FT Alphachat

By Financial Times

What's FT Alphachat about?

Alphachat is the conversational podcast about business and economics produced by the Financial Times in New York. Each week, FT hosts and guests delve into a new theme, with more wonkiness, humour and irreverence than you'll find anywhere else Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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FT Alphachat episodes:

06.28.2019
Angela Nagle on the online culture wars
Angela Nagle, author of Kill All Normies: Online Culture Wars from 4chan and Tumblr to Trump and the Alt-Right, talks to FT Alphaville's Jemima Kelly about the online culture wars and the rise of the alt-right. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...
06.21.2019
Nouriel Roubini on the US-China Thucydides Trap
A number of geopolitical and financial risks are stalking the global economy, pointing to a possible recession in 2020. According to Nouriel Roubini, what is key among these risks is the US-China trade war and general protectionism in the global...
06.14.2019
Jay Shambaugh on the tools to fight the next recession
The economist and Brookings Institution senior fellow talks to FT contributor Megan Greene about the fiscal policies that lawmakers could arrange now that would automatically kick in when some of the early signs of a slowdown start to appear. Hosted...
06.07.2019
Joel Mokyr and the curse of Adam
Man must work. But how man works matters. Brendan Greeley sat down with Joel Mokyr, an economist and economic historian at Northwestern University, at an event on the future of work at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Policymakers tend...
05.31.2019
Will Davies on populism, data and experts
The political economist sits down with Alphaville's Jamie Powell and Thomas Hale to discuss how we should think about expertise in a post-truth world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
05.24.2019
Robert Kaplan on jobs, oil and credit
The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas sits down with Brendan Greeley to discuss what a tight labour market could mean for retraining workers, what fracking has done to the price of oil and why he prefers to...
05.17.2019
Ajay Royan searches for the next growth frontier
What if the vast majority of the high-growth tech unicorns emerging from Silicon Valley are not really technology or innovation companies? What if they are highly politicised, zero-sum enterprises? That's what Ajay Royan, the Indian-born Canadian who co-founded Mithral Capital,...
05.10.2019
Banking culture since the crisis
How has banking culture changed since the global financial crisis and what areas still need work? Brendan Greeley talks with three economics experts who posed that question in a recent report put out by the Group of Thirty consultants. He...
05.03.2019
Kimberly Clausing makes the case for open economies
Economist Kimberly Clausing tells Brendan Greeley and Mark Blyth why greater trade, capital flows and immigration are the solution to more equitably dividing the economic pie. It's the subject of her book, "Open: The Progressive Case for Free Trade, Immigration,...
04.26.2019
Alphachat Live! Raghuram Rajan and Ashley Putnam on community
Until recently, economists have ignored the idea that communities matter for economic outcomes, leaving those questions to sociologists. But there is too much evidence to ignore: where you live has a profound influence on how you turn out. In a...
04.19.2019
The IMF's Tobias Adrian on stability
Tobias Adrian, formerly of the New York Fed, runs the Monetary and Capital Markets Department at the International Monetary Fund. Brendan and Colby sat down with him after publication of the IMF's Global Financial Stability Report. They talked about collateralised...
04.18.2019
Bonus: IMF's Vitor Gaspar on debt
On the occasion of the release of the International Monetary Fund's Fiscal Monitor, Brendan talked to Vitor Gaspar, who runs the fund's Fiscal Affairs Department. Mr Gaspar, formerly of the Banco de Portugal, the European Commission and the European Central Bank, drew...
04.12.2019
Odette Lienau on the most complicated debt restructuring in history
Law professor Odette Lienau joins Colby and Brendan on the sidelines of the IMF spring meetings in Washington, DC to discuss the sovereign debt crises in Venezuela, Argentina and Mozambique. They also discuss why vulture funds could do some good....
04.05.2019
Yanis Varoufakis: "Democracy is a very fragile flower"
Alphaville's Jemima Kelly and Izabella Kaminska sat down with Yanis Varoufakis, former finance minister of Greece and current organiser of a trans-European group of what he calls "radical Europeanists" — in favor of union, without deflation or austerity. Mr Varoufakis...
03.29.2019
Brexit: Too late now to get the milk out of the tea
No matter what the British Parliament decides, for almost three years the UK, Ireland and the EU have been dealing with the reality of the Leave vote. Positions have hardened, investments have been foregone, and all the countries involved have...
03.22.2019
Immigration: comparing this wave to the last
Leah Boustan of Princeton and Maggie Peters of UCLA look at the wave of migrants to the US from Central America and compare it to the last great wave, from Europe in the late 19th century. Some things are the...
03.15.2019
Andrew Keen on the internet: misery is not the answer
Andrew Keen, author of Cult of the Amateur and more recently How to Fix the Future, sits down with FT Alphaville's Izabella Kaminska. They both tell the history of their own disenchantment with the internet, and discuss why the Elon Musk story has turned into...
03.08.2019
Waltraud Schelkle and Ashoka Mody: Is the eurozone fixable?
Forget Brexit. Growth in the eurozone is slowing down, but not equally for all countries. Which leaves the continent with the same question it's had for a decade: is it capable of making policy flexible enough for all of its...
03.01.2019
What China wants: Brad Setser, and Freya Beamish
Even if the trade talks are settled, long-term friction will remain between China and the United States. China has an industrial policy which will see it strive to make more advanced products, such as aircraft and medical devices. The US...
02.22.2019
Germany's China shock
Answering the question of whether Germany's export-driven model will ever change, and whether Germany's obsession with saving and budget surpluses will ever change. And how to say "Groundhog Day" in German. Wade Jacoby of Brigham Young University and Megan Greene...
02.15.2019
Peter Norton on the history of paying for big projects
The United States may not have an infrastructure crisis. It may in fact have too much infrastructure. And what does that word "infrastructure" even mean, anyway? We talk about the history internal improvements, public works, and the power of a...
02.08.2019
Climate change is not a business cycle
Armon Rezai of the Vienna University of Economics and Business and Lint Barrage of Brown University talk to Colby and Mark about how climate change will affect home values and retirement portfolios — you know, middle-class wealth. Hosted on Acast....
02.01.2019
Adam Tooze on Davos, econ 101 and the unexpected importance of China in the global economy
Adam Tooze, economic historian and author of Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World, joins the FT’s Brendan Greeley and Brown University’s Mark Blyth to discuss how our politics got us to where we are today, why our ideas about how...
01.25.2019
The history of what we now call opportunity zones
The 2017 tax cut in the US included a provision that would forgive capital gains taxes, if invested for ten years in an "opportunity zone" — a low-income area designated by a state governor. But the idea of encouraging investments...
01.18.2019
Olivier Blanchard on debt: “Relax. Don’t relax too much, but relax”
Author of the standard textbook on macroeconomics, former head of research for the International Monetary Fund, currently at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Olivier Blanchard works in the place where economists and politicians attempt to talk to each other....
01.11.2019
Adam Posen on central banks, China and the enduring power of the dollar
The economist and president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics joins FT Alphaville’s Colby Smith and Brown University’s Mark Blyth to discuss the politicking of central banking, the hurdles to finding a US-China trade war resolution and how China can...
01.08.2019
Robert Shiller: market narratives are 'like diseases'
A bonus episode from the annual meeting of the American Economic Association in Atlanta this past weekend. Brendan Greeley caught up with Yale economist and Nobel laureate Robert Shiller, who argues that if you want to understand markets you have...
01.05.2019
What exactly is 'slack'?
Economists like to talk about the "slack" in the labour market. But how can we measure it, and what does it mean? The FT's Brendan Greeley hosts with guests Megan Greene, chief economist at Manulife Asset Management, Ioana Marinescu, economist and professor...
12.21.2018
Mariana Mazzucato on who creates value
The economist and University College London professor joins Alphaville's Jemima Kelly to discuss the question of value: who creates it and who makes use of it. She also lays out her argument for a rethinking of the relationship between markets...
12.14.2018
The math wizard who became a customer loyalty scheme guru
Economist Gary Loveman was teaching at Harvard Business School when he went to consult for the Harrah's casino chain in Las Vegas in the late 1990s. Despite knowing nothing about gambling, his insights on customer loyalty earned him a promotion to the chief executive job at...
12.07.2018
Bill Janeway revisits the 'three-player game'
Academic and practicing capitalist Bill Janeway talks to the FT's Jamie Powell about the way government used to drive innovation, and his idea of the "three-player game" between government, capital and industry. Music by Podington Bear. Hosted on Acast. See...
11.30.2018
David Autor on what we now know about trade
Alphachat is back, and with a new host, Brendan Greeley. Brendan is the new US editor of Alphaville, and in this episode, he talks to MIT economics professor David Autor about what economics got wrong about trade, how the profession...
05.25.2018
Introducing Behind The Money
Alphachat is going on a brief hiatus. When we come back in a few weeks we're going to have some great new interviews. But before we take this short break, we wanted to share a new FT podcast called Behind The...
05.18.2018
Sir Paul Tucker on the legitimacy of the central bank
The economist and former deputy governor of the Bank of England joins the FT's John Authers to debate the power of government agencies and the unelected officials leading them, including those at the helm of institutions like the Federal Reserve....
05.11.2018
Dan Drezner on the economics of ideas
In this encore episode, Dan Drezner, writer and professor of international politics, discusses his book, "The Ideas Industry: how pessimists, partisans and plutocrats are transforming the marketplace of ideas" with former host Cardiff Garcia. They also talk about the global...
05.04.2018
Jim Millstein on lessons from the financial crisis
The former chief restructuring officer of the US joins Lex's Sujeet Indap to talk about the financialisation of American businesses, the causes of the 2008 crisis and the outcomes of the government response and reforms. Music by Podington Bear. Hosted...
04.20.2018
An encore chat with Geoffrey West
Physicist Geoffrey West joins FT Alphaville's Izabella Kaminska to discuss his work on a universal theory of growth - or scaling - that extends beyond human lifespans to encompass the sustainability of corporations, cities and more, as detailed in his...
04.13.2018
Encore: Alice Rivlin on a career as an economic policymaker
Economist Alice Rivlin discusses her storied Washington career, from roles in three different presidential administrations, to director of the Congressional Budget Office, Vice-Chair of the Federal Reserve and to her current post at the Brookings Institution. This episode was originally published...
04.06.2018
Benn Steil on The Marshall Plan
Economist and award-winning author Benn Steil talks to Matt Klein about the history of the post-World War II European recovery plan, implemented by then secretary of state George C Marshall as a means of defending against communist authoritarianism. It's the...
03.30.2018
ENCORE: Andrew Lo on adaptive markets
Economist Andrew Lo talks to the FT's John Authers about his adaptive markets hypothesis, the idea that markets develop and adapt over time and should be modelled using concepts from biology instead of physics. It's the subject of his recent...
03.23.2018
The downside of the German economy
Germany is often considered an economic role model for the rest of the world, with low unemployment, a strong welfare state, first-class manufacturing and government budget surpluses. But there's another side to the German economy. Economist Marcel Fratzscher of the...
03.16.2018
Emi Nakamura on the methods and madness of inflation
Economist and Columbia University professor Emi Nakamura joins FT senior investment commentator John Authers to discuss the way inflation statistics are compiled, what the cost of inflation is to the economy and the current relationship between inflation and unemployment. Music...
03.09.2018
Stephanie Kelton on budget deficits and student debt
Economist Stephanie Kelton talks to Matt Klein about the way government budgets really work and what large-scale student debt forgiveness might do for the US economy. Music by Podington Bear. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
03.02.2018
Jonathan Knee on becoming the "accidental" investment banker
Banker, business school professor and author Jonathan Knee joins Sujeet Indap to discuss his career, the evolution of modern investment banking and finding a way to be influential. Music by Podington Bear. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
02.23.2018
ENCORE: 50 things that shaped the modern economy
In this encore episode, Tim Harford joins Cardiff Garcia to talk about the way 50 different inventions have shaped the way the economy works today, from video games to the tally stick. It's the subject of his book, "Fifty things...
02.16.2018
Understanding the North Korean economy
The North Korean economy was modeled off of Stalin's forced industrialisation of the 1930s. Many still think the country exists in a time warp -- a communist museum piece kept alive by Chinese subsidies. But the truth is more interesting....
02.09.2018
Corporate tax and the trade balance
Economist Brad Setser and Alphaville's Matt Klein dig into the recent changes to corporate tax policy in the US, and what effect these will have on the global economy. Music by Podington Bear. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...
02.02.2018
Thomas Wieser on his career in economic policy
Thomas Wieser, one of the key figures in Eurozone policymaking since the European sovereign debt crisis, joins the FT's Jim Brunsden and Alex Barker to discuss his career, the crisis and more. Music by Podington Bear. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...
01.26.2018
ENCORE: The life of Alan Greenspan
Author Sebastian Mallaby produced the definitive account of the former Federal Reserve chairman's life, career, and the context in which he operated in the book "The Man Who Knew". In this encore episode he joins Matt Klein to discuss. Music...
01.19.2018
Michele Wucker explains the 'gray rhino'
Most of the things that hurt us are easy to identify and avoid in advance. Yet rather than deal with these problems, we tend to live in terror of inchoate and unpredictable dangers. Journalist and author Michele Wucker talks with...

What's FT Alphachat about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

FT Alphachat episodes:

Angela Nagle on the online culture wars

Nouriel Roubini on the US-China Thucydides Trap

Jay Shambaugh on the tools to fight the next recession

Joel Mokyr and the curse of Adam

Will Davies on populism, data and experts

Robert Kaplan on jobs, oil and credit

Ajay Royan searches for the next growth frontier

Banking culture since the crisis

Kimberly Clausing makes the case for open economies

Alphachat Live! Raghuram Rajan and Ashley Putnam on community

The IMF's Tobias Adrian on stability

Bonus: IMF's Vitor Gaspar on debt

Odette Lienau on the most complicated debt restructuring in history

Yanis Varoufakis: "Democracy is a very fragile flower"

Brexit: Too late now to get the milk out of the tea

Immigration: comparing this wave to the last

Andrew Keen on the internet: misery is not the answer

Waltraud Schelkle and Ashoka Mody: Is the eurozone fixable?

What China wants: Brad Setser, and Freya Beamish

Germany's China shock

Peter Norton on the history of paying for big projects

Climate change is not a business cycle

Adam Tooze on Davos, econ 101 and the unexpected importance of China in the global economy

The history of what we now call opportunity zones

Olivier Blanchard on debt: “Relax. Don’t relax too much, but relax”

Adam Posen on central banks, China and the enduring power of the dollar

Robert Shiller: market narratives are 'like diseases'

What exactly is 'slack'?

Mariana Mazzucato on who creates value

The math wizard who became a customer loyalty scheme guru

Bill Janeway revisits the 'three-player game'

David Autor on what we now know about trade

Introducing Behind The Money

Sir Paul Tucker on the legitimacy of the central bank

Dan Drezner on the economics of ideas

Jim Millstein on lessons from the financial crisis

An encore chat with Geoffrey West

Encore: Alice Rivlin on a career as an economic policymaker

Benn Steil on The Marshall Plan

ENCORE: Andrew Lo on adaptive markets

The downside of the German economy

Emi Nakamura on the methods and madness of inflation

Stephanie Kelton on budget deficits and student debt

Jonathan Knee on becoming the "accidental" investment banker

ENCORE: 50 things that shaped the modern economy

Understanding the North Korean economy

Corporate tax and the trade balance

Thomas Wieser on his career in economic policy

ENCORE: The life of Alan Greenspan

Michele Wucker explains the 'gray rhino'