FT Alphachat

Tim Harford joins host Cardiff Garcia to discuss the potential economic effects of the UK leaving the EU. The referendum campaigns that preceded Brexit included a number of exaggerations and, in some cases, outright lies. But there are also nuanced and difficult questions that cannot be answered definitively, and deserve careful scrutiny. Music by Minden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During normal economic cycles, increasing credit hides an economy's deeper problems, but when a financial crisis hits, all of that credit flips from shock absorber to shock multiplier. Professor of economics Alan Taylor explains his research. Then, FT journalists discuss some of the biggest shocks of 2016, including the change in perception at the Fed over what type of monetary policy would benefit the US economy. Visit FT.com/alphachat for show notes and links. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Across the US, McDonald's restaurants serve an underappreciated role: as defacto community centres for people at the margins of society. It's a story chronicled by bond trader-turned-journalist Chris Arnade, who talks to the FT's Cardiff Garcia and Mary Childs about why this happened. They also discuss how access to education shapes modern American society, and whether Wall Street employees have been punished enough for the role played by their industry in the 2008 financial crisis. Visit FT.com/alphachat for show notes and links. Music by Minden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Finding a balance between work and your personal life matters not just to you and your family; it can also make companies and the economy in general more productive. Economist and author Heather Boushey joins Cardiff Garcia and Mary Childs to discuss the many policy provisions, from paid family leave to flexible work schedules, that could improve this productivity, and Cardiff and Mary dive deeper into hedge fund culture. Visit FT.com/alphachat for show notes and links. Music by Minden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maria Konnikova, a writer and author of “The Confidence Game: Why We Fall For It… Every Time” talks to host Cardiff Garcia about her work and the challenge of judging the quality of social-science research. The two also discuss big data, open-plan offices, sleep and the psychological effects of pornography. Maria also describes the methods and traits of con artists, and explains why everyone is susceptible to being a victim. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many investors are questioning the benefit of allocating chunks of their money to hedge funds after recent bouts of financial market turbulence and poor performance. The FT's US financial correspondent Mary Childs joins Cardiff Garcia to discuss the big players and their idiosyncratic personalities, contentious issues like fees and benchmarking metrics, and the institutional lack of diversity among top fund managers. Visit FT.com/alphachat for show notes and links. Music by Minden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guy Debelle, assistant governor at the Reserve Bank of Australia, discusses with Cardiff Garcia and Matt Klein how decisions by the Federal Reserve have an effect on Australian monetary policy (and how they don't), Australia's experience with capital account liberalisation, fluctuations in the Chinese economy, and the foreign exchange code of conduct from the Bank of International Settlements. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The former chairman of the Federal Reserve talks to host Cardiff Garcia about the years prior to his inflation-fighting days of the 1980s, including his economics education, early career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and US treasury, and his role in ending the Bretton Woods system of global finance. Visit FT.com/alphachat for a full transcript of the interview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second half of the extended interview, former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker discusses his appointment as president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank of New York, his famous tenure as Fed chair in the 1980s, and some of his thoughts on the current financial system. Hosted by Cardiff Garcia. Visit FT.com/alphachat for a full transcript of the interview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does it mean for a private equity firm to value its investments accurately? FT Alphaville's Matt Klein joins host Cardiff Garcia to address this surprisingly tricky question. Then, anthropologist Tassie Hirschfeld discusses the political economy of the criminal underworld, a topic rarely examined in conventional economics. Visit FT.com/alphachat for show notes and links. Music by Minden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.