The Sound of Economics

Will Brexit damage Britain's financial services industry? Or is talk of its diminished status just a storm in a teacup? The City of London could move closer to Wall Street or it might become "Singapore-on-Thames". Nicholas Barrett talks to Rebecca Christie about banking after Brexit.

The European Commission has presented its Just Transition Fund to help regions still dependent on fossil fuel as they move towards green energy. But where does the money come from and is it enough to make Europe carbon neutral by 2050? Should the EU re-write its fiscal rules to encourage sustainable investment? And should environmentalists be optimistic? Nicholas Barrett asked Simone Tagliapietra and Grégory Claeys.

Last Friday, Qassem Soleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ QUDS force, was killed by an American airstrike outside Baghdad airport. Tehran has promised to retaliate. At the time of recording, the world is still waiting to see how Iran will respond. Some have speculated that they could disrupt the world’s oil markets by closing the Strait of Hormuz, which acts as a vital artery for around a third of the world’s liquefied natural gas and almost a quarter of the world’s oil. Today, oil prices surpassed $70 a barrel and if tensions continue to escalate the price is bound to grow. How dependent is the global economy on affordable Middle Eastern fossil fuel? This week, Nicholas Barrett is joined by Maria Demertzis and Niclas Poitiers to discuss how the US-Iran hostilities are affecting the global economy.

2019 is coming to an end and so is the decade. How did economics change the world over the last ten years? And how did the world change economics? Which economics books defined the last ten years? And what should we anticipate in the decade to come? Today, Nicholas Barrett discusses the past and the future with Niclas Poitiers and Maria Demertzis.

Will AI exacerbate the gap between big companies and small ones? Do ordinary Europeans gain anything from having European tech giants? This week, Nicholas Barrett and Guntram Wolff went to the Berlaymont to interview Margrethe Vestager, the Executive Vice President of the European Commission for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age.

How do states exercise power through global economic networks? The multilateral world order is supposed to be harmonious, but by seizing the nodes of production, powerful forces can control access to the global economic system and threaten to lock their rival out. This week, Nicholas Barrett and Guntram Wolff are joined by Henry Farrell, Professor of political science and international affairs at the George Washington University, and Abraham L. Newman, Professor of Government at the Georgetown University, to discuss their theory of weaponised interdependency

This week, the WTO's Appellate Body, the dispute settlement body, became inoperational: it no longer has the necessary number of judges to render verdicts. What does this mean for international trade and multilateralism? Are we now living in a world without dispute settlement? This week, Guntram Wolff is joined by Alan Beattie, the author of the FT's new Trade Secrets newsletter, and Alicia García-Herrero to discuss the crisis of the Appellate Body.

President Ursula Von der Leyen has presented her European Green Deal before the European Parliament. How will it work? What are its implications? And will it make Europe carbon neutral by 2050? Nicholas Barrett asks Simone Tagliapietra what's inside the Green Deal.

The UK goes to the polls on Thursday to decide who (and if) they want to "get Brexit done". But, as soon as Britain leaves, it will have 11 months to agree a trade deal with the EU. Is it possible? Nicholas Barrett is joined by Maria Demertzis and Niclas Poitiers to discuss post-Brexit trade deals with the EU and the USA.

Is the Belt and Road initiative a global development plan or is it just a trade project? How concerned should the international community be with what is called the "project of the century"? This week, Guntram Wolff discusses the Belt and Road Initiative with Prof. He Fang, from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Dr. Jing Gu, director of the Centre for Rising Powers and Global Development, and Suman Bery, from Bruegel. This podcast was recorded in Berlin at the Asia Europe Economic Forum (AEEF): https://bruegel.org/events/eu-asia-trade-and-investment-connectivity/

Russia wants to export more gas to China, should the EU be concerned? This week, Nicholas Barrett is joined by Georg Zachmann to discuss the EU-Russia-China energy triangle.

Will EU tech regulations undermine its ability to innovate? From facial recognition to the production of “deep fakes”, artificial intelligence poses many ethical questions. In a world where China and the US are investing massively in AI, how can the EU protect its values while harnessing technology? These are some of the questions we discuss with Brent Mittlestadt, from the University of Oxford, and Andre Loesekrug-Pietri, from the Joint European Disruptive Initiative, in our new Sound of Economics podcast. The podcast is hosted by Guntram Wolff and Nicholas Barrett.

Guntram Wolff is joined by Alan Beattie, the author of the FT's new Trade Secrets newsletter, and by Andre Sapir, Bruegel's very own trade expert to discuss President Trump's tariffs and whether or not they're working

Don't worry if you missed part one because all of Bruegel's pillars for a European Green Deal are created equal. This time, Nicholas Barrett and Guntram Wolff discuss industrial policy and the social consequences of the green deal with Grégory Claeys and Simone Tagliapietra. To read the paper in full, visit Bruegel.org

The European Green Deal will be a defining feature of Ursula Von der Leyen's incoming Commission. But will carbon border taxes and single carbon prices be enough to make Europe carbon-neutral by 2050? This week, Nicholas Barrett and Guntram Wolff discuss Bruegel's new paper 'How to make the European Green Deal Work' with Grégory Claeys and Simone Tagliapietra.

Digital banking has made our lives easier, but why are people use mobile banking more likely to be overdrawn? This week Maria Demertzis and Nicholas Barrett are joined by Annamaria Lusardi, Denit Trust Endowed Chair of Economics and Accountancy from George Washington University School of Business to discuss financial literacy

With interest rates so low for so long, central bankers are running out of levers to pull. But perhaps better fiscal policy can help economies grow as well as cutting carbon emissions. Politicians, journalists and economist have spent years bickering about the quantity of public spending in Europe, but the quality of public spending could be just as important. This week's podcast features Maria Demertzis, Boris Cournede, Francesco Papadia and Nicholas Barrett.

The British government has reached a deal with the EU27. The agreement is still subject to approval by the British and European parliaments, as well as the European Council. But is it good news for Brussels? How will Britain strike favourable trade deals when all this is over? And, with a new relationship between Brussels, London and the world yet be realised, is this the beginning of the end or just the end of the beginning?

Nicholas Barrett and Guntram Wolff talk to Kalypso Nicolaïdis, author of Exodus, Reckoning, Sacrifice: Three Meanings of Brexit. Together they discuss the mythology that binds Britain to continental Europe

The European Union and Mercosur – a customs union covering Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – have spent two decades negotiating a trade agreement. The gains are modest the ratification process will be anything but easy. Nevertheless, the deal is worth fighting for according to Uri Dadush. This week he joins Nicholas Barrett on our Deep Focus podcast to discuss the perils and process of an agreement that could be as significant to the globe's climate as it is for the global economy. Read the latest policy contribution by Michael Baltensperger and Uri Dadush on the same topic.

Increasing cyber and hybrid risks will test the European Union’s system of fragmentation on issues of security but centralisation on financial and other economic issues. This asymmetry was not an obstacle in a world in which security threats were more contained or of a different nature. But the world is changing. But what is a hybrid attack and whose responsibility is it to deal with? Last week Bruegel's Director, Guntram Wolff and our Deputy Director Maria Demertzis presented a paper on the subject to ECOFIN, an informal meeting of European finance ministers in Helsinki. In this episode of Bruegel's "Sound of Economics" podcast, Nicholas Barrett sits down with Guntram Wolff to find out.

The layout of the commission has largely changed this year. A key part being that there are now three executive Vice Presidents, driving three main economic issues. Frans Timmermans, responsible for the implementation of the Green Deal; Margrethe Vestager, responsible for the digital age and competition policy and Valdis Dombrovskis, responsible for economy and financial services. The major change being that, in this commission, the Vice Presidents also have their own portfolio and Directorate-Generals to oversee, suggesting these three will be instrumental in driving the political priorities of commission.In this episode of 'The Sound of Economics' Bruegel director Guntram Wolff discusses with Simone Tagliapietra the new commission setup and Ursula von der Leyen's European Green Deal.In his previous blog post on the Green Deal, Simone argues not only does it aim to reduce the continent's emissions, but it also has the potential to grow the EU's economy and transform the bloc's politics. He also states the green deal has the motivation to achieve very high climate targets in quicker time than foreseen.For further reading on this topic, we recommend another recent blog post by Simone Tagliapietra on the global summits between now and November 2020 that are crucial to the future of climate change.

Should competition policy adjust to current concerns and support industrial policy? How can we contextualise long-run consumer welfare? How can we maintain independence and objectivity in enforcement? In this podcast, Rebecca Christie discusses competition policy, with Mathew Heim.

Is current financial architecture working as intended? If not, can it be fixed at the margin, or does it require holistic overhaul? Can such reforms be envisaged in a way that gives satisfaction to most or all member states? In this podcast, Rebecca Christie discusses financial sector architecture with Nicolas Véron.

What can the EU’s incoming leadership do to protect Europe’s economic autonomy in light of America and China’s economic, geopolitical struggle for supremacy? In this podcast, Nicholas Barrett discusses enhancing Europe’s economic sovereignty, with Jean Pisani-Ferry.

How complete is Europe’s monetary union? Is the euro area ready for a next recession or an economic crisis? What should be the reform priorities? In this podcast, Nicholas Barrett discusses the priorities for Europe’s monetary union, with Zsolt Darvas.

Will increasing use of AI, machine learning, robots and big data lead to massive unemployment? How are non-traditional workers and the self-employed to obtain health insurance and pensions? What role should public policy play going forward? In this podcast, Giuseppe Porcaro discusses the future of AI, robots and platform workers, with J. Scott Marcus.

When the last Commission took office in 2014, Europe was consumed by the eurozone crisis. Today, the incoming leadership must decide how to deal with a variety of issues. In this podcast, Rebecca Christie discusses the priorities for the new EU leadership, with Guntram Wolff.

What corporate strategies and public policy support are needed to turn the potential of digital technologies into opportunities for sustainable growth of EU firms, and for addressing EU societal challenges? In this podcast, Giuseppe Porcaro discusses how Europe’s economy can thrive in the digital age, with Reinhilde Veugelers.

How should and will the EU position itself vis-à-vis the US and China, both bilaterally and multilaterally in the context of the WTO system? In this podcast, Giuseppe Porcaro discusses Europe’s trade policy, with André Sapir.

When the dust settles after the recent European elections, and as the new Commission takes office, the problem of climate change - and its accompanying policy challenges - will remain one of the EU's chief agenda items.One significant facet is the transition of Europe's energy generation to more renewable sources. The EU has to find a way to decarbonise particular sectors much more quickly than has been managed so far, while allowing for and managing the distributional consequences of such policies for the continent's population.Simone Tagliapietra has co-written a research paper on energy transition with his Bruegel colleague Georg Zachmann, as well as Jean-Michel Glachant, director of the Florence School of Regulation; Pedro Linares, professor at Universidad Pontificia Comillas; Andreas Loeschel, professor at the University of Muenster; and Ottmar Edenhofer, director and chief economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.If you would like to read more on this topic, we suggest Simone Tagliapietra's article the geopolitical implications of the global energy transition. Equally, we recommend an episode of our Backstage podcast series, where the same scholar hosts a discussion on the next decade of energy transition in Europe with Sir Philip Lowe, former director general at the European Commission, DG ENER, and Alberto Pototschnig, director at the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER).

A difficult proposition faces the new ECB president – monetary union remains incomplete, the bank lacks room to manoeuvre in applying new tools, and it is not yet clear what constitutes the new economic ‘normal’.In this episode of 'The Sound of Economics' Bruegel director Guntram Wolff addresses deputy director Maria Demertzis and research fellow Grégory Claeys, who together with senior fellow Francesco Papadia have written a memo to the incoming ECB president.In their note, the authors state that the ECB needs to begin this eight-year term by reviewing monetary policy framework to account for the increasingly uncertain environment in which it will have to operate. In that vein, the incoming president will have to be prepared to emulate previous actions, providing certainty when it cannot be found elsewhere.In addition, the authors propose methods by which the ECB can bolster the euro-area architecture while continuing to fulfil its role in promoting financial stability.For further reading on this topic, we recommend a recent blog post by Grégory Claeys and Tanja Linta on the evolution of the ECB governing council's monetary-policy decision-making process.

The next president of the ECB, much like his predecessors, will have the difficult task of dealing with the balance between speaking with one voice and making timely, optimal decisions for the euro area as a whole. In this episode of ‘The Sound of Economics’, Bruegel deputy director Maria Demertzis speaks with Bruegel research fellow Grégory Claeys about the evolution of decision-making of the previous three governors and the differences in the effects of interest rates. Grégory Claeys and Tanja Linta have published a blog post creating a database to look back and examine precisely how decisions have been taken since the ECB was created.

Cohesion policy remains a contentious topic in the EU, central as it is to the matter of convergence between regions. The need to share economic growth throughout the bloc is particularly acute in the wake of notable electoral advances from several more populist political parties in Europe in recent years.Bruegel senior fellow Zsolt Darvas explains how his recent study, co-written with Jan Mazza and Catarina Midões, adopts a new methodology with the aim of avoiding the complicating factors that have underpinned the greatly varied results of many previous assessments of cohesion-policy effectiveness. He explains further how the EU might refine its implementation of cohesion policy, and looks ahead to what might be the biggest obstacles to improvement.For further reading, we recommend the Bruegel Policy Contribution at the centre of this Deep Focus episode, ‘How to improve European Union cohesion policy for the next decade’.

The next presidents of the European Commission, Council and Parliament will inherit a relatively healthy European economy, but will face three formidable challenges in the next five years. First, the incoming presidents must define Europe’s place in an increasingly bipolar world driven by a geostrategic rivalry between the United States and China. Second, global warming is a reality and temperatures appear to be rising faster than forecast. Third, the three presidents need to manage the economy and EU cohesion. In this episode of ‘The Sound of Economics’, Bruegel director Guntram Wolff speaks with Bruegel deputy director Maria Demertzis about the specific measures that the new incumbents should take to tackle these challenges. Together with senior fellow André Sapir, the two discussants have co-written Bruegel’s memo to the three new presidents, elaborating on the policy priorities for the next institutional cycle.

In this episode of 'The Sound of Economics', Bruegel senior fellow Georg Zachmann continues the Backstage series with an interview with Massimo Tavoni, professor at the Politecnico di Milano and director of EIEE.The discussion point is climate modelling - specifically its use and the necessity of complexity in some of its formulations.Some climate models are very straightforward, and this allows for the building of a solid base. But interaction between complex systems requires consideration of a multitude of factors, not all of which are easily measurable.Modelling can be productive as a means of plotting a route to a policy goal such as the Paris Agreement. And the outcomes are best viewed as producing only one of many possible routes that could be taken.These models are increasingly relevant for numerous sectors, all beginning to factor in not only climate change but climate-change policy.If you are interested in more on this topic, we recommend the Bruegel Blueprint co-written by Georg Zachmann with Grégory Caleys and Gustav Fredriksson on the distributional effects of climate policies.

The European Union's next framework programme for innovation and research - 'FP9', better known as Horizon Europe - will run from 2021 to 2027. With the rise of China as an increasingly direct competitor with the EU and the US, this will be a vital period. Bruegel senior fellow Reinhilde Veugelers, together with Michael Baltensperger, has produced an analysis for the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. The research paper, on which Reinhilde elaborates in this episode of the Deep Focus podcast, looks at what needs to be prioritised in the next framework programme in order to maintain and improve Europe's position as a leader in this increasingly competitive field. For further reading we recommend the paper in question, 'Europe – the global centre for excellent research', as well as Reinhilde Veugeler's previous Bruegel Policy Contribution, 'Are European firms falling behind in the global corporate research race?'

The keyword in Ukraine right now is ‘uncertainty’, as the country prepares to elect a new parliament in July only a few months after electing a new president. Not only will the new government have a role in stabilising and growing the economy following the 2014-15 economic crisis, but they will face the challenge of a large debt repayment during their term while dealing with an aggressive Russia. In a political climate that is known for being corrupt and not respecting the rule of law, there are opportunities to change the country beyond economic policy. In this episode of the Backstage podcast series, Giuseppe Porcaro, head of communications and events at Bruegel, hosts non-resident fellow Marek Dabrowski and Hlib Vyshlinsky, executive director at the Centre for Economic Strategy (CES) to discuss the opportunities for the new government and the best recipe of reforms. For further reading, we recommend this blog post written by Marek Dabrowski about Ukraine’s struggle for reform, as well as this policy contribution on Ukraine’s unfinished reform agenda.

An analysis of the results of the most recent European elections reveals what Bruegel director Guntram Wolff classifies as a generally positive trend in electoral participation across the EU, with an overall increase of 7% in voter turnout since the last elections in 2014. Additionally, populist parties in the European Parliament seem to have been prevented from gaining ground.However, election results in some EU member states were not as pro-EU at the national level. In this podcast, Guntram Wolff welcomes Ferdinando Giugliano from Bloomberg and Krzysztof Blusz from WiseEuropa to discuss the results in each guest's home countries - Italy and Poland, respectively - and how the nationalist trends in each state might play a role in politics in the new European Parliament and European Commission.If you are interested in Bruegel's work concerning the European elections, we recommend our blog post: ‘Spitzenkandidaten visions for the future of Europe’s economy’, which features the candidates for the next president of the European Commission. You can also visit the main page for our Spitzenkandidaten series, to review the content in full.

Giuseppe Porcaro hosts Bruegel director Guntram Wolff and visiting fellow Rebecca Christie to reflect on the key policy positions taken by the candidates for the European Commission presidency, ahead of May's elections.European elections are fast approaching. With them comes not just a visit to the polls, but the beginning of a sequence involving the European Parliament and the Council that will eventually decide who becomes the next president of the Commission. The Spitzenkandidaten process sees each of the parties put forward their nominated candidate - or candidates - one of whom should eventually assume the presidency, if the various criteria can be met.Looking back upon Bruegel's recent six-part series of events, held in partnership with the Financial Times, the discussants assess the candidates' views on Europe's future industrial policy path, the EU's stance on the growing trade dispute between the US and China, as well as the most vital and realistic euro-area reforms for the next five years. The debate also considers how each of the candidates might be positioning themselves and their parties in the complex process of selecting a new president.Giuseppe Porcaro leads the review with Bruegel visiting fellow Rebecca Christie and director Guntram Wolff, in this special edition of the Backstage series.If you would like to review the series in more depth, we recommend our blog post: ‘Spitzenkandidaten visions for the future of Europe’s economy’, which contains extracts and video clips from the events. You can also visit the main page for our Spitzenkandidaten series, to review the content in full.

Bruegel director Guntram Wolff and Bruegel fellow Uri Dadush welcome William Alan Reinsch, senior adviser and Scholl chair in international business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, for a discussion of how China-US relations are developing in the context of unfolding trade war.With President Trump increasing tariffs on the US' imports from China and China retaliating in kind, the trade dispute between the two countries is escalating quickly.Here the discussants elaborate on the disruption caused by trade tariffs, the likelihood of China acquiescing to US demands with regard to economic reform, and where the EU might figure in the stand-off. Guntram Wolff introduces this Director's Cut of 'The Sound of Economics', welcoming Bruegel fellow Uri Dadush as well as William Alan Reinsch, senior adviser and Scholl chair in international business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. If you are interested in more of Bruegel's work on this topic, we suggest Uri Dadush's blog post on the full implications of the escalating trade dispute between the US and China. We also recommend Alicia García-Herrero's working paper on the EU's options amid the China-US trade turmoil.

'The Sound of Economics' podcast continues with an instalment of the Deep Focus series, with Bruegel fellow Marek Dabrowski talking to Sean Gibson about the findings of his research paper on Russia's growth problems (co-written with Antoine Mathieu Collin).The Russian economy has weathered several crises in recent decades, most recently between 2014-16. Though this latest dip was relatively not so deep, growth has returned much more slowly this time around than in previous years.Some problems are age-old, while others are a product of recent political movements and developments. In this episode the conversation specifies some of Russia's institutional shortcomings and structural economic weaknesses, accounting for the country's efforts at macroeconomic management and the evolving demographic difficulties particularly concerning Russia's working-age population. The discussion also reflects on the particular economic impacts of Russia's involvement in Ukraine, and looks ahead to the most vital and realistic possible remedial measures that could yet be taken.If you are interested in more of Bruegel's work on this topic, we recommend Marek Dabrowski's blog post on how Russia's foreign policy obstructs its attempts at economic modernisation. Also consider the same author's recent publication, 'Can emerging markets be a source of global troubles again?'

Bruegel fellows Rebecca Christie and Nicolas Véron discuss how the map of the EU's financial services industry has begun to change, and how it might eventually settle.The Brexit process has begun to unravel the supremacy of London as the financial centre of Europe, yet it remains unclear how the map of the EU's financial system will eventually be refigured.Several cities have emerged to compete not only for the business that is leaving the UK's capital but for new investment as well. This raises broader questions about whether it is more beneficial to have a single hub or to spread financial services across numerous locations. It also poses difficulties for firms that relocate, some of whose general staff may prefer a different destination to that desired by the lawyers and compliance officers.Brexit has set in motion events that will not be undone even if the UK were to throw the process in full reverse, and remain in the EU, and the idea has been mooted that Brexit merely accelerated a desertion of London that may have happened in any case. Still, the future landscape of the EU's financial services industry will still largely depend on the final shape of the UK's future relationship with the EU. Broadly, observers would expect a harder Brexit to yield a swifter and more seismic movement away from London.In this episode of the Bruegel Backstage podcast series, Bruegel visiting fellow Rebecca Christie and senior fellow Nicolas Véron discuss the early developments in this direction, and the likeliest areas of future progression.Each of the discussants made presentations at the Bruegel event 'The emerging new geography of financial centers in Europe', which was conducted under the Chatham House rule.For further reading, we recommend this article written by Nicolas Véron about the relocation of banking business from London to elsewhere in Europe in the wake of the Brexit referendum vote.

Maria Demertzis sits down with Bruegel senior fellow André Sapir to break down the news, discussing the events leading up to the renewed EU-US trade talks, and the likely future course. On 15 April 2019, the European Council approved mandates for the Commission to resume trade negotiations with the United States, which are to be centered around eliminating industrial tariffs. Although already a breakthrough, the talks are set to encounter many difficulties given their highly political nature. Bruegel's deputy director Maria Demertzis sits down with senior fellow André Sapir to assess the news, discussing the events leading up to the renewed talks and the likely future outcomes. A consistent theme in the making of any EU trade deal is the repeated declaration that it would only engage with countries that are signatories to the Paris Agreement. In 2017, the Trump administration announced the US' intention to withdraw from that agreement, which should in theory exclude the possibility of a trade deal. Maria and Andre discuss just how likely it is for the deal to come to fruition against this backdrop. Lastly, the discussants touch upon how the fractured EU-US trade relationship affects the multilateral trading system and, by extension, global economic growth. For further reading, we recommend the Policy Contribution of Uri Dadush and Guntram Wolff, which analyses how Europe can act in the interest both of itself and the multilateral system amid the ongoing global trade crisis. Similarly, consider Alicia García-Herrero's recent Working Paper on the the options available to the EU in the face of the US-China trade stand-off.

In this episode of the Director's cut, Guntram Wolff discusses with Alicia Garcia Herrero about the results of the 21st EU-China Summit. The EU and China committed to further strengthen the EU-China strategic partnership at the 21st EU-China summit. Both sides agreed on a joint statement setting out the direction for EU-China relations in the years to come. Leaders expressed their joint support for multilateralism and rules-based trade. They reaffirmed their joint engagement to reform the World Trade Organisation. The EU and China agreed to work together to address industrial subsidies. They also discussed foreign and security issues in their respective neighbourhoods.Bruegel's director and Alicia Garcia Herrero comment on the joint declaration and the challenges for the next steps in this cooperation. Further reading on Eu-China on Bruegel website

Bruegel director Guntram Wolff talks to Padmashree Gehl Sampath, a Berkman Klein fellow at Harvard University, on the consequences of ‘new manufacturing’ for European industrial policymaking.In this Director’s Cut of ‘The Sound of Economics’, Bruegel’s Guntram Wolff discusses Industry 4.0 with Harvard University Berkman Klein fellow Padmashree Gehl Sampath.Europe is yet to truly explore what interventions can and should be made with regard to the digitisation of industrial policy. But the ongoing development of technologies obliges the EU to examine how best to create a level playing-field for companies, and how to ensure that newly compiled sets of data can contribute positively to the welfare of its citizens.The deployment of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation brought into focus the potential negative consequences of people’s data being amassed. Yet, as the discussants consider here, there are many potential works to which these data can be put that would serve a greater public good. But this will only follow once policymakers formulate fresh approaches tailored to the challenge, and propose how they will follow through on their aforementioned obligations.If you would like to read more on this topic, we recommend our blog post by Silvia Merler on machine learning and economics.

Bruegel director Guntram Wolff and senior fellow André Sapir discuss how potential WTO reform might position the organisation differently towards China.In this Director's Cut of 'The Sound of Economics', Guntram Wolff talks to Bruegel senior fellow André Sapir about his upcoming paper on the WTO reform, specifically what is necessary in order for the Chinese economic system to be compatible with the global multilateral trading system.China has recently been atop the European policy agenda, especially with President Xi's recent visits to Rome and Paris ahead of the EU-China Summit in April. The discussants here walk us through the main challenges in the EU's quest to position itself vis-à-vis China, including the issues of forced technology transfers and the behaviour of Chinese state-owned enterprises.For further reading, we recommend the Bruegel Policy Contribution by Uri Dadush and Guntram Wolff on how Europe should approach the unfolding crisis in global trade.

This episode of 'The Sound of Economics' features Bruegel senior fellow J. Scott Marcus in conversation with Lise Fuhr, director general, European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association (ETNO).The next wave of mobile network innovation is provoking great excitement in the industry. And indeed, there is substantial potential for improvement. However, the exact form of the technology and the appropriate policy support are still far from clear. The next generation of mobile technology, 5G, is being developed along markedly different lines from previous generations. In the past, mobile generations were generally characterised by a core technology (or sometimes by two or more core technologies), and were designed to fulfil the requirements of a fairly small number of mobile voice and data applications. By contrast, 5G is being developed to fulfil the needs of multiple use cases.In this episode Scott Marcus and Lise Fuhr outline the challenges of 5G deployment in Europe, their policy implications, and the impact for the citizens. For further reading we recommend the blog post by Scott Marcus High expectations for 5G confront practical realities.This podcast was recorded during the event Rethinking Industrial Policy in the Digital Age, an all-day conference held on 21 March 2019, about how the European policy-making will have to adapt to the digital transformation.

Bruegel's Maria Demertzis welcomes Yale Law School professor Yair Listokin to this Director's Cut of 'The Sound of Economics', to discuss how law might be deployed as a macroeconomic tool to counter financial crisis.In this episode of Director's Cut, Bruegel's deputy director Maria Demertzis talks to Yair Listokin, a professor at Yale Law School, about the effect law could have on achieving macroeconomic objectives.In his new book titled 'Law and Macroeconomics', Yair Listokin puts forward the idea that law has the ability to function as an instrument of macroeconomic policy. He argues that the time it took for private spending to recover after the 2008 financial crisis could have been cut, had legislation played a more vital role in the process.Here the two elaborate on these ideas, focusing particularly on the perceived trade-off between law's role in maintaining stability, and its potential to be used as a real-time response to economic shocks. They also discuss the applicability of this policy approach in the European reality of multiple legal frameworks and central banks struggling to stimulate aggregate demand at the zero lower interest rate bound.You can find more on macroeconomic policy in previous editions of the Director's Cut. First, we recommend Bruegel director Guntram Wolff's conversation about the growth and stability challenges facing the global financial system, with Tharman Shanmugaratnam, deputy prime minister of Singapore and chair of the G20 Eminent Persons Group, and Jean Pisani-Ferry, mercator senior fellow at Bruegel. Second, consider Maria Demertzis' discussion with Martin Sandbu of the Financial Times, on the topic of what the field of economics has learned in the decade since the financial crisis.

This episode of 'The Sound of Economics' features Bruegel visiting fellow Elina Ribakova in conversation with Marc-Olivier Padis and Jean-Paul Tran Thiet about the reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). Asylum is a fundamental human right and an international obligation, first recognised in the 1951 Geneva Convention on the protection of refugees. Between 2013 and 2017, 4 million asylum applications were filed in the EU. This high number resulted in growing tensions between Member States, with some of them displaying non-cooperative behaviour. The migration crisis of 2015 revealed the inadequacies of European legal tools and, by extension, management of migration flows. In this context, Institut Montaigne jointly with Terra Nova have written a report which calls for a reform of the European asylum policy and for a rapid, unified response to the humanitarian emergency in the Mediterranean. In the context of recent rise of populism and nationalist tendencies in Europe, creating a binding mechanism for solidarity is a daunting task. Currently, the EU is in the process of reshaping the Common European Asylum System, but the negotiations have shown close to no progress. In this episode of Backstage, Elina Ribakova, a visiting fellow at Bruegel welcomes Marc-Olivier Padis, head of studies department at Terra Nova, and Jean-Paul Tran Thiet, senior fellow at Institut Montaigne, to make a case for this reform. Together, they discuss the key elements of the revised system, which include improved monitoring of the asylum process, as well as efforts for equitable burden sharing. For further reading, we recommend our blueprint “People on the move: migration and mobility in the European Union“, written by Uuriintuya Batsaikhan, Zsolt Darvas and Inês Gonçalves Raposo. Zolt Darvas also contributed to the debate on migration and refugees in Europe with two blogs on similar topics: “Beyond border control, migrant integration policies must be revived“ and “The challenge of fostering financial inclusion of refugees“. This podcast episode was recorded during an event Saving the right to asylum on March 5th, 2019.