Dollar & Sense: The Brookings Trade Podcast

A global shortage of semiconductors has created serious anxiety in some industries and even caused automakers to halt production in several factories across North America. What led to this shortage, and is there anything manufacturers or the Biden administration can do to meet demand? David Dollar is joined by Don Clark, a contributor to The New York Times, to discuss the factors that triggered the recent supply issues and the potential implications for the future of chip manufacturing in the United States. Dollar & Sense is a part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to BCP@Brookings.edu and follow us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.

President Biden has outlined a sweeping infrastructure plan that aims to address both historic needs—like bridges, tunnels, and roads—and modern challenges from climate change and digitalization. Adie Tomer, a fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, argues that this type of investment would create good paying jobs, improve equity, and make American businesses more globally competitive. Tomer joins David Dollar in this episode to discuss the potential of a major infrastructure investment before turning to the politics of passing Biden’s $2.3 trillion plan and how to pay for it. Dollar & Sense is a part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to BCP@Brookings.edu and follow us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.

Overseas research and development conducted by U.S. multinational corporations has grown nearly four-fold in the last two decades, and much of that growth has been in developing economies. Britta Glennon, an assistant professor in the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, joins David Dollar in this episode to explain what’s behind this growth and which countries have become new hubs for R&D investments. Glennon and Dollar also discuss the national security implications of this trend and what it signals about the likelihood of any decoupling between the U.S. and China. Dollar & Sense is a part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to BCP@Brookings.edu and follow us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.

Alexia Latortue, the deputy chief executive officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), joins David Dollar for a conversation about the MCC and how it has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Latortue and Dollar discuss strategies for building infrastructure and institutional capacity in developing countries, concerns over growing debt levels in many countries, and challenges facing U.S. foreign assistance programs today.  Dollar & Sense is a part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to BCP@Brookings.edu and follow us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.

How will a new allocation of special drawing rights affect the global economy? Could International Monetary Fund (IMF) member countries do more to support low-income countries and afford more debt relief? And what effects will the recent $1.9 trillion U.S. recovery package have on emerging markets and currency disputes? Mark Sobel is the U.S. chairman of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum and previously represented the U.S. on the IMF’s executive board. He joins David Dollar to preview the IMF Spring Meetings and discuss current issues in U.S. monetary policy. Dollar & Sense is a part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to BCP@Brookings.edu and follow us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.

Americans have grown increasingly anxious about a rising China challenging the United States on the world stage, but the U.S. remains the stronger power in many ways. In this episode, Ryan Hass joins David Dollar to discuss the current state of U.S.-China relations and argue for a new China policy that’s rooted in the relative advantages that America possesses. Hass is the author of a new book, “Stronger: Adapting America’s China Strategy in an Age of Competitive Interdependence.” Dollar & Sense is a part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to BCP@Brookings.edu and follow us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.

The recent power blackouts in Texas have raised serious questions about the state’s energy grid and how it is regulated. Jeffrey Ball joins David Dollar in this episode to explain what exactly went wrong and how policy decisions contributed to the crisis. Ball is a scholar-in-residence at Stanford’s Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance where his research focuses on energy and the environment. He clarifies how renewable energy sources performed during February’s storm and their role in Texas’s energy sector. Ball and Dollar then turn to discuss economically efficient ways to decarbonize the U.S. power industry and the need for global cooperation to combat climate change. Dollar & Sense is a part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to BCP@Brookings.edu and follow us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.

Global trade may not dominate the news in the early days of Joe Biden’s presidency, but it does factor into many of the challenges the United States is currently facing. Mary E. Lovely, a professor of economics at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, joins David Dollar in this episode to discuss the resilience of U.S. supply chains, the potential effects of Biden’s “Buy American” policy, U.S. engagement with China, and other early lessons from the Biden administration’s emerging trade agenda. Dollar & Sense is a part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to BCP@Brookings.edu and follow us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.

The COVID-19 pandemic has set back important progress on education, gender equality, and economic development across Africa, but it has also revealed a continent that is more integrated and acting with greater solidarity than before. Aloysius Uche Ordu, director of the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings, joins David Dollar in this episode to discuss the region’s top priorities for the year ahead and the findings of a new report, Foresight Africa 2021. Dollar & Sense is a part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to BCP@Brookings.edu and follow us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.

President-elect Biden has made it clear that restoring America’s standing with allies will be a priority for his administration. In this episode, Constanze Stelzenmüller explains how the administration can begin to repair the important trans-Atlantic relationship. Stelzenmüller and David Dollar discuss recent tensions between the United States and Europe, a new investment deal between China and the European Union, and how the U.S. and EU can coordinate a common approach toward China. Dollar and Sense is a part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback to BCP@Brookings.edu and follow us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.