The Sound of Economics

Don't worry if you missed part one because all of Bruegel's pillars for a European Green Deal are created equal. This time, Nicholas Barrett and Guntram Wolff discuss industrial policy and the social consequences of the green deal with Grégory Claeys and Simone Tagliapietra. To read the paper in full, visit Bruegel.org 

The European Green Deal will be a defining feature of Ursula Von der Leyen's incoming Commission. But will carbon border taxes and single carbon prices be enough to make Europe carbon-neutral by 2050? This week, Nicholas Barrett and Guntram Wolff discuss Bruegel's new paper 'How to make the European Green Deal Work' with Grégory Claeys and Simone Tagliapietra.

Digital banking has made our lives easier, but why are people use mobile banking more likely to be overdrawn? This week Maria Demertzis and Nicholas Barrett are joined by Annamaria Lusardi, Denit Trust Endowed Chair of Economics and Accountancy from George Washington University School of Business to discuss financial literacy

With interest rates so low for so long, central bankers are running out of levers to pull. But perhaps better fiscal policy can help economies grow as well as cutting carbon emissions. Politicians, journalists and economist have spent years bickering about the quantity of public spending in Europe, but the quality of public spending could be just as important.  This week's podcast features Maria Demertzis, Boris Cournede, Francesco Papadia and Nicholas Barrett.

The British government has reached a deal with the EU27.  The agreement is still subject to approval by the British and European parliaments, as well as the European Council. But is it good news for Brussels? How will Britain strike favourable trade deals when all this is over? And, with a new relationship between Brussels, London and the world yet be realised, is this the beginning of the end or just the end of the beginning? 

Nicholas Barrett and Guntram Wolff talk to Kalypso Nicolaïdis, author of Exodus, Reckoning, Sacrifice: Three Meanings of Brexit. Together they discuss the mythology that binds Britain to continental Europe

The European Union and Mercosur – a customs union covering Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay  – have spent two decades negotiating a trade agreement. The gains are modest the ratification process will be anything but easy. Nevertheless, the deal is worth fighting for according to Uri Dadush. This week he joins Nicholas Barrett on our Deep Focus podcast to discuss the perils and process of an agreement that could be as significant to the globe's climate as it is for the global economy. Read the latest policy contribution by Michael Baltensperger and Uri Dadush on the same topic.

Increasing cyber and hybrid risks will test the European Union’s system of fragmentation on issues of security but centralisation on financial and other economic issues. This asymmetry was not an obstacle in a world in which security threats were more contained or of a different nature. But the world is changing.  But what is a hybrid attack and whose responsibility is it to deal with? Last week Bruegel's Director, Guntram Wolff and our Deputy Director Maria Demertzis presented a paper on the subject to ECOFIN, an informal meeting of European finance ministers in Helsinki. In this episode of Bruegel's "Sound of Economics" podcast, Nicholas Barrett sits down with Guntram Wolff to find out.  

The layout of the commission has largely changed this year. A key part being that there are now three executive Vice Presidents, driving three main economic issues. Frans Timmermans, responsible for the implementation of the Green Deal; Margrethe Vestager, responsible for the digital age and competition policy and Valdis Dombrovskis, responsible for economy and financial services. The major change being that, in this commission, the Vice Presidents also have their own portfolio and Directorate-Generals to oversee, suggesting these three will be instrumental in driving the political priorities of commission. In this episode of 'The Sound of Economics' Bruegel director Guntram Wolff discusses with Simone Tagliapietra the new commission setup and Ursula von der Leyen's European Green Deal. In his previous blog post on the Green Deal, Simone argues not only does it aim to reduce the continent's emissions, but it also has the potential to grow the EU's economy and transform the bloc's politics. He also states the green deal has the motivation to achieve very high climate targets in quicker time than foreseen. For further reading on this topic, we recommend another recent blog post by Simone Tagliapietra on the global summits between now and November 2020 that are crucial to the future of climate change.

Should competition policy adjust to current concerns and support industrial policy? How can we contextualise long-run consumer welfare? How can we maintain independence and objectivity in enforcement? In this podcast, Rebecca Christie discusses competition policy, with Mathew Heim.