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As America’s new president is sworn in and the Biden administration officially begins, our host Stephanie Kelly explores what to look out for in Biden’s first 100 days with her guest, Clayton Allen. What changes are in store for fiscal policy and what does this mean for investors?

The pandemic has wide-ranging implications for the future of cities. Lock-down measures have reduced the use of office space, halted the hospitality sector and changed how we use transport systems. But is city-flight a temporary phenomenon? Or are cities more resilient than we think?

Welcome to another week of Macro Matters. In this episode our host Paul Diggle discusses the post-pandemic future of cities with the esteemed British economist Bridget Rosewell. Once the Chief Economist for the Greater London Authority and now Non-Executive Director of Network Rail, Bridget shares her leading expertise on the economics of cities and transport.

In our latest podcast, we talk with Sarah Gordon - former FT business editor and CEO of the Impact Investing Institute. Among the various topics discussed, Sarah explains the difference between impact investing and traditional responsible investing. This includes dispelling the myth that you have to sacrifice financial returns to have a positive impact. She also discusses an investment topic new to many of us – Green Plus Guilt.

What does 2021 have in store for the global economy? This week we look forward to the year ahead and answer 7 questions shaping our economic and political outlook

• How big is the drag from renewed lockdowns?

• How quickly will vaccines be rolled out and gain macroeconomic traction?

• What does the Brexit deal actually mean?

• What will a Biden Presidency do?

• Is the global economy facing fiscal cliffs?

• Will monetary policy remain a support?

• Which way will inflation go?

The views set out in the podcast represent the latest thinking to emerge from the quarterly Global Investment Group, or GIG, chaired by Keith Skeoch, Chairman of the Aberdeen Standard Investment’s Research Institute. The GIG’s role is to characterise the current and future risk-return environment at a high level.

Glimmers of hope are appearing in the form of globally approved vaccine's. This, along with a change in The White House, gives investors much to consider in the coming months.

In this week's Macro Matters, our final podcast of 2020, we're joined by Felicity Burch, Director of Innovation and Digital at the CBI and James McCann, Senior Economist at ASI. What does the future hold for business? How important is innovation and why does research matter for economists and investors alike?

In part 1, we're delighted to welcome Felicity Burch, Director of Innovation and Digital at the Confederation for British Industry (CBI). In a fascinating and wide-ranging discussion, we consider why innovation matters for business, the "silver-lining" effect that Covid has had in incentivising firms to innovate, and the challenge companies face to keep up the momentum as the world returns to something closer to ‘normal’ in 2021.

In part 2, we welcome back James McCann from the ASI Research Institute to discuss why innovation is a key factor for the macroeconomic outlook and how research can allow investors to identify the winners and losers of digital innovation.

We have just been through a period where financial market plumbing has, again, been tested to its limits and where QE has arguably one of the greatest drivers of markets. However, it is also a period where the needs of savers have never been greater. We have, perhaps, also never seen such external scrutiny of what we, as an asset management industry, do and how we behave as shareholders and debtholders. An opportune time then for Richard Dunbar to discuss the principles of investment governance and oversight with Archie Struthers, Global Head of Investment Governance & Oversight, Fiona Melville, Global Head of Investment Oversight and Paul Hughes, Global Head of Investment Risk.

The third instalment of our Emerging Market Equities podcast looks to Eastern Europe and Russia. EM investors Catriona McNair and William Scholes join Nick Robinson to share their thoughts on the changing investment landscape in the region and how it could be a particular beneficiary of normalisation post Covid. Listen to ‘Eastern Europe and Russia: value opportunities’ here.

Climate change. A force shaping our economy as well as our geography. Our experts in this week’s podcast bring the climate agenda into sharper focus. What risks does climate change pose for the markets and how can investors use climate scenarios to better inform their understanding of the risks and opportunities in the coming decades?

Inflation or deflation? It’s a question fuelling debate across the investment community. Our experts on this week’s episode discuss the impact of the Covid crisis on inflation and the likelihood of fiscal dominance.

Our host Paul Diggle is joined by two familiar faces from the Aberdeen Standard Research Institute, giving us a trio of economic expertise - Sree Kochugovindan, Senior Research Economist and Luke Bartholomew, Senior Monetary Economist. Together they answer the big questions about inflation and whether we can expect inflation regime change.

Part 1 focuses on the outlook for energy and food prices, the impact of tax cuts and wages support, and the practical difficulties of measuring inflation during a pandemic.

Part 2 compares the high inflation of the 1970s and the low inflation of the 2010s, applying the lessons of these distinct historical inflation regimes to the inflation outlook from here.