The Sound of Economics

The relationship between the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is at the heart of efforts to help Ukraine after Russia's 2022 invasion. How do the alliances work together and how can further cooperation help? In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Rebecca Christie speaks with Oana Lungescu, who served as the longest serving NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Spokesperson and is now a Distinguished Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, and Guntram B. Wolff, Senior fellow at Bruegel, to discuss NATO and the EU. How do they each contribute to Europe’s defence strategy? Where do they overlap and not? How will they work together to find the necessary financing to help Ukraine and coordinate defence procurement in the future? They also discuss the role of NATO members who are not part of the EU such as Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States under the current political climate.

How does the EU manage its increasingly vast number of digital laws? Bertin Martens, Kai Zenner and Rebecca Christie discuss how these rules are made, how they work together and how they fit in with the EU's goal of better regulation in this episode of The Sound of Economics. Relevant research: A dataset on EU legislation for the digital world, Bruegel dataset by Kai Zenner, J. Scott Marcus and Kamil Sekut

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan sits down with Alicia García-Herrero and Paul Triolo to discuss China’s innovation drive and how it compares with the US on key technologies, including semiconductors, green technology and biotech. They delve into how China climbed up the technology ladder, the impact of current geopolitical tensions and the outlook of US-China tech rivalry. 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!

Bruegel and the Financial Times partnered up to host a debate featuring representatives from EU political parties on EU economic issues, specifically competitiveness and growth, economic security and green transition. Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel Senior fellow Heather Grabbe, FT Europe correspondent Andy Bounds, also moderator of the debate, to unpack the views they gathered from the debate. What economic visions did the parties present? Are they impressed or convinced by some ideas? Listen to find out. ICYMI, watch the debate recording here!

Climate change is a rising threat to European financial stability, says European Stability Mechanism chief economist Rolf Strauch on this episode of The Sound of Economics. Together with Bruegel non-resident fellow Stavros Zenios and host Rebecca Christie, Strauch discusses how the EU can rally to protect itself from future shocks and keep its sovereign debt backstops ready to meet future needs.

Science Po professor Jérôme Sgard discusses his new book on the debt crisis of the 1980s on this episode of The Sound of Economics, with host Rebecca Christie and award-winning book author and journalist Paul Blustein. They explore the shockwaves that hit developing countries during this period, starting with the quasi-default of Mexico in 1982, as well as the Brady bond debt relief plan that followed. This podcast addresses the global impact of this this crisis and the subsequent recovery, along with what we can learn going forward.

In this episode of the sound of economics, Rebecca Christie invites Georg Zachmann and Christian Zinglersen to talk about the ambitious idea of creating a more integrated European electricity market. They discuss the drastic change in Europe’s energy outlook, as we switch from a world of fossil imports to mostly domestic electricity production. They address the benefits of a better-coordinated European energy system, as well as the need for improved communication between member states, harmonised market instruments, and joint investment in infrastructure to achieve greater efficiency and resilience. They lay out the complexity of this cross-sectoral challenge and stress that this needs strong political will and trust to move forward. Relevant publication and event: Unity in power, power in unity: why the EU needs more integrated electricity marketsWhy the EU needs more integrated electricity markets

European Union leaders want to breathe new life into the Capital markets union, the decade-old project to reduce fragmentation and put finance to work for the single market. In this episode of the Sound of Economics, Rebecca Christie sits down with Thomas Wieser, former President of the Eurogroup Working Group and chair of the EU's 2019 High Level Group on financial architecture, and Nicolas Véron, Senior fellow at Bruegel and a veteran observer of the financial markets, to discuss how Europe can attract private investment and help fund the costly green and digital transition. Relevant publication: European capital markets union: make it or break it, Nicolas Véron, Bruegel first glance, March 2024

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan sits down with Alicia García-Herrero and Zichen Wang to talk about China’s Two Sessions, the Chinese government's annual plenary sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), held from 4–11 March 2024. They discuss the growth targets which were given during the sessions and what they might mean for the Chinese 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! Relevant episode: Understanding local government debt in China, Bruegel podcast episode

Two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Union has held together rather than let the conflict divide it. Rebecca Christie discusses the EU’s shifts on trade, energy security and economic cooperation with André Sapir and Ben McWilliams. They discuss how the bloc weaned itself off Russian fossil fuels in record time, adjusted its relationship with China, and managed relations between Western Europe and countries in Central and Eastern Europe closer to the front.

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Rebecca Christie is joined by Bertin Martens, Bruegel Senior fellow and Werner Stengg, expert of EVP Margrethe Vestager’s cabinet. They explore the complexities of artificial intelligence (AI) regulation, focusing on the European Union's AI Act. They discuss the goals and potential effectiveness of the new artificial intelligence rules, including in areas like data use, copyright, antitrust and global competitiveness.

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan sits down with Alicia García-Herrero and June Park to talk about South Korea’s semiconductor industry, specifically how geopolitical tensions like China’s localisation needs and US export controls could impact the sector. They also discuss South Korea’s economic relations with both of those countries and how they are affected by the semiconductor industry. They discuss if Europe can become an optimal destination for South Korean chipmakers’ diversification strategy, whether the bloc can keep up with the pace of technological innovation and if it can compete with regions like the US and Japan. 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, Rebecca Christie invites MEP Johan Van Overtveldt and Bruegel Senior fellow Nicolas Véron to talk about the impact of the sanctions on Russian assets in the global financial system and what that means in terms of systemic risk for Belgium, for Europe and for the world. They discuss possible avenues where the EU could utilise 200 billion frozen Russian assets, in particular a recently proposed plan to use the assets as collateral and take out a loan to help fund Ukraine. Explore more of Bruegel's research on Ukraine.

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Rebecca Christie sits down with Oya Celasun, Deputy Director of the International Monetary Fund’s European Department, and Jeromin Zettelmeyer, Director of Bruegel, to talk about EU competitiveness. They define what the term means; discuss whether the EU has a competitiveness problem; and if so, how it can be fixed.

In the final episode of The Skills podcast series, Rebecca Christie discusses with Duygu Güner and Francesca Rosso on skills anticipation. They talk about the new skills that are emerging and the impact of skills anticipation on education and training. They also talk about providing the required skills needed for the green transition and about creating a smooth process for all workers, regardless of their skill level. This is part of a special Skills series of The Sound of Economics, where we discuss how we can utilise upskilling and reskilling initiatives to protect vulnerable groups of the workforce, how to build a resilient workforce and create a better functioning EU labour market.

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Rebecca Christie sits down with Nicolas Véron and Harald Waiglein to look at the status of Europe’s banking union. They discuss how the project started, how it is going and the political climate that has brought us to this stage of the project. They also point out the unfinished business including insurance, the crisis management framework and more.

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Rebecca Christie invites Chiara Criscuolo and Reinhilde Veugelers. The speakers argue that the current pace of innovation is too slow to face the challenge of climate change and that a range of barriers and market failures remain at the root of the problem. To resolve these, a mission-oriented industrial strategy for the green transition is needed. Relevant publication: Industrial strategies for Europe’s green transitionSparking Europe’s new industrial revolution: A policy for net zero, growth and resilienceDid COVID-19 accelerate the green transition?Industrial policy and strategiesQuantifying industrial strategies

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan invites Alessia Amighini and Alicia García-Herrero to discuss China’s latest push to internationalise its currency, the Renminbi. They talk about China’s previous two attempts, its approach to internationalise the RMB this time around and the wider implications of a strengthened RMB. This might prompt other countries to try and strengthen their own currencies, which could lead to a more fragmented financial system. Our experts discuss how the euro, compared to the dollar, might be more affected by this. Relevant publications: Third time lucky? China’s push to internationalise the renminbiChina’s second attempt to internationalise the RMB by launching its own digital currencyApril 2021 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, Rebecca Christie sits down with Isabelle Mejean and Niclas Poitiers to discuss EU economic security. They start with the various definitions of the term, how their research fits into the current knowledge gap and they give policy recommendations on how to strengthen economic security in the bloc in areas like diversification, industrial policy, anti-coercion instruments and so on.

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Rebecca Christie invites Heather Grabbe, Jean Pisani-Ferry, Fiona M. Scott Morton and Jeromin Zettelmeyer to do a yearly round-up of significant economic policy developments from Europe and the world. They discuss the implication of wars and recent European elections, interest rate hikes, green investment, industrial policy, EU fiscal rules reform and digital regulations.