The Sound of Economics

This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound of Economics. ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel, bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from Europe. Sign up now to receive it in your mailbox! 2021 has been an eventful year for China and the world, to say the least. Bruegel has been following China's economic developments with our monthly China Newsletter ZhōngHuá Mundus, and in this last episode of the year, we feel the need to provide a bigger picture of its macroeconomic outlook. Sitting in Shanghai, J.P. Morgan’s Chief China Economist Haibin Zhu joins Giuseppe Porcaro and Alicia García-Herrero for a summary of China’s economic activities in the past year and what to expect in the future, namely the impacts of ‘common prosperity’ narrative, market regulations, pandemic restrictions and decarbonisation.

The Washington Consensus, first devised in 1989, is an economic paradigm that was reflected in the prevailing economic thinking as well as policy recommendations. However, as the world faces more fragilities and shocks than it used to, one might start wondering whether we should go further to address the acute and chronic issues that threaten the resilience of our societies. Economic orthodoxy might be shifting. In this episode, Thomas Wieser joins Maria Demertzis and André Sapir to talk about his recent report for the G7 'Global Economic Resilience: Building Forward Better' in which the authors present a new economic agenda, the Cornwall Consensus, to address the risk to economic resilience: environmental and health, and geo-political and socio-economic.

In this episode of The Sound of Economics Live, Bruegel’s own Simone Tagliapietra is joined by Li Shuo, Diederik Samsom and Laurence Tubiana to contribute to the global stocktake of the climate summit, to foster a clearer understanding of the game changers and the missed opportunities of the summit. Furthermore, they foster a fresh debate on what should be the next steps for global climate action after Glasgow.

Is technology change neutral? This question is essential in the discussion under the scope of the future of work. In this episode, Bruegel’s own Giuseppe Porcaro and Mario Mariniello speak to David Spencer about the nature of technology, its impact on the quantity and quality of work, the cost of the technological transition and how to make sure it benefits everyone. This podcast was produced within the project “Future of Work and Inclusive Growth in Europe“, with the financial support of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth.

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, political theorist and historian Luuk van Middelaar joins us to talk about his latest book 'Pandemonium'. He argues that the COVID-19 pandemic is a test of the European Union's resilience, and its response demonstrates the union’s enduring strength and how it has learnt to deal with real-world events. Bruegel's Maria Demertzis and Guntram Wolff sit down with the author to discuss how and why the EU has stepped up in the wake of the pandemic and the journey it has taken from regulatory body to geopolitical actor.

This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound of Economics. ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel, bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from Europe. Sign up now to receive it in your mailbox! A wave of government regulations is being imposed on China’s digital sector, from gaming platforms to GDPR-like privacy regulations, to a draft regulation cracking down on recommendation algorithms. In the meantime, we have also seen a wave of crackdowns on big tech, from Jack Ma of Alibaba, to the case of Didi. What is going on in China's digital space? What is the general direction going forward? In this episode Giuseppe Porcaro is joined by Bruegel senior fellows Alicia García-Herrero and Mario Mariniello and by guest speaker Rui Ma, creator of Tech Buzz China which educates investors, funds and entrepreneurs on Chinese tech companies. 

Bruegel Director Guntram Wolff and Senior fellow Alicia García-Herrero welcome Bernd Lange MEP, Chair of the European Parliament's committee on International Trade to talk big issues in EU trade policy: EU-US trade relation, how to deal with China, strategy on the WTO as well as what trade can achieve in the area of climate change and human rights.

With COP26 around the corner, Bruegel Director Guntram Wolff hosts Italy's Minister for Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani. In this live episode they discuss what the Italy G20 Presidency would like to see from Glasgow: the need for adaptation and mitigation, adequate financing of the transition for the most vulnerable and the need to focus on measuring data and metrics. 

The pandemic and subsequent downturn have seen EU countries deploy unprecedented fiscal support, while the EU as a whole complemented this with an architectural innovation in the form of the Next Generation EU fund. As European economies begin to recover, is it time to return to pre-pandemic fiscal rules or is it time to reform them? If yes, then what should be changed and how? Bruegel’s Deputy director Maria Demertzis takes a deep dive with Senior fellow Zsolt Darvas and Rolf Strauch, Chief economist of European Stability Mechanism.

This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound of Economics. ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel, bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from Europe. Sign up now to receive it in your mailbox! The concept of “common prosperity” has deep roots in the Chinese Communist Party. It was already used in the 1950s and the late 1970s under different leaderships. On August 17 2021, President Xi Jinping highlighted this concept again, calling for China to achieve "common prosperity", seeking to narrow a yawning wealth gap that threatens the country's economic ascent and the legitimacy of Communist Party rule. Since then, there have been simultaneous crackdowns on business sectors and individuals, many of which fall under the umbrella of ‘common prosperity’. Why is this term being brought up again? Why now? What policies have followed? What does the regime want to achieve? Giuseppe Porcaro is joined by Bruegel Senior fellow Alicia García-Herrero and Minxin Pei, Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College and a non-resident senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States to discuss.