The Economics Show

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How to get immigration right. With Adam Ozimek Oct 02, 2025

Show notes

Many argue immigration is key to America’s economic success. So as President Trump clamps down on it, what might he be getting wrong and what does the optimal skilled immigration landscape look like for the US and elsewhere? John Burn-Murdoch, the FT’s chief data columnist, speaks to Dr Adam Ozimek, chief economist at the Economic Innovation Group, who co-authored a recent paper on high-skilled immigration, Exceptional By Design.

Find details of the EIG report here.

John’s article, co-authored by Stephen Bush: ‘The truth about immigration’. Plus his column on the dangers posed to liberal democracy by failing to address imperfections in immigration policy.

John Burn-Murdoch is the FT’s chief data columnist and writer. You can read his column Data Points here.

Join top FT journalists Chris Giles, Katie Martin, Claire Jones and special guest Lael Brainard on October 23, 1200 GMT for an exclusive subscriber webinar, Markets on edge: central banks, bonds and the risks ahead. Register now and put your questions directly to our panel. Visit ft.com/edge

Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen. This episode was produced by Lulu Smyth with original music from Breen Turner. Sound design and mix by Simon Panayi. Our executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Andrew Giorgiadis is our broadcast engineer.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China’s economy vs the world. With Michael Pettis Sep 24, 2025

Show notes

US President Donald Trump has railed against his country’s trade deficit with China. But as Chinese surpluses continue to flow into other countries, it’s worth asking how China got to where it is today, and whether Chinese growth can lift all boats. In this week’s episode, Martin Sandbu, the FT’s European economics commentator, speaks to Michael Pettis, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment. He’s the author of several books, including most recently co-author of Trade Wars Are Class Wars: How Rising Inequality Distorts the Global Economy and Threatens International Peace.

Listen to bands signed to the record label Maybe Mars, formerly owned by Michael Pettis, here, including Carsick Cars, Yang Fan, PK14 and White+

Find details of Michael Pettis’ book choice, Martin Daunton’s The Economic Government of the World, here

Martin Sandbu is the FT’s European economics commentator and writer of the Free Lunch newsletter. You can sign up for his newsletter here and read his articles here.

Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

This episode was produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon with original music and sound design from Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Our executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Andrew Giorgiadis is our broadcast engineer.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The ugly truth about Trump’s ‘beautiful tariffs’. With Martha Gimbel Sep 19, 2025

Show notes

Customs duties on imported goods used to be a crucial part of US government funding – in fact, the customs service was among the first federal agencies set up after the constitution. Now, Trump is hoping that – among other things – tariffs could transform the US budget. But do the revenues they raise for government coffers help outweigh their negative economic impacts? Martha Gimbel, executive director of the Budget Lab at Yale and former adviser at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, speaks to Claire Jones, the FT’s US economics editor.

Claire Jones is US economics editor. You can read her articles here.

Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Presented by Claire Jones. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Samantha Giovinco and Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China and the limits of its ‘engineering state’. With Dan Wang Sep 12, 2025

Show notes

China has become a superpower because of its ability to build bridges, cars and electronics at an astonishing pace. But breakneck growth comes with problems. The country is grappling with overproduction and deflation, and policymakers in Beijing are attempting to jumpstart consumer demand. How can China keep building without jeopardising its economic future? Dan Wang, research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover History Lab and author of 'Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future' speaks to the FT’s financial reporter Aiden Reiter.

Aiden Reiter co-writes the Unhedged newsletter. You can read his articles here.

Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Presented by Aiden Reiter. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval and Josh Gabert-Doyon. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Samantha Giovinco and Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fed independence? Here’s why you should worry. With Peter Conti-Brown Sep 05, 2025

Show notes

President Donald Trump's attempt to fire Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate-setting board, is not the first time in the Fed’s history that there has been an attempt to politicise central banking. But Peter Conti-Brown, associate professor of financial regulation at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, tells the FT’s Chris Giles why Trump’s intervention is different and why there are now reasons to fear for the survival of a key pillar of US and global economic stability.

Going to the FT Weekend festival at Kenwood House Gardens in London on Saturday September 6? FT Live has a 10% discount for all FT podcast listeners with promo code FTPodcasts.Find a registration link with discount here

Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Presented by Chris Giles. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon and Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After globalisation: What's next for a fractured world? With Neil Shearing Sep 01, 2025

Show notes

It’s a widely held assumption that US President Donald Trump has put globalisation into reverse. But Neil Shearing, group chief economist at Capital Economics and author of The Fractured Age: How the Return of Geopolitics Will Splinter the Global Economy, tells the FT’s world trade editor Peter Foster that Trump’s policies are a symptom and not the cause of the global trading system unravelling. They discuss how economic rivalry between the US and China is reshaping world trade – and where it might lead.

Peter Foster is the FT’s world trade editor. You can read his articles here

Book your FT Weekend Festival tickets here

Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Presented by Peter Foster. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Samantha Giovinco and Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Asia is coping with Trump’s tariffs. With Mari Pangestu Aug 25, 2025

Show notes

President Donald Trump thinks that Asia's goods exports are automatically America's loss and as part of his ‘reciprocal’ tariff policy, he has imposed some of the highest import taxes on goods from south-east Asia. So what does this mean for the region? And are Trump's policies pushing those countries further into China's orbit? Alan Beattie, the FT’s senior trade writer, discusses these questions and more with Mari Pangestu, Indonesia's former trade minister and a former managing director at the World Bank.

Alan Beattie is the FT's senior trade writer. He writes the Trade Secrets newsletter every Monday.

Read Alan’s columns here

Book your FT Weekend Festival tickets here

Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Presented by Alan Beattie. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval and Persis Love. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why Russia’s wartime economy is starting to crack, with Elina Ribakova Aug 18, 2025

Show notes

When the EU and US hit Russia with fresh sanctions in 2022, many analysts expected the country’s economy to crack. Instead, Russia has shown strong GDP growth, powered in large part by a massive boost to war-related industries. Now, the effects of that boost appear to be fading. Have western sanctions finally started to bite? What would happen to Russia’s economy if the Ukraine war were to end? And how difficult might it be for the country’s economy to return to normal? To find out, the FT’s economics editor Sam Fleming speaks to Elina Ribakova. Elina is a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a non-resident fellow at Brussels think-tank Bruegel and vice-president for foreign policy at the Kyiv School of Economics.

Sam Fleming is the FT’s economics editor. You can find his articles here: https://www.ft.com/sam-fleming

Want more? Free links:

Russia moves to contain concern over banks’ bad loan exposure

Vladimir Putin’s war economy is cooling, but Russians still feel richer

Russia’s central bank speeds up rate cuts as war economy cools

There's no money to be made in Russia

The FT Weekend Festival returns for its 10th edition on Saturday, September 6 at Kenwood House Gardens in London. Get details and tickets here

Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Presented by Sam Fleming. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. Original music from Breen Turner, and sound design by Breen Turner & Sam Giovinco.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing the Rachman Review: Is the US heading for a debt crisis? Aug 11, 2025

Show notes

This week on the Economics Show, we're bringing you an interview with Ray Dalio, from our foreign affairs podcast, the Rachman Review. It originally broadcast on July 3.

Gideon talks to Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund and author of a new book: How Countries Go Broke. They discuss the size of the US debt and what history tells us about identifying warning signs.

Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Clip: CBS

Is Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ a political curse for Republicans?

Fears over US debt load and inflation ignite exodus from long-term bonds

Donald Trump’s big, beautiful act of self-harm

The fall in the dollar is not scary

Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can we still trust US economic data? With Erica Groshen Aug 08, 2025

Show notes

After the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a worse-than-expected US jobs report, President Trump fired the agency’s head, Erika McEntarfer, claiming her numbers were ‘wrong’ and manipulated. There’s no evidence this was the case but many agree gathering reliable data on the health of the economy is getting harder. The FT’s chief data reporter, John Burn-Murdoch, discusses why that’s happening and what to do about it with Erica Groshen, the former BLS commissioner.

Clip: NBC

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