How much impact did the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have on the global economy? How will technology change sectors like health or education? What is causing the slowdown in economic growth around the world? How worried should we be about inflation? To answer these questions, Pedro Pinto interviews Michael Spence in this episode of “It’s Not That Simple”, a podcast by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation. 

A Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, Michael Spence is the Philip H. Knight Professor Emeritus of Management in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and a Distinguished Visiting Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is an Adjunct Professor at Bocconi University in Milan, and an Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford University. Spence is a Senior Advisor to Jasper Ridge Partners and a Senior Advisor to General Atlantic Partners. He co-chairs (with Dr. Victor Fung) the Advisory Council of the Asia Global Institute and was the Chairman of The Independent Commission on Growth and Development (2006-2010). 

In this episode, Spence discusses how congestion in global supply chains contributed to rising inflation, and what central banks can do to try to keep it under control. He also examines the role of the United States and China in the global economy, and how they can increase productivity growth. Spence also addresses how the labour market has changed and will continue to change because of the Covid-19 pandemic and technology. Finally, Spence considers the impact “digital nomads” coming to live in Portugal while working remotely have on the local housing market, and how the country can balance the benefits of attracting dynamic foreign entrepreneurs with the ability to ensure that the local population isn’t “priced out” of its own cities. 

More on this topic 

• The Next Convergence: The Future of Economic Growth in a Multispeed World, Michael Spence, 2011 

• Michael Spence’s Nobel Prize Lecture, 2001 

• Michael Spence (with James Manyika) on the post-Covid-19 global economy 

• Michael Spence’s op-ed pieces on Project Syndicate 

• “Globalization and Technology”, a debate hosted by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation 

Other references in Portuguese

• “O Mercado Imobiliário em Portugal”, a study by Paulo M. M. Rordrigues for the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation 

• “Um novo normal? Impactos e lições de dois anos de pandemia em Portugal”, a study by Nuno Monteiro and Carlos Jalali for the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation 

• Podcast Da Capa à Contracapa, “A digitalização da vida” with José Tribolet and João Mota Lopes