The Economics Show

Customs duties on imported goods used to be a crucial part of US government funding – in fact, the customs service was among the first federal agencies set up after the constitution. Now, Trump is hoping that – among other things – tariffs could transform the US budget. But do the revenues they raise for government coffers help outweigh their negative economic impacts? Martha Gimbel, executive director of the Budget Lab at Yale and former adviser at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, speaks to Claire Jones, the FT’s US economics editor.Claire Jones is US economics editor. You can read her articles here. Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Presented by Claire Jones. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Samantha Giovinco and Breen Turner.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China has become a superpower because of its ability to build bridges, cars and electronics at an astonishing pace. But breakneck growth comes with problems. The country is grappling with overproduction and deflation, and policymakers in Beijing are attempting to jumpstart consumer demand. How can China keep building without jeopardising its economic future? Dan Wang, research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover History Lab and author of 'Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future' speaks to the FT’s financial reporter Aiden Reiter.Aiden Reiter co-writes the Unhedged newsletter. You can read his articles here.Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Presented by Aiden Reiter. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval and Josh Gabert-Doyon. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Samantha Giovinco and Breen Turner.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Donald Trump's attempt to fire Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate-setting board, is not the first time in the Fed’s history that there has been an attempt to politicise central banking. But Peter Conti-Brown, associate professor of financial regulation at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, tells the FT’s Chris Giles why Trump’s intervention is different and why there are now reasons to fear for the survival of a key pillar of US and global economic stability. Going to the FT Weekend festival at Kenwood House Gardens in London on Saturday September 6? FT Live has a 10% discount for all FT podcast listeners with promo code FTPodcasts. Find a registration link with discount hereSubscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Presented by Chris Giles. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon and Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s a widely held assumption that US President Donald Trump has put globalisation into reverse. But Neil Shearing, group chief economist at Capital Economics and author of The Fractured Age: How the Return of Geopolitics Will Splinter the Global Economy, tells the FT’s world trade editor Peter Foster that Trump’s policies are a symptom and not the cause of the global trading system unravelling. They discuss how economic rivalry between the US and China is reshaping world trade – and where it might lead.Peter Foster is the FT’s world trade editor. You can read his articles hereBook your FT Weekend Festival tickets hereSubscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Presented by Peter Foster. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Samantha Giovinco and Breen Turner.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Donald Trump thinks that Asia's goods exports are automatically America's loss and as part of his ‘reciprocal’ tariff policy, he has imposed some of the highest import taxes on goods from south-east Asia. So what does this mean for the region? And are Trump's policies pushing those countries further into China's orbit? Alan Beattie, the FT’s senior trade writer, discusses these questions and more with Mari Pangestu, Indonesia's former trade minister and a former managing director at the World Bank.Alan Beattie is the FT's senior trade writer. He writes the Trade Secrets newsletter every Monday. Read Alan’s columns hereSign up to the Trade Secrets newsletter hereBook your FT Weekend Festival tickets hereSubscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Presented by Alan Beattie. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval and Persis Love. 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.

When the EU and US hit Russia with fresh sanctions in 2022, many analysts expected the country’s economy to crack. Instead, Russia has shown strong GDP growth, powered in large part by a massive boost to war-related industries. Now, the effects of that boost appear to be fading. Have western sanctions finally started to bite? What would happen to Russia’s economy if the Ukraine war were to end? And how difficult might it be for the country’s economy to return to normal? To find out, the FT’s economics editor Sam Fleming speaks to Elina Ribakova. Elina is a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a non-resident fellow at Brussels think-tank Bruegel and vice-president for foreign policy at the Kyiv School of Economics.Sam Fleming is the FT’s economics editor. You can find his articles here: https://www.ft.com/sam-flemingWant more? Free links:Russia moves to contain concern over banks’ bad loan exposureVladimir Putin’s war economy is cooling, but Russians still feel richerRussia’s central bank speeds up rate cuts as war economy coolsThere's no money to be made in RussiaThe FT Weekend Festival returns for its 10th edition on Saturday, September 6 at Kenwood House Gardens in London. Get details and tickets hereSubscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Presented by Sam Fleming. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. Original music from Breen Turner, and sound design by Breen Turner & Sam Giovinco.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the Economics Show, we're bringing you an interview with Ray Dalio, from our foreign affairs podcast, the Rachman Review. It originally broadcast on July 3.Gideon talks to Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund and author of a new book: How Countries Go Broke. They discuss the size of the US debt and what history tells us about identifying warning signs.Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Clip: CBSRead more:Is Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ a political curse for Republicans?Fears over US debt load and inflation ignite exodus from long-term bondsDonald Trump’s big, beautiful act of self-harmThe fall in the dollar is not scaryPresented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a worse-than-expected US jobs report, President Trump fired the agency’s head, Erika McEntarfer, claiming her numbers were ‘wrong’ and manipulated. There’s no evidence this was the case but many agree gathering reliable data on the health of the economy is getting harder. The FT’s chief data reporter, John Burn-Murdoch, discusses why that’s happening and what to do about it with Erica Groshen, the former BLS commissioner.Clip: NBCFurther Reading:US labour data agency was teetering even before Donald Trump fired its chiefTrump’s war on data will do lasting harmDonald Trump’s attack on US labour statistics agency spooks investorsJohn Burn-Murdoch is the FT’s chief data reporter. You can find his articles hereSubscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Presented by John Burn-Murdoch. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music from Breen Turner, and sound design by Jean-Marc Eck.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first two decades of the 21st century were a golden age for global development. International co-operation and funding drove remarkable progress in the developing world. Now, that progress threatens to stall as wealthy nations, including the US and UK, withdraw their support. A global meeting held in Spain last month ended with a new international agreement, the Seville Commitment, on funding development – but will it succeed where others have failed? What role do rich countries, and organisations such as the World Bank, have to play? And will anyone be willing to relieve developing nations of their onerous debt obligations? Financial Times associate editor Pilita Clark speaks to Gates Foundation chief executive Mark Suzman.Want more? Free links:Trump shadow hangs over global development talksDevelopment funds dash for donor cash at World Bank and IMF meetingsPilita Clark is an associate editor and business columnist at the FT. You can read her columns here: https://www.ft.com/pilita-clark Follow Pilita on Bluesky or X: @pilitaclark.bsky.social‬ or @pilitaclarkSubscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Presented by Pilita Clark. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-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.

In the early 20th century Argentina was one of the world’s richest countries. For most of the past 50 years, it has been an economic disaster. But after nine debt defaults, 23 IMF programmes and two years of triple-digit annual inflation, the country’s radical libertarian president, Javier Milei, has steadied the ship. How has Milei revitalised the economy? Can he persuade investors to trust Argentina again? And, most crucially, can his transformation last? The FT’s Latin America editor, Michael Stott, discusses with Alejandro Werner, former head of the IMF’s western hemisphere department, founding director of the Georgetown Americas Institute, and fellow of the Peterson Institute for International EconomicsClips: Sky Australia, Javier Milei via Storyful/ELPELUCAMILEI, Global News, Poder360Want more? Free links:Javier Milei’s risky bet on a potent pesoTory leader Kemi Badenoch says she is Britain’s Javier MileiJavier Milei lowers Argentina’s monthly inflation below 2% for first time since 2020Michael Stott is the FT’s Latin America editor. You can find his articles here: https://www.ft.com/michael-stott Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen. Presented by Michael Stott. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-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.

European countries have committed to higher defence spending to face down Russian aggression. But preparing for war isn’t cheap – and in many countries, budgets are already stretched. How will European members of Nato hit their defence targets, a hefty 5% of GDP? Will EU states look beyond their own national champions, and commit to greater co-operation on defence funding and purchases? And what kind of new institutions would be necessary to make that happen? To find out, Sam Fleming speaks to Jeromin Zettelmeyer. He is the director of the Brussels-based think tank, Bruegel, and has previously held senior roles at the IMF, the Peterson Institute, and in the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Clips: BBC, Bloomberg Television, European Commission, French Armed ForcesSam Fleming is the FT’s economics editor. You can find his articles here: https://www.ft.com/sam-flemingSubscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen. Presented by Sam Fleming. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. Original music from Breen Turner, and sound design by Breen Turner & Sam Giovinco.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

July 9 marked the end of President Trump’s 90-day pause on his so-called reciprocal tariffs. Now that deadline has passed … what has actually changed? The FT’s senior trade writer Alan Beattie discusses with former trade negotiator Dmitry Grozoubinski, author of ‘Why Politicians Lie About Trade’. Dmitry explains why Trump’s tariff threats are as ineffective as they are unusual, how countries are approaching his ‘vibes-based’ trade policy, and what Dmitry would advise if he was negotiating with the US now.Want more?Trump’s tariff shambles is a helpful warning to the worldDonald Trump threatens new tariffs on CanadaAlan Beattie is the FT's senior trade writer. He writes the Trade Secrets newsletter every Monday. Read Alan’s columns here: https://www.ft.com/alan-beattieSign up to the Trade Secrets newsletter here. Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen. Presented by Alan Beattie. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Mix by Sam Giovinco.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the sixth of this six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman tackle a selection of questions, and even some criticisms, sent in by their audience. Listen to Paul Krugman’s cultural coda, Carole King’s It's too late, here Listen to Martin Wolf’s cultural coda, Va Pensiero from Verdi’s Nabucco, hereSubscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Episodes are also available on the FT’s YouTube channel.Read Martin’s FT column hereSubscribe to Paul’s substack hereThe Wolf-Krugman Exchange was produced by Sandra Kanthal and Mischa Frankl-Duval, and the broadcast engineer was Andrew Georgiades. The sound engineer was Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the fifth of this six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discuss the way American politics is crashing against both the guardrails of a stable, democratic system and the rules and norms of the postwar economic order and how this could jeopardise the importance of the US on the world stage.Paul Krugman’s Cultural Coda: Stephen Sondheim: "We had a good thing going"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTbrbiM-slg&list=RDNTbrbiM-slg&start_radio=1Martin Wolf’s Cultural Coda:Jonas Kaufmann: Freiheit from Beethoven’s Fideliohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvfhmGsFMEoSubscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Episodes are also available on the FT’s YouTube channel.If you’d like to get in touch and ask Martin and Paul a question, please email economics.show@ft.com Read Martin’s FT column hereSubscribe to Paul’s substack hereThe Wolf-Krugman Exchange is produced by Sandra Kanthal. The broadcast engineer was Rod Fitzgerald. The sound engineer is Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the fourth of this six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman ask if advances in artificial intelligence will reshape the working world as we know it. Or are we hearing an old familiar story that has been told many times before? Paul Krugman’s Cultural Coda:Loretta Lynn - "Coal Miner's Daughter":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9eHp7JJgq8&list=RDf9eHp7JJgq8&start_radio=1Martin Wolf’s Cultural Coda:Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain, published in 1924.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_MountainRead Martin Wolf's selection of the best economics summer reads for 2025 hereRead Martin’s FT column hereSubscribe to Paul’s substack hereIf you’d like to get in touch and ask Martin and Paul a question, please email economics.show@ft.com  Subscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Episodes are also available on the FT’s YouTube channel.The Wolf-Krugman Exchange is produced by Sandra Kanthal and Mischa Frankl-Duval, and the broadcast engineer is Andrew Georgiades. The sound engineer is Jean-Marc Eck. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the third of this six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discuss the dangers facing the world economy and wonder what outcomes are possible at summits such as the G7 in times of political and economic risk.Paul Krugman’s Cultural Coda:Peter Gabriel: “Games Without Frontiers”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xZmlUV8muY&list=RD3xZmlUV8muY&start_radio=1Martin Wolf’s Cultural Coda: "The Second Coming" - by William Butler Yeats, 1919https://youtu.be/QI40j17EFbISubscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Episodes are also available on the FT’s YouTube channel.If you’d like to get in touch and ask Martin and Paul a question, please email economics.show@ft.com Read Martin’s FT column hereSubscribe to Paul’s substack hereThe Wolf-Krugman Exchange was produced by Sandra Kanthal and Mischa Frankl-Duval, and the broadcast engineer was Andrew Georgiades. The sound engineer was Breen Turner. Our executive producer is Flo Phillips. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second of this six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discuss the way economic trends have fractured societies on both sides of the Atlantic and the jeopardy that poses to liberal democracies in Europe and America. Paul Krugman’s Cultural Coda: Let America Be America Again by Langston Hugheshttps://poets.org/poem/let-america-be-america-againMartin Wolf’s Cultural Coda: The Tariff Song by Dan Shorehttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eWtn6kWXAsQ&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=emailSubscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Episodes are also available on the FT’s YouTube channel.If you’d like to get in touch and ask Martin and Paul a question, please email economics.show@ft.com Read Martin’s FT column hereSubscribe to Paul’s substack hereThe Wolf-Krugman Exchange was produced by Sandra Kanthal and Mischa Frankl-Duval, and the broadcast engineer was Andrew Georgiades. The sound engineer was Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In part one of this six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discuss how trust in the postwar world economic system is being lost and weigh the costs and consequences of that. Paul Krugman’s Cultural Coda: Quarterflash, ”Harden My Heart”- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNFSED77-GMMartin Wolf’s Cultural Coda:The Beatles, “For No One”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELlLIwhvknkSubscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Episodes are also available on the FT’s YouTube channel.If you’d like to get in touch and ask Martin and Paul a question, please email economics.show@ft.com Read Martin’s FT column hereSubscribe to Paul’s substack hereThe Wolf-Krugman Exchange was produced by Sandra Kanthal and Mischa Frankl-Duval, and the broadcast engineer was Richard Topping. The sound engineer was Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a special six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discuss the economic events reshaping the world in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s election. Subscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Episodes will also be available on the FT’s YouTube channel.If you’d like to get in touch and ask Martin and Paul a question, please email economics.show@ft.com Read Martin’s FT column hereSubscribe to Paul’s substack here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Churchill never said “we will fight them in the spreadsheets…”. But maybe he should have done. The second world war, like every other war in human history, was decided by how each side allocated its resources. In this episode, Duncan Weldon, author of the new book ‘Blood and Treasure, The Economics of Conflict from the Vikings to Ukraine’, explains how countries have historically thought about the economics of war – and how the Ukraine war is changing that. He and host Soumaya Keynes also discuss how conflict shaped economic institutions and the modern world.Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Further reading: Vladimir Putin’s war economy is cooling, but Russians still feel richer: https://www.ft.com/content/485aba41-1148-4f2c-b0ab-97aac5e50727 Russia’s war economy fuels rustbelt revival: https://www.ft.com/content/559ca59f-7fdc-4c47-8e87-edb562acdc7b  Defence spending is up – but on all the wrong things: https://www.ft.com/content/11a6b844-fe57-4e39-86ba-bb04e839bf2f Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.