tumultuous steel market. While demand not back to pre-pandemic levels, p...

Cargo and supply chain disruptions in Mexico

04 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Thefts, heists, blockades-sounds like an edge of your seat movie, but rather it's the realities of cargo movement across Mexico. In today's episode, j...

Banking sector risks to watch in 2021

18 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Despite unprecedented macroeconomic declines and fears of widespread banking sector stress as COVID-19 lockdowns first went into place in early 2020, ...

Commodity prices in 2021 for key chemicals, plastics, and metals

15 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

After a tumultuous end of 2020 what can we expect going into 2021 for commodity pricing? Our commodity experts, Michael Dall and John Anton discuss ho...

Indonesian banking sector outlook

21 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Indonesia, the biggest economy in SE Asia and had been growing at a rapid pace. However, it has been suffering terribly since the beginning of the COV...

Current state of the global metals market

15 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

John Anton and John Mothersole join us for another wide-ranging discussion around the global metal's markets. They start off discussing the impact of ...

Fiscal austerity, the IMF, and the G20: Holding off another lost decade?

31 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Last week the IMF and finance ministers from the G20 made some ostensibly landmark decisions affecting the ability of developing countries to access f...

Where economic trends are heading

24 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Seven or so months into the global pandemic, and the ensuing economic slowdown, we are finally seeing some positive movement. While September numbers ...

Capital Market trends

12 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Join our capital markets specialist, Brian Lawson, as he talks about the recent developments in the sector. In today's podcast, he focuses on three ke...

What's happening in labor markets across Europe?

28 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Due to closures and potential job losses due to COVID-19, governments across Europe have responded with support policies to try curb the negative infl...

Asia Pacific economic outlook shocks and impact on supply chains

26 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Rajiv Biswas, our chief Asia-Pacific economist, talks about what he expects for 2021 in the wake of a horrific downturn. He also addresses disruptions...

All that's silver is not gold... or is it?

18 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The silver market has seen some strong action lately. Join KC Chang and John Anton as they discuss what has caused the run-up price, what does that me...

Lumber carrying its weight in price

11 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Since hitting bottom in April, we are now seeing an astonishing 250% increase in lumber price—an increase not being seen in other building materials...

New policies for the Indian banking sector

02 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Join Angus Lam, a senior economist for our Banking Risk Service as he discusses new banking policies taking hold in India. While India is poised to be...

Brexit is coming

27 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The United Kingdom will leave the European Union on 31 January 2020. A multitude of issues remain to be worked through and negotiated. With both sides...

Beirut Port Explosion- Impact, Outlook for Lebanese Economy & State Failure Risk

17 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Join experts from both our Economics & Country Risk and Maritime & Trade teams as they provide an overview of the situation in Lebanon in the wake of ...

USMCA free trade agreement one month in

13 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

One month after the enactment of the new USMCA trade agreement our experts look at what the agreement really means for industry, labor, and politics. ...

The economic outlook for India in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak

03 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

IHS Markit expects India's real GDP growth for fiscal year (FY) 2020–21 (ending March 2021) will contract 6.3%, as a result of the coronavirus disea...

Rising Insecurity Across The Middle East

29 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The convergence of economic dislocation, political instability, and inter-regional power struggles are driving unrest across the region. Jack Kennedy ...

Emerging market issuers push debt maturity

22 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Brian Lawson, our capital markets expert, provides an overview of the recent developments for emerging market borrowers. He provides ...

Complicated time for buyers—steel and nonferrous metals taking divergent tracks

14 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, John Anton and John Mothersole sit down to talk ferrous and non-ferrous metals. They discuss the divergent story between copper an...

Banking sector stress in emerging markets, the next wave of the COVID-19 fallout

02 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we discuss banking sector vulnerability in emerging markets, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Alyssa Grzelak, Director, Banking Risk, IH...

Risk intelligence - Understanding what's happening amidst the noise of information flow

26 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Risk incidents in the US ramped up considerably over the last few months as has the news coverage. Sometimes it's hard to understand what's really unf...

Sustainability-Linked Bonds

18 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On June 9 the ICMA published voluntary guidelines for Sustainability-Linked Bonds (SLBs). These bonds now have some suggested guidelines for issuers t...

The impact of COVID-19 on the healthcare industry and policy decisions

11 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As countries and organizations start to reopen, the question top-of-mind for many is when will a vaccine, or other treatment, be available? Many hold ...

Charismatic leadership during COVID-19

03 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Strong leadership during a time of crisis is critical to an organization's success—more so when your organization is a country, and you are the lead...

The economic impact of lockdown on the Asia Pacific economy

27 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Economic shockwaves have intensified across the globe during April and early May. For the Asia Pacific region, this means that the recession will only...

Changing labor market and wage outlook in the wake of COVID-19

21 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is a timely discussion between Emily Crowley and Sophie Malin from our pricing and purchasing team. Building off their recently publis...

The Lebanese Banking Sector - COVID-19's first financial sector casualty

11 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, Gabrielle Ventura, an economist for our Banking Risk Service, discusses the fall of the Lebanese banking sector. She takes us thro...

Country vulnerability and how this influences capital markets

04 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, our economic and country risk experts look at two aspects of how countries are being impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. We talk ab...

How low can metals prices go?

25 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The impact of COVID-19, and what it means for the future of the supply chain. Speakers: John Anton https://ihsmarkit.com/experts/anton-john.html John ...

Post COVID-19 debt sustainability

24 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our capital markets expert, Brian Lawson, takes a look at this week's developments from the scale of the increase in debt burdens and government respo...

Emerging market sovereign default risk - and international moves to avoid them

27 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This episode looks at how the dual shocks of COVID-19, and falling energy, and natural resource prices are pushing Emerging Market countries towards d...

Escalating economic shockwaves from Covid-19 in the Asia-Pacific region

26 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this week's episode two of our esteemed APAC analysts discuss the escalating economic shockwaves from the Covid-19 pandemic. As governments have be...

European Green Deal - Weathering Covid-19

23 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our experts come together to discuss some of the issues, challenges, and potential opportunities surrounding the European Green Deal and the impact Co...

COVID-19 - Is a recession ahead?

14 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

With the unprecedented business interruptions caused by the outbreak and spread of COVID-19, our experts provide our perspective on the global economi...

Q1 2020 Healthcare Forecast

10 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

For our first podcast focused on the healthcare industry, join Milena Izmelieva and Eoin Ryan from our life sciences team as they discuss our Q1 healt...

Lebanese government and banks change strategy as anti-bank sentiment escalates

05 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The recent escalation of protests in Lebanon has highlighted protesters' frustration with the Central Bank of Lebanon (Banque du Liban: BDL) and comme...

Impact of Covid-19 on global employment and labor markets

03 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our pricing and purchasing team provide insights into what the Covid-19 outbreaks means to labor, employment, ad the supply chain. Sophie Malin discus...

Capital Markets Weekly - Market sentiment taking a turn for the worse

02 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As COVID-19 concerns grow, conditions in markets have moved in a less-positive direction. This week, our capital markets expert, Brian Lawson, looks a...

Bolivia's electoral candidates

25 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Johanna Marris, a research analyst with our Country Risk team, provides insight into the recent announcements that both the incumbent and previous pre...

Capital Markets Weekly - A split week

25 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week, our capital markets expert, Brian Lawson, looks at a week filled with highs and lows. He starts with the highlights that include some very ...

Capital Markets Weekly - A high appetite for hybrid and perpetual debt

14 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our capital markets expert, Brian Lawson, takes a look at this week's developments. A highlight is the tremendous appetite investors have for riskier ...

USMCA-The real story for the US Economy, Mexican politics, and the automotive industry

12 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We have heard a lot about the USMCA but do we really have a good handle on the agreement and what it means? In this episode, our experts take a closer...

Population growth continues to downshift in most states

10 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, regional economists Tom Jackson and Heather Upton discuss the causes and effects of slowing population growth across the United State...

Capital Markets Weekly-Emerging market issuance during January reached USD118 billion

10 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this week's episode, Brian Lawson our Senior Economic and Financial Consultant discusses some of the larger emerging market deals including Poland ...

Capital Markets Weekly-France & Greece continue long-dated issuance

31 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As expected, this week's supply was curtailed by the Lunar New Year holiday, with equity markets also adversely affected by the potential impacts of C...

The Downing of Flight 752-How we uncovered what happened and what it means going forward

27 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On January 9, one day after the downing of Ukrainian airliner flight 752, our team released analysis to our clients that indicated that the plane had ...

Kenyan cabinet reshuffle

26 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Will Farmer, a country risk analyst covering sub-Saharan Africa, provides a quick look at government instability in Kenya. President Kenyatta dismisse...

Leave no stone unturned - Leverage the combined power of nowcasting and forecasting

26 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our top economists sit down to discuss how they put together our nowcasts, and short-, mid-, and long-term forecasts. They talk about how they approac...

Capital Markets Weekly - Emerging Market Sovereigns enjoy "deal rush"

25 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this week's episode of Capital Markets Weekly, Senior Economic and Financial Consultant, Brian Lawson, talks about five sizeable emerging markets d...

US-China Phase-one Trade Agreement - Welcome news for the Asia Pacific region?

21 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Rajiv Biswas, our Asia-Pacific Chief Economist, sits down with Robert O'Brien and details the significance of the deal as we enter the year of the rat...

USMCA, labor rates & auto industry: Understand what's really going to happen

20 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Now that the USMACA is going into force, our Pricing & Purchasing experts, John Anton and Emily Crowley sat down to discuss what it really means to la...

Indonesia's new labor legislation - Risks from union dissatisfaction

17 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The Indonesian government plans to submit a "job creation" bill to liberalize the labor market. Our analyst, Anton Alifandi, discusses why the governm...

Capital Markets Weekly- Highly-active primary markets continue, display seasonal factors

17 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Senior Economic and Financial Consultant, Brian Lawson, provides his thoughts on the latest deals and how economic conditions may affect markets. This...

US-Iran conflict: Short- and long-term risks

14 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Following the recent killings and retaliatory strikes, the continuation of contained confrontation has become the most likely path. Our experts, Firas...

US Economy - Growing at trend

13 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Despite wobbles in growth due to special factors, expansion continues at slightly above-trend pace. The Co-Head of our US Economics team, Chris Varvar...