The Big View podcast

How to breathe life into zombie office property

18 Jul 2023

Lenders are steering clear of buildings that face reckonings from remote working, pushing prices down. In this Exchange podcast, real estate investor Scott Rechler argues that it will take financial and civic engagement to make empty space desirable for living – and investing.

Venture capital has female entrepreneur black spot

11 Jul 2023

Companies founded by women get at best 3% of venture money each year. That’s a sign investors are not allocating capital wisely and missing lucrative deals, Loyal VC founding partner Kamal Hassan tells The Exchange podcast. It’s time to change the venture playbook.

Why central banks cannot relax in inflation fight

4 Jul 2023

Western policymakers have frantically hiked interest rates to dampen consumer prices. In this Exchange podcast, Claudio Borio, a top official at the Bank for International Settlements, argues that rate-setters need to keep going to ensure costs of living won’t stay elevated.

Why backing prevention can yield better health

27 Jun 2023

Treating illnesses like cancer consumes 11% of global GDP, according to the World Health Organization. In this Exchange podcast, Dr. Katie Tryon, director of healthcare strategy at Vitality, explains that overburdened care systems need to spend their way back into shape.

US and China are decoupling, and it is permanent

19 Jun 2023

Forget de-risking or containment. In this Exchange podcast, Gavekal research director Chris Beddor explains the political framing of the slogans, unpicks changing trade and financial flows between the world’s two biggest economies and explains why China hasn’t retaliated more.

Fed’s rate hike habit will be hard to kick

13 Jun 2023

The US central bank is mulling a pause after raising interest rates at its last 10 meetings. In this Exchange podcast, Morgan Stanley chief economist Seth Carpenter lays out the calculus behind the Federal Reserve’s next move, and why it’s so hard for policymakers to pivot.

Pampered pets unleash booming market

6 Jun 2023

The pet craze brought on by the pandemic has become a boon for companies that sell products to dog-loving owners. FidoCure founder Christina Lopes explains to The Exchange podcast how this might be able to help humans, too.

Why the jobs market could brush off AI threat

16 May 2023

Hiring seems to be waning in the US and Europe. Yet in this Exchange podcast, recruitment boss Sander van ’t Noordende strikes a hopeful note. The Randstad CEO explains why artificial intelligence and a possible economic slump are doing nothing to dampen demand for talent.

Credit Suisse debacle raises oversight question

9 May 2023

Swiss authorities hailed the state-backed rescue of the stricken lender by UBS as a commercial solution that will be light on domestic taxpayers. Banking professor and former SNB official Urs Birchler tells The Exchange podcast why the quick fix is far from ideal.

Airbnb swerves tech rout with constant change

2 May 2023

The $77 bln travel company weathered the pandemic and is now navigating a tech valuation bloodbath. Its co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk told The Exchange podcast that lessons learned during Covid-19 about disruption and never sitting still are key to its future.

Exploring the City of London’s existential dread

25 Apr 2023

The global financial centre is suffering a spasm of anxiety about its status, while the government is pushing post-Brexit reforms. In this Exchange podcast William Wright, founder of the New Financial think tank, discusses the roots of the malaise and what can be done to fix it.

Cyberattack risks rise up company agendas

18 Apr 2023

Digital breaches and data theft were up 40% in 2022. As firms expand their digital network, the weaknesses criminals exploit will also grow, DXC Technology’s security expert Mark Hughes told The Exchange podcast. Defending against attacks will inevitably cost more.

Bank bail-ins, and how to prevent climate bailouts

4 Apr 2023

Mark Carney helped design the post-2008 system for resolving bust lenders. In this episode of the Exchange, the ex-Bank of England governor tells George Hay what he makes of last month’s rescue of Credit Suisse, and how to limit future financial sector hits from climate change.

Ferrari’s green journey takes surprise turn

30 Mar 2023

Europe’s plan to support carbon-neutral fuels is good news for the $50 bln luxury carmaker, CEO Benedetto Vigna says on the Exchange podcast. It will allow the group to flog the roaring engines that made its fortune. Electric cars remain a goal, but self-driving Ferraris are not.

Busting through the brick wall barricading M&A

28 Mar 2023

Worldwide merger activity is down by about half this year to $470 bln, stymied by tough financing conditions, assertive trustbusters and more. In this Exchange podcast from New Orleans, JPMorgan’s head of M&A Anu Aiyengar debates downbeat dealmakers and the pockets of optimism.

Bayer pumps H2O to top of climate agenda

21 Mar 2023

The UN is hosting its first confab on water security in almost 50 years as floods and droughts worsen with rising temperatures. In this Exchange podcast, Bayer executive and former member of Germany’s Green Party Matthias Berninger lays out the drugs-to-seeds maker’s remedies.

Hollywood faces a content reckoning

14 Mar 2023

Netflix and other streaming giants are refocusing on profitability over subscriber growth. In this episode of The Exchange, Vania Schlogel, an investor in Brad Pitt’s production firm, explains what challenges lie ahead for those selling TV shows, movies and music rights.

War puts defence firms on investors’ radar

21 Feb 2023

The Ukraine conflict is prompting once-wary capital to engage with defence and aerospace companies. In this Exchange podcast Lorenz Meier, CEO of drone software firm Auterion, accepts ethical issues remain. But defence tech startups should brace for new venture capital cash.

How central banks got the inflation crisis wrong

14 Feb 2023

Western policymakers have hiked interest rates by more than 10 percentage points since 2021. Yet prices remain high. In this Exchange podcast, Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, explains how rate-setters failed and what they should do next.

The plastic waste fight is just beginning

7 Feb 2023

Where does packaging waste go? Ellen MacArthur Foundation expert Sander Defruyt tells The Exchange podcast about the challenges companies like Coca-Cola and Danone face cutting the 140 mln tonnes of plastic discarded each year. With progress stalling, global rules are afoot.