The Big View

Edward Chancellor, financial historian and author of The Price of Time, examines today’s hyper-speculative markets. He explores the return of the Everything Bubble, record leverage, meme stocks, nonstop retail trading, and financial innovation. The conversation also turns to Elon Musk’s market influence, persistent fiscal support, and whether AI is fueling an even bigger wave of speculation.

Katja Bego, a Chatham House research fellow and author of Deep Connections, explores the fragile cables carrying the world’s data. She discusses Baltic Sea incidents, sabotage and plausible deniability, the history of cable warfare, Big Tech’s growing control of routes, and the limits of repair ships and satellites. The conversation also examines resilience, redundancy and the risk of a more fragmented internet.

Alex Edmans, a London Business School finance professor and author of The Madness of Markets, explores why investors behave irrationally. He discusses market overreactions to innovation, emotional influences on trading, meme stocks and SpaceX’s valuation. The conversation also examines how AI could reshape investing, why anomalies persist, and whether diversification or contrarian strategies offer the better path.

Daniel Susskind, a professor and author of A World Without Work, explores why “future-proof” skills are a mirage in the age of AI. He discusses returning education to literacy, numeracy and critical thinking, learning with and without AI, and using technology without becoming dependent on it. He also considers automation, work scarcity, blue-collar resilience and the challenge of regulating AI.

Robin Wigglesworth, Financial Times journalist and author of A Fabulous Debt, explores the forces reshaping bond markets. He examines today’s debt boom, rising Treasury yields and the political stakes of borrowing. He traces how bonds built nations and democracy, considers financial repression and central-bank intervention, and weighs whether AI financing could turn a market bubble into a broader crisis.

Tina Fordham, geostrategist and founder of Fordham Global Foresight, explores why geopolitical uncertainty is becoming the new normal. She examines the end of Pax Americana, the shift from efficiency to security, and why markets miss slow-building shocks. Fordham also discusses how businesses can shape the emerging global order, plan for unlikely disruptions, and learn from leaders accustomed to instability.

William D. Cohan, an author, journalist, and former investment banker, explores Apollo’s transformation from Drexel’s junk-bond wreckage into a $1 trillion powerhouse. He examines its distressed-debt origins, Athene’s insurance-fueled model, the hidden run risk in private credit, light regulation of shadow banking, and the succession drama surrounding Leon Black, Mark Rowan, and Josh Harris.

Ed Conway, Sky News economics and data editor, Times columnist, and author of Trade World, explores why trade is so difficult to control. He examines tariffs, sanctions, chokepoints and the hidden complexity behind everyday goods. The conversation spans Ricardo’s abstract theories, rerouted supply chains, shifting industrial power and why expertise and technology inevitably cross borders.

Daron Acemoglu, Nobel‑winning economist famous for work on institutions and development, explains why liberal democracy is under strain. He traces shifts since the 1970s, links economic change to cultural politics, and warns AI could worsen job loss. He calls for a new pro‑worker politics and rethinking how technology and firms serve shared prosperity.

The world’s second-largest economy experienced the largest credit boom and bust in recent history. On this episode of The Big View, Logan Wright of Rhodium Group explains why debt, deflation, slow growth and industrial overcapacity will be hard to shift in the People’s Republic. Logan Wright: “Broken China: How the Economic Miracle Shattered and What it Means for the World” Rhodium Group: China’s “New” Strategic Industries Will Not Produce 5% GDP Growth The Big View: Making sense of China’s big economic reboot Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt-out of targeted advertising.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices