Podcasts about bruegel

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with renowned economists Barry Eichengreen and Lucrezia Reichlin to discuss the past, present and future of money. Will the dollar remain the world's global currency? How should we think about the euro and the renminbi? What about stablecoins? Eichengreen discusses current risks in the context of his new book Money beyond borders : global currencies from Croesus to crypto. Reichlin discusses Bruegel's new paper, prepared for the 22-23 May 2026 informal meeting of European Union economic and finance ministers, which proposes allowing stablecoin issuers to pay interest and to have access to central bank reserves. As ministers gather in Cyprus, which currently holds the European Council presidency and was the birthplace of coined money in the 6th century BCE, we talk about how money came to be, where its risks lie and how to make the best use of it going forward.Related research: Reichlin, L., B. Sangers and J. Zettelmeyer (2025) ‘A new strategy to contain stablecoin risks in the European Union', Policy Brief 09/2026, Bruegel Reichlin, L. (2025) 'The European Union should embrace decentralised finance and make it safe', Analysis 40/2025, Bruegel Eichengreen, B. J. (2026) 'Money beyond borders : global currencies from Croesus to crypto.' Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press

Tại thượng đỉnh Bắc Kinh, Donald Trump và Tập Cận Bình đã bắt đầu chuẩn bị cho giai đoạn « hậu chiến tranh thương mại Mỹ-Trung ». Tổng thống Hoa Kỳ luôn lấy những cơ hội kinh doanh làm kim chỉ nam để điều hành đất nước. Chủ tịch Tập Cận Bình quan niệm Trung Quốc « không có bất kỳ một lợi ích nào trong mọi cuộc xung đột, kể cả xung đột thương mại ». Bắc Kinh cần dưỡng sức cho một cuộc song đấu khác. Nhiều chuyên gia Pháp đánh giá như trên sau cuộc tái ngộ giữa lãnh đạo hai siêu cường kinh tế thế giới từ hôm 13 đến 15/05/2026. Một phái đoàn hùng hậu gần hai chục doanh nhân hàng đầu của Mỹ đã tháp tùng tổng thống Trump đến Bắc Kinh. Không ít trong số đó là những người giàu nhất hành tinh, như Elon Musk sáng lập viên hãng ô tô điện Tesla, người từng được chính chủ tịch Trung Quốc tiếp đón. Bên cạnh đó là rất nhiều ông vua công nghệ cao như Apple, Meta, Qualcomm, Nvidia.., là những lãnh đạo các quỹ đầu tư trị giá hàng ngàn tỷ đô la như Blackrock hay Goldman Sachs, và cả những tên tuổi hàng đầu tiêu biểu nhất của nền công nghiệp Hoa Kỳ như tổng giám đốc Boeing. Phần lớn trong số này là những đối tác lâu đời của Trung Quốc. Trước mặt lãnh đạo Trung Quốc, tổng thống Trump khoe : « Chúng tôi có đội ngũ doanh nhân hùng hậu nhất, giỏi nhất và cũng là những doanh nhân hàng đầu thế giới ». Đáp lời nguyên thủ Mỹ chủ tịch Tập Cận Bình nói ông « hoàn toàn tin tưởng những cơ hội tốt hơn đối với các doanh nghiệp Mỹ là tại Trung Quốc ».  Do vậy, giới quan sát cho rằng, với phái đoàn đông đảo các doanh nhân Mỹ như vậy, ông Trump vừa khéo léo nhắc nhở vị chủ nhà về thế thượng phong của Hoa Kỳ trong nhiều lĩnh vực then chốt, vừa để ngỏ cơ hội hợp tác hai chiều. Tổng thống Trump không đến Bắc Kinh để mở ra một chương mới trong chiến tranh thương mại với Trung Quốc. Nhưng điều đó không có nghĩa là căng thẳng song phương sắp được khép lại, bởi vì chiến tranh thương mại Mỹ -Trung chỉ là bề nổi của tảng băng. Cuộc chiến đó cũng có thể là sắp kết thúc để nhường chỗ cho một đối đầu khác khốc liệt hơn. Đó là chiến tranh công nghệ. Nhưng ngay cả về điểm này, bài toán cũng không đơn giản cho cả hai phía. Một sự phụ thuộc « chết người » Điểm qua « tương quan lực lượng » của mỗi bên trên mặt trận « công nghệ » đặc biệt là về trí tuệ nhân tạo, kinh tế gia Alicia García Herrero thuộc trung tâm nghiên cứu Bruegel, trụ sở tại Bruxelles, trong một bài tham luận trên tạp chí Le Grand Continent lưu ý Trung Quốc không « lẹt đẹt » theo sau Hoa Kỳ, Trung Quốc lại vừa có phương tiện tài chính để đầu tư như Mỹ, thậm chí là còn hơn cả Mỹ. Trung Quốc lại nắm giữ một vũ khí vô cùng lợi hại là các khoáng sản chiến lược và kim loại hiếm.  Ở phía đài bên kia, Hoa Kỳ vẫn còn đi trước đối thủ châu Á này vài bước về công nghệ chế tạo chip điện tử, đặc biệt là những loại tiên tiến nhất một phần do tập đoàn Nvidia chế tạo. Có điều « khoảng cách của Mỹ trước Trung Quốc đang được thu hẹp lại ». Để làm chủ cuộc cách mạng về trí thông minh nhân tạo, Mỹ và Trung Quốc đang phụ thuộc vào nhau. Theo quan điểm của bà Alicia García Herrero, trên mặt trận này, Bắc Kinh và Washington mỗi bên « nắm giữ một nửa chìa khóa » của thành công. Do vậy, có lẽ đôi bên đang cân nhắc khả năng hợp tác trong một chừng mực nào đó, ít ra là trong ngắn hạn. Chính ở điểm này, chủ tịch Trung Quốc Tập Cận Bình có lẽ đã thành thật khi tuyên bố : « Những lợi ích chung của Trung Quốc và Hoa Kỳ lấn át những bất đồng giữa hai nước. Thành công của mỗi bên là cơ hội cho phía bên kia. Một mối quan hệ ổn định giữa hai quốc gia có lợi cho toàn thế giới ». Biến lợi thế của mình thành vũ khí Như trong nhiều lĩnh vực khác, Mỹ và Trung Quốc vừa là đối thủ của nhau, nhưng lại rất cần đến nhau. Vẫn Alicia García Herrero cho rằng ở thời điểm này Hoa Kỳ và Trung Quốc cùng đang muốn khai thác tối đa lợi thế của mình với đối phương. Lãnh đạo hai nước ý thực được là mỗi bên cần « tạm ngừng chiến » để cho dưỡng sức cho một cuộc đấu dài hơi, đồng thời cũng là để khai thác tối đa những lợi thế đã có, biến chúng thành những vũ khí lợi hại nhất để nhắm vào đối phương. Có điều, do mức độ phụ thuộc vào nhau qua lớn, không một bên nào dám « nổ phát súng đầu tiên » Tại thượng đỉnh tuần trước, ông Tập Cận Bình và Donald Trump chủ yếu tìm kế hoãn binh và cứu vãn thể diện qua hàng loạt những cam kết rất mơ hồ về thiện chí thương mại, hay để ngỏ khả năng mời các nhà đầu tư của đối phương vào hoạt động. Nhà nghiên cứu thuộc viện Bruegel cho rằng đây cũng là cơ hội để đôi bên trình bày rõ với đối phương về những giới hạn tối đa mà mỗi bên có thể chấp nhận được. Đối với phía ông Tập Cận Bình, trước sau như một : lằn rănh đỏ của Bắc Kinh vẫn là Đài Loan. Về phía Washington, đang lúng túng về chiến tranh Trung Đông, giới hạn sau cùng trong mắt tổng thống Trump là Trung Quốc tuyệt đối không được tiếp sức cho Iran về quân sự. Trên đài truyền hình Pháp France5 giáo sư kinh tế Mary Fraçoise Renard, đại học Clermont Ferrand-Auverge trước hết phân tích về quan điểm của Bắc Kinh vào lúc mà Trung Quốc bất đắc dĩ bị tình hình ở eo biển Hormuz đe dọa tăng trưởng.   « Trung Quốc không có bất kỳ một lợi ích nào trong mọi xung đột, dù là với Đài Loan hay bất kỳ một quốc gia nào khác, về thương mại cũng vậy. Hơn nữa chúng ta thấy Bắc Kinh không dấn thân vào bất kỳ một cuộc chiến nào, ngay cả khi một nước bạn của Trung Quốc bị tấn công, như trong trường hợp với Iran. Có điều về Trung Đông, ông Tập Cận Bình muốn là Mỹ thay đổi thái độ nhưng đương nhiên kịch bản đó sẽ không xảy ra. Cho nên về hình thức, thì hai nhà lãnh đạo Trump-Tập đúng là đã đề cập đến một số vấn đề, nhưng về thực chất, thì không có gì thay đổi cả mà đó mới chính là điều quan trọng nhất được ghi nhận sau chuyến công du Bắc Kinh của nguyên thủ Mỹ vừa qua (…) Trung Quốc là khách hàng số 1 của Iran, nhưng Bắc Kinh đã đa dạng hóa các nguồn cung cấp và các đối tác thương mại. Từ nhiều năm qua, kinh tế Trung Quốc đã bớt phụ thuộc vào năng lượng hóa thạch. Bắc Kinh đồng thời lại xây dựng một kho dự trữ năng lượng khá tốt. Nếu như chiến tranh kéo dài thì các nguồn dự trữ đó đương nhiên mai một. Nhưng trước mắt thì tình huống không quá tệ đối với Bắc Kinh, nhất là khi mà Mỹ đang sa lầy … Tổng thống Mỹ sợ lạm phát, ông Tập Cận Bình thì không, bởi vì Trung Quốc đang trong tình trạng giảm phát. Có điều là xung đột ở Trung Đông ảnh hưởng đến cả kinh tế của Mỹ lẫn Liên Âu, đó là hai thị trường xuất khẩu lớn đối với Trung Quốc mà xuất khẩu là động lực của tăng trưởng kinh tế Trung Quốc. Hiện tại tổng kim ngạch xuất khẩu của nước này năm 2025 là 1200 tỷ đô la, mức cao nhất từ sau Thế Chiến Thứ Hai đến nay ».  Mục đích tránh để đối phương « trở mặt »  Giáo sư kinh tế Mary Françoise Renard, đại học Clermont Ferrand-Auvergne điểm lại quan hệ đầy sóng gió giữa hai siêu cường kinh tế thế giới từ khi tổng thống Trump lên cầm quyền từ nhiệm kỳ đầu. Bà đồng thời nhấn mạnh rằng, đôi bên cùng hiểu rõ người đối phương và cần bảo đảm rằng, sẽ không bị phía bên kia « trở mặt ». « Hiện tại Mỹ đánh thuế 10 % vào hàng Trung Quốc, bên cạnh đó thì cũng có những thông báo là thuế hải quan được ấn định ở mức 24 % rồi biện pháp đó lại bị đình chỉ cho đến tháng 11 năm nay. Thành thử đôi bên còn có nhiều điều để mặc cả với nhau. Phía Bắc Kinh đã gián tiếp để ngỏ khả năng là có thể chấp nhận mức thuế tối đa là 10 %. Nhưng nói thật, là 10 % thuế hải quan đánh vào những mặt hàng thông dụng thì cũng không có lợi gì cho các hãng của Mỹ. Thành thử thượng đỉnh lần này Bắc Kinh tập trung vào hồi kết của một cuộc chiến thương mại, với những bảo đảm là đó phải là một thỏa thuận vững chắc, để rồi chính quyền Trump không trở mặt. Còn về phía phái đoàn Mỹ thì đã yêu cầu Trung Quốc cam kết không dùng đất hiếm như một công cụ để gây áp lực với Washington. Không chắc phía ông Tập sẽ thỏa mãn đòi hỏi này. Ngoài ra, phái đoàn Trump cũng đòi Trung Quốc mua nhiều hơn nông phẩm và máy bay của Hoa Kỳ. Hãng Boeing đã phải trả giá đắt vì chiến tranh thương mại Mỹ - Trung (…)   Nhân thượng đỉnh lần này, hai bên đã đề cập đến các khoản đầu tư hai chiều. Về phía Mỹ, các doanh nghiệp đều muốn có thể đầu tư mà không bị các quy định quá trói buộc. Lãnh đạo các tập đoàn Hoa Kỳ tháp tùng tổng thống Trump đến Bắc Kinh lần này đều muốn biết rõ chính sách đầu tư của Trung Quốc đối với các doanh nhân Mỹ.  Công nghệ là một vế then chốt trong đối thoại song phương, mà về điểm này, thì Washington đã cấm xuất khẩu sang Trung Quốc một số chip điện tử cao cấp nhất do tập đoàn Nvida sản xuất. Nhưng Nhà Trắng thường xuyên thay đổi chính sách. Cho nên cả Bắc Kinh lẫn Nvidia cùng muốn được bảo đảm là đôi bên có thể làm ăn với nhau. Trung Quốc cần một số các thiết bị của Hoa Kỳ và ông Trump đã cấm xuất khẩu một số sản phẩm sang Hoa Lục, đồng thời cấm khoảng 1000 doanh nghiệp Mỹ giao dịch với Trung Quốc » Thượng đỉnh Bắc Kinh lần này một lần nữa cho thấy, về kinh tế, thương mại, Mỹ cũng như Trung Quốc đang cần một « lệnh hưu chiến ». Đôi bên cùng muốn tránh để tình hình vượt ngoài tầm kiểm soát và trong khi chờ đợi, hai nhà lãnh đạo Donald Trump, Tập Cận Bình đều muốn tạm thời tìm ra một thỏa hiệp. Bắc Kinh không thể hy sinh thêm tăng trưởng kinh tế, còn Washington thì phải chuẩn bị đối phó với cuộc bầu cử lập pháp giữa kỳ vào tháng 11/2026. Điều đó không cấm cản, Mỹ cũng như Trung Quốc có thể đưa ra nhiều hứa hẹn nhưng rồi những cam kết đó sẽ chẳng được thực hiện là bao. 

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie speaks with European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, Bruegel Director Jeromin Zettelmeyer and research fellow Anne Bucher about how to make the European Union work better. Ukraine, Bruegel's newest state member, will soon receive more financial support but needs Europe to keep up its sanctions on Russia. How will the enlargement process shape relations between Kyiv and its neighbours? Closer to home, how should the Brussels institutions tackle simplification and deregulation? Can the European Commission do a better job with impact assessments to manage the costs and trade-offs of its policies? Does the EU need tougher enforcement against national gold-plating? As member states and the European Parliament put their stamp on, and add complexity to, new legislation, policymakers must find the political will to make the system work. Relevant research: Bucher, A. and E. Golberg (2026) ‘Better regulation in the European Union needs a fresh start,' Policy Brief 01/2026, Bruegel. European Commission (2026) 'A Simpler, Clearer and Better Enforced EU Rulebook', Communication, 28 April 2026. Zettelmeyer, J. (2025) 'Draghi on a shoestring: the European Commission's Competitiveness Compass', Analysis 02/2025, Bruegel.

 In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie talks about the defence industry with Bruegel's Guntram Wolff and journalist Sharon Weinberger, author of the books Imaginary Weapons, The Imagineers of War and the forthcoming Valley of Death. What defence systems are Europe and the US buying? Are countries like Poland and the Baltic states re-inventing how the EU approaches joint defence? How is the defence industry structured and what have been the major changes of the past 20 years? Does Europe really need its own DARPA – the US defence innovation agency? What is the future of joint procurement and how should public policy act? With ongoing wars in Ukraine and Iran, as well as heightened uncertainty in Asia and around the world, these questions are back in the spotlight. Relevant research: Becht, M., J. Mejino-López and G. Wolff (2026) 'Who controls the defence industry?', Working Paper 08/2026, Bruegel Kapstein, E., J. Ospital and G. Wolff (2026) ‘Reforming European defence procurement to boost military innovation and startups', Policy Brief 04/2026, Bruegel Weinberger, S., 'Washington Rewrites the Rules of Funding Technological Innovation', The Wall Street Journal, 20 April 2026 Weinberger, S. (2026) Valley of Death: How Big Tech is the Future of War, Little, Brown and Company

The news of Texas covered today includes:Our Lone Star story of the day: Election notes: Republican Brett Ligon easily wins the special election for Texas Senate District 4. Lubbock re-elects McBrayer mayor by 70%. An Obama Marxist organizer got over 40% of the vote in Lubbock's District 3 (Bruegel won it with 54%) Abilene has a runoff for city council Place 4 between Tammy Fogle and Benjamin Bailey. (Fogle is a friend of the show.) Dallas ISD voters pass $6.2 billion in bond debt on themselves Fort Worth voters double mayor and council member salaries Texas Supreme Court further humiliates Lubbock Co.'s Bowtie Bully Curtis Parrish. National Democrats are making moves in TX15 and TX35. Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.Anti-Wimp update: Driver saves women & children, shoots carjacker in Garland.Texas wins again, this time its a “triple crown”: Texas Wins 2026 Prosperity Cup As Top State For Job-Creating Business Investment.Some bad news on the pro-life front today: Supreme Court temporarily restores access to abortion pill mifepristone through telehealth, mail and pharmacies. Pro-Choicers recognize that abortion is too evil to even describe; watch Rep. Brandon Gill in action.Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates.www.PrattonTexas.com

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie talks about sustainable finance with Bruegel's Silvia Merler and Dirk Schoenmaker. How will markets adjust to the European Union's new disclosure framework, watered down by an 'omnibus' simplification package. Is it really simpler? Who is using the new disclosures and how could clearer rules attract more investment? How can the EU manage the creative destruction of transition and minimise the risk of stranded assets? They also discuss how United States asset managers invest and how they cast their governance votes. Should the European Central Bank offer a separate interest rate for finance linked to the energy transition? How do green bonds, sustainability-linked bonds and transition finance work in the market? For sustainable finance to reach its potential, the EU will need to improve its capital markets generally and find ways to make its disclosure framework more practical and internationally viable.Relevant research: Merler, S. (2025) ‘How to improve the European Union's sustainable finance framework', Policy Brief 05/2025, Bruegel. Merler, S. (2025a) 'Streamlining or hollowing out? The implications of the Omnibus package for sustainable finance', First Glance, 03 March, Bruegel. Schoenmaker, D. (2026) 'Risks for Europe of US dominance of global asset management', Policy Brief 07/2026, Bruegel.

Max and Donatienne cover two seismic European election results: Hungary's stunning rejection of Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power, and Bulgaria's eighth election in five years. Then, they turn to Max's conversation with Ben McWilliams, affiliate fellow at Bruegel, on the energy fallout from the Iran war. (00:00) Intro (00:53) Hungary election results  (15:31) Bulgaria election results  (18:22) Ben McWilliams    Learn more: Russian Roulette | CSIS Podcasts Europe Needs Bold Economic Action in the Face of the Iran Shock What Is at Stake in Hungary's Election?

As all eyes remain on Iran, the US and the Strait of Hormuz, the global repercussions of the Iran war are becoming ever more evident. Food is an issue slowly hitting many parts: fertilisers are by products of fossil fuels, and the blocked Strait will constrain sowing seasons around the world. As regards the fuels themselves, many airlines are cutting flights as jet fuel supply is becoming a real problem.Asia has been particularly hard hit by the war, with some 20% of its needs imported from the Gulf states. Europe imports far less, but the global shortage of oil and LNG has sent prices skyrocketing, while stocks are rapidly diminishing. At the same time, these economic hits are also pushing states in Asia and the EU to rethink their geostrategic interests in a collapsing world order, seeking to balance an ever more unpredictable - and vindictive - US with China and potentially other new alliances.Shihoko Goto is the Vice President of Programs and Director of the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), and a fascinating expert on all things Asia. Rebecca Christie is Senior Fellow at Bruegel and an expert with great insights into the economic aspects of the EU. They join Ilana Bet-El in this great conversation really unpacks these and many other implications of the war in Iran - in Europe, Asia and across the globe.This episode was recorded on 22 April 2026ChaptersImpact of the war on Asia's economiesWhat are the geostrategic shifts in Asia and Europe?The role of the US in global energy dynamicsAsia-Europe cooperation in an instable worldChina's long game in global politicsMentionsThe Sound of Economics - Rebecca's podcastZhōngHuá Mundus - Bruegel's podcast on China economyIran Energy and Indo-Pacific Realignment - FPRIThe Forces of Scarcity Hitting Asia May Soon Spread Across the World - The NewYork TimesFollowShihoko Goto LinkedIn & Foreign Policy Research Institute webpageRebecca Christie LinkedIn, X/Twitter, Bluesky, Bruegel pageIlana Bet-ElInstagram @women_leaders_podcastListen this episode on our YouTube channelOur partner European Leadership Network Twitter LinkedIn Facebook websiteCreditsProduction: Florence FerrandoMusic: Let Good Times Roll, RA from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/let-good-times-roll License code: ZXIIIJUU2ISPZIJTContribute to the conversation with a comment & a 5-⭐️Reach us on our Instagram and follow for updates @women_leaders_podcastWatch now our episode on Youtube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan and Alicia García-Herrero sit down with Isabelle Mejean and Vincent Vicard to present their study on Chinese trade deflection, a chapter in the 2026 edition of the Paris Report, a CEPR-Bruegel initiative. They discuss the scale and speed of this redirection, what the European Union can do about it and the bigger structural problem facing European industry.Relevant research:Emlinger, C, I Mejean, K Lefebvre and V Vicard (2026), ‘EU under pressure? Exploring Chinese trade deflection‘, in Rey, H, B Weder di Mauro and J Zettelmeyer (eds), Paris Report 4: The New Global Imbalances, CEPR Press, Paris & London.  This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound of Economics. ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel, bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from Europe. Sign up now to receive it in your mailbox!

In 2003, Premier Wen Jiabao warned that China's growth model was unbalanced between supply and demand, over-reliant on investment and exports. More than 20 years later, the imbalance is smaller — but China is vastly larger. What its economy produces and exports now moves global markets. The argument about China's external surplus is no longer just a spat between Beijing and Washington.Yiping Huang, Dean of the National School of Development at Peking University, has written a chapter in the fourth Paris Report, published jointly by CEPR and Bruegel, examining China's structural imbalances from the inside. His argument: the same policies that powered 45 years of growth also suppressed household income and consumption. Factor market distortions, especially artificially low interest rates, kept the cost of capital down and subsidised state-owned enterprises; decentralised GDP-target competition pushed local governments toward investment and industrial expansion rather than services and household support.The result was a powerful supply side with a persistently weak domestic demand side. When you produce more than you can sell at home and you are a small economy, you export the rest. When you are the world's second largest economy, the world notices. China's consumption share of GDP rose from around 50% in 2010 to 57% in 2024, still well below the mid-seventies average of comparable economies, and two fresh crises complicate the path. The property market has been contracting since mid-2021 and it is now a drag on local government finances, household wealth, and bank balance sheets. Local government subsidies have created overcapacity in new industries such as electric vehicles and batteries. Huang's conclusion is that rebalancing is necessary and achievable, but it requires the government stepping back from direct resource allocation, the private sector and market taking on larger roles in innovation, and a significant strengthening of social protection to give households both the income and the confidence to spend.The report discussed in this series of episodes:Rey, Hélène, Beatrice Weder di Mauro, and Jeromin Zettelmeyer (eds). 2026. The New Global Imbalances. Paris Report 4. CEPR Press and Bruegel. Free to download at cepr.org.The chapter discussed in this episode:Huang, Yiping. 2026. "Rebalancing of the Chinese economy: Challenges and policy options." In Rey, Weder di Mauro, and Zettelmeyer (eds), The New Global Imbalances. Paris Report 4. CEPR Press and Bruegel. To cite this episode:Phillips, Tim, and Yiping Huang. 2026. “Rebalancing the Chinese Economy”. VoxTalks Economics (podcast).Assign this as extra listening. The citation above is formatted and ready for a reading list or VLE.About Paris Report 4The fourth Paris Report, The New Global Imbalances, is a joint publication of CEPR and Bruegel. It was edited by Hélène Rey (London Business School and CEPR), Beatrice Weder di Mauro (Geneva Graduate Institute and CEPR, and President of CEPR), and Jeromin Zettelmeyer (Bruegel and CEPR). The report examines how, in a high-debt and fragmented world, excess savings, rising surpluses, and rising deficits pose a risk to stability and undermine the global trading system. It is free to download at cepr.org.About the guestYiping Huang is Dean of the National School of Development at Peking University. [verify URL before publishing] He is one of China's leading macroeconomists, with research spanning China's economic transition, financial reform, and the political economy of development. He has advised Chinese policymakers and international institutions including the IMF and the Asian Development Bank on issues of growth, financial reform, and structural change.Research cited in this episodeAsymmetric liberalization is Yiping Huang's term for the approach China took when reforming its economy from the 1980s onward. Rather than the shock therapy adopted by former Soviet economies — privatising state-owned enterprises overnight and hoping markets would fill the gap — China used a dual-track approach. It opened the economy to private firms and foreign investors while maintaining state-owned enterprises in parallel, accepting some inefficiency in exchange for stability in output, employment, and growth. To subsidise the SOEs without direct fiscal transfers, the government kept factor markets, particularly financial markets, partially distorted: deposit and lending rates were held below market-clearing levels, reducing funding costs and effectively transferring income from savers and households to producers. The result was a very strong supply side and a structurally weak domestic demand side, which Huang identifies as the root cause of China's persistent external surpluses.Involution (Chinese: 内卷, nèijuǎn) is a term in wide use in China to describe a particular form of competitive overextension: effort that intensifies without producing proportional gains in quality, efficiency, or welfare. In the economic policy context Huang uses it, involution refers to the overcapacity problem in China's newer industries, including electric vehicles, batteries, and solar panels. Local governments, motivated by GDP targets and decentralised competition, have subsidised capacity expansion in these sectors without requiring corresponding advances in technology or product quality. The result is high-volume, low-margin competition that can suppress prices globally while leaving firms unable to earn sustainable returns domestically. Huang distinguishes this from the property market crisis, which has a different structure and cause.New quality productive forces is the term used in China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026 to 2030) to describe the supply-side transformation the government is aiming for: a shift away from labour-intensive, low-value-added manufacturing toward high-technology, innovation-driven sectors. It reflects the recognition that the industries China dominated in its first decades of reform — low-cost assembly, commodity manufacturing — are no longer competitive given rising domestic wages and costs, and that the next stage of growth has to be driven by productivity and technology rather than factor accumulation.The 15th Five-Year Plan (2026 to 2030) is China's current medium-term planning document. Huang identifies two key anchors: the development of new quality productive forces on the supply side, and a shift toward domestic demand — particularly private consumption — on the demand side. The plan signals a different role for government, more focused on providing social infrastructure, basic research, and protection for households, and less focused on direct resource allocation and industrial project selection. Huang describes the two anchors as a circuit: if supply-side innovation and demand-side consumption can be connected efficiently, the Chinese economy can sustain growth for much longer without relying on external demand.The Japan comparison is used by Huang to set expectations for China's consumption rebalancing. Japan's private consumption share of GDP was at its lowest in 1970 and did not reach the average of comparable advanced economies — around the mid-seventies — until around 2010: a process of roughly forty years. China's consumption share is currently around fifty-seven percent, still well below that average. Huang acknowledges the parallel but expresses hope that China can close the gap faster than Japan did; the point of the comparison is that raising household consumption is a structural, decades-long process, not a policy lever that can be pulled in a single plan cycle. It requires sustained growth in household income and improvement in the social safety net to reduce precautionary saving.China's current account surplus peaked at 9.8% of GDP in 2007, immediately before the global financial crisis. Huang notes that significant adjustment has already taken place: the average surplus between 2018 and the mid-2020s was below two percent of GDP, and the investment share of GDP fell from a peak of forty-seven percent in 2011 to forty-one percent in 2024. The surplus rose to 3.7% of GDP in 2024 partly as a result of weak domestic demand following the property market correction. Huang's argument is that the external imbalance and the internal consumption shortfall are the same problem viewed from different angles; fixing one requires fixing the other.More VoxTalks Economics episodesThis is the third episode in our series on Paris Report 4. In the first episode, Maurice Obstfeld of the Peterson Institute for International Economics examines the history of global imbalances and what previous episodes can teach today's policymakers. In the second episode, Gilles Moëc, Chief Economist at AXA, explains why the US government is so keen to promote stablecoins and the risks they may pose to the financial system.For an interview with two of the report's editors, Beatrice Weder di Mauro and Jeromin Zettelmeyer, on the problem of global imbalances, listen to The Sound of Economics, Bruegel's podcast. Available at bruegel.org.

Defending democracy ... The slogan of left-leaning world leaders in Spain meeting to counter the growing influence of the far right. Meanwhile in Italy, right-wing figures aim to build momentum. So, who will shape the global agenda? In this episode: Ruth Ferrero-Turrion, Professor, Political Science, Complutense University of Madrid. Georgios Samaras, Assistant Professor, Public Policy, King's College London. Rebecca Christie, Senior Fellow, Bruegel. Host: Tom McRae Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

In this special episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie speaks with Bruegel's Zsolt Darvas and Heather Grabbe about the historic Hungarian election of April 2026. Péter Magyar and his TISZA party won in a landslide over the Fidesz party and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has been in power for the past 16 years and changed the course of the European Union. Can Hungary unlock its EU funds and stay within its budget guardrails? What about the energy sector? Will the new government be more transparent about contracts with ties to Chinese and Russian investment? Is Hungary's outlook on Ukraine likely to change? Will Hungary ever join the euro? How will the winners put together a new government to carry out their campaign promises? The discussion covers all this and more after nearly 80% of Hungarian voters went to the polls.  Related research: Darvas, Z. (2026) ‘Hungary's new beginning – under tight fiscal constraints', First Glance,13 April, Bruegel. Darvas, Z. (2019) 'With or without you: are central European countries ready for the euro?', Policy Contribution 12/2019, Bruegel.  Grabbe, H., J. Pisani-Ferry and J. Zettelmeyer (2025) ‘Updated assessment: Memos to the commissioners responsible for EU foreign, enlargement, and partnerships policies', First Glance, 30 January, Bruegel. 'Hungary's revived euro adoption prospects', Finance Focus Event, 06 May 2026 with Júlia Király and Nicolas Véron, Bruegel. 

A radical macroeconomic experiment is under way at exactly the moment the US external position is showing signs of real stress.Gilles Moëc, Chief Economist at AXA, has written a chapter in the fourth Paris Report, published jointly by CEPR and Bruegel, on stablecoins: what they are, why the US government is so keen to promote them, and what risks they carry. His argument is that stablecoins are a fast-growing digital asset backed almost entirely by short-dated US government debt. When investors buy a dollar stablecoin, they are effectively buying into a US T-bill at zero interest; the platform keeps the yield. The US government likes this because it draws global savings into dollar assets at minimal cost, extending the dollar's reach and helping fund the deficit. But the regulatory framework has a three-year grace period and leaves supervision partly to the states, which compete to attract platforms. And there's the historical parallel: find out how the National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864 give us an insight into the attraction, and risks, of using stablecoins in this way.The report discussed in this series of episodes:Rey, Hélène, Beatrice Weder di Mauro, and Jeromin Zettelmeyer (eds). 2026. The New Global Imbalances. Paris Report 4. CEPR Press and Bruegel. Free to download at cepr.org.The chapter discussed in this episode:Moëc, Gilles. 2026. "Stablecoins and global imbalances: Attempting to preserve the US exorbitant privilege." In Rey, Weder di Mauro, and Zettelmeyer (eds), The New Global Imbalances. Paris Report 4. CEPR Press and Bruegel. Chapter 9, p. 210.To cite this episode:Phillips, Tim, and Gilles Moëc. 2026. "Stablecoins and Global Imbalances." VoxTalks Economics (podcast). Assign this as extra listening. The citation above is formatted and ready for a reading list or VLE.About Paris Report 4The fourth Paris Report, The New Global Imbalances, is a joint publication of CEPR and Bruegel. It was edited by Hélène Rey (London Business School and CEPR), Beatrice Weder di Mauro (Geneva Graduate Institute and CEPR, and President of CEPR), and Jeromin Zettelmeyer (Bruegel and CEPR). The report examines how, in a high-debt and fragmented world, excess savings, rising surpluses, and rising deficits pose a risk to stability and undermine the global trading system. It is free to download at cepr.org.About the guestGilles Moëc is Chief Economist at AXA and Head of AXA Research. He previously held senior roles at in the French civil service, Banque de France, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. His research covers macroeconomics, monetary policy, and the European economy.Research cited in this episodeStablecoins are privately issued digital tokens whose value is pegged to an existing fiat currency, typically the dollar, and backed by safe and liquid assets, typically short-dated US Treasury bills. Unlike most cryptocurrencies, they are designed to maintain a stable exchange rate with the pegged currency. Platforms issue the tokens and invest the cash received in T-bills, keeping the interest for themselves; holders receive no yield. Stablecoin platforms may have absorbed roughly twenty to twenty-five percent of net US T-bill issuance.The GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins) is the US federal legislation organising the stablecoin market. It requires platforms to hold back-to-back liquid assets as reserves and establishes common minimum standards across states. Regulatory competition across states means platforms can seek the most permissive jurisdiction. European regulation, MiCA, is more detailed and already in force but has not yet generated European platforms.Exorbitant privilege describes the advantage the US gains from issuing the world's dominant reserve currency. For decades, foreigners were content to hold low-yielding dollar assets while Americans invested in higher-returning foreign assets; the result was a positive US income balance despite a large trade deficit. In 2024, for the first time in modern records, the income balance turned negative: the US was paying more on its foreign liabilities than it was earning on its foreign assets. The National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864 created a system of private national banks that issued dollar banknotes backed by US government bonds. The structure is the closest historical parallel to today's stablecoin framework: private platforms issuing dollar-denominated tokens backed by government debt. The system required over-collateralisation (one hundred and ten dollars of bonds for every one hundred dollars of notes) and included a Treasury backstop. Milton Friedman, in his Monetary History of the United States, identified the key flaw: money supply became tied to the quantity of public debt rather than the needs of the economy. The system was replaced by the Federal Reserve in 1913.De-dollarisation refers to the trend in some countries toward conducting trade and holding reserves in currencies other than the dollar. Moëc notes examples such as Iranian demands for non-dollar payments for passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Stablecoins work against this trend by making dollar access easier and cheaper for people in developing countries with weak or distrusted domestic financial systems; rather than buying dollars directly, they can buy a dollar-pegged token through a digital platform. More VoxTalks Economics episodesThis episode is the second of two published simultaneously to mark the launch of Paris Report 4. In the first episode, Maurice Obstfeld of the Peterson Institute for International Economics examines the history of global imbalances and what today's policymakers can learn from previous episodes. For an interview with two of the report's editors, Beatrice Weder di Mauro and Jeromin Zettelmeyer, on the problem of global imbalances, listen to The Sound of Economics, Bruegel's podcast. Available at bruegel.org.

Three times since the 1970s, global imbalances have grown large. In the 1980s, the US trade deficit ballooned under Volcker's tight money and Reagan's tax cuts and military spending. In the 2000s, a global savings glut and then a US housing credit boom pushed the deficit to 6% of GDP. Today, the imbalances are back. The US current account deficit stood at 3.9% of GDP in 2025. The policy medicine this time: tariffs.Maurice Obstfeld of the Peterson Institute for International Economics and CEPR has written a chapter in the fourth Paris Report, published jointly by CEPR and Bruegel, examining that history, how policymakers responded, and what it can tell us about the effectiveness of policy remedies in 2026. He tell Tim Phillips that blaming foreigners misdiagnoses the problem if the US saves too little and invests heavily. The gap has to be financed from abroad. Good policy for the new global imbalances would requires three actors to move together: fiscal consolidation in the US, stronger consumption in China, and more investment in Europe. All three would benefit, none are close to doing it. The longer the can is kicked, Obstfeld warns, the greater the risk that the resolution arrives the way it always has: not through policy, but through crisis.The report discussed in this series of episodes:Rey, Hélène, Beatrice Weder di Mauro, and Jeromin Zettelmeyer (eds). 2026. The New Global Imbalances. Paris Report 4. CEPR Press and Bruegel. Free to download at cepr.org.The chapter discussed in this episode:Obstfeld, Maurice. 2026. "Global imbalances redux." In Rey, Weder di Mauro, and Zettelmeyer (eds), The New Global Imbalances. Paris Report 4. CEPR Press and Bruegel.To cite this episode:Phillips, Tim, and Maurice Obstfeld. 2026. “Global imballances redux”, VoxTalks Economics (podcast). Assign this as extra listening. The citation above is formatted and ready for a reading list or VLE.About Paris Report 4The fourth Paris Report, The New Global Imbalances, is a joint publication of CEPR and Bruegel. It was edited by Hélène Rey (London Business School and CEPR), Beatrice Weder di Mauro (Geneva Graduate Institute and CEPR, and President of CEPR), and Jeromin Zettelmeyer (Bruegel and CEPR). The report examines how, in a high-debt and fragmented world, excess savings, rising surpluses, and rising deficits pose a risk to stability and undermine the global trading system. It is free to download at cepr.org.About the guestMaurice Obstfeld is Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a Research Fellow of CEPR. He served as Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund from 2015 to 2018. His research spans international finance, exchange rate economics, and macroeconomic policy. He is a former member of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Obama.Research cited in this episodeThe Plaza Accord (1985) was a joint agreement between the US, West Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Japan to intervene in foreign exchange markets to depreciate the US dollar. It was negotiated because a surging dollar, driven by Volcker's tight monetary policy and the Reagan fiscal expansion, had pushed the US current account deficit to then-unprecedented levels and created severe competitive pressure on US manufacturing. The accord moved the dollar, but did not resolve the underlying imbalances; those were corrected by German reunification and the Japanese asset bubble, which were not planned by anyone.The Louvre Accord (1987) was a follow-up agreement among the same countries to stabilise the dollar once it had depreciated far enough. Obstfeld uses both episodes to illustrate that exchange rate agreements address the symptom, not the cause, and tend to sidestep the hard political decisions about fiscal policy.The global savings glut hypothesis, associated with Ben Bernanke, holds that rising savings outside the US in the early 2000s, particularly from Asian economies building dollar reserves after the Asian financial crisis and from oil exporters, depressed global interest rates and drove capital into US assets. Obstfeld argues that from around 2002 onward the better explanation is US demand pulling capital in: loose Fed policy, the housing boom, subprime lending, and equity extraction from rising home values all drove US spending higher, and the current account deteriorated as the dollar fell rather than rose.The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is US tax legislation that prevents the expiration of tax cuts that had been written into law, effectively delivering a tax reduction. Obstfeld points out that by lowering national saving it pushes the current account in the opposite direction to what the administration wants, partly undoing whatever modest deficit-reducing effect the tariffs might have through their revenue.The Draghi report and the Letta report are European policy documents calling for deeper integration, more investment, improved competitiveness, and a completion of the EU's capital markets and banking unions. Obstfeld cites them as pointing in the right direction for reducing Europe's current account surplus, alongside the defence spending increases that European countries are now pursuing.More VoxTalks Economics episodesThis episode is the first of two published simultaneously to mark the launch of Paris Report 4. In the second episode, Gilles Moëc, Chief Economist at AXA, explains why the US government is so keen to promote stablecoins and the risks they may pose to the financial system in the US and Europe.For an interview with two of the report's editors, Beatrice Weder di Mauro and Jeromin Zettelmeyer, on the problem of global imbalances, listen to The Sound of Economics, Bruegel's podcast. Available at bruegel.org.

W tym odcinku odwiedzamy Muzeum Mayer van den Bergh w Antwerpii, gdzie zatrzymujemy przed jednym z najbardziej tajemniczych dzieł w historii malarstwa - Szaloną Gretą Pietera Bruegla.  Z odcinka dowiesz się m.in.:Kim może być tytułowa Szalona Greta?Co łączy ten obraz z belgijskimi legendami o olbrzymach?Dla kogo i w jakim celu powstawały obrazy takie jak ten?Audycja jest częścią 7-odcinkowej serii, w której poznajemy najciekawsze muzea we Flandrii. Partnerem całego sezonu jest Przedstawicielstwo Flandrii w Polsce i Krajach Bałtyckich.Transkrypcję i reprodukcje omawianych obrazów znajdziesz na stronie podcastu: https://przedobrazem.pl/szalona-gretaMuzyka wykorzystana w odcinku pochodzi ze strony Epidemic SoundsIG: https://www.instagram.com/przed_obrazemFB: https://www.facebook.com/podcast.przedobrazem Patronite: https://patronite.pl/przedobrazem

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie speaks about electric cars with Bruegel's Ugnė Keliauskaitė, Antoine Mathieu Collin and Ben McWilliams. Europe is navigating its transition to green technology while facing energy shocks from the Iran war. How will the automotive sector adapt? Can the European Union make the most of its industrial and trade policy instruments to support industry with minimal protectionism? What do electric vehicle supply chains look like now? Who pays the costs to consumers and industry of making these changes, or funding the related government programmes? Bruegel's clean tech tracker shows what manufacturing is happening in Europe and where the investment is coming from. How are these trends shaping the global auto trade, and what will be Europe's best shot to secure jobs and growth? As the US and China ramp up industrial policy, the EU needs to stay competitive.Relevant research:  Bruegel Dataset (2025) 'European Clean Tech Tracker'. García-Bercero, I., A. Mathieu Collin, B. McWilliams, N. Poitiers and S. Tagliapietra (2026) ‘Made with Europe' not ‘Made in Europe' should guide EU industrial policy', First Glance, 10 February, Bruegel.  Keliauskaitė, U., B. McWilliams and G. Zachmann (2026) 'Dependence on fossil fuels, not on the United States, is Europe's worry', Analysis 05/2026, Bruegel. This podcast has been supported by the European Climate Foundation. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this podcast lies with the authors. The European Climate Foundation cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained or expressed therein.

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie speaks about fossil fuel challenges with Admir Šahmanović, Montenegro's Minister of Energy and Mining, Bruegel's Western Balkans expert Nina Vujanović and Rouven Stubbe of the Helmholz-Zentrum Berlin. How does Montenegro's energy mix fit with its efforts to become the next member of the European Union? Do electricity subsidies for consumers make it harder to transition away from Communist-era coal-fired power plants? What new renewable energy projects are in the pipeline? Will the Iran war speed up progress? How does Montenegro work with EU neighbors like Croatia and Italy, and what is the role of the EU's Energy Community programme? The EU's new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) poses a big hurdle for most of the Western Balkan countries. Bruegel's experts break down the challenge in conversation with a top policymaker from the region.  Relevant research:Vujanović, N., R. Stubbe and M. Catarina-Louro (2025) ‘The Western Balkan energy sector: between Russia, the European Union and the green transition', Working Paper 33/2025, Bruegel

Set udefra er det forbløffende, hvor lidt det danske valg handlede om Grønland, Trump og Ukraine. Vi giver europæisk kontekst i en podcast, der også dykker ned i EU's udskældte toldaftale med USA og en helt ny frihandelsaftale med Australien.Vært og tilrettelægger: Thomas Lauritzen, Altingets Europa-analytikerMedvært: Rikke Albrechtsen, Altingets EU-redaktørHør også: Ignacio Garcia Bercero, seniorforsker ved tænketanken Bruegel, tidligere chefjurist i Verdenshandels-organisationen (WTO).Producer: Camille Marie Guerry, podcastassistentValgkampen er i gang, og tre fredage i træk fylder vi Altingets gård med debat, musik og politisk fredagsbar. Tilmeld dig her: https://www.altinget.dk/live-arrangementer/valg-2026-har-vi-opgivet-klimaetFå Altinget i 179 dage for 179 kr.: altinget.dk/dkpolSom podcastlytter ved du, at politik er mere end overskrifter. Med Altinget får du overblik, vælgervandringer og analyser - samlet ét sted. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How does the war in Iran affect Europeans? What is the impact of the Greenland issue on the Danish view of NATO and the transatlantic alliance? Should the Nordic countries acquire nuclear weapons? And what does Europe's path to competitiveness look like? Leszek Jazdzewski (Fundacja Liberte!) talks with Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, a Senior Fellow at Bruegel in Brussels and at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C. His research focuses on European economies, foreign direct investment, geopolitical trends, demographics, migration, and other long-term drivers of productivity and economic growth. Tune in for their talk! This podcast is produced by the European Liberal Forum in collaboration with the Movimento Liberal Social and the Fundacja Liberté!, with the financial support of the European Parliament. Neither the European Parliament nor the European Liberal Forum are responsible for the content or for any use that be made of.

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie speaks about the European Union's innovation hopes with Bruegel's Fiona Scott Morton and Reinhilde Veugelers as well as Tobias Tröger, SAFE Chair of Private Law, Trade and Business Law, Jurisprudence at Frankfurt's Goethe University. The European Commission on March 18 released its “EU Inc.” proposal to make it easier for innovative companies to get their start and scale up. The new plan uses a lawmaking tool known as the 28th regime. What is it and how does it work – will it help companies find financing and navigate thickets of national and local bureaucracy? What else can you do with it? Is the Commission proposal good? What are some alternatives? And what will this mean for Europe's notaries? Promising firms have a lot to gain from these conversations, if good policy design follows. Relevant research: Christie, R. (2026) ‘28th regimes to help Europe's capital markets', First Glance, 09 March, Bruegel.  Enriques, L., Casimiro A. Nigro and Tobias H. Tröger (2026) ‘Why the 28th Regime Proposal Falls Short of Europe's Challenge', Oxford Business Law Blog. Enriques, L., Casimiro A. Nigro and Tobias H. Tröger (2025) ‘Mandatory Corporate Law as an Obstacle to Venture Capital Contracting in Europe', The CLS Blue Sky Blog. Scott Morton, F. and R. Veugelers (2025) ‘Regime 0: Europe-wide incorporation for startups to kickstart innovative growth,' Policy Brief 33/2025, Bruegel.

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie talks about the economy and politics of Italy with Bruegel's Emmanuel Mourlon-Druol and Francesco Papadia. Why does Italy always feel on the brink of a crisis, even as it has been one of the European Union's strongest and most important countries since the bloc's founding? With public finances that are outperforming France but growth persistently elusive, the country has a two-sided performance that will require – and may not get – significant structural reforms to stabilise. What will be the consequences for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni from the upcoming referendum on the legal system? Her far-right origins have morphed into a complex mix of centrist and right-wing positions, an experience that could offer a window into the coming French elections. From 1941's Ventotene manifesto to today's war in Ukraine, Rome has been one of Europe's most complex and important political centres.

Trumps og Netanyahus krig mod Iran er nået de svære beslutningers fase. Iranerne giver sig ikke trods massive bombardementer. Hormuz-strædet er stor set lukket for olieeksport, (som Trump-administrationen hævdede ikke ville ske,) og nationalbanker verden over skal nu beslutte, om renterne skal op og væksten ned. Så nu truer Trump med at straffe NATO, hvis de europæiske allierede ikke kommer ham til hjælp og sikrer olie-eksporten ud af Golfen. Europæerne slår sig i tøjret - det er ikke vores krig, siger de. Samtidig forsøger de at finde en vej ud - for ikke at genere Trump alt for meget. Kan man f.eks. udvide EU's program, der allerede beskytter sejlads i regionen? Alt det sker, mens EU i denne uge står over for en rækker gigantiske beslutninger, der kan definere EU's fremtid. Dagens gæster: Margrethe Vestager, tidligere EU-kommissær for konkurrence, Lone Dencker, tidligere ambassadør i USA og ved NATO, Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, senior fellow ved Bruegel, og Ole Ryborg, DRs EU-korrespondent. Vært: Steffen Gram.

On 12 March 2026, China approved its 15th Five-Year Plan, setting the country's economic and strategic direction through 2030.  In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan and Alicia García-Herrero sit down with Bert Hofman for a first assessment of the plan. They discuss its key priorities — from industrial policy and export-led technology growth to social policy and redistribution — and examine what Beijing's new blueprint means for the European economy. This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound of Economics. ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel, bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from Europe. Sign up now to receive it in your mailbox!

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie speaks with Klaas Knot, former governor of the Dutch central bank, and Bruegel Director Jeromin Zettelmeyer about the big issues facing the European Union economy. Will euro-area inflation rise in response to energy price shocks from the US and Israeli attacks on Iran? How quickly can monetary policy respond when trouble emerges? How is the Dutch economy doing compared to the rest of Europe? Meanwhile, the European Commission has proposed an Industrial Accelerator Act to protect EU manufacturing from the onslaught of Chinese exports – how does it stack up against the status quo? This episode features insights from two of Europe's top economists on the major challenges of 2026 and the role of the European Central Bank in keeping the euro-area economy together. Relavant research: Mathieu Segers Lecture 2026 with Klaas Knot (in Dutch) García Bercero , I, B. McWilliams, N. Poitiers and S. Tagliapietra (2026) '‘Made with Europe' not ‘Made in Europe' should guide EU industrial policy' First Glance, Bruegel, 10 February. McWilliams, B., S. Tagliapietra and J. Zettelmeyer (2025) ‘Reconciling the European Union's clean industrialisation goals with those of the Global South', Policy Brief 18/2025, Bruegel Steinbach, A, G Wolff and J Zettelmeyer (2025), ‘Rethinking the governance and funding of European rearmament‘, in Gensler, G, S Johnson, U Panizza and B Weder di Mauro (eds), The Economic Consequences of The Second Trump Administration: A Preliminary Assessment, CEPR Press, Paris & London. 

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie is joined by Bruegel's Elina Ribakova, Simone Tagliapietra and Guntram Wolff to talk about the US and Israeli strikes on Iran. What happens to energy prices as military action intensifies and the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted? If this conflict is a net positive for Russia, what does it mean for the ongoing fighting in Ukraine? How can Europe rally its defence industrial base? How does this complicate trade and political relations with China? Even if oil and gas prices rise only temporarily, this conflict will cause lasting shocks and force a new reckoning with the European Union's energy dependence.Relevant research: Tagliapietra, S. (2026) 'How will the Iran conflict hit European energy markets?' First Glance, Bruegel, 2 March. Ribakova, E. (2025) 'Ukraine, Europe and the new economics of war' Opinion, Financial Times Mejino-Lopez, Juan, and Guntram B. Wolff. "Boosting the European Defence Industry in a Hostile World." Intereconomics, vol. 60, no. 1, ZBW – Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft, 2025, pp. 34-39 Hilgenstock, B. and E. Ribakova (2025) 'Why Russia's economic model no longer delivers', Analysis, Bruegel, 16 July Dabrowski, M. (2025) 'How resilient is Russia's economy after four years of war?' Working Paper 32/2025, Bruegel

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie speaks to former EU Competition Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager -- now chair of the board at Danish Technical University -- and Ditte Brasso Sørensen, who leads Think Tank EUROPA's Stocktaking EU project, about how Europe can reduce its dependencies without grasping for the impossible goal of full economic independence. How can the European Union make its state aid framework fit for purpose? Can Europe anchor its own AI companies, and how will the big US firms manage their European business? What is the role of clean technology and critical raw materials in securing the EU's future? Denmark's experience of European integration, particularly on key topics such as Greenland and the euro, shows how countries can balance sovereignty with shared purpose.Related research: Brasso Sørensen, D. (2026) 'STOCKTAKING EU - Taking stock of the Commission's first year', EUROPA, available at: https://thinkeuropa.dk/en/node/4391 Grabbe, H. and J. Zettelmeyer (2024) ‘Not yet Trump-proof: an evaluation of the European Commission's emerging policy platform', Policy Brief 03/2025, Bruegel, available at: https://www.bruegel.org/policy-brief/not-yet-trump-proof-evaluation-european-commissions-emerging-policy-platform 

US President Donald Trump slaps 15 percent trade levy on all imports. The move comes just a day after he'd set them at 10 percent - enraged by a Supreme Court ruling striking down much of his tariff regime. What are the global implications? In this episode: Deborah Elms, Head of Trade Policy, Hinrich Foundation. Rebecca Christie, Senior Fellow, Bruegel. Garima Kapoor, Deputy Head, Research, Elara Securities Host: Tom McRae Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

China's banking sector has expanded from a fragile, state-dominated system in the 1990s into the largest in the world. But this increased scale has not brought with it a shift toward market-driven finance, with the core logic of state-directed control over credit remaining a central feature of Chinese banking. In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan sits down with Alicia García-Herrero and Fraser Howie to examine how banks continue to serve state priorities, funnelling household savings into politically favoured sectors while sustaining local governments and state-owned firms.This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound of Economics. ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel, bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from Europe. Sign up now to receive it in your mailbox!

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie talks about nature and markets with Bruegel's Heather Grabbe and Estelle Cantillon, FRNS research director at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. They explore policy efforts to make protecting natural resources more of a financial priority, such as nature credits and nature shares, as well as the difficulty of setting up these kinds of systems. How can public money and private investors cooperate? How does a program like this avoid cheating, moral hazard and failure to deliver? Both government resources and investor buy-in will be necessary for habitats and biodiversity to find their way onto the world's balance sheets.Relevant research: Cantillon, E., E. Lambin and B. Weder di Mauro (2025) 'Policy Insight 145: Designing and scaling up nature-based markets', CEPR Policy Insight, 145, CEPR Press, available at https://cepr.org/publications/policy-insight-145-designing-and-scaling-nature-based-markets Fiore, A. and H. Grabbe (2025) ‘Nature markets: how can credits and shares provide durable, additional finance?' Policy Brief 20/2025, Bruegel Pisani-Ferry, J., B. Weder di Mauro and J. Zettelmeyer (eds) (2025) 'Paris Report 3: Global Action Without Global Governance: Building coalitions for climate transition and nature restoration', Report, CEPR Press, available at https://cepr.org/publications/books-and-reports/paris-report-3-global-action-without-global-governance-building

The creative - and highly controversial - relationship between animation and artificial intelligence provides the focus of Episode 167 of the Fantasy/Animation podcast, which features as its special guest Dr Mihaela Mihailova, an Assistant Professor in the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University. Mihaela is the editor of Coraline: A Closer Look at Studio LAIKA's Stop-Motion Witchcraft (Bloomsbury, 2021), whose work has also appeared in the Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, The Velvet Light Trap, Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema, Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, Feminist Media Studies, animation: an interdisciplinary journal, Studies in Russian and Soviet Cinema, and [in]Transition. She has contributed to Animating Film Theory (with John MacKay), The Oxford Handbook of the Disney Musical, Animated Landscapes: History, Form, and Function, The Animation Studies Reader, and Drawn from Life: Issues and Themes in Animated Documentary Cinema, and was editor of the recent “AI and the Moving Image” dossier published in the Journal of Cinema and Media Studies. She is currently co-editor of Animation Studies and serves as co-President of the Society for Animation Studies. Listen as Mihaela introduces Chris and Alex to the AI-generated short films Generation (2022), PLSTC (2022), Bruegel the Younger (2022), and Dissolution (2023) as a backdrop to thinking about the trajectory of machine learning in relation to animated imagery and creative practice; the aesthetics and implications for labour prompted by AI as both an assistive and generative tool; the discourses of technophilia and technophobia that surround contemporary synthetic media; and what impact the ‘open secret' of AI might have within the animation industry beyond some of its current applications. **Fantasy/Animation theme tune composed by Francisca Araujo** **As featured on Feedspot's 25 Best London Education Podcasts** **As featured on MillionPodcast's Best 10 UK Animation Podcasts and Best 60 Movie Podcasts in the UK**

This episode is the first Noriko's Philosophy Playground of 2026 and explores The Tower of Babel painted by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.Noriko reflects on seeing the large version of The Tower of Babel in Vienna at the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Inspired by the painting, she discusses human ambition, limits, and the role of language.The biblical story tells of people who once shared a single language and tried to build a tower reaching the heavens. Their excessive ambition led to confusion of language, loss of cooperation, and the collapse of the project.Bruegel's painting shows countless workers focused only on their own tasks, without seeing the whole structure. Parts of the tower are already collapsing, symbolising miscommunication and lack of coordination.Noriko connects this to modern life and language learning, asking three philosophical questions:How important is it to see the big picture?How much ambition is healthy for humans?What does it really mean for language to “connect” people?She concludes that true communication is not just grammar or vocabulary, but the attitude of trying to understand others. Language learning, she suggests, is ultimately about understanding people and the world through words.フィロソフィー（philosophy）プレイグラウンド（playground）プロジェクト（project）コミュニケーション（communication）インターネット（internet）バージョン（version）ディーテール（detail）ビジョン（vision）アプローチ（approach）コーディネーション（coordination）野心（やしん） – ambition限界（げんかい） – limit言語（げんご） – language言葉（ことば） – words混乱（こんらん） – confusion協力（きょうりょく） – cooperation理解（りかい） – understanding全体像（ぜんたいぞう） – big picture誤解（ごかい） – misunderstanding傲慢（ごうまん） – arrogance本質（ほんしつ） – essence理想化（りそうか） – idealization労働者（ろうどうしゃ） – workers崩れる（くずれる） – to collapse態度・姿勢（たいど・しせい） – attitude / mindset

What have the cluttered landscapes of Pieter Bruegel the Elder to do with the complex plots of Fyodor Dostoevsky? In each, we find subtle allusions to the holy, hidden and tucked away in the least likely of places. Why do these artists hide the holy? And what are the implications for theology and the arts in our age?.Lecture Resources: PowerPoint deckPlease note that the ideas expressed in this lecture do not necessarily represent the views of L'Abri Fellowship.For more resources, visit the L'Abri Ideas Library at labriideaslibrary.org. The library contains over two thousand lectures and discussions that explore questions about the reality and relevance of Christianity. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit englishlabri.substack.com

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel's Pascal Saint-Amans and Roel Dom to talk taxes. What happened to the OECD global minimum tax and the digital services levy debate in the wake of Washington's turn against international agreements? How is the European Union gathering resources for its next budget? What is the difference between a tax and a levy – and why does it matter? Tax policy is social policy, and Bruegel's new EU Tax Observatory project will shine a light on what's going on.Relevant Research: Christie, R. (2021) ‘Do robots dream of paying taxes?', Policy Brief, 05 October, Bruegel, available at: https://www.bruegel.org/policy-brief/do-robots-dream-paying-taxes Darvas, Z., R. Dom and M. Lappe (2025) 'CORE concerns: why a turnover based levy is wrong for the EU budget', First Glance, 22 July, Bruegel, available at: https://www.bruegel.org/first-glance/core-concerns-why-turnover-based-levy-wrong-eu-budget Dom, R. (2026) 'How the global minimum tax amendments could reshape Europe's tax incentives', Analysis, 14 January, Bruegel, available at: https://doi.org/10.64153/WEHR5625 Dom, R., C. Greppi-Maturana and P. Saint-Amans (2025) ‘Shifting priorities, slow progress: an analysis of EU tax recommendations,' Working Paper 29/2025, Bruegel, available at: https://doi.org/10.64153/SIZA8089 Saint-Amans, P. (2026) ‘With Trump, what is left of the global minimum tax?', Newsletter, 19 January, Bruegel, available at: https://www.bruegel.org/newsletter/trump-what-left-global-minimum-tax Saint-Amans, P. (2026) 'Has the global minimum tax survived Trump?' Analysis, 13 January, Bruegel, available at: https://doi.org/10.64153/HIUN6608

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel's Ignacio García Bercero and Ben McWilliams to talk about the evolution of the European Union's carbon border adjustment mechanism, known as CBAM. When will companies start paying? Which countries and sectors will be hit the hardest? And how will cross-border carbon levies work for electricity markets, given how hard it is to trace emissions to electrons? We discuss what it means to crack down on carbon leakage and how the EU can make the most of its new tools going forward.Relevant Research: CBAM and carbon pricing: forging fair paths to climate stability, Bruegel Event, 22 May 2024 McWilliams, B. R. Stubbe and G. Zachmann (2025) 'The case for delaying the application of the EU's carbon border levy to electricity', Analysis, 19 November, Bruegel, available at https://doi.org/10.64153/ZFMB9781 Zachmann, G. and McWilliams, B. (2020) 'A European carbon border tax: much pain, little gain', Policy Contribution 05/2020, Bruegel, available at https://www.bruegel.org/policy-brief/european-carbon-border-tax-much-pain-little-gain

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Yuyun Zhan is joined by Bruegel Senior Fellow Alicia García-Herrero and Jürgen Matthes of the German Economic Institute to discuss a growing concern for Europe's economy: the undervaluation of Yuan, the Chinese currency and its impact on European competitiveness.Is China's price advantage the result of productivity and innovation, or of deeper structural distortions such as subsidies, overcapacity, and currency management? And what policy options does Europe realistically have when existing trade defence instruments seem ill-suited to address economy-wide price and exchange-rate effects?Relevant research: Matthes, Jürgen, 2025, Yuan Undervaluation against the Euro: Unfair Cost Advantages for China?!, IW-Report, Nr. 36, Köln García-Herrero, A., T. Storella and J. Xu (2025) ‘European companies operating in China: from digging in to rethinking their presence', Working Paper 14/2025, Bruegel This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound of Economics. ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel, bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from Europe. Sign up now to receive it in your mailbox!

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie and Bruegel's Zsolt Darvas discuss the European Union's next seven-year financial plan with MEP Johan Van Overtveldt, chairman of the European Parliament's budget committee. Negotiators have until the end of 2027 to figure out roughly €2 trillion in funding, with the parliament and member states not expected to sit down together until next year. How can the EU pay for public goods? Will countries and regions be willing to overhaul the way they finance farmers and other key sectors? Meanwhile, the EU may need to revisit proposals to borrow against the Russian central bank's frozen assets, held at Euroclear, within two years. The next budget will need to accommodate support for Ukraine as well as Europe's current mandates.Related research: Christie, R., J. F. Kirkegaard and Z. Darvas (2025) 'What should Europe pay for?', Podcast, 01 October, Bruegel, available at: https://www.bruegel.org/podcast/what-should-europe-pay Christie, R., J. Van Overtvedlt and N. Véron (2024) 'What to do with frozen Russian assets', Podcast, 21 February, Bruegel, available at:  https://www.bruegel.org/podcast/what-do-frozen-russian-assets Darvas, Z., Dom, R., Lappe, M., P. Saint-Amans and A. Steinbach (2025) 'Bigger, better funded and focused on public goods: how to revamp the European Union budget', Blueprint 37, Bruegel, available at https://www.bruegel.org/book/bigger-better-funded-and-focused-public-goods-how-revamp-european-union-budget

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel's Mario Mariniello and Bertin Martens to discuss technology regulation in the European Union. Brussels hopes to make its complicated rulebook more fit for purpose with digital “omnibus” plans, intended to streamline and improve oversight. But artificial intelligence, data collection and relations with United States tech giants are tricky subjects that may not be so easily addressed. How should companies manage data? What are the consequences for EU citizens, particularly those from minority language groups? And what kind of innovation can policy encourage in Europe? New technologies move fast, and the EU  will need to balance precaution with experimentation.Related research: Christie, R., Cipollone, P., Hernández de Cos, P. (2025) 'Digital euro: why now and what's next', Podcast, 18 June, Bruegel, available at https://www.bruegel.org/podcast/digital-euro-why-now-and-whats-next Mariniello, M. (2025) 'The European Commission's Digital Omnibus could increase risks, not growth', First Glance, 13 November, Bruegel, available at https://www.bruegel.org/first-glance/european-commissions-digital-omnibus-could-increase-risks-not-growth  Mariniello, M. (2025) 'Efficiency and distribution in the European Union's digital deregulation push', Policy Brief, 20 November, Bruegel, available at https://www.bruegel.org/policy-brief/efficiency-and-distribution-european-unions-digital-deregulation-push Martens, B. (2025) 'The European Union needs more than the digital omnibus to make digital services competitive', Analysis, 8 December, Bruegel, available at https://doi.org/10.64153/NIRG1605

DAY 4: Welcome to the 12 Days of Demos! It is that time of year for giving and cheer, so this month we are gifting you with 12 bonus episodes! Each episode will feature a different demo which we will briefly discuss. Today, Rylan brings us "Proverbs", an ENORMOUS puzzle game, inspired by Bruegel the Elder's 1559 painting "Netherlandish Proverbs"! Mark Ffrench - https://www.markffrench.com/

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie is joined by Professor Amita Batra, of Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for South Asian Studies, and Bruegel Senior Fellow Ignacio Garcia Bercero to discuss the European Union-India trade relationship and its potential. What scope is there for a free trade agreement, particularly regarding tricky sectors like steel and automotive manufacturing? How will Europe's new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism affect the dynamic? Is there room for closer cooperation given the geopolitical pressures posed by the United States and China? Working together, India's growth and the EU's trade experience have the potential to find more common ground, if political obstacles can be overcome. Related research:  Batra, A. (2022) India's Trade Policy in the 21st Century, Routledge García-Bercero, I. and A. Sapir (2025) ‘The time is right to make a European Union-India trade deal happen', Policy Brief 19/2025, Bruegel

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan sits down with Alicia García-Herrero and Marc Hijink to examine the Nexperia case – the Dutch semiconductor firm owned by China's Wingtech – and how it became a flashpoint in Europe's evolving relationship with China. We unpack how corporate governance disputes, US export controls, Chinese industrial policy and Europe's growing focus on tech sovereignty collided in a single, high-stakes conflict. This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound of Economics. ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel, bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from Europe. Sign up now to receive it in your mailbox!

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie discusses Ukraine peace talks with Bruegel's Guntram Wolff and Nicolas Véron, and how the EU can manage the high-stakes standoff between Kyiv, Moscow and Washington. Over the past week, proposals from both sides of the Atlantic have jumpstarted efforts to find a way to stop the fighting. The EU is also locked in an internal debate over how to leverage Russia's frozen cash to help Ukraine, a debate that affects the euro's global reputation as well as the current budget. Bruegel's experts take on the debate and gauge its chances for moving forward or petering out. Related research: Charles Lichfield & Nicolas Véron, An EU reparations loan is the right way to help Ukraine, Bruegel First Glance, 14 October 2025 Mejino-López, J. and G. Wolff (2025) ‘Europe's dependence on US foreign military sales and what to do about it' Policy Brief 27/2025, Bruegel

Our speaker is Nicolas Veron who is a Senior Fellow at Bruegel in Brussels as well as at the Peterson Institute in DC. He is also the author of the book entitled Europe's Banking Union at Ten: Unfinished Yet Transformative. I want to learn from Nicolas about the resilience of the European Union and how it has been affected by the European banking crisis, Brexit, the war in Ukraine, and fears of increasing immigration. Get full access to What Happens Next in 6 Minutes with Larry Bernstein at www.whathappensnextin6minutes.com/subscribe

New ideas on reaching climate targets as COP30 gets underway In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel's Georg Zachmann and professor Jos Delbeke, former Director General of the European Commission's climate division, to discuss how Europe can use its ambitious climate targets to best catalyse global decarbonisation. Zachmann proposes to develop the European Emission Trading System into an anchor for mitigation activities in other sectors and countries. Delbeke acknowledges the need to enhance the ETS so that it can continue to play its important role in the efficient decarbonisation of the EU economy. But he cautions against a direct use of foreign mitigation credits in EU trading systems. Ten years after the Paris accord, how can Europe be more proactive in the global debate and make the most of this year's UN climate conference? Related research: Zachmann, G. (2025) 'A Strawman Proposal to Use International Flexibility in Achieving Developed Countries Climate Targets to Catalyse Global Decarbonisation', De Gruyter Bill Europe's energy future: balancing climate goals and competitiveness, Bruegel event, 14 November 2025 International decarbonisation through coalitions of the willing: carbon pricing, climate finance, trade and nature, Bruegel event, 20 November 2025 

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Alexandra Jour-Schroeder, deputy director general of the European Commission's DG FISMA, and Bruegel's Silvia Merler, to discuss savings, investment and financial literacy. Sharing national best practices, monitoring what works and using EU funding can all support member state efforts to keep citizens in the know. They also discuss ways the EU can support development of accessible savings accounts and products. Better understanding of financial markets allows households to save for the future in ways that reflect their own priorities.  Related research: European Commission (2025), "EU to boost financial literacy and investment opportunities for citizens", available at https://commission.europa.eu/news-and-media/news/eu-boost-financial-literacy-and-investment-opportunities-citizens-2025-09-30_en Christie, R. McCaffrey, C. and D. Pinkus (2024) "EU savers need a single-market place to invest", Analysis, Bruegel

2025-11-09 | Silicon Wafers 051 | DAILY UPDATES | Despite the profusion of stories we've covered, the battle for Pokrovsk, energy sanctions, and so on, the most important strategic angle on the war this winter is the attritional energy war. And it's unlike the Western attitude to the war throughout all these four years – to cede the escalation dominance to Russia, always pulling punches, in support for Ukraine, and never allowing its ally to land a decisive blow on Russia. Now Ukraine is takin off the gloves, because below the nuclear threshold, there is nothing holding back Russia's viciousness and violence. Ukraine is seeking to inflict greater costs on Russia in the energy war, than it can impose upon Ukraine. This ‘escalation' is the only way to make it clear to Putin he cannot win and is the only way to inflict economic and social costs that start to make Putin's brittle regime appear vulnerable to its internal audience. Nothing else will get through to Putin. Nothing at all. Ukraine's “doomsday lever”? Hitting the Yamal network — myth vs. math. There is an inescapable logic to the course of this existential escalation for Ukraine's existence. It starts with testing the theory of imposing blackouts and heating denial to smaller, non-strategic Russian towns. Belgorod, Vladimir, Voronezh. And this is happening now. The next stage is to test supporting infrastructure around Moscow – electricity substations, energy supply routes for fuel, gas and oil products. This is happening. Beyond that, are substantial and extended blackouts in smaller towns, then Moscow and St. Petersburg. But that's not the final arrow in Ukraine's quiver. It has a doomsday option – hitting Yamal Cross. If none of the other escalatory steps lead to an unconditional ceasefire, then I suggest it's a near certainly that we'll reach the doomsday stage for Moscow by end of this winter. ----------Partner on this video: KYIV OF MINE Watch the trailer now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arJUcE1rxY0'Kyiv of Mine' is a documentary series about Ukraine's beautiful capital, Kyiv. The film production began in 2018, and much has changed since then. It is now 2025, and this story is far from over.https://www.youtube.com/@UCz6UbVKfqutH-N7WXnC5Ykg https://www.kyivofmine.com/#theprojectKyiv of Mine is fast paced, beautifully filmed, humorous, fun, insightful, heartbreaking, moving, hopeful. The very antithesis in fact of a doom-laden and worthy wartime documentary. This is a work that is extraordinarily uplifting. My friend Operator Starsky says the film is “Made with so much love. The film series will make you laugh and cry.” ----------SOURCES: Ukrainian attacks in Russia's Belgorod, Kursk oblasts leave ≥20,000 without power — The Moscow Times/AFP, Nov. 9, 2025‘A powerful secondary detonation' — Donetsk airport Shahed hub strike — Kyiv Independent, Nov. 6, 2025Volgograd refinery halted after drone strike — Reuters, Nov. 6, 2025Crimea oil depot fire (Simferopol/Hvardiiske) after drone attacks — Ukrinform, Nov. 6, 2025Bashkortostan: Sterlitamak petrochemical plant struck — Kyiv Independent, Nov. 7, 2025Russian rebel group sabotages locomotives — Kyiv Post, Nov. 6, 2025ORLEN–Naftogaz: three U.S. LNG cargoes in Q1 2026 (≥300 mcm) — ORLEN press release; Naftogaz release; Polish Radio; Kyiv Independent, Nov. 7–8, 2025Energy attrition context: Reuters refinery capacity tally, Sept. 1, 2025. (Reuters)Gas flows & the Yamal reality check — Bruegel (end of transit via Ukraine, Jan. 1, 2025); Gas Strategies (financial impact); Oxford Energy (transit mechanics)Operational/tech framing of the strike campaign — CSIS analyses, 2025----------

Visit our Patreon page to see the various tiers you can sign up for today to get in on the ground floor of AIPT Patreon. We hope to see you chatting with us on our Discord soon! NEWS'Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon' by Chip Zdarsky and Luca Maresca, a lead-in series to next summer's 'Armageddon' event, arrives in February 2026.The Iron Fist reborn: Lin Lie leads Marvel's greatest martial artists in 'Deadly Hands of K'un-Lun' #1!S.H.I.E.L.D. returns in the next chapter of Chip Zdarsky and Valerio Schiti's 'Captain America'Moonstar solo comic coming January 2026BOOM! Studios saddles up for new ‘My Little Pony' adventuresRob Liefeld's 'Youngblood' returns — and It's already sold outVault Comics and Matt Dinniman's 'Dungeon Crawler Carl: Crocodile' smashes crowdfunding recordsOctober 2025 sales figures are inOur Top Books of the WeekDave:Ice Cream Man: The Mortal Coil (W. Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo)Alien vs. Captain America (2025) #1 (Frank Tieri, Stefano Raffaele)Alex:​​Poison Ivy #38 (Wilson, Takara)Amazing Spider-Man #15 (Joe Kelley, Emilio Laiso, Marte Garcia)Standout KAPOW moment of the week:Alex:  Binary #2 (Giada Belviso)Dave: Amazing Spider-Man #15 (Joe Kelley, Emilio Laiso, Marte Garcia)TOP BOOKS FOR NEXT WEEKAlex: DIE: Loaded #1 (Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans) & Predator: Badlands #1 (Ethan Sacks, Elvin Ching, Oren Junior)Dave: We're Taking Everyone Down with Us #6 (Matthew Rosenberg, Stefano Landini)JUDGING BY THE COVER JR.Dave: Sinister's Six #2 (Ivan Shavrin Variant)Alex: Batman: Dark Patterns #12 (Hayden Sherman)Interview: Paul Pope talks his career and Total THB out November 11, 20251. Total THB has always felt like a living piece of your imagination—something that evolved alongside you. Now that you're returning to it after thirty years, what does it mean to finally see it presented as the definitive version you always envisioned?7. In your introduction, you mention artists like Bruegel, Motherwell, and Rodin alongside Kirby, Moebius, and Miyazaki. That's a fascinating cross-section of influences—how do you see Total THB sitting at the intersection of those worlds now?2. In your introduction, you talk about the seed idea—“small things exploding into big things.” How has that core concept shaped your storytelling and visual philosophy across your entire career, and how does it feel to return to it now with decades of experience behind you?8. Total THB is set on a divided Mars, a world of art versus bureaucracy, chaos versus control. Given how global politics and culture have evolved since the '90s, do you see new relevance—or new warnings—in the story's setting and themes?5. The relationship between HR and THB—the sheltered daughter and her enigmatic bodyguard—feels both intimate and mythic. How do you see their dynamic now, and what new layers do you hope readers discover in this remastered edition?6. You've described superheroes before as modern myths — figures that blend pulp with poetry. Having moved between corporate superhero universes and your own creator-owned worlds, what do you think mainstream superhero comics could still learn from the spirit of self-publishing that birthed THB*?*

On the latest episode of The Eurofile, Max and Donatienne discuss the recent Dutch elections, where centrist-liberal party, D66, narrowly secured victory over the far-right Party for Freedom, while EU "big wig," Frans Timmermans, and his GreenLeft-Labor ticket suffered a disappointing defeat. Then, they turn to a conversation with Zsolt Darvas, Senior Fellow at Bruegel, to discuss whether the EU's long-term budget, also known as the Multiannual Financial Framework, is fit for purpose.

Fixing gender inequality could reap big gains for the entire economy In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with economist Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman and Bruegel's Marie-Sophie Lappe to discuss gender inequality and how economics can help to fix it. The data shows that it costs more to be a woman in society, especially a Black woman, in areas ranging from health care, to pension savings and workplace routines. These extra burdens drag the whole economy down – but this also means that progress towards gender equality can pull the whole economy up. Related research: Christie, R. (2023) ‘Taking up space', European Commission Christie, R. and M. De Ridder (2022) 'Closing the gender gap for self-employed women in the European Union', Bruegel Blog, 20 July Darvas, Z. (2025) ‘How has Europe's gender wealth gap evolved, and why?', Bruegel Newsletter, 03 November Darvas, Z. and N. Ruer (2025) 'Gender wealth inequality in the European Union: a distributional perspective', Working Paper 26/2025, Bruegel Darvas, Z., Kreko, J., A. Laczkovich  and N. Ruer (2025) ‘Unequal wealth: Exploring socioeconomic disparities across the EU', Eurofound  Goldin, C. (2025) ‘Babies and the macroeconomy', Economica, 93:1-26  Lappe, M.S. and D. Pinkus (2025) ‘Europe's savings debate should focus on the bigger picture', First Glance, Bruegel, 11 September Opoku-Agyeman, A. G. (2025) The Double Tax: How Women of Color Are Overcharged and Underpaid, Penguin Random House Ostry, J. D. (2025) ‘Gender diversity and economic growth', Working Paper 02/2025, Bruegel

As COP30 approaches, what is the real state of EU–China climate relations? In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan sits down with Alicia García-Herrero and Cecilia Trasi to explore the state of EU–China climate relations. The discussion explores how both economies share a vision for a green transition but follow strikingly different paths—China prioritising industrial policy and green technology exports, the EU focusing on costly emission pricing and regulation. They also identify pragmatic areas of collaboration like common taxonomies for green finance or joint circular-economy initiatives. They also reflect on whether either side can lead the global climate agenda in a fragmented geopolitical landscape. Relevant research Trasi, C. (2025) 'Convergence, not alignment: EU-China climate relations ahead of COP30', Analysis, 9 October, Bruegel García-Herrero, A. (2025) 'Escalating US-China rare earth tensions signal determination to decouple', First Glance, 15 October, Bruegel  This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound of Economics. ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel, bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from Europe. Sign up now to receive it in your mailbox!

An issue that's been top of mind in Greece for some time now is the demographic crisis. This isn't unique to Greece, however, as it's a problem most of Europe is also looking for answers to. Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, a Senior Fellow at Bruegel and a non-resident Senior Fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, joins Thanos Davelis as we look at how an aging population is challenging Europe, and why migration remains an important part of the equation. You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:The macroeconomic impact of ageing, EU immigration policy and pension expendituresMitsotakis calls for united European defense, energy strategy at MED9 summitErdogan heads to Gulf as Turkey looks to ease energy dependence on Russia