Podcast appearances and mentions of brad setser

The Global Impact of US Economic Policies The international economic policies of the United States have shifted dramatically since the inauguration of Donald Trump as president at the end of January. Thus far, the most impactful have been a series of historically large tariff announcements on most countries in the world. Former US Treasury Economist, Brad Setser examines these policy changes and their implications for the US economy, global trade and investment flows, financial markets, and the role of the dollar as the world's reserve currency. He also discusses his work on US corporate tax strategies. Brad Setser is the Whitney Shepardson Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr Setser served as a Senior Advisor to the United States Trade Representative from 2021 to 2022, where he worked on the resolution of a number of trade disputes. He had previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Economic Analysis in the U.S. Treasury from 2011 to 2015, and as a Director for International Economics on the staff of the National Economic Council and the National Security Council. He has published widely, including co-authoring, with Nouriel Roubini, Bailouts and Bail-ins: Responding to Financial Crises in Emerging Economies, and has contributed to publications such as Foreign Affairs, Finance and Development and Global Governance. He regularly blogs at Follow the Money.

President Trump has paused the so-called 'reciprocal' element of his tariffs for everyone but China, meaning a baseline rate of 10% is in place, while PRC imports face tariffs of over 100%. In this episode, Darren offers some initial reactions to this breaking news. Australia in the World is written, hosted, and produced by Darren Lim, with research and editing this episode by Hannah Nelson and theme music composed by Rory Stenning. Relevant links Jay Cost (tweet): https://x.com/Jay__Cost/status/1910099320768209058 Mr Beast (tweet): https://x.com/MrBeast/status/1909621956258775458 Brad Setser (tweet): https://x.com/Brad_Setser/status/1909309353393635551  Jesse Singal (tweet): https://x.com/jessesingal/status/1910039965536559350?s=46  James Palmer (BlueSky): https://bsky.app/profile/beijingpalmer.bsky.social/post/3lme7pnzzw22v Stephen Walt (BlueSky): https://bsky.app/profile/stephenwalt.bsky.social/post/3lmga2xyhuk2d    

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reckons people in Australia are going to feel dumped-on by the United States after yesterday's trade tariffs announcement. And he thinks that Australians will feel differently about Australia's relationship with America. Like us, imports into the United States from Australia are going to be hit with a 10% tariff. And Albanese —who is on the campaign trail— is talking tough, saying that the tariffs are “not the act of a friend” and Aussies won't be taking kindly to it. I'm not going to speak on behalf of Australians, but I don't feel that way at all. We knew these tariffs were likely. We knew they were coming. I don't like them, but it's not going to change how I feel about our relationship with America. One political commentator across the Tasman is describing the tariffs this way, saying they are “unprecedented hostility from an ally”. Brad Setser —a former Department of Treasury economist in the States— described them on Newstalk ZB as "shockingly radical". They also show that, when it comes to Donald Trump, you can do as much sucking-up as you want but it won't make any difference. Trump doesn't do special relationships. Look at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's recent visit to the White House and all the cosying up and handing-over of the letter from the King. That came to nothing. Britain's been hit with a 10% tariff. It's even worse for Europe, which has been hit with a blanket 20% tariff – despite France's president and Poland's president having fireside chats with Trump at the White House in recent weeks. Israel dropped its tariffs on US goods the day before yesterday's announcement, but still got hit with a 17% tariff. Although, our Trade Minister Todd McClay reckons there might be some wriggle room for countries facing tariffs higher than the 10% minimum. As for Australia's PM, he's condemned the tariffs, saying they are totally unwarranted. Going on to say that he thinks they will have an impact on the way Australians view Australia's relationship with America. He didn't go into any great detail on that - but I don't feel any differently. And I suspect most Kiwis won't feel any differently. I don't think we are suddenly going to go all anti-America on it just because the products we export to the United States are going to be more expensive over there because of the tariffs. I think if anyone is anti-America, they'll be anti-America already. Like the guy who won't let Americans stay at his Airbnb. Mario Schmidt hasn't been letting Americans make bookings with him since the scene with Ukraine's President in the White House. So he's anti-Trump and anti-America already. Anyone who is going to be anti-Trump and anti-America will be already, and everyone else will see the tariffs for what they are: a fact of life that we can't do anything about. We have to like it or lump it, and they will make no difference to the way Kiwis feel about America. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A.M. Edition for April 3. Markets around the world are reeling after yesterday's unveiling of sweeping new U.S. tariffs. The Journal's Alex Frangos and Deborah Ball take stock of what's changing and how America's trade partners are responding. Plus, the Council on Foreign Relations' Brad Setser explains the shocks in store for the global auto industry - and consumers - as U.S. duties on foreign-made vehicles and parts kick in. Luke Vargas hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump's sweeping tariff announcement is being described as a shockingly radical shift in policy. The US President announced 10% tariffs on almost all goods entering the US, including from New Zealand. Many countries face much higher tariffs, including China with a combined 54% levy. Former US Department of Treasury Economist Brad Setser told Mike Hosking it's a fundamental break in the US' post-WWII international economic policy approach and is an enormous political and economic risk. He believes the magnitude of the tariff increase does threaten to push the US into a recession. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brad Setser is a Senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations and former adviser to Barack Obama. Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam spoke to him last night immediately after the Trump speech and began by asking for his initial thoughts.

Brad Setser is a Senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations and former adviser to Barack Obama. Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam spoke to him last night immediately after the Trump speech and began by asking for his initial thoughts.

President Donald Trump's escalating tariff war could particularly impact Ireland. Brad Setser, Senior Fellow on the Council on Foreign Relations and former Deputy Assistant Secretary at the US Treasury Department, explains.

President Donald Trump is implementing sweeping tariffs to ostensibly tighten border security and crack down on the fentanyl trade. The moves include a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, blanket 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports, and potentially steep tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods. These actions could have monumental consequences for the global economy. Today on Lever Time, senior podcast producer Arjun Singh sits down with economist Brad Setser to discuss the history of tariffs, the complexity of the United States' trade relationships with Canada, Mexico, and China, and how the effects of these tariffs could potentially make the illegal drug trade worse. Setser was a senior adviser to the U.S. Trade Representative and writes about China's export economy in his newsletter Follow the Money.

On this week's Centre for European Reform podcast, senior research fellow Zselyke Csaky sits down with chief economist Sander Tordoir to discuss President Trump's tariffs and the second China shock. Sander explains which countries and industries Trump is targeting and sets out a series of recommendations to protect Germany's automotive and engineering sectors from Beijing's industrial policies. Sander Tordoir and Brad Setser's recommendations to the German government can be read in full here: https://www.cer.eu/publications/archive/policy-brief/2025/how-german-industry-can-survive-second-china-shock Produced by Octavia Hughes

On this episode of the Energy Security Cubed Podcast, Joe Calnan interviews Brad Setser about the American global trade deficit, why it matters, and why it makes no sense to blame Canada for it. // For the intro, Kelly and Joe look into Nigerian oil refining and growing energy nationalism in Scandinavia. // Guest Bio: - Brad W. Setser is the Whitney Shepardson senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations // Host Bio: - Kelly Ogle is Managing Director of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute - Joe Calnan is a Fellow and Energy Security Forum Manager at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute // Reading recommendations: - "Salt: A World History", by Mark Kurlansky: https://www.amazon.ca/Salt-World-History-Mark-Kurlansky/dp/0142001619 // Interview recording Date: February 4, 2025 // Energy Security Cubed is part of the CGAI Podcast Network. Follow the Canadian Global Affairs Institute on Facebook, Twitter (@CAGlobalAffairs), or on LinkedIn. Head over to our website at www.cgai.ca for more commentary. // Produced by Joe Calnan. Music credits to Drew Phillips.

25% that's the new tariff that the US has provisionally placed on its closest and biggest trading partners Canada & Mexico. Their crime supposedly not adequately combating illegal migration and the opioid crisis. That's despite Trump renegotiating a trade deal himself with both nations to create the USMCA when he was last in office. To discuss these tariffs Joe spoke to Brad Setser who was part of the Obama administration and is now a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations.

At a White House press briefing on Tuesday, the Trump administration maintained that it would impose a 25 percent tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada on Feb. 1. This comes after announcing a 10 percent duty on China earlier in the week. Trade and capital expert Brad Setser is skeptical that it will follow through, though, saying that the economic ramifications of tariffs at that scale would be a “ pretty bloody big shock.” Setser sits down with host Ravi Agrawal to share more. Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free): Aaron L. Friedberg: Tariffs Are a Scalpel, Not a Hammer Wendy Cutler: How Trump Could Strike a Trade Deal With China Keith Johnson: How to Read Trump's Day-One Trade Actions Scott Kennedy: Markets Are Underpricing the Possibility of a U.S.-China Economic War Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#cuttheclutter China's exports to the world have increased significantly in the last 30 years, with Beijing's surplus now crossing the $ 1 trillion-mark. In Episode 1588 of Cut The Clutter, ThePrint Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta explains how China weaponised trade to use it as an agent of growth, what it means for the world, particularly India and the US ahead of Trump inauguration. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read Keith Bradsher's report in the New York Times 'China's Trade Surplus Reaches a Record of Nearly $1 Trillion': https://nytimes.com/2025/01/12/business/china-trade-surplus.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read 'China's trade surplus hits annual record of almost $1tn' by Joe Leahy and Arjun Neil Alim in Financial Times: https://www.ft.com/content/f71a3570-020f-4c43-a0ab-7143f5f9fd98 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read Robert D. Atkinson's opinion 'We Are in an Industrial War. China Is Starting to Win': https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/09/opinion/china-industrial-war-power-trader.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read FT's 'Will China's manufacturing juggernaut run out of road?' by Joe Leahy, Tina Hu, and Chan Ho-him: https://www.ft.com/content/9aca35b4-b698-41ed-857d-ccb327abce94 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read 'The looming trade tensions over China's subsidies' by FT's Joe Leahy, James Kynge, and Sun Yu: https://www.ft.com/content/a5101a0d-a1bf-4591-82f1-4fd9a5fadbec --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read 'China's Flood of Cheap Goods Is Angering Its Allies, Too' by Jason Douglas, Jon Emont and Samantha Pearson in the Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/world/china/chinas-flood-of-cheap-goods-is-angering-its-allies-too-51284954 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read 'Made in China 2025' thrives with subsidies for tech, EV makers' by Kenji Kawase: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-Spotlight/Made-in-China-2025-thrives-with-subsidies-for-tech-EV-makers --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to EU's data on trade with China: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/SEPDF/cache/55157.pdf --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to Rush Doshi's book 'The Long Game: China's Grand Strategy to Displace American Order': https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/52617647-the-long-game --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to Brad Setser's X account: https://twitter.com/Brad_Setser?t=BdRRVS-785oSJeeqs487Mw&s=09 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to Trinomics' X handle: https://x.com/Trinhnomics?t=3vNueYPIcSdMqOQTMlBCyg&s=09 (edited)

Brad Setser is the Whitney Shepardson senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. His expertise includes global trade and capital flows, financial vulnerability analysis, and sovereign debt restructuring. He regularly blogs at Follow the Money. Brad served as a senior advisor to the United States Trade Representative from 2021 to 2022, where he worked on the resolution of a number of trade disputes. He had previously served as the deputy assistant secretary for international economic analysis in the US Treasury from 2011 to 2015 and as a director for international economics on the staff of the National Economic Council and the National Security Council. This podcast covers yen carry trade dynamics, FX intervention, Japan fiscal dynamics, and much more.    Follow us here for more amazing insights: https://macrohive.com/home-prime/ https://twitter.com/Macro_Hive https://www.linkedin.com/company/macro-hive

At the end of July a well-known expert in foreign affairs and international tax policy posted an image of the Top three countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita. But he was highlighting how the US pharma sector was using tax avoidance or tax management as the big drugs companies would call it, in Ireland. So could all the tax revenue enjoyed by Ireland be in jeopardy after the US elections? Brad Setser is a Senior fellow of the Council of Foreign Relations and is that expert who highlighted the perceived injustice of the global tax system and joined Joe on the show this morning.

Brad Setser of CFR talks Biden's new tariffs! Earlier podcast deep dive on Chinese EV policy: ChinaTalk: Why Chinese EVs Will Take Over the World on Apple Podcasts Earlier podcast on the deep history of US trade policy: ChinaTalk: Tarriffs, taxes, and trade: Doug Irwin on ChinaEconTalk on Apple Podcasts Brad's paper: Power and Financial Interdependence (ifri.org) Outtro Music: Golden Earring's Radar Love Here's a fun playlist on the best car songs: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6l0sSAdFwyCH1yzQX2IrKQ?si=fb3b8fdd29644631 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brad Setser of CFR talks Biden's new tariffs! Earlier podcast deep dive on Chinese EV policy: ChinaTalk: Why Chinese EVs Will Take Over the World on Apple Podcasts Earlier podcast on the deep history of US trade policy: ChinaTalk: Tarriffs, taxes, and trade: Doug Irwin on ChinaEconTalk on Apple Podcasts Brad's paper: Power and Financial Interdependence (ifri.org) Outtro Music: Golden Earring's Radar Love Here's a fun playlist on the best car songs: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6l0sSAdFwyCH1yzQX2IrKQ?si=fb3b8fdd29644631 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's a lot going on in currency markets and global trade at the moment. The Japanese yen has been falling, even after authorities seemed to intervene to try to arrest the slide. Meanwhile, weakness in the Chinese yuan has helped boost that country's exports and is fueling talk of a new "China Shock" for the rest of the world, even as its economy continues to grapple with slower economic growth and excess capacity. In this episode of Lots More, we bring back Brad Setser, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, to walk us through these developments, along with his new paper, "Power and Financial Interdependence." We also talk about what China's excavator exports can tell us about its economy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brad Setser, the Whitney Shepardson senior fellow at CFR, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the causes and consequences of China's export surge.   Mentioned on the Episode    David H. Autor, David Dorn, and Gordon H. Hanson, "The China Syndrome: Local Labor Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States," American Economic Review   Volkmar Baur, Brad W. Setser, and Michael Weilandt, "China's Record Manufacturing Surplus," CFR.org    James M. Lindsay, "Election 2024: The United States Is Facing a Second China Shock," CFR.org    Zongyuan Zoe Liu, "Beijing Needs to Junk Its Economic Playbook,” Foreign Policy   Brad W. Setser, "China Needs More Progressive Taxes and More Spending on Public Health," CFR.org   For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President's Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/second-china-shock-brad-setser

Chile works to recover from the devastating wildfire in its central Valparaíso region; the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) continues with its 2024 Steadfast Defender exercise, the largest since the Cold War, while uncertainty over members' commitment grows; Indonesia, the world's third-largest democracy, holds vast general elections; and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attempts to reach a deal for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and hostage release.   Mentioned on the Podcast   Nicolas Camut and Jakob Hanke Vela, “As Trump Looms, Top EU Politician Calls for European Nuclear Deterrent,” Politico   Joshua Kurlantzick, “Indonesia's Presidential Election: The Old Guard Faces the New,” CFR.org   Brad Setser, “Mobilizing Russia's Immobilized Reserves,” CFR.org   For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/chiles-inferno-nato-ramps-security-exercises-indonesias-presidential-election-and-more 

Brad Setser, fellow at CFR who spent a year during the Biden Administration in USTR, joins ChinaTalk to discuss: China's long term growth trajectory and implications for national power Zambia debt negotiations and Argentina's dollarization When strategic trade policy can make sense Panda export controls Sign up here for international intrigue! https://www.internationalintrigue.io/?utm_source=chinatalk&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=1223 Kyla Scanlon of the https://kyla.substack.com/ newsletter cohosts. Outtro music: I Hear a Rhapsody, Bill Evans and Jim Hall https://open.spotify.com/track/2oEvw0AfrT2fPNpEnBwVml?si=cc9f1add64034de7 Midjourney image: a panda bald eagle combined mystical animal in the style of a traditional chinese painting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brad Setser, fellow at CFR who spent a year during the Biden Administration in USTR, joins ChinaTalk to discuss: China's long term growth trajectory and implications for national power Zambia debt negotiations and Argentina's dollarization When strategic trade policy can make sense Panda export controls Sign up here for international intrigue! https://www.internationalintrigue.io/?utm_source=chinatalk&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=1223 Kyla Scanlon of the https://kyla.substack.com/ newsletter cohosts. Outtro music: I Hear a Rhapsody, Bill Evans and Jim Hall https://open.spotify.com/track/2oEvw0AfrT2fPNpEnBwVml?si=cc9f1add64034de7 Midjourney image: a panda bald eagle combined mystical animal in the style of a traditional chinese painting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Argentina has always been interesting from an economic and financial markets perspective, to put it mildly. And it's gotten even more interesting following the recent election of Javier Milei as the country's next president. Milei, whose policies could be described as radically libertarian, has floated a bunch of new ideas including getting rid of the central bank and dollarizing Argentina's economy in order to finally put an end to rampant inflation. But how realistic is this path for a nation which has spent decades burning through loans from external creditors? This week on Lots More, we chat with Brad Setser, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, about why Argentina's issues persist and what options it has going forward.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode of The Rate Guy Podcast is titled, "No, China is Not Dumping Treasurys". We had a better title, but Harbaugh stole it. (You know JP can't resist making some digs) This week we discuss the latest headlines about China selling Treasurys. The reasons they would sell, why they wouldn't sell and we get an expert's take on what the global data REALLY looks like. Thanks Brad!  This is graph heavy, so you may want to check out the Pensford newsletter to view them and the amazing photoshop job of Harbaugh as a Pulp Fiction character.  This podcast is chalk full of JP angst, Chicago sirens and data that may leave you questioning the headlines.  Link to Brad Setser's "China Isn't Shifting Away From the Dollar or Dollar Bonds".

While the world is distracted, members of Congress are writing bills designed to steal Russia's money and give it to Ukraine. In this episode, listen to the pitch being made to Congress as we examine if this is a good idea. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via Support Congressional Dish via (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes Taking the Russian money: is it legal? Lee C. Buchheit and Paul Stephan. October 20, 2023. Lawfare. Chelsey Dulaney and Andrew Duehren. October 11, 2023. The Wall Street Journal. Lawrence H. Summers, Philip Zelikow, and Robert B. Zoellick. June 15, 2023. Foreign Affairs. Paul Stephan. April 26, 2022. Lawfare. Laurence H. Tribe and Jeremy Lewin. April 15, 2022. The New York Times. April 15, 2021. President Joe Biden. White House Briefing Room. What we're being told about Ukraine Secretary of State Anthony Blinken [@SecBlinken]. November 3, 2023. Twitter. Visual Journalism Team. September 29, 2023. BBC News. June 2023. Reuters. Biden wants to hide weapons deals with Israel Sharon Zhang. November 2, 2023. Bills Audio Sources October 31, 2023 Senate Appropriations Committee Witnesses: Antony Blinken, Secretary, U.S. Department of State Lloyd Austin, Secretary, U.S. Department of Defense Clips 1:05:05 Secretary of State Antony Blinken: If you look at total assistance to Ukraine going back to February of 2022, the United States has provided about $75 billion our allies and partners $90 billion. If you look at budget support, the United States has provided about $22 billion during that period, allies and partners $49 billion during that period; military support, we provided about $43 billion allies and partners $33 billion; humanitarian assistance, the United States $2.3 billion allies and partners 4.5 billion, plus another $18 to $20 billion in caring for the many refugees who went to Europe and outside of Ukraine. October 19, 2023 Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (The Helsinki Commission) Witnesses: Eliav Benjamin, Deputy Head of Mission, The Embassy of Israel to the United States Jamil N. Jaffer, Founder and Executive Director, National Security Institute at George Mason University Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, Senior Vice President, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies Dr. Dan Twining, President, International Republican Institute Oksana Markarova, Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States of America Clips 19:25 Eliav Benjamin: Understanding in the most unequivocal manner and in the clearest way that these are evil people. If we can even call them people. This is Israel's 9/11, only if you take the proportion of the size of Israel, this is 9/11 times 10, at least. 20:45 Eliav Benjamin: Because these terrorist organizations are not only against Israelis or against Jews, and not only in Israel, they are against mankind and anything which calls for decency, any entity and anybody who calls for protecting human rights and protecting individuals and protecting civilians. 21:25 Eliav Benjamin: Hamas have no value for human life, while Israel is doing its utmost to protect human life, including Palestinians in Gaza by even calling for them to go down south so that they won't be affected by the war. Hamas is doing everything in its power to harm civilians, to harm its own civilians. And everything that Hamas is committing -- and committed -- is no less than war crimes. And if you want crimes against humanity, and this is while Israel is working within the international human rights law, and within the military law. 28:15 Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN): Ambassador we have attempted to get some monies to from Putin and from the Soviet Un -- the oligarchs, to help rebuild Ukraine. Do you have any new information about that, or concerns? Oksana Markarova: Thank you for this question. First of all, I think it's very just that all this horrible destruction, which only for the first year of the war the World Bank estimated at $411 billion -- just the physical destruction -- has to be compensated and paid for by the Russians. So with regard to the Russian oligarchs and everyone who finances this war, supports this war, thanks to Congress we already have the possibility to confiscate it through the courts and DOJ has already moved forward with one confiscation of malfeasance money -- $5.4 million, and others. It is going to take time. But I think the major question right now to discuss with all the G7 is the Russian sovereign assets. We know that there are at least in the vicinity of 300-400 billion, or maybe even more, frozen by G7 countries. Not only that, but we recently discovered there are about $200 billion that are frozen in the Euroclear system in Belgium. So I'm very glad that there are more renewed talks right now between the G7 Ministers of Finance on how to confiscate and how to better use this money even now. I think we have to join forces there because again, we're very grateful for the American support, we are very much counting on this additional supplementary budget, but at the end of the day, it's not the American, or Ukrainian, or European taxpayers who have to pay for this, it is the Russians who have to pay for their damages. We look forward to working with Congress and we're working very actively with the administration, the State Department and Treasury, on how to better do it. As the former Minister of Finance, I not only believe -- I know -- that it can be done and I know this is a very specific case, that will not jeopardize the untouchability of the Sovereign Money, which is normal in the normal circumstances. This is a very specific case of a country that has been condemned by 154 countries in the UN for the illegal aggression. We have in all three major cases, the cases against Russia on both aggression and genocide and everything else. And it's only natural and just to use the sovereign assets as well as the private assets of Putin's oligarchs to compensate and to pay this. 32:50 Eliav Benjamin: Look at the charter of Hamas, which calls for destruction, annihilation of Jews, of Israel and yes, wants to control everything from the Mediterranean Sea until the Jordan River. 33:00 Eliav Benjamin: That is their aspiration, that is what they want to do, with zero care about civilians, including their own whom they take us human shields. As we're speak now, they're firing rockets from underneath hospitals, from underneath schools, from underneath mosques, from within residential areas, putting their own people at risk and sending them to die as well. This is not what Israel is about, but this is what Hamas is about and has been about. And now once and for all, unfortunately, really unfortunately, it took such a horrific war that they launched on Israel for the whole world to realize what Hamas is really about and what we've been saying for so many years that Hamas stands for. But it's not only Hamas: it's Hamas, it's the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, it's Hezbollah, it's all of these terrorist organizations who have zero care about human beings. This is who we should go after, and make sure they don't do any more harm. 39:10 Jamil Jaffer: It was the single deadliest day in Israel's history, single deadliest day for the worldwide Jewish community since the Holocaust. The equivalent of over a dozen 9/11 attacks on a population adjusted basis. Let me say it again. On the day of the 9/11 attacks, we had about 280 million Americans and we lost approximately 3000 Americans that day. Israel has lost 1400 have their own in a population of approximately 9 million -- over a dozen 9/11 attacks. 41:15 Jamil Jaffer: There's a key connection between these two fights. We know that Iran today supplies all manner of drones to Russia in its fight in Ukraine. We know that Iran has troops on the ground in Ukraine, training Russians on the use of those drones. We know that Iran is considering providing short range ballistic missiles to Russia, in that conflict. Russia, for its part, has provided Iran with its primary source of Conventional Munitions and nuclear technology for the vast majority of the time. Now, the key connection between these organizations is important to note. It's not just Russia and Iran; it's China and North Korea as well. These are all globally repressive nation states. They repress their own people, they hold them back, they give them no opportunity, and then they seek to export that repression to other parts of the globe, first in their immediate neighborhood, and then more broadly across the world. These nations are increasingly working together. We see China and Russia's no-limits partnership. We see President Xi saying to President Putin, in an off hand conversation that the world heard, that there are changes that haven't been seen in 100 years, and Russia and China are leading those changes. We know that for decades, Iran and North Korea have cooperated on ballistic missile and nuclear technology. We know that today in the fight in Gaza, Hamas is using North Korean rocket propelled grenades. So the reality is these globally repressive nation states have long been working together. And it is incumbent upon the United States to stand with our friends in Ukraine and our allies in Israel in this fight against global repression. 41:35 Dr. Dan Twining: It's vital not to mistake Hamas's control of Gaza with legitimacy. There have been no elections in Gaza since 2006. Hamas will not hold them because it thinks it will lose. Polling from September, a month ago, shows that only a quarter of Palestinians support Hamas leading the Palestinian people. Before the conflict, 77% of Palestinians told pollsters they wanted elections as soon as possible. A super majority tells pollsters that Hamas is corrupt. It is a terrorist organization, not a governing authority that seeks better lives for Palestinians. Residents of Gaza suffer poverty, isolation, and violence at its hands. 43:25 Dr. Jonathan Schanzer: Israel has just suffered in Iran-sponsored massacre, Ukraine is struggling to repel Russian forces, and Taiwan watches with grave concern as China threatens to invade. America must view these three embattled democracies as important assets. And it must view these three adversaries as a threat to the US-led world order. As we speak, there is a very real possibility of a regional war erupting in the Middle East. The Islamic Republic of Iran has armed and funded Hamas and Hezbollah along with other factions in the region. Recent reports point to the existence of an Iranian-led nerve center in Beirut that is designed to help these terrorist groups target Israel more efficiently. Fortunately, the IDF has thwarted Iranian efforts to create a new terror proxy in the Golan Heights. Israel has repeatedly destroyed most, if not all, of what Iran is trying to stand up there. However, Iran-backed militias do remain in Syria, and Russia's presence in Syria is complicated all of this. Moscow's missile defense systems have forced Israel to take significant precautions in the ongoing effort to prevent the smuggling of advanced Iranian weapons from Syria to Lebanon. These are precision guided munitions. We've never seen a non-state actor or a terrorist group acquire these before and Russia is making this more difficult. The operations to destroy these weapons in Syria are ongoing. They often take place with Russian knowledge. It's an uneasy arrangement and because of that, the Syrian front is still manageable, but Russia's role in the region is far from positive. Moscow continues to work closely with both Iran and Hezbollah. In fact, Russian-Iranian relations have deepened considerably since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This goes beyond the sanctions busting that was the basis of their relationship before all this started. Russia has received UAVs from Iran, which we've heard today, Tehran has sent advisors to train Russian personnel, and since last summer, Russia has launched over 2000 Iranian UAVs into Ukraine. Moscow now wants to produce some of these UAVs domestically and so Russia and Iran are currently working together to increase the drones' range and speed. Iran has supplied other material to Russia like artillery shells and rockets. In return, Tehran wants Russia to provide fighter jets, attack helicopters, radar and combat trainer aircraft, and more. Moscow has sent to Tehran some captured Western weapons from Ukraine. These include javelin, NLAW anti-tank guided missiles, and Stinger MANPADS. Amidst all of this, on top of it all, concerns are mounting about a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Beijing has openly intimidated the island nation. Within a 24 hour time span in July, 16 PLA warships approached Taiwan, accompanied with over 100 different aircraft sorties. China's calculus about an invasion of Taiwan could be influenced heavily right now by what the United States does in Ukraine and in Israel. Ihe landscape is clear: China, Iran and Russia are working together. Our policy must be to deny them the ability to threaten our friends and our interests. 47:45 Dr. Jonathan Schanzer: It's great news. I was gonna recommend it, but it's already happened: the United States has sent two of its Iron Dome batteries based in Guam to Israel, en route already. 52:15 Dr. Dan Twining: If America's three greatest adversaries are going to actively collaborate in armed attacks on our allies, that's all the more reason for us to ensure that friendly democracies prevail in the fight. Giving Ukraine and Israel what they need to restore their sovereignty and security is essential. Appeasing aggression in one theater only invites belligerence in another. Make no mistake, China is watching our reaction to the wars on Ukraine and Israel with great interest. If we don't show the will and staying power to help our friends win, we only embolden Chinese designs in Asia. Defeating aggression in Europe and the Middle East is central to deterring aggression in Asia. 1:09:55 Dr. Jonathan Schanzer: I am going to use the current crisis right now to sort of explain how America can get a win. That attack by Hamas was sponsored by Iran. Hamas is an Iran-back terrorist organization that also enjoys the support of China and Russia. As Israel has now readied to go into the Gaza Strip and to destroy this terrorist organization with the support of the United States, we're now seeing Iran-backed proxies threaten a much wider war. We're watching Hezbollah and Lebanon, Shiite militias in Syria, potentially other groups in other parts of the region. What needs to happen here right now is America needs to determine the outcome of this conflict. And by that, I mean it needs to deter Iran, it needs to deter Hezbollah and any other actor that might intervene, and force them to watch helplessly as our ally destroys Hamas. Watch them look on helplessly as one of their important pieces is removed from the chessboard. If we can do that, then I think we're now in the process of reestablishing deterrence after having lost it for many years. 1:14:15 Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI): Along with Ranking Member [Jim] Risch, I'm the lead on the what we call the REPO Act, which would authorize the President to work with other countries in Europe that are also home to frozen Russian sovereign assets, and create a procedure for seizing those assets and directing them to Ukraine to be used for rebuilding and other purposes. I think there are mixed feelings in the administration about this, but they seem to be moving our way. I'd love to have your thoughts on the value of grabbing those sovereign assets, not just as additional resources for Ukraine, but also as a powerful signal to Putin that his behavior is going to have real punishment and hitting him good and hard right in the wallet, I think, would be a good added signal. 1:15:20 Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI): The second is simply to make sure that we do a better job of grabbing Russian oligarch assets. We have a predicament right now, which is that if you're a US citizen, and you're driving down the highway and you've got $400,000 in unexplained cash in your car, the police can pull you over and they can seize that. If you are a foreign, Russian, crooked oligarch, and you have a $400 million yacht someplace, you have more rights than that American citizen, in terms of defending your yacht. It's a very simple procedure, it's called "in rem." You move on the yacht rather than having to chase through all the ownership structures. And I would very much like to see us pass a bill that allows us to proceed against foreign oligarchs', criminals', and kleptocrats' assets in rem. 1:16:50 Dr. Jonathan Schanzer: The seizing of assets and redirecting them to Ukraine, I think, sounds like a solid thing for the United States to do. I think, though, it would make sense to do this with a coalition of countries. So that the US is not singled out -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI): That's what the legislation requires. In fact, the bulk of the funds are actually held in European countries, so acting on our own would not be sensible. Dr. Jonathan Schanzer: It wouldn't be effective, correct. So getting the Europeans on board, and by the way, getting the Europeans to chip in a bit more, just as we are, I think is also a very sound policy. As far as targeting the oligarch assets, I fully understand your frustration. When I worked at the Treasury Department trying to track those kinds of assets was never easy. We did work with a sort of shorthand version of, if we're 80% sure that we know what we're dealing with we're going to move first and then adjudicate after it's been done. And by and large, that worked out very well during the height of the war on terror. And there was an urgency that I think needs to be felt now, as we think about targeting Russian assets too. 1:18:00 Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI): To follow me on my path of in rem Latinate legal terms. There's also qui tam out there, which allows individuals to bring fraud actions in the name of the United States, and if it turns out there really is fraud, they get a share of it. It would be nice to have people who work for, let's say, a Russian oligarch to be able to be paid a bit of a bounty if they come in and testify and say, "Yep, definitely his boat every time we go out, he's on it. Every time the guests come they're his guests and we call him boss." Things like that can make a big difference, so we're trying to push that as well. Dr. Jonathan Schanzer: That sounds like something for the Rewards for Justice program at the State Department. They might be able to expand it. We already have bounties for those that provide evidence leading to arrests of terrorists, why not oligarchs? Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI): Correct. 1:24:40 Dr. Jonathan Schanzer: Qatar has, for the last 10 or 12 years, had a an external headquarters. Some of [Hamas's] political leadership has been based there: Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshaal both call Qatar home. Of course, this is not new for the Qataris. They've also hosted all manner of other terrorist organizations in that country. It's the Taliban, al Qaeda, ISIS. It's well known at this point that Qatar is a hospitable place. They just don't agree with our definition of terrorism. Fundraising takes place there, all sorts of organizational activities take place there, and people are free to come and go. It is a safe haven for them. It is extremely dangerous that we have bestowed upon that country the label of major non-NATO ally, and that this is allowed to continue. They're offering right now their "good offices" -- I'll put those in air quotes -- to try to negotiate the release of the 302 hostages. This is not in Qatar's is interest. They are advocating on behalf of Hamas, as they have been for a long time. This should not be allowed to stand. 1:28:10 Dr. Jonathan Schanzer: Hezbollah is based in Lebanon primarily, although they've got a significant base of operations in Latin America right now, and of course they've got a lot of operatives running around in Tehran. They are a wholly-owned subsidiary of the regime in Iran. Just to give you a sense of the threat, right now Hezbollah is threatening to open up a second front with Israel. While the fighting rages in Gaza, in the north of Israel there is a second front that could very well be open. There have been dozens of rockets that have been fired, dozens of anti-tank missiles infiltrations into northern Israel. This is very disconcerting. This is one of the things that I think the President is trying to deter at this moment, to deter a second front from opening. Hezbollah is considered to have an army that is equal in strength to the average European army. It has 150,000 rockets right now facing south at Israel. It's got precision guided munitions that could hit strategic targets, like Israel's nuclear facility, or like its chemical plant. These are things that could create catastrophic attacks, and we could be hours or days or weeks away from watching those threats materialize. And so this is why it is imperative right now that the US mount the deterrence that is necessary to stare down Iran and to stare down Hezbollah and to allow Israel to be able to do what it needs to in Gaza and hopefully end this crisis. 1:31:15 Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX): What does it look like if a Palestinian family of four is being interviewed for safe passage into a neighboring country or nearby country? What exactly does that look like? What does that processing and that vetting look like? Dr. Jonathan Schanzer: I'm going to make a suggestion here. I don't know how that kind of vetting can happen. You know, you're looking at a territory roughly the size of Washington DC, with 2.2 million people that had been subjected to Hamas rule for 16 years. How you start to figure out who's okay and who's not at this stage in the game, who's a threat and who isn't, is going to be really challenging. I wrote a piece in the Wall Street Journal with a colleague of mine, Mark Dubowitz, our CEO, on Monday. I want to make this suggestion: I've already identified a number of the countries that have been Hamas supporters over the years, those that have financed and provided the weapons and the training to Hamas. I think there should be significant pressure on those countries to take in the refugees. Have a clear message from the United States that they created this problem, and it is now their problem to take care of these 2 million people. Quite frankly, I don't care who's radicalized when they go to these countries that have been supporting a radical cause for as long as they have. I think this would be justice. October 18, 2023 House Committee on Foreign Affairs Witnesses: Philip Zelikow, Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and White Burkett Miller Professor of History at the University of Virginia Rebeccah Heinrichs, Senior Fellow and Director of the Keystone Defense Initiative at the Hudson Institute Clips 14:35 Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX): The Russian sovereign assets is a winner in my judgment. If we can tap into the right -- the very people who started this war and this conflict, in my judgment, should be paying for the cost, and not as much the US taxpayer. And that's why I introduced the REPO Act, the bipartisan, bicameral legislation that demands that the Biden administration transfer frozen Russian sovereign assets to the Ukraine effort. It's beyond time that Russia pay for the war that it created. My bill prohibits the Biden administration from unfreezing Russian sovereign assets until Russia ends its unprovoked war of aggression and agrees to compensate Ukraine for the damages it has inflicted. 16:05 Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX): To be clear, the war crimes and genocide committed by Russia cannot be reversed by money alone. 22:30 Rep. French Hill (R-AK): My approach was crafted to be consistent with US Policy and International Law by amending the International Emergency Economic Powers Act IEEPA, and using its established framework and existing definitions. As a former Treasury official, in my view, this is a better legislative approach. This is consistent with well established international precedent, whereby the United States work with international partners to establish a fund like we saw in Afghanistan in 2022. The Iran-US Claims Tribunal in 1981, the UN compensation fund for Kuwait in 1991, following the invasion by Iraq. 22:40 Rep. French Hill (R-AK): I too have introduced a bill on this topic, HR 5370. And I appreciate the Foreign Affairs staff working with me on that. My bill would give the President authority to seize and transfer title of Russian sovereign assets within the United States jurisdiction into an international fund for the sole purpose of Ukraine's eventual reconstruction and humanitarian relief. I'm grateful to Chairman McCaul and I co-sponsor his bill on this topic, as well for his leadership. 24:10 Rep. French Hill (R-AK): Considering most Russian sovereign assets are actually located outside the United States, it's important for our partners and allies around the world to introduce and pass similar companion legislation rather than having the US act unilaterally. 24:30 Rep. French Hill (R-AK): Let me be clear, I consider Russian Federation sovereign assets inclusive of all state owned enterprise assets and those of Russian publicly traded companies, like Gazprom, that are controlled by more than 50% by the Russian Federation. 26:30 Philip Zelikow: Economic warfare is the real center of gravity in this war. Economic warfare is the center of gravity in the war. I know we all watch the daily updates from the battle front lines. You know, this movement here, that movement there. This is a war of attrition. It's going to be decided by economic and industrial staying power as the war continues almost certainly into 2025 and perhaps beyond. 27:00 Philip Zelikow: In that struggle, the economic warfare against Russia has achieved some gains, and will have some more gains over the long haul. Russia's economic warfare against Ukraine has been devastating and is not sufficiently appreciated. Ukraine lost 30% of its GDP in the first year of the war. 1/3 of the population of Ukraine is displaced, half externally half internally. Russia is waging economic warfare on three main fronts. It's destroying Ukraine's infrastructure, and will do another energy infrastructure war this winter, for which it's gearing up, including with North Korean weapons and Iranian weapons. Point two: they've destroyed Ukraine's ability to export through the Black Sea except for a trickle, which was the fundamental business model of a commodity exporting country. Point three: they have destroyed Ukraine's civil aviation. Ukraine has no civil aviation. Any of you who've traveled, as I have, to Ukraine will notice that you can't fly in the country, which makes travel and business in the country now back to the era of the railroads before there were airplanes. So the the Russian economic warfare against Ukraine is devastating. And as time passes, this is going to have deep effects on the ability of Ukraine's economy and society to hold together, which will play out politically. So point one: economic warfare is the true center of gravity in the war. 28:35 Philip Zelikow: Two, the Russian assets are the key strategy to change the outcome. The Russian assets are at least $280 billion. Now, even in our debased day and age, that's a lot of money. It's a lot of money in the context of the Ukrainian economy. Even using very conservative multipliers of how much private investment the public investment can unlock, let's say one to one, the impact of this money on the whole future prospects of Ukraine and its staying power are decisive. Otherwise, they're relying on US and European taxpayers whose readiness you can gauge. So this is potentially the decisive fulcrum of the economic warfare and Ukraine's prospects in the war. 29:25 Philip Zelikow: So, third point, why has this been so hard? First reason was there was a knee jerk neuralgia on the part of bankers and financiers to the actual confiscation of Russian assets in the foreign exchange holdings, with much talk of losing confidence in the dollar in the euro. On analysis, these worries quickly fall away, which is one reason that I worked with my colleagues, Larry Summers, the former Treasury secretary, and Bob Zoellick, the former president of the World Bank, who do know something about international finance to debunk those concerns. And I'd be glad to go into more detail about why the concerns about the dollar or the euro turn out to be overblown when they're analyzed. 30:10 Philip Zelikow: The other concern was how do we do this legally? There's been a ton of legal confusion about this. This bill will help dispel that legal confusion. 30:30 Philip Zelikow: What about sovereign immunity? Sovereign immunity is a doctrine that only exists in the context of national courts trying to usurp sovereign authority in a situation where it's sovereign on sovereign, whereas in this bill, there would be an act of state that goes after Russian sovereign property. There is no such thing as immunity; there is no doctrine of sovereign immunity. Ordinarily, under international law, if one sovereign takes another sovereign's property, then the loser is entitled to compensation for that nationalization or expropriation. So why isn't Russia entitled for that compensation in this case? Because it's a lawful state countermeasure. Countermeasures are different from sanctions. And countermeasures -- and this is a well recognized body of law -- you are allowed to do things that would ordinarily violate your sovereign obligations to a fellow sovereign, because that sovereign has committed such extreme outlaw behavior, that the countermeasure is a lawful recourse. And that is exactly the extreme case we have here. There is a well codified body of law on this, and Russia has hit every one of the marks for a set of lawful state countermeasures that deprives them of any right to compensation when states take their money and then use it, putting it in escrow to compensate the victims of Russia's aggression. 37:35 Rebeccah Heinrichs: The United States directly benefits from Ukraine's battlefield successes as Russia remains a top tier adversary of the United States. These are the weapons that Americans made and designed specifically to go after the kinds of things that the Ukrainians are destroying in the Russian military. 39:55 Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX): The EU has a plan just to tax frozen assets and send those proceeds to Ukraine. Our Treasury Secretary, Miss Yellen recently claimed that transferring sovereign assets to Ukraine was not legal. Do you agree with that, and if not, what is your opinion from a legal standpoint? Philip Zelikow: I think Secretary Yellen has now revised her view of this matter, having had a chance to be informed by some of the legal work that's been done since she first made that impromptu remark. There is the legal authority both under domestic law and international law, and the bill this committee is considering would reaffirm, consolidate, and elaborate that authority. So legally, this can be done. 40:55 Philip Zelikow: What the EU came up with in May was the idea -- they were encountering a lot of resistance to actually taking the Russian money, so they said, Well, can we come up with something, since a lot of these as the securities have now matured and are in cash and Euroclear, mainly -- the clearing house in Brussels -- is now managing the cash on behalf of Russia, because Russia is no longer able to manage it. So can we do something with the interest? And by the way, the EU couldn't get that through in June. Ursula von der Leyen couldn't get that adopted over, principally, French and German opposition at the time. So they're talking about just taking this interest. As a legal matter, if you have the legal right to take the interest, you have the legal right to take the principle. This was a cosmetic idea trying to overcome the opposition they had there. It's kind of a situation where, as one of my colleagues in this effort, Larry Tribe, has put it as well, instead of crossing the Rubicon, they're kind of wading in. From a legal point of view, it's actually clearer to do the transfer for Ukraine than to try to expropriate the money using tax authorities, which makes it look like you're expropriating it for your country, rather than for the benefit of the victims, which is a much cleaner, legal way to do it. So they ended up, for political reasons, with a half measure that takes only a tiny fraction of what they should and does so in ways that are actually legally awkward. I understand why they are where they are, but as they process this, I think they're just going to have to step up to going ahead and crossing the Rubicon. 50:20 Philip Zelikow: The whole argument that I made in an article with Summers and Zoellick in Foreign Affairs is that actually, this is a strategy for victory. You put this enormous war chest and the multiplier of private investment into play. And what you can envision is a whole new European recovery program, anchored on the rebuilding of Ukraine that not only saves Ukraine, revitalizes it, but links it to the EU accession process, to the enlargement of the European Union. In other words, to the victory of the whole cause of freedom, in a way almost regardless of where the final battle line ends up being in Ukraine, Ukraine will be growing with bright prospects, part of a Europe with brighter prospects, because of its alignment with the free world. 51:25 Philip Zelikow: When people worry about the significance of this in foreign exchange, I ask them to just remember two numbers 93 and three. If you look at the percentage of foreign exchange holdings held in the world today, 60% United States, 23% Euro, 6% yen, 4% Sterling: that's 93. The percentage of foreign exchange holdings in Chinese renminbi: three. And the Chinese were really encouraged that it's gone up from 2.5 to 3 in recent years. So when you look at 93 to three, that's what you get when we work with our allies in a concerted economic strategy. We can move on the Russian assets, and there's really no choice except to stick with the currencies of the free world because they're still the only basis for being a participant in the world economy. 54:20 Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI): Who actually has the authority to take possession of it? Because as you point out, if you've got the legal right to the interest, you got the legal right to the principal. Who is granted that authority? And then who is granted the authority to distribute that? Philip Zelikow: So the theory is that the national governments can transfer any of the Russian state assets in their jurisdiction into escrow accounts for the benefit of the victims, as a state countermeasure to Russia's aggression. So the way that would work is under the President's IEEPA authority, he could transfer all this -- and there are precedents for this -- into an escrow account held in the States and then an international escrow account, with this limited purpose of compensating the victims of Russian aggression, then you need to create an international mechanism, which the US would participate in creating, to then manage that distribution, which needs to have a proactive urgent speed of relevance. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI): That was what I was afraid of. If it just simply takes one participant to bog the whole thing down, guess what? It's not going to work, in my humble opinion. Philip Zelikow: When they're debating this in the EU, some people say we should have a new EU directive to govern this, but under our Common Foreign and Security Policy, one member like Hungary, for example, could botch that. So if you create something perhaps managed by the G7 Donor Coordination Platform, that is a relatively simple instrument in which the United States could play a part. One thing that you've done in the bill you've drafted, Mr. Chairman and Congresswoman Kaptur, is you're creating mechanisms in which Congress has insight and some oversight into how the United States participates in that process, and what the mechanism does and how the money is spent, which I think is an appropriate role for the Congress. There are precedents for how to do this. The design of this international mechanism I'm discussing is both policy driven, but also has a reactive claim side, but can have some conditionality on reform and the EU accession process. That's a heavy lift. Building that mechanism will be the biggest job since we built the Economic Cooperation Administration to run Marshall Plan aid 70 years ago. That serious work has not really begun, because we're just working on the preliminary phase of mobilizing and using this money. 58:25 Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA): You believe the Administration, even without this bill, has authority right now to transfer the frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. Philip Zelikow: Yes, it does. It has it under the existing IEEPA authorities that the President has already invoked. The Renew Democracy Initiative has put out a really extensive legal brief that goes into great detail about this. I think actually the administration's lawyers are coming around to the view that yes, they do have the authority under existing law. What the REPO Act does is, one, it reaffirms that, but two, it makes Congress a partner in this with regulation and oversight that's an appropriate Congressional role. So by both reaffirming the authority and getting Congress to join the executive and doing this together I think it makes it a truly national effort with an appropriate Congressional part. 59:20 Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA): How would you respond to critics who say this would make it harder for other folks in the future to want to invest in the United States? Philip Zelikow: You can look at the numbers. After we froze Russian assets, everybody understood the political risks that might be involved with putting their money into dollar holdings. The Chinese called in all their bankers and asked them, "Do we have any other options?" That happened last year. You can just simply track what's happened in the international financial markets and see how folks have now priced in that political risk. But the result is still very strong demand and interest in the dollar. But here again, to come back to Congressman [Gregory] Meeks point, by working with the Euro and the yen and Sterling, we give them no place to go. If they want to participate in the world economy, then they're just going to have to invest in assets like that. 1:00:30 Rebeccah Heinrichs: The other thing that's very interesting and good in the REPO bill that is different is this provision, Section 103, that would prohibit the release of blocked Russian sovereign assets. I think that's an incredibly important element of this bill. That would remove the temptation for any kind of sweetener for the Russians to have access to these funds and leave Ukraine in a lurch whenever they have to rebuild their society. That's a very important part of the bill. 1:01:10 Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-TX): Why would it be better to transfer these assets for Ukraine's direct benefit than to use them for leverage in negotiations and ending this conflict at some point? Rebeccah Heinrichs: It comes back down to the fundamental question at the end: who's going to foot the bill for rebuilding Ukrainian society? Somebody's going to have to do it. It should not be the American people primarily. They're footing a pretty significant bill. I think that benefits American industry and benefits our own military, but this particular piece should be carried out by the perpetrators of this act. So I think that it'd be a mistake to hold that out as a sweetener to get the Russians to come to the end or the conclusion. 1:01:55 Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-TX): Mr. Zelikow, you mentioned earlier in response to one of my colleague's questions that it looks like that under current law under the IEEPA authorities, the president can do this activity now. Do you know why the President is not doing that? And if he chose to do that, could he do it immediately? Or is there any delay in that? Philip Zelikow: They could act immediately. They've delayed a long time, partly, to be very blunt -- because I've been talking to a lot of people about this -- they had very deep interagency disagreements inside the administration over how to proceed and they found that their bandwidth was totally overwhelmed by other Ukrainian-related concerns, and they didn't give this heavy attention until fairly recently. And now that they have given it sustained attention, I think the President has actually settled, at a fundamental level, those interagency disputes and they are now moving forward to try to find a way to make this work. 1:02:50 Philip Zelikow: I think the point you raised a minute ago about whether we want to hold this back as leverage was one factor in the back of the minds of some people. I think as the war has continued on through this year, hopes of a quick settlement of the war have dissipated. I think they realize that this is going to be a long war. That sobering realization has kind of sunk in. Also, from a legal point of view, if you want to, you could credit the Russians in any peace negotiation. You can basically say this is a credit against your liability for the for rebuilding Ukraine. 1:04:55 Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA): As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, we have been to many European nations. To a nation, they say the United States is the indispensable partner here, and they say that with all humility and not blowing smoke. We visited the Hague and sat with lead prosecutor Khan, and everyone is talking about waiting us out. Not just waiting out Congress's support, but waiting out the outcome of the next election. They asked us specifically about that. Mr. Putin is clearly waiting for the outcome of the next election in hopes that it will not be the reelection of Joe Biden, who I'm really proud is in Israel right now. Timing. How does this work? You already said it's going to be into 2025. How do we use this leverage, this economic warfare as the center of gravity in this conflict, to bring the timing tighter to a successful conclusion for Ukraine? Philip Zelikow: So that's a great question. And this is why action on this issue is so urgent now, because the operational timeline to stand this up on a massive multi 100 billion dollar scale is if we move on this in the next couple of months and mobilize the money. We could get an enormous operation up and running with a relatively secure source of funding by next year. If we get that up and running by the middle of next year, we then insulate ourselves, to some extent, against the kind of electoral risk to which you gently alluded. 1:07:55 Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. (R-NJ): If the United States did transfer Russian sovereign assets to Ukraine, how could Ukraine best use these in the near term? Philip Zelikow: In the near term, what they would do, I think, is begin undertaking a comprehensive program to shore up their infrastructure, withstand the coming Russian campaigns to further damage that and begin to rebuild the basic transportation infrastructure and other things that can then begin to unlock a really bright future for the rest of the Ukrainian economy. There are things that can be done then to move Ukrainian industry into new sectors. I think the Ukrainian goal is not just to restore what they had five years ago, but actually to use this as a way to build back better, to imagine a brighter future in partnership with Europe. And then if the money is managed well, this gives leverage to encourage the Ukrainian reform process as part of the EU accession. Putin's whole effort here is, "if I can't conquer Ukraine, I will wreck it and make it ungovernable," and we'll show decisively that that objective cannot be achieved. 1:10:35 Rebeccah Heinrichs: If I may, sir, another principle that has been misunderstood throughout this conflict is this notion of escalation. Escalation is not bad. It's only bad if it's the adversary who's escalating to prevail. We want Ukraine to escalate to win, to convince the Russians to end the war. If you do not permit the Ukrainians to escalate, then you only have a long protracted war of attrition that none of us can afford. 1:12:05 Philip Zelikow: Whenever you do a large thing in international affairs, there are going to be unintended consequences from that, and rather than be dismissive about that concern, I'll say if you embark on this, then people will be tempted to try to use these sorts of precedents against us. They'll be limited in their ability to do that because of the fundamental places where money is held in the world economy. A lot of people don't do business with the United States because they love us; they do business with us because they think it's necessary. If they could expropriate our property with no penalty, they would. Venezuela tried that. Most of the world doesn't want to follow Venezuela's example. So yes, there are some potential unintended consequences of people trying to use this precedent. But one reason we've tried to set this under international law is to use the standards of international law to govern this countermeasure. International law allows these countermeasures, but it says you can only do this if the target country's outlaw behavior is extreme, and there's a standard for that. It turns out Russia totally meets that standard. This is the most extreme case of international aggression since the Second World War, bigger than Korea, bigger than Kuwait. But by setting that kind of standard, it makes that slippery slope a little less slippery. 1:14:25 Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ): There are some concerns that if we were to transfer these assets, use it for the benefit Ukraine, would there be an impact on the US dollar? Just get your thoughts on that? Philip Zelikow: Yeah, that's why we got in some of the best people we could on international plans, just to do the analysis on that. 93% of the foreign exchange holdings are held in G7 countries and only 3% in renminbi. Running to the renminbi because they're worried about the dollar is something people would do if they wanted to do it already. They've already priced in the political risk of dollar holdings after they've seen what we've done. And you can see their asset allocations. Now, the dollar is involved in 88% of all foreign commercial transactions on one side of the transaction or another. So it's hard to run away from it, especially if the Euro, Yen, and Sterling are in there with you. There's really kind of no place to go if you want to participate in the international economy. Working with Larry Summers, the former Treasury Secretary, Robert Zoellick, with Brad Setser, who studies international finance, we ran some numbers about worst case scenarios and so on, and we think that concern, which sounds good as a soundbite, it turns out on analysis, it fades away. 1:16:10 Philip Zelikow: The US only holds a fraction of the relevant Russian money because the Russians tried to get their money out of our jurisdiction. But when you go to Europe and ask them what's holding them up, they all say "We're waiting for the American lead." So even though we may only hold a fraction of the money, we hold a lot more than a fraction of the relevant clout, and we need to go together, exactly as you imply. September 28, 2023 House Committee on Foreign Affairs Witnesses: Victoria Nuland, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, United States Department of State Christopher P. Maier, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict, United States Department of Defense Caroline Krass, General Counsel, United States Department of Defense Richard C. Visek, Acting Legal Adviser, United States Department of State Clips 33:00 Victoria Nuland: First with regard to the Taliban, we've been very clear we're going to judge the Taliban by their actions. It is our assessment that the Taliban have partially adhered to their counterterrorism commitments. We've seen them disrupt ISIS-K, for example. But there's obviously plenty more to to do to ensure that Afghanistan doesn't become a safe haven, or return to safe haven, or persist as a safe haven. That said, I would note that the director of the National Counterterrorism Center Christy Abizaid recently said publicly that al Qaeda is at its historic nadir in Afghanistan, and its revival is unlikely. 34:20 Victoria Nuland: Iran is obviously a state sponsor of terrorism; it is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world. Music by Editing Production Assistance

In Episode 328 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Brad Setser, the Whitney Shepardson Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations where he specializes in global trade and capital flows, financial vulnerability analysis, and sovereign debt restructuring. Brad has also served in multiple Democrat administrations as a senior advisor to the U.S. Trade Representative, as deputy assistant secretary for international economic analysis at the U.S. Treasury Department, and as a director for international economics on the staff of the National Economic and the National Security Councils. Brad and Demetri spend the first hour of their conversation discussing what Brad has described as “the new geopolitics of global finance,” how the political and national security assumptions and priorities that were taken for granted during the unipolar period are undergoing a series of transformations, and how these transformations are increasingly informing economic policymaking and driving changes in the global economy and financial markets. In the second hour, they focus our attention on China's economy, what a viable macroeconomic equilibrium could look like for China given its extraordinarily high savings rate and export-driven growth model, and whether the country can continue to grow without making significant reforms that would increase domestic consumption and reduce the country's structurally high current account surpluses. They also discuss the state of the German economy, the growth of China's export market for electric vehicles, the progress that's been made to de-risk supply chains, industrial policy in the United States and Europe, and much more. You can subscribe to our premium content and gain access to our premium feed, episode transcripts, and Intelligence Reports at HiddenForces.io/subscribe. If you want to join in on the conversation and become a member of the Hidden Forces Genius community, which includes Q&A calls with guests, access to special research and analysis, in-person events, and dinners, you can also do that on our subscriber page. If you still have questions, feel free to email info@hiddenforces.io, and Demetri or someone from our team will get back to you. If you enjoyed listening to today's episode of Hidden Forces you can help support the show by doing the following: Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | CastBox | RSS Feed Write us a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify Subscribe to our mailing list at https://hiddenforces.io/newsletter/ Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou Subscribe & Support the Podcast at https://hiddenforces.io Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod Follow Demetri on Twitter at @Kofinas Episode Recorded on 09/26/2023

On this episode of the Energy Security Cubed Podcast, Kelly Ogle and Joe Calnan begin with a discussion on major issues in global energy security, including differing oil supply-demand balance forecasts and the fate of Volkswagen and Germany's industrial heft. For the interview section of the podcast, Kelly talks with Brad Setser about the world of international finance, and how existing institutions could be used for sustainable development. Guest Bio: - Brad Setser is the Whitney Shepardson senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations Host Bio: - Kelly Ogle is the CEO of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute Interview recording Date: September 11, 2023 Energy Security Cubed is part of the CGAI Podcast Network. Follow the Canadian Global Affairs Institute on Facebook, Twitter (@CAGlobalAffairs), or on LinkedIn. Head over to our website at www.cgai.ca for more commentary. Produced by Joe Calnan. Music credits to Drew Phillips.

US treasury secretary Janet Gellen Is set to visit Beijing. What can we expect? Could china reciprocate by sending their own officials? China's new law on foreign relations puts in place measures to counter foreign encroachment .They are also buying large amounts of natural gas to curb an energy shortage. Lastly, US trade and Treasury official Brad Setser claims that China has $3 trillion of ‘hidden' currency reserves. Should we be worried about China's lack of transparency? We speak to Dr. Oh Ei Sun, Senior Fellow, Singapore Institute of International Affairs more about this.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's Centre for European Reform podcast Brad Setser, senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations, and the CER's Sander Tordoir and John Springford discuss green tech industrial policy and ‘de-risking' trade with China. They discuss the growing consensus between Europe and the US on China, as well as the ‘risks of de-risking' – how challenging China might slide into protectionism and weaken competition. John and Sander's paper on the effects of Chinese and American green tech subsidies on Europe can be read here: https://www.cer.eu/publications/archive/policy-brief/2023/europe-american-chinese-green-tech Produced by Octavia Hughes Music by Edward Hipkins

Turkey's President Erdogan recently secured his reelection, but he now has to find a way to avoid what appears to be an imminent financial crisis. Erdogan's unorthodox economic policies and his recent effort to juice up the economy ahead of the May elections have effectively pushed Turkey's finances to a breaking point, and the country is on the edge of running out of usable foreign exchange reserves. Brad Setser, the Whitney Shepardson senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations whose expertise includes global trade and capital flows, financial vulnerability analysis and sovereign debt restructuring, joins Thanos Davelis to break down how Erdogan has brought Turkey's economy to this point, and look at what choices the country has if it's to avoid a deep financial crisis.Read Brad Setser's latest blog post for the Council on Foreign Relations: Turkey's Increasing Balance Sheet RisksYou can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:Turkey needs more than economic U-turn for lasting investments‘Europe will not be whole until Cyprus reunited'President Christodoulides leads Cyprus' EU initiativeGreek tax authority enhances efforts against tax evasion with new digital appThe billions of euros the state coffers miss out on

A lot has happened since we last spoke to Brad Setser in April 2020, towards the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. For a start, Setser was appointed to be a trade advisor in the Biden administration during a period of immense disruption. There was lots of talk about a potential reshuffling of the way the global economy works, and things like nearshoring and deglobalization. But some big predictions for the way world trade will function haven't come to fruition. For instance, the US is still running a current account deficit and China is still running a current account surplus. So in this episode, Setser returns to discuss what has and hasn't changed in global trade in the last three years. He's left the Biden administration and returned to the Council on Foreign Relations, where he's a senior fellow. He talks about everything from the US-China trade imbalance to the impact of sanctions on the world economy to China's electric vehicle and plane production, plus the future of the dollar.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brad Setser—Senior Fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR)—joins me to discuss trade deficits, dedollarisation, and debt restructuring issues in countries around the world. 00:00 - Intro00:21 - Brad Setser Welcome 01:43 - Working at the CFR 02:57 - Conducting research on countries04:15 - Sri Lanka Default Crisis + Debt Restructuring 14:45 - Has deglobalization panned out? 19:45 - Can U.S. rely less on China in semiconductor manufacturing? 23:48 - U.S. and China trade imbalances to continue? 26:22 - Longevity of dedollarisation 28:36 - Why reserve currency status does not matter 32:29 - Dedollarisation undermines trade deficit? @BradSetser @VishnuTreasurer

» Die Themen der Folge 218: --- (00:03:39) » Twitter mit neuer CEO - und was das für die Medienlandschaft bedeutet (00:10:44) » Twitter "Free Speech" unter Elon https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/05/13/twitter-blocks-content-in-turkey-one-day-before-national-election/ https://twitter.com/steinkobbe/status/1657424244488241155 https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1657587224404279299 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/14/cnn-trump-debacle-town-hall-us-media (00:15:21) » Google I/O mit AI https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/12/23721037/google-ai-progress-search-docs-starline-video-calls https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/10/23717120/google-search-ai-results-generated-experience-io https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/05/google-bard-hits-over-180-countries-and-territories-none-are-in-the-eu/amp/ (00:26:38) » Virtual Girlfriend: Influencer & Porn powered by AI https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5yq4q/my-ai-girlfriend-charges-dollar1minute-and-only-wants-to-talk-about-sex https://twitter.com/neerajka/status/1656461719395246080 https://twitter.com/venturetwins/status/1656680586021584898 (00:36:50) » Meta KI-Modell https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/9/23716558/meta-imagebind-open-source-multisensory-modal-ai-model-research (00:38:33) » Anthropic: AI mit Erinnerungsvermögen https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/11/anthropics-latest-model-can-take-the-great-gatsby-as-input/ (00:47:25) » Blinkist-Exit vs. ThinkCell https://amp2.wiwo.de/unternehmen/it/blinkist-chef-im-interview-ich-bin-nicht-naiv-da-kommt-eine-riesengrosse-disruption-auf-uns-zu-/29147092.html https://www.deutsche-startups.de/2021/06/01/dealmonitor-01-06-2021/ (00:53:55) » Infarm verabschiedet sich aus Europa - und von Mondbewertungen https://amp2.handelsblatt.com/technik/it-internet/lebensmittel-gewaechshaus-start-up-infarm-schrumpft-weiter-und-verlaesst-europa/29148652.html https://www.deutsche-startups.de/2022/07/26/zahlencheck-infarm-2020/ https://tech.eu/2021/12/16/vertical-farming-platform-infarm-raises-200-million-now-at-1-billion-valuation/ (00:59:55) » Uber https://doctorow.medium.com/the-big-lie-that-keeps-the-uber-bezzle-alive-8d6e8c0ccde7 https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/ (01:03:54) » Autoland Deutschland - im Hintertreffen gegen China? https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/08/volkswagen-shakes-up-software-arm-cariad-again/amp/ https://www.nzz.ch/meinung/der-leitmarkt-china-zeigt-dem-volkswagen-konzern-droht-der-absturz-wenn-die-it-sparte-scheitert-ld.1737366 https://thedriven.io/2023/05/15/euro-car-industry-could-be-smashed-by-chinas-growing-ev-dominance/ https://www.ft.com/content/afad4566-6404-483e-934f-c905507bf1d0 https://digitstodollars.com/2023/05/03/how-do-you-say-trade-war-in-german/ https://twitter.com/Brad_Setser/status/1650883009631903745 https://twitter.com/brad_setser/status/1655740537507291137 (01:06:42) » Buchtipp: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Jessikka-Aro/dp/1632461293

Hugh's adventure in the mountains continues…hold on to your hats. ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ 

Brad Setser, economist at the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses Ireland's economic 'growth' and particularly how it is measured.

Brad Setser, economist at the Council of Foreign Relations, joins “Sovereign Debt” to discuss the impact of the Fed's decision to raise interest rates, the disruption of energy markets and the implications of it all on the world.

As a tumultuous, virus-stricken 2020 comes to an end, David is joined by Macro Musings producer Marc Dupont to discuss the highlights of the show throughout the past year. Specifically, they talk about the big macroeconomic themes and takeaways from the last 12 months, which guests and topics were most popular among listeners, what 2020 may have in store for monetary policy, and more.   A special thank you to all of the Macro Musings listeners around the globe who continue to tune in to the show week in and week out, especially during these tough and uncertain times. Stay tuned for more exciting content as we turn a new page in 2021.   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth   Marc’s Twitter: @marc_c_dupont   Related Links:   Top 10 Macro Musings Episodes in 2020:   Adam Tooze on Dollar Dominance, the Eurozone, and the Future of Global Finance - https://macromusings.libsyn.com/adam-tooze-on-dollar-dominance-the-eurozone-and-the-future-of-global-finance   Jim Tankersley on the State of the Middle Class and How to Boost Economic Growth - https://macromusings.libsyn.com/jim-tankersley-on-the-state-of-the-middle-class-and-how-to-boost-economic-growth   Eric Sims on New Keynesian Modelling and the Future of Macroeconomics in a Low Interest Rate Environment - https://macromusings.libsyn.com/eric-sims-on-new-keynesian-modelling-and-the-future-of-macroeconomics-in-a-low-interest-rate-environment   Paul Schmelzing on the ‘Suprasecular’ Decline of Global Real Interest Rates - https://macromusings.libsyn.com/paul-schmelzing-on-the-suprasecular-decline-of-global-real-interest-rates   Nathan Tankus on Public Finance in the COVID-19 Crisis: A Consolidated Budget Balance View and Its Implications for Policy - https://macromusings.libsyn.com/nathan-tankus-on-public-finance-in-the-covid-19-crisis-a-consolidated-budget-balance-view-and-its-implications-for-policy   Brad Setser on Addressing the Global Dollar Shortage and COVID-19’s Implications for Worldwide Trade Imbalances - https://macromusings.libsyn.com/brad-setser-on-addressing-the-global-dollar-shortage-and-covid-19s-implications-for-worldwide-trade-imbalances   Matthew Klein on Global Trade, Inequality, and International Conflict - https://macromusings.libsyn.com/matthew-klein-on-global-trade-wealth-inequality-and-international-conflict   Jim Bianco on Policy Responses to the Coronavirus: Details, Implications, and Concerns Moving Forward - https://macromusings.libsyn.com/jim-bianco-on-policy-responses-to-the-coronavirus-details-implications-and-concerns-moving-forward   Jon Sindreu on Global Financial Flows and the Balance of Trade - https://macromusings.libsyn.com/jon-sindreu-on-global-financial-flows-and-the-balance-of-trade   Scott Sumner on How Central Banks Should Respond to the Coronavirus Threat - https://macromusings.libsyn.com/scott-sumner-on-how-central-banks-should-respond-to-the-coronavirus-threat

Brad Setser is the Steven A. Tanenbaum Senior Fellow for International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations. He previously served as the deputy assistant secretary for international economic analysis in the U.S. Treasury from 2011 to 2015. In this interview, Dr. Setser discusses how tax avoidance schemes by corporations could distort conventional understanding of cross-national capital flows, and how such capital flows through shell companies are driving international balance of payments. He argues we should pay more attention to external debt, particularly on exports and debt in foreign currency, rather than solely focusing on the government debt alone. He highlights the puzzling debt histories of two countries in particular: Japan, which should be in trouble but is not; and Argentina, which gets into trouble no matter what. We also touch on the important topics of progressive tax policies and how it’s entirely realistic to close down international tax loopholes. It’s noteworthy that Dr. Setser appears in the first chapter of Adam Tooze’s book of “Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World” by Adam Tooze, whom we interviewed last spring. It’s very unfortunate that this is a relatively short interview, but we hope it can be an introduction to a vast and important field of issues that you may continue to learn about afterwards. This interview was recorded in March at the 2020 annual conference of the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance, and the theme was “Development Finance in Fragile States.” You may read more about Dr. Setser’s conference presentation on our webpage, and you can subscribe to his blog and newsletter “Follow the Money” on the webpage of Council on Foreign Relations.

Anna Han, Wells Fargo Equity Strategist, the domestic political risk in the U.S. looks under-priced heading towards an election cycle. Brent Schutte, Northwestern Mutual Chief Investment Strategist, says the Fed want you to take risk and will continue to try to get you to take risk. Kenneth Leon, CFRA Global Director of Industry & Equity Research, says projected loan losses for July could top $700 million. Brad Setser, Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow, describes how the Covid-19 pandemic is shifting geopolitical dynamics around the globe. Tim Adams, Institute of International Finance President and CEO, discusses the U.S. Stress test results. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Anna Han, Wells Fargo Equity Strategist, the domestic political risk in the U.S. looks under-priced heading towards an election cycle. Brent Schutte, Northwestern Mutual Chief Investment Strategist, says the Fed want you to take risk and will continue to try to get you to take risk. Kenneth Leon, CFRA Global Director of Industry & Equity Research, says projected loan losses for July could top $700 million. Brad Setser, Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow, describes how the Covid-19 pandemic is shifting geopolitical dynamics around the globe. Tim Adams, Institute of International Finance President and CEO, discusses the U.S. Stress test results.

In this episode, Roland Rajah, Director of the International Economy Program, sits down with Brad Setser, Senior Fellow for International Economics, Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss the impact of the pandemic on emerging markets and the role of the US dollar. COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.

With major economies around the world coming to a screeching halt, emerging markets are in a squeeze of historic proportions. Not only are they being buffeted by a domestic health crisis, but export industries are getting clobbered at the same time as access to dollars is drying up. On this episode, we speak with Brad Setser of the Council on Foreign Relations on the historic nature of this episode, which countries are particularly vulnerable, and what policies might allow for a way out.

Brad Setser is a senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he works on macroeconomics, global capital flows, and financial crisis issues. Brad has previously served as the deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Treasury, working on Europe’s financial crisis, currency policy, financial sanctions, commodity shocks, and Puerto Rico’s debt crisis, and was the director for international economics on the staff of the National Economic Council and the National Security Council. As a returning guest to the show, Brad joins Macro Musings once again to discuss dollars swap lines and other solutions to the global dollar shortage, the recent implications of COVID-19 on global trade imbalances, and how China should respond to the effects of this crisis.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Brad’s Twitter: @Brad_Setser Brad’s CFR profile: https://www.cfr.org/expert/brad-w-setser   Related Links:   Bonus segment with Brad Setser: https://youtu.be/YsdynQgWHFg   *Addressing the Global Dollar Shortage: More Swap Lines? A New Repo Facility for Central Banks? More IMF Lending?* by Brad Setser https://www.cfr.org/blog/addressing-global-dollar-shortage-more-swap-lines-new-fed-repo-facility-central-banks-more-imf   *Why the Dollar Crunch is (mostly) a Rich World Problem* by Claire Jones https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2020/03/24/1585041854000/Why-the-dollar-crunch-is--mostly--a-rich-world-problem/   David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

Patrick Chovanec, Economic Adviser at Silvercrest Asset Management, on how investors should be looking at the coronavirus. Tara Lachapelle, Entertainment, Telecom & Deals Columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, on longtime Disney CEO Bob Iger handing the reins to Bob Chapek. Luke Kawa, Bloomberg cross-asset reporter, on how Reddit's "greedy, profane" traders are shaking up the stock market. Brad Setser, Senior Fellow for International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, and Senior Advisor at Exante Data, on how the coronavirus is impacting global money flows. Hosted by Lisa Abramowicz and Paul Sweeney.

You probably haven't thought much about the Taiwanese life insurance industry. Why would you have? But they're among the most fascinating entities in the financial world. And for a long time they've been a source of incredible mystery. They've built up a gigantic position in foreign, US-dollar denominated assets in order to fund domestic liabilities denominated in Taiwanese Dollars. But how do they hedge this currency mismatch? Nobody has figured it out until now. On this week's podcast, we speak with Brad Setser of CFR and Exante Data about how he and a pseudonymous partner finally cracked the code.

On September 19, 2019, Odd Lots hosted its first-ever live event at the WNYC Greene Space in downtown New York City. With an all-star lineup of guests, the show featured convicted white-collar criminal Sam Antar, a panel on sovereign debt with Lee Buchheit and Brad Setser, and a discussion on MMT with Stephanie Kelton. We even had a surprise guest, SPY kid Kevin McGrath, not to mention two musical acts: country-singing economist Merle Hazard and a performance by Joe himself. Be sure to check out videos from the event on Bloomberg's Markets and Finance channel on YouTube. 

After last weekend’s deadly mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, President Trump said Friday morning he and Congressional Republicans intend to do something on gun background checks. He said Mitch McConnell is even on board. Republican strategists told the Washington Post they’re concerned that gun issues have hurt their ability to win in the suburbs and contributed to their loss of the House in the 2018 midterms. Is there something genuine here? Might Republicans feel compelled to be seen “doing something” about guns? And what kind of regulation or policy might be possible?Then, Jane Coaston of Vox joins the panel to discuss the white nationalist movement and mass shootings, the role of national law enforcement in preventing them, and the possibility of a new law on domestic terrorism.After a dramatic escalation in the trade war with China — it’s now a currency war too — Brad Setser explains why it matters in the United States if the yuan is weakened.Commercial free edition of live broadcast from August 11, 2019 on the Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, online at heartlandnewsfeed.com, Spreaker and other platforms.Listen Live: https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/listenliveFollow us on social mediaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/hlnfradionetworkTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/HLNF_BulletinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartlandnewsfeedMastadon: https://liberdon.com/@heartlandnewsfeedDiscord: https://discord.gg/6b6u6DTSupport us with your financial supportStreamlabs: https://streamlabs.com/heartlandmediaPayPal: https://www.paypal.me/heartlandmediaSquare Cash: https://cash.app/$heartlandnewsfeedPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/heartlandnewsfeedCrypto via 1UpCoin: https://1upcoin.com/donate/heartlandmedia

Mike Mayo, Senior Banking Analyst for Wells Fargo Securities, on his market moving note on how banks are poised to "party like its 1995" if rates were cut.  Ken Fisher, Founder, Executive Chairman and Co-CIO of Fisher Investments, on how America is getting funded by Europe and Japan. Mark Shafir, Co-Head Global Mergers & Acquisitions at Citigroup, on cross-border mergers falling to a record low in 2019. Brad Setser, Senior Fellow for International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations and Senior Advisor at Exante Data, on how Trump's trade wars are impacting the global economy. Hosted by Lisa Abramowicz and Paul Sweeney. 

In this episode of our series Rethinking Asia, we spoke with Brad Setser, a Senior Fellow for International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations. Brad also served as the deputy assistant secretary for international economic analysis in the U.S. Treasury and was previously the director for international economics, serving jointly on the staff of the National Economic Council and the National Security Council.    Brad walked us through the evolution and recent trends in cross-border capital flows in Asia. In the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, capital flows were primarily driven by current account surplus countries in Asia, whose governments were investing money abroad to offset appreciatory pressures on their exchange rates. In recent years, however, divergent global interest rates, economic developments, and a search for yield have spawned a complex web of flows across the Pacific. Key takeaways from the discussion with Brad include: Throughout the post-crisis period, Asia has been a net exporter of capital. The bulk of financial outflows arose through a buildup in foreign exchange reserves among Asia’s current account surplus economies, though movement out of Japan was also driven by private investors seeking higher yield in a zero-interest rate environment. Immediately after the crisis, China experienced significant capital inflows. This reflected China’s gradual liberalization of its financial account. Comparably higher interest rates in China led to a growing carry trade, but these inflows reversed sharply in 2015 as the economic outlook deteriorated. In recent years, however, flows have stabilized as China restricted outflows and entered a modest economic recovery. Capital inflows into emerging Asia have generally followed global investors’ interests in emerging market exposure more broadly. While bank flows were a major component of pre-crisis inflows to the region, regulations have changed to limit banks’ short-term and foreign currency exposure compared to the pre-crisis period (though China is a notable exception). Portfolio flows into the region have taken on a greater role post-crisis. Across Asia, financial institutions increased purchases of offshore assets in a search for yield as the Fed began rate normalization. The biggest shift in trend over the past five years has been the rise of private capital flows, assuming the dominant role of official flows immediately post-crisis. The ongoing trade dispute has had a relatively minimal impact on regional capital flows, particularly when compared to the tumultuous effect of China’s exchange rate adjustment in 2015. U.S. tariffs have put downward pressure on the yuan, which in turn put regional currencies under pressure. Rising production costs in China have raised the appeal of neighboring economies, and could lead to rising foreign direct investment in other Southeast Asian nations. Funding mismatches among the Asian financial institutions is a growing vulnerability. In particular, growing dollar balance sheets in Asia have become an important source of funding for the U.S. economy and recall the experience of European banks pre-crisis. This risk is mitigated somewhat by large reserves in surplus countries and international swap lines, but the systemic implications of the global network of funding demand greater attention.  The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco or of the Federal Reserve System.

This week, Rett Wallace, the CEO of Triton Research, came on to talk about why he sees almost nothing in Lyft's IPO filing to asses the business and why it could be Snap all over again. Former New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley joined before the FOMC rate decision and said why he thinks tightening may be back in play later this year. Brad Setser, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, joined to discuss why China may be uncomfortable about where trade talks are going with the U.S. Then Eric Larchevêque, CEO of Ledger, came on to talk about blockchain security and their new wallet.

China is front and center in the news again, thanks to the trade negotiations, as well as the National People's Congress, during which the government said it would target GDP growth between 6 and 6.5 percent. Brad Setser of the Council on Foreign Relations joins us to talk about both of these topics, and how they played alongside each other.

Even if the trade talks are settled, long-term friction will remain between China and the United States. China has an industrial policy which will see it strive to make more advanced products, such as aircraft and medical devices. The US wants to keep selling these kinds of high-value manufactured goods to China. It remains a fundamental issue for the two world economic powers. FT Alphaville's Brendan Greeley speaks first with Brad Stetser, the former US Treasury economist and China watcher, and then is joined by Colby Smith to hear from Freya Beamish, China expert at Pantheon Macroeconomics. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Agnès Bénassy-Quéré, Professor at the Paris School of Economics, and Brad Setser, Senior Fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations, discuss whether European governments are being too timid in promoting economic growth, and whether there is a role for central banks in boosting productivity.

Brad Setser is a senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations where he works on macroeconomics, global capital flows, and financial crises. Brad also served as a deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department from 2011 to 2015 where he worked on Europe’s financial crisis, currency policy, financial sanctions, commodity shocks, and Puerto Rico’s debt crisis. Brad joins the show today to talk about global economic imbalances and why we should care about them. David and Brad also discuss emerging market tensions in Turkey, the implications of running current account deficits, and the economic dangers accompanying the existence of a monetary superpower. Brad’s blog: https://www.cfr.org/blog/Setser Brad’s Twitter: @Brad_Setser Related Links: *Putin’s Unlikely Ally in His Standoff With the West: His Central Banker* by Anatoly Kurmanaev https://www.wsj.com/articles/putins-unlikely-ally-in-his-standoff-with-the-west-his-central-banker-1534773380 *Exchange Arrangements Entering the 21st Century: Which Anchor Will Hold?* by Ethan Ilzetzki, Carmen Reinhart, & Kenneth Rogoff http://www.nber.org/papers/w23134 David’s blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth Want to get your hands on a signed copy of Tyler Cowen’s new book Stubborn Attachments before it hits bookstores on October 16th? Rate and review your favorite Mercatus podcast, including Macro Musings, Conversations with Tyler, the Hayek Program Podcast, or the Mercatus Policy Download on Apple Podcasts and you’ll be entered to win: get.mercatus.org/podcastcontest/

Brad Setser, Senior Fellow for International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, on the latest tariffs push in the Trump/China trade war.  Denise Chisholm, Sector Strategist at Fidelity, on outlook for markets and sector analysis.  Kyle Stock, senior correspondent for Bloomberg, on how self-driving cars can't handle rain, sleet or snow.   Dr. Ellen Wald, energy analyst and President of Transversal Consulting, and Toby Harshaw, Bloomberg Opinion editor, on oil byproduct loopholes in the Iran sanctions before they hit in November. 

Bruegel director Guntram Wolff welcomes Brad Setser, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and Jean Pisani-Ferry, mercator senior fellow at Bruegel, to discuss the deterioration of Turkey's economy. Although a recent souring of relations with the US has provided the immediate prompt for Turkey's current crisis, the country's underlying economic malaise is more deeply rooted.  Headlines have tracked the plummeting value of the lira, while the trust of external investors has been challenged by recent policy decisions. Though Turkey's case bears some of the hallmarks of a textbook emerging-market meltdown, there are key divergences. Meanwhile, President Erdogan's previous refutation of IMF policy recommendation does not bode well for potential assistance in the event that Turkey needs help brokering extension agreements with its creditors.  In conversation with Brad Setser, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and Jean Pisani-Ferry, Mercator senior fellow at Bruegel, Guntram Wolff assesses not only the nature of the crisis in Turkey but how the country might navigate its way back to safer economic waters. For further reading, consider the recent blog post written by Grégory Claeys and Guntram Wolff discussing how the EU might respond to the currency crisis unfolding in Turkey, including options for the EU to help Turkey in the absence of any agreed IMF assistance programme.

John Kilduff, Founding Partner of Again Capital, on why oil prices are on the way down. Joseph Abboud, designer and Chief Creative Director of Men’s Wearhouse, on growth, manufacturing in the U.S., and how tariffs could impact the apparel industry.Brad Setser, senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, on the US-China trade war. Scott Lawlor, CEO of Waypoint Residential, on the real estate cycle and housing trends.

Recent threats to impose tariffs on Chinese goods, coupled with China's own retaliatory announcements have raised the prospects of a trade war between the world's two biggest economies. But what is a trade war, and what would be the economic ramifications if there were one? Brad Setser, the Steven A. Tananbaum senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins us on this week’s Odd Lots to help answer those questions. Brad has been writing about trade issues for many years, and explains what exactly we're seeing now, how the current trade actions differ from standard moves on trade, and where ultimately all these actions might go. 

Puerto Rico and Mexico provide the central locales for the main themes this week on Latin Pulse. The program analyzes a proposal before the U.S. Congress to help Puerto Rico survive its debt crisis. But the proposal includes a fiscal control board that can supersede the powers of Puerto Rico's government, a provision that some find controversial. The program also includes a wide ranging discussion of corruption, politics and diplomacy with Mexico. The news segment of the program covers the outcome of the presidential elections in the Dominican Republic and the re-election of President Danilo Medina.The program includes in-depth interviews with:Brad Setser of the Council on Foreign Relations; andShannon O'Neil of the Council on Foreign Relations. Executive Producer: Rick Rockwell; Technical Director: Jim Singer; and Production Assistant: Chorsie Martin. (To download or stream this podcast, click here.)   (The program is 30 minutes in length and the file size is 42 MB.) podcastnewsLatin AmericapoliticsMexicocorruptionelectionsdiplomacyeconomicsPuerto Ricodebt crisisfinanceoilChinaDominican RepublicDanilo MedinaOASjusticetradeimmigrationeducationviolenceinfrastructureOrganization of American StatesAlejandro Garcia PadillaU.S. CongressUnited StatesDonald TrumpHillary Clinton

At the 2007 Realcomm Conference in Boston, I interviewed more than 60 of the smartest people in the real estate industry over a two day period. I captured their insights and experience on how technology is affecting the commercial real estate industry.