The Economics Show

For decades, China accelerated its industrial development through a straightforward bargain: foreign firms invested in China, often through joint ventures, gaining access to the enormous Chinese market, while Chinese companies absorbed western tech and knowhow. Today, that dynamic is changing. China's high-tech industries are now world-leading, and western governments are looking on enviously. So should the US and EU now take a page from China's playbook? Host Soumaya Keynes speaks to John Minnich, assistant professor of international relations at LSE, about the history of Chinese tech transfer, how it drove industrial sophistication and whether the west could — or should — attempt something similar.Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Further ReadingHow China pulled off a great tech reversalEU to include UK and Japan in ‘Made in Europe’ plansJohn Minnich: Divide and Conquer: Industry Market Structure, Inter-Firm Rivalry, and Bargaining over TechnologyPresented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some believe a deeper pool of common debt would allow the European Union to tackle some of its biggest problems, attracting more investment, reducing the cost of financing, and helping the EU achieve greater strategic autonomy. One such believer: Carlos Cuerpo, Spain’s economy, trade and business minister. In this episode, Soumaya asks him how a common EU safe asset would work, whether money (not politics) is the EU’s issue, and what the bloc could learn from Spain’s economic bounceback.Related linksEurope’s best bet for financial sovereignty is a true safe assetEurope is not thinking straight on competitivenessSubscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein released their book ‘Nudge’ in 2008, it caught the public imagination. ‘Nudge theory’ – the idea that people could be encouraged to make better choices through small, subtle interventions – was innovative, and exciting. A decade and a half later, a whole lot of nudging seems to have come to a whole lot of nothing. Why wasn’t ‘nudge theory’ more help in tackling climate change, or helping people enroll in pensions? And, even if it hasn’t saved the world, does behavioural science still have a role in policymaking? Former member of the UK’s Behavioural Insights Team and professor of behavioural science, Nick Chater, reflects on the legacy of nudges.Related LinksCan we ‘nudge’ our way to higher growth?The uses — and the limits — of ‘nudge’ economicsWhat nudge theory got wrongSubscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you want to understand food – and eat better – economics is a good place to start. How do immigration patterns shape a country’s cuisine? How do labour laws make our working lunches worse? And why do strip malls serve such good grub? To find out, Soumaya Keynes talks to Tyler Cowen, economics professor at George Mason University and chair of the Mercatus Center think-tank. Cowen has written about food for more than two decades, including in his 2012 book An Economist Gets Lunch.Read Soumaya’s columns here: https://www.ft.com/soumaya-keynesSubscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen. Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s global head of audio. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are the headline growth figures really telling us the full story about the global economy? Gita Gopinath, a former deputy managing director at the IMF and a professor of economics at Harvard University, discusses this question with Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator. They talk about how AI investments are offsetting the economic drag from tariffs, the risk of another financial crisis and whether the dollar can remain the world’s dominant currency. Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Further reading: Trump is erasing the global economic orderSo you tried to buy a country . . . IMF warns global economic resilience at risk if AI faltersPresented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon, Alex Bell and Kirsty Loughlin. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.