I'm just delighted to have Anders Åslund on Economics Matters -- the Podcast. I met Anders in the late 1990s when he asked me to go with him to Russia to discuss pension and other economic reforms with the Russian government. At the time, Anders was working for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is now Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council. This was a period of great hope for Russia, making it the first of many fascinating consulting and research (with the Gaidar Institute) trips to Russia. But the best part of returning to Russia (which my great grandfather had escaped on a stolen horse!) was meeting Anders, who is both a marvelous economist and extremely well informed about the global economy and geopolitics. Please listen to/watch this podcast to learn Anders assessment of the future of Ukraine, what's driving President Trump's policy, and his scary assessment of the world economy.