In this episode of the McKinsey Global Institute’s Forward Thinking podcast, co-host Janet Bush speaks with Guntram Wolff, the director of Bruegel, which is regularly ranked one of the top global think tanks. In early 2021, he was appointed to a new G-20 panel on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. Wolff discusses the challenge of being better prepared for future pandemics, climate risk in the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, and prospects for Europe’s economies as they begin to recover from the shock of the pandemic. He answers questions including the following:
— With your economist’s hat on, if you had to choose, what would be the one insight you would take away from the pandemic?
— What is the aim of the High Level Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response?
— Is the balance of incentives tipping in the right direction for an effective response to climate change?
— Is Europe in good shape to recover from the pandemic?
— How could the tapering of pandemic-related economic support work with the very large economic imbalances between Northern and Southern Europe?

This conversation was recorded in September 2021. To read a transcript of this episode, visit: https://mck.co/GuntramWolff

Follow @McKinsey_MGI on Twitter and the McKinsey Global Institute on LinkedIn for more.

See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information