Dollar & Sense

David Dollar, the host of Dollar and Sense, passed away on October 6, 2023. In this final episode of his podcast, David's friends and colleagues pay tribute to his work as a U.S. official and scholar, as a mentor and colleague, as a podcast host, and ultimately as a family man. Show notes and transcript Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Caitlin Welsh, director of the Global Food and Water Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), reviews global food insecurity, noting that malnourishment extends beyond just hotspot countries, potentially affecting over 40% of people worldwide. She discusses shocks that have affected food security and agricultural trade, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, COVID-19, and India's restriction on exports of rice in 2022, and also comments on foreign entities' purchases of agricultural land around the world. Show notes and transcript Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.  

Ryan Hass, newly appointed director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, talks with host David Dollar about the themes and ideas the China Center will be focusing on in the next few years. Hass also reviews the state of U.S.-China relations under the Biden administration, how domestic politics—including Taiwan's—matter in the U.S.-China competition, and his vision of a best case scenario for U.S.-China relations in the coming decade. Show notes and transcript Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.  

Samantha Gross, director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at Brookings, talks with David Dollar about whether we can attribute the growing number of extreme weather events and disasters to climate change. Gross says global temperature rise makes these events more likely, but also notes that international cooperation to reduce carbon is having a positive effect on average temperature rise. Show notes and transcript Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently visited China and met with senior Chinese economic and political officials. Mark Sobel, U.S. chairman of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, reflects on her trip, and says U.S.-China dialogue on economic and other global issues is imperative. “I believe that if the world's two largest economies … aren't talking,” Sobel says, “whether they agree or not, that's a very bad thing for themselves and the world.” Show notes and transcript Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Wendy Edelberg, senior fellow and director of The Hamilton Project at Brookings, discusses the positive impact of immigration on the dynamism and fiscal sustainability of the U.S. economy. She also explains her research on the impact immigrants have on local, state, and federal finances. As a whole, immigrants are a net benefit to the U.S. economy, but based largely on immigrants' education levels, the fiscal cost is disproportionately paid by certain state and local areas. Together with co-author Tara Watson, Edelberg proposes a way to redirect some of the federal gains to these communities, piggy-backing on existing programs. Show notes and transcript Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

In the week of India Prime Minister Narendra Modi's State Visit to the U.S., Tanvi Madan, senior fellow in Foreign Policy and director of the India Project at Brookings, discusses the state of U.S.-India relations, a strategic technology partnership between the two countries, and how global issues like the Russia-Ukraine war and China factor into the relationship. Madan also looks ahead to India's objectives when it hosts the next G-20 Summit in September. Show notes and transcript Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

David Wessel, senior fellow and director of the Hutchins Center on fiscal and Monetary Policy at Brookings, joins host David Dollar to discuss what's in the debt ceiling deal reached between President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The deal, signed into law by the president on June 2, averts a debt default that was expected as early as June 5. Wessel explains the deal's broad provisions, it's impact on fiscal policy, and whether it resolves the long-term budget and debt issues. Show notes and transcript Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Mireya Solís, director of the Center for East Asian Policy Studies at Brookings, explains the significance of Japan hosting the G7 summit in Hiroshima, and how Tokyo centers its foreign policy on promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific region. “This is Japan's grand strategy,” Solís says, “this is really the roadmap that Japan has charted to achieve its security and prosperity.” Show notes and transcript: https://bit.ly/3VWzObg Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.  

Tao Wang, chief China economist for UBS Investment Bank in Hong Kong, discusses her new book, Making Sense of China's Economy (Routledge). She describes market-oriented and land reforms that helped diminish China's state role in the economy, increased foreign investment, and increased urbanization. “China understands,” she says, “that opening China's economy, being integrated with the world, has been tremendously beneficial for the economy over the last 40 years.” Show notes and transcript: https://bit.ly/3LCLfkI Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Brookings Senior Fellows Richard Bush and Ryan Hass, co-authors with Bonnie Glaser of a new Brookings Press book on U.S.-Taiwan relations in the context of China's challenge, argue that tensions between the PRC and Taiwan can only be resolved with the assent of Taiwan's people. Taiwan's presidential election result in 2024 will also affect how much pressure Beijing applies to cross-Taiwan Strait relations, they explain. Show notes and transcript: https://bit.ly/41avgjl Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Donald Kohn, senior fellow in Economic Studies at Brookings and a former Federal Reserve vice chair, discusses why Silicon Valley Bank failed, what regulators did before and after the bank's collapse, and whether or not this event could signal additional global financial problems in the future. Show notes and transcript: https://bit.ly/3nK60Bo Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

A team of Brookings experts has just released the “Ukraine Index,” which presents security, economic, and political data to track the war's course. One of the authors of the Index, Constanze Stelzenmüller, who directs the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings, joins host David Dollar to discuss the Index and the latest data on Ukraine's economic, security, and humanitarian conditions. Show notes and transcript: https://bit.ly/3Fy9A7Y Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Eswar Prasad, a senior fellow in Global Economy and Development at Brookings and a professor at Cornell University, and host David Dollar discuss the outlook for China's economy in 2023 as the annual National People's Congress convenes in Beijing. Discussion topics include China's economic growth, local finance and real estate, the role of China's private sector in the economy, and what policies might emerge from the meeting. Show notes and transcript: https://bit.ly/3KTQ8G2 Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Agathe Demarais, global forecasting director of the Economist Intelligence Unit, speaks with host David Dollar about her new book, Backfire: How Sanctions Reshape the World Against U.S. Interests (Columbia University Press). In the conversation, Demarais explains why sanctions are a frequent U.S. foreign policy tool, why sanctions are often ineffective, and how China and Russia are developing ways to circumvent sanctions. Show notes and transcript: https://bit.ly/3k0oZq7  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.  

Ted Piccone, a nonresident senior fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings and also senior advisor with the World Justice Project, talks with host David Dollar about Brazil's challenges facing President Lula after the January 8 insurrection in Brasilia by followers of outgoing President Bolsonaro. Discussion topics include economic conditions, protecting the Amazon, regional and global trade dynamics, Brazil's role in BRICS, and China's influence in the region. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3HXUF8N  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

On January 19, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen informed Congress that the department would implement “extraordinary measures” to allow the federal government to meet its obligations after reaching the debt ceiling. David Dollar speaks with Molly Reynolds, a senior fellow in Governance Studies, about the politics of the debt ceiling debate in Congress, including what leverage far right Republicans may have gained during the Speaker of the House election process, and what a possible bi-partisan budget deal could look like. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3iRdMYa  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Host David Dollar and Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, a senior fellow in Economic Studies, anticipate key trends in the U.S. and global economies. What's the inflation picture and forecast for growth in the U.S.? What economic conditions will prevail in Europe, China, and Latin America? And what can poor, low-income, and emerging economies expect in the new year? Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3vJk92B  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

David Dollar speaks with Aloysius Ordu, senior fellow and director of the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings, on the outcomes of the recent U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit. Ordu, host of “Foresight Africa” podcast, describes the summit's objectives, speaks to trade and investment issues, public health, and the new positive attitude from the White House toward the region. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3j9uOAP  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.  

David Dollar speaks with Victor Matheson, a professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross, about the economic implications for a country hosting the World Cup tournament. Prof. Matheson, author of a recent paper, “The Economics of the World Cup,” discusses the costs and benefits for the host country, whether sports stadiums generate economic activity, the impact on tourism, and FIFA's role in organizing the quadrennial event. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3UsnNIj  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

In this special edition of “Dollar & Sense,” host David Dollar presents the first episode of a new podcast miniseries from Brookings: "Reimagine Rural," in which host Tony Pipa, a senior fellow at Brookings, visits rural towns across America, listening as local people tell the story of how they are enacting positive change in their communities and learning how public investment in rural people and places can lead to increased and equitable prosperity. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3AZXS3R  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

David Dollar speaks with Brookings Senior Fellow Bill Galston about how the 2022 midterm election results could impact foreign policy and global economic issues, and possibly complicate policymaking for the Biden administration. Plus, what the results may mean for the 2024 presidential election. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3Aav3kH  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

In this special edition of "Dollar & Sense," host David Dollar presents the first episode of a new podcast miniseries from Brookings: "Climate Sense," hosted by energy and climate expert Samantha Gross, a fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings and director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3sUj2M7  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Samantha Gross, director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at Brookings, talks with David Dollar about the state of world energy markets. How does Russia's war on Ukraine impact Europe's access to natural gas for the upcoming winter? What effect will new sanctions on Russia's oil sector have on the war, on Europe, and on global markets? Will the oil production cut announced by OPEC+ raise energy prices around the world? And, is COP27, the upcoming global climate conference in Egypt, expected to produce any major developments? Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3fodeqW  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Eswar Prasad, a professor at Cornell University and senior fellow at Brookings, discusses China's economic risks and opportunities with David Dollar as China's 20th Communist Party Congress continues this week. Prasad and Dollar look at the general shape of China's economy, it's housing market, renminbi strength relative to the dollar, and whether President Xi Jinping will continue with a command-led economy that limits independence and innovation among enterprises. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3eGSF91  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Suzanne Maloney, vice president and director of Foreign Policy at Brookings, speaks with David Dollar about what the continuing demonstrations in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini could mean for regime stability, plus Iran's economic situation, the prospects of Iran returning to some form of a nuclear deal with the West, and what it would take for the U.S. and Iran to have a better relationship. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3rjX3gN  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.  

Don Kohn, senior fellow in Economic Studies at Brookings, discusses inflation trends in the U.S. and abroad, the Federal Reserve's actions to address rising costs, and inflationary expectations among consumers and businesses. Show notes and transcript: https://bit.ly/3xw40Pj  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Sanjay Patnaik, director of the Center on Regulation and Markets at Brookings, discusses his new report on the benefits of a U.S.-EU free trade agreement, building on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiated by the Obama administration but scuttled by President Trump. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3KFzKa0  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

David Victor, a professor of innovation and public policy at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego and nonresident senior fellow at Brookings, joins David Dollar to discuss “Fixing the Climate: Strategies for an Uncertain World,” a new book he coauthored with Charles Sabel. Victor explains why global climate diplomacy and treaties that prescribe top-down solutions to climate change are not working. He argues solving the climate crisis will require local experimentation and cooperation between governments and the private sector to push the technological frontier and identify innovative solutions.  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Adie Tomer, senior fellow in Brookings Metro, unpacks three significant pieces of legislation either passed by or pending in Congress—the 2021 infrastructure measure, the CHIPS Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act—and their impact on infrastructure, innovation, and U.S. competitiveness on the global stage. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3vGTHqE  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Learn more at brookings.edu/podcasts, and send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Darrell West, vice president and director of Governance Studies at Brookings, discusses his new report, “Six ways to improve global supply chains.” In the conversation, West and host David Dollar discuss the recommendations for addressing recent snarls in supply chains resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine war, and the trade conflict between the U.S. and China. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3v4M9xB  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu, and follow us on Twitter at @policypodcasts.

Douglas Rediker, founding partner of International Capital Strategies and a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings, discusses a range of global economic challenges that G7 leaders tackled in their recent summit in Germany. These include a U.S. proposal to cap the price of Russian energy exports (and why Rediker is skeptical about it); Russia's default on sovereign debt and the risk of debt default in developing countries; the role of Chinese lending in developing economies; and the enormous cost of rebuilding Ukraine and who might bear it. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3yRfG0a  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu, and follow us on Twitter at @policypodcasts.  

In France's recent parliamentary elections, President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party lost its National Assembly majority, while a leftist alliance of parties and Marine Le Pen's far-right party made significant gains. Célia Belin, interim director of the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings, discusses how these results happened after Macron's victory in the presidential contest, what they mean for governance in France, and how they may impact President Macron's pursuit of a multilateralist foreign policy. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3nfSjHe  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu, and follow us on Twitter at @policypodcasts.

Douglas Irwin, a professor at Dartmouth College and expert in the history of trade policy, talks with host David Dollar about some of the key events in trade liberalization in developing countries. From Taiwan to South Korea, and from Vietnam to some countries in Latin America and Africa, Irwin shares insights on how certain developing countries shifted to an export-strategy in the decades following World War II and began to integrate into the global economy. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3xfHI3s  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu, and follow us on Twitter at @policypodcasts.

President Biden recently completed his first trip to Asia, during which he launched Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity with a dozen partners in the region. On this episode, David Dollar speaks with retired U.S. diplomat Susan Thornton about the pillars of the new framework, its relationship to existing trade relationships like CPTPP, RCEP, and ASEAN, and what incentives nations in the region have for cooperation with the U.S. and China. Thornton, a senior fellow in the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School and a nonresident senior fellow John L. Thornton China Center at Brookings, also addresses U.S. economic diplomacy with Europe and how Russia's war on Ukraine may affect America's relationship with China and Asia more broadly. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3Go06eF  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu, and follow us on Twitter at @policypodcasts.

Molly Kinder, a fellow in Brookings Metro, discusses with host David Dollar her new report, “Profits and the pandemic” (co-authored with Katie Bach and Laura Stateler), which examines pay practices and financial outcomes during the pandemic-era of 22 of the nation's largest companies. Kinder notes that most of the large companies enjoyed record financial gains during the pandemic, and that while a few did provide workers with pay raises that exceed a living wage, most did not, and the modest wage gains workers did receive have been wiped out by inflation. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/39SgeJ3  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu, and follow us on Twitter at @policypodcasts.

Former Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, now president of Asia Society, discusses his new book, "The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the US and Xi Jinping's China" (Public Affairs, 2022). Rudd calls Taiwan the “core strategic tension” between China and the United States, discusses how the U.S. and China can manage strategic competition, looks at trade issues in the region, and describes China's challenge to the current U.S.-led international order. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3vrRGzc  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu, and follow us on Twitter at @policypodcasts.

Arvind Subramanian, senior fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute and Center for Contemporary South Asia, and former chief economic advisor to the Government of India, talks with host David Dollar about a range of trade and foreign relations issues India faces. In particular, he explains why globalization is shifting in India's favor rather than China's, how India views trade relations with China, Russia, and the West, and prospects for continued good relations with the United States, especially as India takes a more neutral stance on Russia's war against Ukraine. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3xutMEm  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu, and follow us on Twitter at @policypodcasts.  

Samantha Gross, director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at Brookings, talks with host David Dollar about the Ukraine war's impact on energy prices. Gross explains the impact Russia's war on Ukraine is having on natural gas supplies and prices, oil markets, and whether the U.S. should increase natural gas exports to Europe. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3J7eaZW  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu, and follow us on Twitter at @policypodcasts.

Indermit Gill, vice president for equitable growth, finance, and institutions at the World Bank and a Brookings nonresident senior fellow, talks with host David Dollar about how economic growth in developing countries has been affected by COVID and now the war in Ukraine. Gill explains that pre-existing vulnerabilities in developing countries and potential disruptions in energy, food, and commodities from the war may affect poorer countries much more than rich ones. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3JoKXKO  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu, and follow us on Twitter at @policypodcasts.

Douglas Rediker, a nonresident senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings and in the Center on the United States and Europe, talks with David Dollar about sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine by the United States, Europe, and other nations. Rediker addresses a number of issues, including whether cutting Russian banks off SWIFT will make any difference, export control limitation of U.S. tech to Russia, the impact of sanctions on Russia's energy sector, and if it's possible to impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3IC3hj1  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu, and follow us on Twitter at @policypodcasts.

Vanda Felbab-Brown, senior fellow in Foreign Policy and director of the Initiative on Nonstate Actors at Brookings, joins David Dollar to talk about her research on illicit economies—including drug trafficking (fentanyl, meth, precursors) and wildlife trafficking—in China, Mexico, and elsewhere. Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3JE9PxF  Dollar & Sense is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu, and follow us on Twitter at @policypodcasts.