The Big View podcast

The Exchange: Ron Johnson, Apple store retail guru

24 Aug 2021

He helped transform Target, opened the first Apple store, but failed to save J.C. Penney. Now Johnson is turning his attention to mobile stores. He tells Jennifer Saba about his new venture, Enjoy, and explains how e-commerce is changing everything.

The Exchange: Buyout bonanza

17 Aug 2021

Thomas H. Lee’s Scott Sperling has been investing in private equity deals for more than two decades. As the industry is hotter than ever, he talks to Lauren Silva Laughlin about how nothing and everything have changed.

The Exchange: How UK’s vaccine taskforce did it

3 Aug 2021

Clive Dix was part of a crack team of business execs and scientists that secured Covid-19 jabs for Great Britain. They applied a venture capital approach that can be used to tackle other public sector challenges. The former chairman discusses lessons learned and looming threats.

The Exchange: Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez

27 Jul 2021

In his attempt to revive the economy, Pedro Sánchez wants investors to give Spain more love. Local and global politics make that a challenging proposition. John Foley met with the prime minister as he set out for Wall Street, Silicon Valley and Hollywood but not Washington, D.C.

The Exchange: Global tax deal

7 Jul 2021

EY Vice Chair Kate Barton is helping companies figure out a minimum corporate rate agreed to by 130 countries. The historic pact will help raise $150 billion in government revenue. She talks to Gina Chon about the 15% floor, how effective it may be and where it goes from here.

The Exchange: Niall Ferguson on human error

29 Jun 2021

The historian joins Pete Sweeney to discuss his latest book on disasters, natural and man-made, and why so many governments got Covid-19 so wrong. They debate which political model looked best after the pandemic and whether historians can make a difference at times like these.

The Exchange: Hiro Mizuno

17 Jun 2021

The former chief investment officer of Japan’s $1.6 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund is now a board member at Tesla and Danone. In an interview as part of last week’s Ethical Finance 2021 summit, he tells George Hay how ESG has changed since he championed it at GPIF.

The Exchange: IAC Chairman Barry Diller

15 Jun 2021

The media mogul has backed businesses ranging from travel to gambling to dating and more. Plus, he’s behind Little Island, a new park in New York. Diller shares his thoughts on the reopening of the world, IAC’s unique model and why Netflix has already won the streaming war.

The Exchange: EU Trade Commissioner Dombrovskis

8 Jun 2021

With vaccination programs catching up with America and Britain, Europe is poised to rebound, the former Latvian premier, who is also responsible for an “Economy that Works for People,” tells Rob Cox in an interview hosted by the European-American Chamber of Commerce New York.

The Exchange: Steering Europe’s green transition

1 Jun 2021

Frans Timmermans has a key leadership role in the European Union’s quest to reduce its 2030 emissions by 55% compared to 1990 levels. Ahead of a major set of green policy updates next month, he talks to George Hay about both these and November’s COP26 conference.

The Exchange: South Africa’s prospects

25 May 2021

Johannesburg Stock Exchange CEO Leila Fourie tells Swaha Pattanaik how South Africa’s economy has coped with Covid-19. In an interview recorded for the International Economic Forum of the Americas, she also flags sectors that will rebound fastest and discusses ESG investing.

The Exchange: Becoming “Richer, Wiser, Happier”

27 Apr 2021

That’s the title of a new book looking at how some of global finance’s top investors, such as Howard Marks, Matthew McLennan, Charlie Munger and Mohnish Pabrai, crushed it. The author, William Green, tells Rob Cox what he learned from writing about these “practical philosophers.”

The Exchange: Fewer bankers, more engineers needed

20 Apr 2021

That’s one of Jacques Attali’s many prescriptions to enhance the economy of life. The former EBRD boss and French presidential adviser also discusses Big Tech breakups, Europe’s lagging vaccination efforts, Macron’s political prospects and his plan to close the elite ENA.

The Exchange: ECB President Christine Lagarde

14 Apr 2021

What role does the central bank play in combatting climate change? How will it confront the emergence of digital currencies? What if the U.S. economy charges ahead while Europe languishes? Lagarde takes on these questions and more in an exclusive discussion with Breakingviews.

The Exchange: Rwanda’s dark side

13 Apr 2021

Under Paul Kagame, the East African state has gone from genocidal hellhole to wannabe Singapore. Michela Wrong, author of critical biography “Do Not Disturb”, explains how, in feting the ex-guerrilla president, donors and investors ignored autocracy and murder.

The Exchange: What’s ahead for global art market?

6 Apr 2021

Sales fell some 22% to $50 bln last year, the biggest recession in the art market since the financial crisis. Clare McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics, discusses the impact of Covid-19, taxes and geopolitics, the rise in online sales and how NFTs are attracting nerds to art.

The Exchange: Sustainable finance

30 Mar 2021

European bank ING is a leader when it comes to holding borrowers to climate-change commitments. In an interview hosted by the European-American Chamber of Commerce New York, ING Americas CEO Gerald Walker talks to Breakingviews’ Richard Beales about the future of green finance.

The Exchange: The old GE is gone and that’s ok

23 Mar 2021

Jeff Immelt ran GE for 16 years, during which time its market value roughly halved. His new book “Hot Seat” attempts to put that rocky period into context. The former GE boss chatted with John Foley about his part in the decline of an American industrial icon.

The Exchange: World Bank President David Malpass

9 Mar 2021

The Covid-19 crisis has exposed the economic and other inequities between the world’s richest and poorest countries. The World Bank’s boss discusses these challenges, ranging from vaccination drives and debt relief to the existential threat of climate change, with Rob Cox.

The Exchange: Sheryl Sandberg on banning Trump

12 Jan 2021

The Facebook COO sat down with Breakingviews’ Gina Chon as part of Reuters Next on Monday to explain why the social network has indefinitely blocked the U.S. president after he incited violence at the Capitol - and why it took so long for the company to come to this decision.