The Big View podcast

The power and peril of American economic warfare

12 Nov 2024

Successive US presidents have wielded sanctions and export controls against rival nations. Donald Trump promises further escalation. In this episode of the Big View podcast, political scientist Henry Farrell explains how weaponizing finance and technology can be self-defeating.

Making sense of China’s big economic reboot

5 Nov 2024

Officials have taken dramatic steps to boost confidence and growth in the world’s second-largest economy. In this episode of The Big View podcast, Arthur Kroeber, head of research at Gavekal, explains why he sees the People’s Republic turning into a high-tech, low-growth country.

How the US election affects the rest of the world

29 Oct 2024

Next week, voters will choose between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Their decision will impact governments, companies and investors outside the US. In this episode of The Big View podcast, geopolitical strategist Tina Fordham explains why markets misjudge the possible turmoil.

Why data centres are a bottleneck for the AI boom

15 Oct 2024

Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT depend on chips and energy. But a $1 trln rush to build data centres faces constraints on planning and power. In this episode of The Big View podcast, Morgan Laughlin of asset manager PGIM explains the virtual frenzy’s physical limits.

Decoding the puzzle of SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son

8 Oct 2024

The Japanese tycoon shaped global technology while building and losing vast fortunes. How does he keep going? In the first episode of Breakingviews’ new podcast, The Big View, former FT editor Lionel Barber discusses what he uncovered in his biography of Son, ‘Gambling Man’.

Boeing and Airbus headwinds are hard to escape

23 Jul 2024

The troubled US jet maker and its European rival aren’t delivering as many planes as customers want. On this Exchange podcast, AirInsight co-founder Addison Schonland explains how some problems stretch back to Covid, whether a third player can break the duopoly, and much more.

Copper’s green step change is an uphill struggle

9 Jul 2024

Supplies of the red metal have to motor if the world is to adequately decarbonise. In this Exchange podcast Tae-Yoon Kim, senior energy analyst at the International Energy Agency, lays out the challenges that need to be overcome if the private sector is going to make that happen.

Why the French vote also matters to Italy

25 Jun 2024

The outcome of snap elections in France will reverberate beyond its borders. Debt-laden Italy is particularly exposed if borrowing costs rise. In this Exchange podcast, former top Treasury official Fabrizio Pagani discusses Rome’s fiscal challenges in a changing EU landscape.

China’s EV makers can ride the tariffs backlash

18 Jun 2024

The US and the EU have imposed hefty import duties on electric vehicles BYD, Tesla and others make in the People’s Republic. In this Exchange podcast, consultant and former Chrysler executive Bill Russo explains why Europe’s levies are more a speeding fine than a stop sign.

McKinsey powers through its many missteps

11 Jun 2024

Despite scandals from South Africa to Big Oil, the secretive consultancy charms Ivy League recruits and blue-chip clients. In this Exchange podcast, investigative reporter Michael Forsythe explores the mystique and whether opioids advice threatens the firm’s $16 bln of revenue.

Investors are hunting securitization’s oddballs

4 Jun 2024

Whether a bundt cake bakery or an internet address, if it generates steady cash, it can be diced up in the financial alchemy of securitization. In this Exchange podcast, Janus Henderson’s John Kerschner explains the promise and perils, and why the oddest assets can be the best.

China’s cars fine-tune their driving skills

21 May 2024

Automakers in the country are touting autonomous driving, and Tesla is preparing to join the fray. On this week’s Exchange podcast, Maxwell Zhou, CEO of Alibaba-backed DeepRoute.ai, explains why progress is accelerating and how that is already changing consumers’ expectations.

China tests EU resolve on export trade fight

14 May 2024

France’s Emmanuel Macron got little to show from President Xi Jinping’s European tour this month. In this Exchange podcast, MERICS expert Grzegorz Stec explains the difficulty of managing ties with Beijing and why balancing risk and business opportunity is so tricky.

How investing in news can make sense

7 May 2024

The media industry has been struggling since the digital era and VC-led initiatives like BuzzFeed and Vice failed. Yet betting on independent outlets can reap decent financial rewards, Harlan Mandel, who runs a specialised impact fund, tells The Exchange podcast.

Global retailers are headed for Shein reckoning

30 Apr 2024

Zara owner Inditex, H&M and other apparel giants are holding ground against the Asian fast-fashion upstart. However, AlixPartners’ retail expert Matt Clark argues in this Exchange podcast that Shein’s focus on garment quality could threaten the dominance of pricier rivals.

Why rich nations have to keep helping poorer ones

16 Apr 2024

The world faces many onerous financial and climate challenges. Still, as Axel van Trotsenburg, the World Bank’s Senior Managing Director, explains in this Exchange podcast, governments and companies in advanced economies cannot afford to stop supporting developing ones.

How new stock rules are boosting Europe’s startups

9 Apr 2024

Young companies in the European Union have traditionally lagged US rivals in both value and numbers. But in this Exchange podcast, Index Ventures Partner Hannah Seal explains how friendlier regulations on employee share ownership are helping EU-based entrepreneurs fill that gap.

Big banks’ shock absorbers are still far too slim

26 Mar 2024

Credit Suisse and a string of US regional banks failed last year. In this Exchange podcast, Stanford Professor Anat Admati argues that lenders’ equity buffers are punier than they seem – and that fixing the problem needn’t cause a credit crunch.

Crypto’s roaring comeback may be harder to undo

19 Mar 2024

Bitcoin’s price broke its record, nearly two years after crypto exchange FTX went bust. In this Exchange podcast, Andreessen Horowitz’s Arianna Simpson explains why digital assets and the ledgers underpinning them are inextricable, and what’s driving new excitement around both.

How to sustain the big rebound in dealmaking

12 Mar 2024

The year kicked off with a 75% increase in global M&A activity, to $525 bln. Speaking to The Exchange podcast from a gathering of merger mavens in New Orleans, Evercore banker Bill Anderson discusses the resurgence and what’s needed to keep the momentum after a two-year slump.