The Sound of Economics

COVID-19’s shock for emerging economies

29 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The pandemic is hurting emerging economies in at least three ways: by locking down their populations, damaging their export earnings and deterring for...

China’s financial system: opening up and system risk

22 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

China’s financial sector has grown massively in size and has become systemically important. In addition, it has also become much more complex with i...

Singapore's experience in dealing with COVID-19

19 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Faced with the COVID-19 outbreak, governments have needed to act swiftly to combat the virus. Many countries currently have lockdown or measures alike...

Rebooting Europe: a framework for post COVID-19 economic recovery

15 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

COVID-19 has triggered a severe recession and policymakers in European Union countries are providing generous, largely indiscriminate, support to comp...

S6: China’s economy after COVID-19

06 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The first country to be hit by the current pandemic, China has been at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19. What have been its impacts on the ...

S6: An analysis of the German Constitutional Court ruling on the ECB QE programme

05 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The German Constitutional called today on the ECB to justify its bond-buying program. What does today's ruling of the German Constitutional Court mean...

S6: The impact of Covid-19 on emerging markets with Barry Eichengreen

29 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Without a robust healthcare system and lack of medical equipment, emerging market economies are vulnerable to the current COVID-19 pandemic. How can d...

S6: Post-Council commentary

24 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On April 23, EU leaders met virtually to try to come to an agreement for a common European response to the COVID-19 pandemic. What were the measures t...

Exiting the great lockdown?

17 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of The Sound of Economics Live, we discuss European coordination, national responses, and local effects in moving on the next phase of...

S6: Did the Eurogroup save the day?

10 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

After its longest meeting ever, the Eurogroup reached an agreement yesterday evening. What does the agreement say? What does it mean in terms of the e...

S6: Mythbusters: debunking economic myths

03 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Economics seems to be full of myths that are hard to debunk. Will robots take our jobs? Are trade deficits bad? Is China such a big economy simply bec...

S6: The macroeconomic policy response to the COVID-19 crisis

31 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

From the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to "coronabonds", the EU seems to be struggling to find an appropriate mechanism to tackle the economic cr...

S6: Banks and loan losses in the pandemic turmoil

25 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The current pandemic is shaking the financial system. How can banks react ? Is a consolidation of the financial system in Europe needed in order to re...

S6: How can the EU prevent our economies from shutting down?

18 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

From flights cancelled and restaurants closed to companies either slowing or stopping their production, COVID-19 is shutting our economies down. How c...

S6: Where are the women in economics?

08 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The field of economics, like many others, seems to be biased towards men. How are women disadvantaged? Makfire Alija and Katja Knezevic join Nicholas ...

S6: Coronavirus: the economic prognosis

06 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The coronavirus is going to hit the global economy hard, but how hard? What can policymakers plan for the months ahead? Nicholas Barrett asks Guntram ...

S6: The European Green Deal rules

05 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to global carbon emission is a tax the best form of defence? To make the European Green Deal work, the EU is considering a levy on carbo...

S6: Is the EU a superpower?

03 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As China and the US battle for global supremacy, the EU seems to remain in the shadows. But what if the EU had been shaping the world economy all alon...

S6: Will globalisation survive the Coronavirus?

28 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As the Coronavirus continues to spread, schools have closed, flights have been canceled and entire towns have been quarantined. Most of those who cont...

S6: Can the European Green Deal kill the single market?

25 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The European Green Deal is one of the landmarks of Ursula von der Leyen's Commission. But, without an ambitious investment behind it, what could be it...

S6: From Brussels with love? Russia's economic dependence on the EU

19 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Despite the political antagonism, the EU and Russia are not only geographically, but also economically, reliant on each other: European houses are hea...

S6: Can hybrid threats disrupt the financial system?

17 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

From cashless payments to digital banking, finance has become intangible and global. But, while speed and convenience have made our international tran...

S6: The EU's plan to catch up on artificial intelligence

14 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

While the US and China have been setting the pace when it comes to Artificial Intelligence, the European Union seems to be lagging behind. What are th...

S6: Industrial revolutions might not be as fun as they look

05 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

AI promises a new industrial revolution but history warns us that industrial revolutions aren't always that fun for people in the eye of the storm. Th...

S6: The science of Brexit

29 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Saturday morning, the United Kingdom will wake up outside the European Union. After 37 years of collaboration, how will Brexit affect research and ...

S6: AI in Europe: a conversation with Google's CEO

20 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It seems almost inevitable that Google will be big part of Europe's future. And Europe will be a huge part of Google's too. This week, Alphabet, Googl...

S6: Banking after Brexit

16 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Will Brexit damage Britain's financial services industry? Or is talk of its diminished status just a storm in a teacup? The City of London could move ...

Paying for the European Green Deal

15 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The European Commission has presented its Just Transition Fund to help regions still dependent on fossil fuel as they move towards green energy. But w...

S6: Will Iran disrupt the global economy?

06 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Last Friday, Qassem Soleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ QUDS force, was killed by an American airstrike outside Baghdad airport. Te...

S6: A decade to remember (or possibly to forget) for economists

20 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

2019 is coming to an end and so is the decade. How did economics change the world over the last ten years? And how did the world change economics? Whi...

S6: The Sound of Margrethe Vestager

19 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Will AI exacerbate the gap between big companies and small ones? Do ordinary Europeans gain anything from having European tech giants? This week, Nich...

S6: Capture the nodes

16 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

How do states exercise power through global economic networks? The multilateral world order is supposed to be harmonious, but by seizing the nodes of ...

S6: Appellate Body Politic

12 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This week, the WTO's Appellate Body, the dispute settlement body, became inoperational: it no longer has the necessary number of judges to render verd...

S6: What's inside the European Green Deal?

11 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

President Ursula Von der Leyen has presented her European Green Deal before the European Parliament. How will it work? What are its implications? And ...

S6: Getting post-Brexit trade deals done

10 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The UK goes to the polls on Thursday to decide who (and if) they want to "get Brexit done". But, as soon as Britain leaves, it will have 11 months to ...

S6: The Belt and Road anxiety

05 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Is the Belt and Road initiative a global development plan or is it just a trade project? How concerned should the international community be with what...

S6: The EU-Russia-China energy triangle

27 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Russia wants to export more gas to China, should the EU be concerned? This week, Nicholas Barrett is joined by Georg Zachmann to discuss the EU-Russia...

S6: Ethics and Algorithms

20 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Will EU tech regulations undermine its ability to innovate? From facial recognition to the production of “deep fakes”, artificial intelligence pos...

Cars, steel and national security: The EU-US trade spat

14 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guntram Wolff is joined by Alan Beattie, the author of the FT's new Trade Secrets newsletter, and by Andre Sapir, Bruegel's very own trade expert to d...

S6: How to make the European Green Deal work (Part Two)

13 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Don't worry if you missed part one because all of Bruegel's pillars for a European Green Deal are created equal. This time, Nicholas Barrett and Guntr...

S6: How to make the European Green Deal work (Part One)

07 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The European Green Deal will be a defining feature of Ursula Von der Leyen's incoming Commission. But will carbon border taxes and single carbon price...

S6: How not to spend it

31 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Digital banking has made our lives easier, but why are people use mobile banking more likely to be overdrawn? This week Maria Demertzis and Nicholas B...

S6: How to spend it

23 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

With interest rates so low for so long, central bankers are running out of levers to pull. But perhaps better fiscal policy can help economies grow as...

S6: The art of the Brexit deal

17 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The British government has reached a deal with the EU27.  The agreement is still subject to approval by the British and European parliaments, as well...

S6: Brexit: a European Odyssey

10 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Nicholas Barrett and Guntram Wolff talk to Kalypso Nicolaïdis, author of Exodus, Reckoning, Sacrifice: Three Meanings of Brexit. Together they discus...

S5 Ep64: Deep Focus: What's slowing the Mercosur agreement?

27 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The European Union and Mercosur – a customs union covering Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay  – have spent two decades negotiating a trade ...

S5 Ep63: Deep Focus: What is a hybrid attack?

18 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Increasing cyber and hybrid risks will test the European Union’s system of fragmentation on issues of security but centralisation on financial and o...

S5 Ep62: Director's Cut: The Green New Deal

11 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The layout of the commission has largely changed this year. A key part being that there are now three executive Vice Presidents, driving three main ec...

S5 Ep61: Backstage at BAM19: Designing a competition policy fit for Europe's needs.

05 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Should competition policy adjust to current concerns and support industrial policy? How can we contextualise long-run consumer welfare? How can we mai...

S5 Ep60: Backstage at BAM19: How much further reform is needed for the new financial sector?

05 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Is current financial architecture working as intended? If not, can it be fixed at the margin, or does it require holistic overhaul? Can such reforms b...

S5 Ep59: Backstage at BAM19: Enhancing Europe's economic sovereignty

05 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

What can the EU’s incoming leadership do to protect Europe’s economic autonomy in light of America and China’s economic, geopolitical struggle f...

S5 Ep58: Backstage at BAM19: Priorities for Europe's monetary union

05 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

How complete is Europe’s monetary union? Is the euro area ready for a next recession or an economic crisis? What should be the reform priorities? In...

S5 Ep57: Backstage at BAM19: AI, robots and platform workers

04 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Will increasing use of AI, machine learning, robots and big data lead to massive unemployment? How are non-traditional workers and the self-employed t...

S5 Ep56: Backstage at BAM19: Which priorities for the new EU leadership?

04 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

When the last Commission took office in 2014, Europe was consumed by the eurozone crisis. Today, the incoming leadership must decide how to deal with ...

S5 Ep54: Backstage at BAM19: How can Europe's economy thrive in the digital age?

04 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

What corporate strategies and public policy support are needed to turn the potential of digital technologies into opportunities for sustainable growth...

S5 Ep55: Backstage at BAM19: Europe's trade policy

04 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

How should and will the EU position itself vis-à-vis the US and China, both bilaterally and multilaterally in the context of the WTO system? In this ...

S5 Ep53: Deep Focus: Energy transition in the next EU institutional cycle

10 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

When the dust settles after the recent European elections, and as the new Commission takes office, the problem of climate change - and its accompanyin...

S5 Ep52: Director's Cut: Priorities for the new ECB president

04 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A difficult proposition faces the new ECB president – monetary union remains incomplete, the bank lacks room to manoeuvre in applying new tools, and...

S5 Ep51: Director's Cut: ECB monetary policy decisions deconstructed

27 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The next president of the ECB, much like his predecessors, will have the difficult task of dealing with the balance between speaking with one voice an...

S5 Ep50: Deep Focus: Making a success of EU cohesion policy

20 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Cohesion policy remains a contentious topic in the EU, central as it is to the matter of convergence between regions. The need to share economic growt...

S5 Ep49: Director’s Cut: A strategic agenda for the incoming EU presidents

12 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The next presidents of the European Commission, Council and Parliament will inherit a relatively healthy European economy, but will face three formida...

S5 Ep48: Backstage: Making the most of climate modelling

06 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of 'The Sound of Economics', Bruegel senior fellow Georg Zachmann continues the Backstage series with an interview with Massimo Tavoni...

S5 Ep47: Deep Focus: Striving for research excellence with Horizon Europe

04 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The European Union's next framework programme for innovation and research - 'FP9', better known as Horizon Europe - will run from 2021 to 2027. With t...

S5 Ep46: Backstage: Ukraine's economic and political outlook

31 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The keyword in Ukraine right now is ‘uncertainty’, as the country prepares to elect a new parliament in July only a few months after electing a ne...

S5 Ep45: Director's Cut: Reflections on the European elections

29 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

An analysis of the results of the most recent European elections reveals what Bruegel director Guntram Wolff classifies as a generally positive trend ...

S5 Ep44: Backstage: Key policy positions of the Spitzenkandidaten

21 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Giuseppe Porcaro hosts Bruegel director Guntram Wolff and visiting fellow Rebecca Christie to reflect on the key policy positions taken by the candida...

S5 Ep43: Director's Cut: Evolution of US-China relations amid trade-tariff conflict

14 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Bruegel director Guntram Wolff and Bruegel fellow Uri Dadush welcome William Alan Reinsch, senior adviser and Scholl chair in international business a...

S5 Ep42: Deep Focus: Reforming and rejuvenating Russia’s economy

09 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

'The Sound of Economics' podcast continues with an instalment of the Deep Focus series, with Bruegel fellow Marek Dabrowski talking to Sean Gibson abo...

S5 Ep41: Backstage: The EU financial services landscape after Brexit

30 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Bruegel fellows Rebecca Christie and Nicolas Véron discuss how the map of the EU's financial services industry has begun to change, and how it might ...

S5 Ep40: Director's Cut: Resuming the EU-US trade talks

23 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Maria Demertzis sits down with Bruegel senior fellow André Sapir to break down the news, discussing the events leading up to the renewed EU-US trade ...

S5 Ep39: Director's cut: EU-China partnership after the 21st EU-China summit

12 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of the Director's cut, Guntram Wolff discusses with Alicia Garcia Herrero about the results of the 21st EU-China Summit.  The EU an...

S5 Ep38: Director’s Cut: How to make Industry 4.0 work for Europe

02 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Bruegel director Guntram Wolff talks to Padmashree Gehl Sampath, a Berkman Klein fellow at Harvard University, on the consequences of ‘new manufactu...

S5 Ep37: Director's Cut: China's place in the global trading system

28 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Bruegel director Guntram Wolff and senior fellow André Sapir discuss how potential WTO reform might position the organisation differently towards Chi...

S5 Ep36: Backstage: 5G deployment in Europe

21 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This episode of 'The Sound of Economics' features Bruegel senior fellow J. Scott Marcus in conversation with Lise Fuhr, director general, European Tel...

S5 Ep35: Director's Cut: The case for a legislative remedy for recessions

12 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Bruegel's Maria Demertzis welcomes Yale Law School professor Yair Listokin to this Director's Cut of 'The Sound of Economics', to discuss how law migh...

S5 Ep34: Backstage: Reforming the European asylum system

07 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This episode of 'The Sound of Economics' features Bruegel visiting fellow Elina Ribakova in conversation with Marc-Olivier Padis and Jean-Paul Tran Th...

S5 Ep33: Backstage: The next decade of European energy transition

26 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This episode of 'The Sound of Economics' features Bruegel research fellow Simone Tagliapietra in conversation with Sir Philip Lowe and Alberto Pototsc...

S5 Ep32: Deep Focus: A greener monetary policy approach for the ECB

21 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Bruegel fellow Dirk Schoenmaker walks Sean Gibson and 'The Sound of Economics' listeners through his latest working paper, focusing on how to make mon...

S5 Ep31: Director's Cut: Balancing free trade with national security interests

19 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Director's Cut, Stephanie Segal of CSIS joins Bruegel's Guntram Wolff and Maria Demertzis for a conversation about the tension betw...

S5 Ep30: Deep Focus: Developing Europe's digital single market

12 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Bruegel senior fellow J. Scott Marcus joins Sean Gibson for this episode of Deep Focus on the 'The Sound of Economics', elaborating on a Bruegel study...

S5 Ep29: Director's Cut: Reflections on five years of China's Belt and Road Initiative

07 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Bruegel fellows Alicia García-Herrero and Uri Dadush join Guntram Wolff for this Director's Cut of 'The Sound of Economics', focusing on the progress...

S5 Ep28: Backstage: Policy principles for a new social contract

24 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This episode of The Sound of Economics features Bruegel senior fellow Zsolt Darvas in conversation with Maurizio Bussolo and Bernadette Ségol about i...

S5 Ep27: Director's Cut: The economics of no-deal Brexit

16 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Bruegel director Guntram Wolff is joined by senior fellow Zsolt Darvas to rake through the possibilities and probabilities inherent in a no-deal Brexi...

S5 Ep26: Deep Focus: Europe's auto industry and the global electric vehicle revolution

08 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Bruegel fellows Reinhilde Veugelers and Simone Tagliapietra elaborate on the recent Policy Contribution they co-authored on the European automotive in...

S5 Ep25: Director's Cut: Wrapping up 2018

20 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

With 2018 drawing to a close, and the dawn of 2019 imminent, Bruegel's scholars reflect on the economic policy developments we can expect in the new y...

S5 Ep24: Deep Focus: Consequences of European Central Bank forecasting errors

12 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Bruegel senior scholar Zsolt Darvas speaks about his review of systematic errors in ECB forecasting, in another instalment of the Deep Focus podcast o...

S5 Ep23: Deep Focus: Balancing distributional inequalities of climate policies

07 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Bruegel fellow Georg Zachmann talks through a Bruegel Blueprint he has co-authored, looking into the potential distributional effects of climate polic...

S5 Ep22: Backstage: Transitioning towards sustainable finance

30 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of the Backstage series, Bruegel's Non-Resident Fellow Dirk Schoenmaker welcomes Molly Scott Cato, a Green party MEP for South West En...

S5 Ep21: Backstage: Shared prosperity for the EU and north Africa

27 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Bruegel's director Guntram Wolff looks at north Africa's economic growth in the light of the region's trade agreements with the EU, welcoming Karim El...

S5 Ep20: Director's Cut: The past and the future of European banking supervision

23 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of the Director's cut, Bruegel's director Guntram Wolff hosts a conversation with Danièle Nouy, the first chair of the European Singl...

S5 Ep19: Deep Focus: The G20 in a changing world order

20 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In November 2008, the first G20 summit at the leaders' level took place amid the global financial crisis. The admittedly ambitious undertaking has sin...

S5 Ep18: Director’s cut: What Syrian refugees need to return home

15 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This episode of the Director’s Cut features a conversation between Bruegel’s director, Guntram Wolff and Maha Yahya, the director of the Carnegie ...

S5 Ep17: Backstage: How think-tanks can make themselves heard in an information-rich world

08 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Think-tanks play a critical role in developing and promoting policy solutions, particularly in times of extreme disruption and change. However, thes...

S5 Ep16: Director’s Cut: Options yet open for a Brexit deal

07 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The final act of the Brexit negotiations is upon us, with many questions still seemingly unresolved and the future relationship between the EU and the...

S5 Ep15: Deep Focus: How to improve anti-money laundering efforts in Europe

30 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Bruegel senior fellow Nicolas Véron joins Sean Gibson to delve into the recent Policy Contribution on how to better the European Union anti-money lau...

S5 Ep14: Backstage: Japan’s inflation problem and monetary policy options

26 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Bruegel senior fellow Zsolt Darvas welcomes Sayuri Shirai, professor at Keio University, visiting scholar at the Asian Development Bank Institute and ...

S5 Ep13: Director’s Cut: How to reform and fortify the global financial system

23 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Bruegel director Guntram Wolff is joined by Tharman Shanmugaratnam, deputy prime minister of Singapore and chair of the G20 Eminent Persons Group, and...

S5 Ep12: Backstage: The new balance of Asia-EU-US trade relations

17 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Amid the Asia-Europe Economic Forum on the fringes of the 12th ASEM Summit, Bruegel senior fellow hosts a conversation on developing global trade rela...

S5 Ep11: Deep Focus: Renewing the clean energy strategy in the Mediterranean

16 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Deep Focus, Bruegel research fellow Simone Tagliapeitra explains how the nature of cross-Mediterranean energy relations needs to ch...

S5 Ep10: Director’s Cut: How does Italy’s budget fit with EU fiscal rules?

09 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this Director’s Cut of ‘The Sound of Economics’, Guntram Wolff welcomes Bruegel research fellow Grégory Claeys to assess how the new Italian...