The Sound Of Economics

On 5 April 2022, the EU announced that it will ban coal imports from Russia. The move — aimed squarely at energy imports for the first time — comes as a direct response to reports that Russian forces committed war crimes in Ukraine. In this live podcast, Giuseppe Porcaro discusses with Simone Tagliapietra unpack how the coal ban will presumably be implemented, and what it means in terms of direct and indirect consequences.

China is investing heavily in science and technology: from 2011 to 2021, internal R&D spending jumped from 869 billion to 2.79 trillion Yuan. What has been the effect of this increase, and is it commensurate with the amount of spending? Giuseppe Porcaro sits down with Alicia Garcia-Herrero, Reinhilde Veuglers and Naubahar Sharif, to discuss the innovation system in China, the strengths and weaknesses of its state-led R&D strategy, and what lies ahead for the international situation where geopolitics seems to overshadow cooperation.  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!

The EU has proposed a plan to make Europe independent from Russian fossil fuels before 2030, as well as responding to rising energy prices. In this episode of the Sound of Economics Live Bruegel's own Guntram Wolff and Georg Zachmann welcome Diedrik Samsom to present REPowerEU and to discuss how feasible it is.

The internet is changing the way we work. In this episode, Giuseppe Porcaro is joined by Laura Nurski and Fabian Stephany to discuss the utilisation of online work across countries and occupations, what it means for the society, and how policymakers should better regulate it. This podcast was produced within the project “Future of Work and Inclusive Growth in Europe“, with the financial support of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth.

In this episode of the Sound of Economics Live Maria Demertzis and Guntram Wolff host Russian economist Sergei Guriev, to discuss how the war in Ukraine will affect the Russian economy.

In this episode of the Sound of Economics Live Guntram Wolff hosts Oleg Ustenko, Economic Advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. They discuss the economic situation in Ukraine as well as humanitarian needs and Ukraine’s request to ban Russian exports of fossil fuels.

While most of the world condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, China abstained, but did not go as far as vetoing the UN resolution. How do Sino-Russian relations affect China’s stance and how are these relations likely to be impacted by recent developments? In this episode of the Sound of Economics Live, Giuseppe Porcaro, Alicia García-Herrero and Elina Ribakova continue our look at the war in Ukraine by examining the state of relations between these two major powers. 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!

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU adopted a number of sanctions in an attempt to immobilize the war effort. These sanctions will have an impact on the EU’s own economies. How will they affect inflation? What fiscal and monetary policies will the EU have to consider to get Europe through this new crisis? Guntram B. Wolff invites Luis Garicano and Jean Pisani-Ferry to unpack these and other questions in this exceptional episode of the Sound of Economics Live.

The G7 and EU sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are having major impact on the Russian economy and also have broader implications for the global financial system. In this episode of the Sound of Economics Live, Giuseppe Porcaro, Silvia Merler and Nicolas Véron take stock on lessons so far and prospects.

The European Union and other major economies have imposed swift, broad and devastating sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But given Europe’s energy dependence on Russian natural gas, there is a growing fear across the continent that Russia could hit back. Bruegel’s Guntram Wolff and Simone Tagliapietra discuss how Europe can withstand Russia’s counter sanctions and keep in unity. Relevant publications: Poitiers, N., G., Tagliapietra, S., Wolff, G. and G. Zachmann (2022) 'The Kremlin’s gas wars', Bruegel External publication, 28 February McWilliams, B., Sgaravatti, G., Tagliapietra, S. and G. Zachmann (2022) ‘Can Europe survive painlessly without Russian gas?’, Bruegel Blog, 27 January

Bruegel’s Director Guntram Wolff is joined by MEP Johan Van Overtveldt, Chair of Committee on Budgets in the European Parliament to discuss the current committee discussions including NGEU borrowing. They also spoke about his new book: The Mystic Hand, How Central Banks Shaped the 21st Century Global Economy, which traces the way in which central bankers learned, unlearned, relearned and still have to learn the tricks of their trade. This is the latest in our series of conversation with prominent Members of the European Parliament. Previous conversations on topics ranging from trade to EU economic governance and the rule of law can be found below: The European economy in 2022, with Irene Tinagli The state of trade: the EU’s trade policy, with Bernd Lange Keeping momentum on good governance, with Katalin Cseh A European common tax space, with Sven Giegold The big brother is back? with Esther de Lange Without good governance EU recovery could fail, with Luis Garicano

Since late 2021, European households’ gas and electricity bills have climbed to unprecedented levels. However, given the uncertainty of future Russian gas supplies and several other factors, the situation ahead does not look much rosier. How did we get here? And what should Europe do to get out of this crisis, in the short and long-term? Bruegel’s own Giuseppe Porcaro, Simone Tagliapietra and Georg Zachmann discuss with Agata Łoskot-Strachota, Senior Fellow of Energy Policy at the Centre for Eastern Studies, Poland. Read more: McWilliams, B., Sgaravatti, G., Tagliapietra, S. and G. Zachmann (2022) ‘Can Europe survive painlessly without Russian gas?’, Bruegel Blog, 27 January McWilliams, B., G. Sgaravatti, G. Zachmann (2021) ‘European natural gas imports’, Bruegel Datasets, first published 29 October, updated regularly Sgaravatti, G., S. Tagliapietra, G. Zachmann (2021) ‘National policies to shield consumers from rising energy prices’, Bruegel Datasets, first published 4 November, updated regularly

 China is a highly unequal country. There are many reasons for this, ranging from a lack of social services to a lack of social mobility. Today Giuseppe Porcaro is joined by Bruegel Senior fellow Alicia García-Herrero, and Scott Rozelle, Co-director at Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions, to talk about the impact of industrialisation and automation are having on rural and low-income workers in China.  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!

On 7 February 1992, twelve states signed the Maastricht Treaty, the foundation treaty of the European Union. As the treaty enters its 30s, what has it achieved? And where do we go from here? Bruegel’s Maria Demertzis talks to Amy Verdun, Professor at the University of Victoria and visiting Professor at Leiden University, and Mathieu Segers, Professor in Contemporary European History at Maastricht University and Europe Chair at Studio Europa Maastricht, starting with their own personal recollection of 1992. This episode is recorded in collaboration with Studio Europa Maastricht. Studio Europa Maastricht is a centre of expertise for Europe-related debate and research founded in 2018 and supported by the partners of the Maastricht, Working on Europe programme: Maastricht University, the Province of Limburg and the City of Maastricht. Together we aim to position Maastricht, the capital of Limburg, as a meeting place for citizen dialogue and debate and establish a centre of excellence for research on Europe an

Turkey’s annual inflation rate hit 36.1% in 2021, the highest in President Erdogan’s 19 years in power. In the meantime, the Lira has lost more than 40% of its value. Maria Demertzis sits down with Elina Ribakova, Deputy Chief Economist of the Institute of International Finance, and Refet Gurkaynak, Professor of Economics at Bilkent University, to discuss the circumstances that have contributed to these developments and the outlook for Turkish economy.

AI is fundamentally changing the economy, it has the power to improve workers’ experience if AI uptake is done well, or it can create new inequalities depending on workers’ educational level. Giuseppe Porcaro and Mario Mariniello are joined by Teemu Roos, AI expert and founder of the online course Elements of Artificial intelligence. They talk about how AI education can improve work in Europe, Teemu’s AI course, and how educational systems can foster a more equal society.  This podcast was produced within the project “Future of Work and Inclusive Growth in Europe“, with the financial support of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth.

2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Japan and China. As the world’s third largest economy, Japan cannot neglect the importance of economic and trade relations with China, despite tensions between two countries. How does Japan manage its economic proximity with China under the circumstances? Can Europe learn from Japan when it comes to juggling close economic relations with China when relations are bad? Giuseppe Porcaro and Alicia García-Herrero are joined by Yoshikazu Kato, Director of Trans-Pacific Group Institute and Research Fellow at Rakuten Securities Economic Research Institute, to talk about how Europe is seen by Japan and China, what Europe can learn from Japan’s economic relations with China and to explore the possibility of a common approach to China.  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. S

Happy New Year and welcome back to The Sound of Economics! In this first episode of 2022, Guntram Wolff is joined by Irene Tinagli MEP, Chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament to discuss what dominated European economic policy making in 2021 and what to expect from the coming year, in terms of both economic outlook and key challenges.

Following Bruegel’s end-of-year tradition, Giuseppe Porcaro invites Maria Demertzis, André Sapir and Guntram Wolff to review 2021 in economic policy and beyond, especially in pandemic preparedness, inflation as well as geopolitics. The guests also each introduce a book that has marked them this year and finally, their hopes and wishes for the upcoming 2022. Book list: Graeber, D. and David W. (2021) The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Henrich, J. (2021) The Weirdest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous. Penguin. Perlroth, N. (2021) This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race. Bloomsbury Publishing. Ridley, M. (2020) How Innovation Works. HarperCollins.

Economic orthodoxy argues that the more connected two countries are, the less likely it is for conflict to arise. However, economic theory is starting to change regarding this premise. Guntram Wolff is joined by Mark Leonard, director of the European Council of Foreign Relations, to discuss his new book: The Age of Unpeace: how connectivity causes conflict. In his new book, Leonard argues a rather new and unique point: living in a globalised world creates new vulnerabilities due to this interconnection, and thus gives rise to unpeace. Guntram and Leonard explore how connectivity has caused fragmentation, the concept of unpeace, how we've gotten here, and what the EU should do moving forward.