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Why Inflation May Be Here to Stay, Hurting Poor Nations Most Jun 17, 2021

Show notes

The wealthiest nations are emerging from the pandemic stronger than anyone thought, nervous about inflation but otherwise feeling they’ve dodged a bullet. That’s not the case for developing countries, with many still overwhelmed by Covid-19 and certainly unable to dole out stimulus checks.

On this week’s podcast, World Bank Chief Economist Carmen Reinhart tells host Stephanie Flanders why she worries the recent surge in inflation could be around for awhile, hitting the world’s poorest hardest. Next, Rome-based economics reporter Alessandra Migliaccio reveals the surprising reason Italian tomatoes are rotting in the field. And, Sydney-based economics reporter Michael Heath discusses why critics contend Australia, long a melting pot of cultures, has lost its way on immigration.

Rising prices are spooking investors and policymakers as many economies rebound from the pandemic. In the U.S., a broad measure of inflation jumped 5% in May, its biggest annual gain since 2008. Many central bankers argue inflation is a temporary reaction to a rapidly reheating economy, but Reinhart says she isn’t so sure. Covid-19 was a much larger global shock than the 2008 financial crisis, with bank moves to expand the money supply providing a much bigger multiplier effect. Those factors could stoke longer-lasting inflation this time around.

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Japan’s Difficult Choice Between Economy and Pandemic Jun 10, 2021

Show notes

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo are little more than a month away, and workers are readying a rebuilt National Stadium for the opening ceremony. But what should be an opportunity for Japan to recharge its economy and lure back tourists is instead a source of apprehension for its 126 million people. On this week’s podcast, Tokyo-based economics reporter Yuko Takeo dives into Japan’s decision to move forward with the Olympics. Then host Stephanie Flanders talks to Paris-based economics reporter William Horobin about the Group of Seven’s landmark corporate tax deal, and U.S.-based economics reporter Olivia Rockeman speaks to Stanford University economist Nicholas Bloom on why the work-from-home revolution could worsen workplace inequality.

Originally, many Japanese had hoped the Olympics could match or even improve upon the 1964 games, which showcased the country’s growing manufacturing clout and led to development of its heralded bullet trains. Now, after a one-year delay, the primary goal is simply to bolster tourism. But the pandemic still overshadows everything: More than 80% of Japanese oppose staging the Olympics, with their biggest fear being that it will become a super-spreader event. Still, for Japan’s leaders, canceling the Games now would be tantamount to declaring they have lost control of the pandemic.

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Canada’s Rising Star Sticks to Her Guns On Stimulus Jun 03, 2021

Show notes

Canada has a well-earned reputation as the world’s “goody two shoes,” with a progressive record on civil liberties and a history of sticking to its principles in perilous times. The country made it through the 2008 financial crisis relatively unscathed, and more recently its Atlantic provinces were tagged as the New Zealand of North America for their aggressive efforts to contain Covid-19. If you ask Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

On this week’s podcast, host Stephanie Flanders talks with this rising star in Canadian politics, one seen as a potential successor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. A former journalist, Freeland has loudly defended aggressive fiscal moves by Canada and other nations to bolster their economies over criticism they are ignoring the inflation threat. She also argues it took Covid-19 to convince Canada to take child care seriously.

The podcast ends with a look at the surprising cultural dynamics forming up around America’s milk and egg supply. Bloomberg agriculture reporter Elizabeth Elkin relates how producers are fighting to keep chocolate milk in U.S. schools while some farmers are betting consumers are willing to pay big for environmentally friendly eggs.

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America's Economic Recovery Isn't Roaring For Everyone May 27, 2021

Show notes

After more than a year of pandemic, the U.S. economy is roaring back and is now expected to grow by 9.4% in the second quarter. That's fueling a mad scramble across U.S. industries desperately in need of workers. But for all the momentum, pockets of poverty and stagnation remain behind the rosy American facade. And no place represents that reality better than Youngstown, Ohio.

On this week's podcast, U.S.-based economics reporter Shawn Donnan digs into the decades-long economic slide in this Eastern Ohio city and the flailing attempts to revive it. More than 61,000 people worked in Youngstown's booming manufacturing industry in 1990, but this past March it employed just over 23,000. The latest blow occurred in 2019, when General Motors closed its doors in nearby Lordstown and took 4,500 jobs with it. A struggling effort to make Youngstown a hub of 3D printing, launched under former President Barack Obama, shows how hard it is for the Rust Belt to regain its former glory.

Bloomberg Chief Economist Tom Orlik discusses the International Monetary Fund's proposal to end the pandemic and Johannesburg economics reporter Prinesha Naidoo reports on the growing Covid-19 calamity in Africa, where delayed vaccination campaigns could leave 39 million more Africans in extreme poverty this year. And host Stephanie Flanders sits down with Germany's Olaf Scholz, the finance minister vying to replace Angela Merkel as chancellor, to ask about his campaign and why Germany is moving ahead with a controversial gas pipeline with Russia.

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Why "Living Local" and High Inflation May Not Outlast the Global Pandemic May 20, 2021

Show notes

The pandemic has upended the way the world shops, worships and especially how often we wash our hands. With the virus waning in many parts of the globe (while still raging in some places, like India and Brazil), economists and policymakers are debating whether our societal quarantine workarounds will persist -- or be jettisoned by summer's end.

On this week's podcast, host Stephanie Flanders takes a rare break from moderating and hands the microphone to Sebastian Mallaby of the U.S.-based Council on Foreign Relations for a discussion of the pandemic's economic effects. William Dudley, former president of the New York Federal Reserve, explains why the inflation fears that have gripped the U.S. are likely just a short-term reaction to surging consumer demand. Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, suggests the Euro is emerging as a winner in the ``relative ugliness contest'' among world currencies. And, Flanders argues that, while countries including the U.K. have a new focus on ``living local,'' it's no real threat to globalization.

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What’s Really Behind the Great 2021 Inflation Debate May 13, 2021

Show notes

It’s been a long time since anyone in America or Europe had to think seriously about inflation. But the highest U.S. numbers since 2009 have rattled financial markets and critics of President Joe Biden are warning that his big spending could trigger a full-blown 70s-style price spiral.

Bloomberg Senior Asia Economy Correspondent Enda Curran reports from Hong Kong on the price pressures facing Asian exporters, and how they’re affecting what consumers pay in American stores. Then host Stephanie Flanders talks to Jason Thomas, head of Global Research at the Carlyle Group, who says he believes that reopening the U.S. economy will help push inflation back down again—and that the long-term forces which have kept a lid on prices are still in place.

With U.S. gas stations across the Southeast running short of supply and drivers sitting in line to fill their tanks, you would have been forgiven for thinking the 70s had already returned. Though the Colonial Pipeline is now back up and running, Chief Energy Correspondent Javier Blas explains how a cyberattack on America’s biggest fuel conduit could do such damage, and why U.S. energy companies are scrambling to shore up their defenses.

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Why the Rise of Mega-Companies May Damage the Global Economy May 06, 2021

Show notes

The world’s biggest businesses are massive, spanning countries and continents. Now they're getting even larger, and that may not be a good thing. In the past few decades alone, the largest 50 firms have tripled their profit. Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Google together make more money in a week than McDonald's makes in an entire year. On this week’s podcast, host Stephanie Flanders talks with Bloomberg’s Chief Economist Tom Orlik about what the rise of these mega-companies could mean for the global economy.

London School of Economics Professor Philippe Aghion joins Flanders to explain why the rise of big tech, once great for innovation and growth, is no longer. Aghion also discusses his plan for getting the very best out of capitalists. And French economy reporter William Horobin explains why the campaign to extract tax from the tech giants just got a lot more interesting.

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Biden-Powell Duo’s Macro Policy Revolution Apr 29, 2021

Show notes

U.S. President Biden marked his 100th day in office this week with another massive spending package -- this one squarely aimed at taxing the rich to give money to everyone else. He’s proposed nearly $6 trillion dollars in new spending since taking office, much of which is to be paid for with higher tax revenues. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve policy makers are looking at this ocean of government spending, a booming stock market and rapidly recovering economy and have decided to leave interest rates at rock bottom and keep on buying up debt. Bloomberg White House reporter Nancy Cook and Federal Reserve reporter Rich Miller join host Stephanie Flanders to consider whether we really are seeing a revolution in U.S. economic policy under the man that Donald Trump used to call sleepy Joe.

Meanwhile, the unequal impact of Covid-19 continues to reverberate through the U.S. economy. Bloomberg Economy reporter Mike Sasso reports on how the pandemic is causing a retirement rush with some older Americans simply unable to find work, while others cash in on stock market gains to embrace life beyond the 9-5, and Senior Editor Alex Tanzi reveals some unexpected shifts in intergenerational inequality.

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Covid Changed Work, But Will That Change Last Forever? Apr 22, 2021

Show notes

For many, the pandemic has altered where we work, how we work and when we work. But will that change be forever? Or will we wake up in a year and find we’re back to normal? It’s a vital question, because if work changes, the shape of the economy will change, too. Bloomberg’s Spanish Economy reporter Jeannette Neumann visited a quiet corner of northeast Spain to meet those who escaped the city and to find out just how sustainable their new lives really are.

Host Stephanie Flanders talks with Dublin Bureau Chief Dara Doyle about the Irish government’s attempts to persuade people to stay away from the office, and perhaps work from the local pub instead. She also speaks with Sven Smit, co-chair of the McKinsey Global Institute, on his view of work in the post-pandemic world. With 100 million developed market jobs at risk of being displaced, how should we respond? And if you have kids, what should your child’s reaction to home schooling tell us?

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Landing on the Moon Is a Great Lesson for Modern Miracles Apr 15, 2021

Show notes

More than 50 years ago, the public and private sectors united to bring men to the moon and back. As the world begins to look at how it can recover from the Covid-19, what lessons can the original moonshot have for the modern challenges facing governments and industry today?

In this week’s episode, host Stephanie Flanders talks with Mariana Mazzucato, author and professor in Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London. Find out how similar partnerships could help solve intractable problems such as global warming and pandemics, why doing what sounds obvious simply isn’t happening and what she says U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration needs to know.

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