

Moody’s Talks – The Big Picture
Sarah Carlson, William Foster, Colin Ellis
On Moody’s Talks – The Big Picture, hosts Sarah Carlson, William Foster and Colin Ellis bring you insights from Moody’s analysts around the world on hot topics across fixed-income markets. Each episode will illuminate Moody’s thinking on the latest credit and economic developments, ranging from the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, to technological disruption, political shifts and climate change. Please join us as we explore what’s on the horizon for the global credit landscape.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 22, 2025 • 15min
How California’s Wildfires Will Reshape Insurance
The devastating ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles County are set to become the worst in California's history. In this episode, we discuss the effects on property owners, insurers and the state government, and what the damage could mean for the future of the insurance market in the state.Guests: Jasper Cooper, Vice President, Senior Credit Officer, Moody’s Ratings; Matt Butler, Vice President, Senior Credit Officer, Moody’s Ratings Host: Colin Ellis, Head of Centre for Credit Research, Moody’s Ratings Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Nov 26, 2024 • 24min
2025 Economic Outlook: A Case for Cautious Optimism
In this episode, we unpack the new Moody’s Ratings forecasts for the global economy and explain why there could be bright spots amid a myriad of risks. Join our analysts as they delve into topics like potential changes in US policy, the effects of stimulus on the Chinese economy, and whether Europe is headed for stagnation.Guests: Marie Diron, Global Head of Sovereign and Sub-Sovereign Risk at Moody’s Ratings; Madhavi Bokil, Head of Macro Research at Moody’s RatingsHost: Colin Ellis, Head of Center for Credit Research, Moody’s Ratings Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Oct 29, 2024 • 17min
COP29: Why it’s so hard to close the climate finance gap
Policymakers and key stakeholders will soon converge on Baku, Azerbaijan for the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference to find ways of boosting spending on climate initiatives. Rahul Ghosh, Global Head of Sustainable Finance, and Marie Diron, Global Head of Sovereign and Sub-Sovereign Risk at Moody’s Ratings, discuss the challenges, potential solutions, and expectations.Speakers: Rahul Ghosh, Global Head of Sustainable Finance at Moody's Ratings; Marie Diron, Global Head of Sovereign and Sub-Sovereign Risk at Moody’s RatingsHost: William Foster, Senior Vice President, Sovereign Risk Group, Moody's Ratings Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Oct 10, 2024 • 20min
How the US election could shape global credit conditions
In this joint Big Picture-Emerging Markets Decoded episode, our regional analysts highlight the key US policy areas to watch in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America -- and discuss which economies and sectors could be at risk if policies were to dramatically change.Guests: Sarah Carlson, Senior Vice President, Sovereign Risk Group, Moody's Ratings; Gong Cheng, Managing Director, Credit Strategy, Moody's Ratings; Ariane Ortiz-Bollin, Vice President - Senior Credit Officer, Credit Strategy, Moody's RatingsHost: William Foster, Senior Vice President, Sovereign Risk Group, Moody's Ratings Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Oct 3, 2024 • 12min
US election and implications for US credit
Sarah Carlson is joined by the lead analyst for the US, William Foster, and Chief Credit Officer for the Americas, Elena Duggar, to discuss their expectations for fiscal, trade and immigration policy under both US presidential candidates, and what they could mean for the US economy and credit.Speakers: William Foster, Senior Vice President at Moody's Ratings; Elena Duggar, MD-Credit Strategy at Moody's RatingsHost: Sarah Carlson, Senior Vice President at Moody's Ratings Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sep 30, 2024 • 25min
Multilateral development bank capital reforms will help increase lending capacity
In today’s episode, we’re joined by Hans Peter Lankes, Managing Director of the think tank ODI, as well as Kathrin Muehlbronner from Moody’s Ratings to discuss the effectiveness of recent reform proposals in increasing the lending capacity of multilateral development banks (MDBs) and what they think is needed for MDBs to better address global challenges like climate change, poverty, and inequality.Speakers: Hans Peter Lankes, Managing Director of ODI; Kathrin Muehlbronner, Senior Vice President at Moody's RatingsHost: Sarah Carlson, Senior Vice President at Moody's Ratings Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Aug 28, 2024 • 20min
Entering new markets offers Chinese EV makers considerable promise (and challenges)
China has rapidly become the largest producer of electric vehicles (EV) globally, with a nearly 40% increase in sales volume last year. In this episode, Colin Ellis talks with our analyst Gerwin Ho about the drivers behind this growth, how a drive to boost scale amid intense domestic competition has prompted them to look elsewhere and the difficulties they will encounter in boosting exports and setting up overseas production.Speaker: Gerwin Ho, VP-Senior Credit Officer, Corporate Finance Group at Moody's RatingsHost: Colin Ellis, MD-Global Credit Strategist at Moody's RatingsRelated Research:Auto and Auto Parts Manufacturers – China: Chinese EV makers will broaden expansion into emerging markets amid US, EU tariffs Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Aug 5, 2024 • 25min
Geopolitics laid bare: a world of “wicked problems”
With macroeconomic matters moderating, geopolitics has taken center stage with conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere threatening the world order. In this episode, host Colin Ellis calls on NATO advisor and geopolitics expert Klaus Dodds to assess today’s political and environmental flash points. Dodds sees a “world full of wicked problems” and considers some pragmatic outcomes, including potential Ukrainian concessions to Russia.Speaker: Klaus Dodds, Executive Dean and Professor of Geopolitics of the School of Life Sciences at Royal Holloway, University of LondonHost: Colin Ellis, MD-Global Credit Strategist at Moody's Ratings Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jul 17, 2024 • 13min
Huge demand for data centers right now masks underlying credit risks
We forecast growing demand for cloud services, the adoption of new AI products and cryptocurrencies will see investment in new data center capacity exceed $2 trillion globally over the next five years. But real customer demand and continued technological improvements could limit the amount of data center capacity that is actually needed over the longer term. In this episode, John Medina explains what risks this uncertainty poses to investors in the corporate credit, leveraged loan, bank, CMBS, ABS, private credit and project finance markets.Speaker: John Medina, Senior Vice President at Moody's RatingsHost: Colin Ellis, MD-Global Credit Strategist at Moody's RatingsRelated Research:Data Centers – Global: Rapid capacity growth to serve surging computing demand poses long-term risks Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jul 10, 2024 • 16min
Uncertainty hangs over France after legislative elections
On 7 July, France held the second and final round of legislative elections, which produced a shock upset for Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National party after strong first round. But with no clear path to a majority and France’s inexperience with broad political coalitions, the country now faces an uncertain political future. Sarah Carlson discusses what this could mean for the French sovereign rating and the rest of Europe.Speaker: Sarah Carlson, Senior Vice President at Moody's RatingsHost: William Foster, Senior Vice President at Moody's RatingsRelated Research:Government of France: FAQ on hung parliament following National Assembly elections Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.


