Maintaining good relations promotes trade, but can trade repair bad relations? Marc Palen examines how Britain's repeal of the Corn Laws in the mid-1800s sparked its interest in free trade and the idea of economic interdependence for a peaceful and prosperous world. Palen, an archaeologist, historian, and author, discusses his latest book, Pax Economica: Left-Wing Visions of a Free World. In this podcast, he talks with journalist Rhoda Metcalfe about his research into the origins of globalization.

Transcript: https://bit.ly/4ra9n0O

Read the article at IMF.org/FANDD

Sub-Saharan Africa is holding its own despite a deteriorating global trade and aid landscape. The latest outlook projects growth to remain steady at 4.1 percent this year with a modest pickup in 2026. While the region has once again proven its resilience, what will it take to realize its full potential? IMF Economist Athene Laws helps pull together the biannual Regional Economic Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa. In this podcast, she says removing barriers to private firm growth is crucial for providing the jobs needed by the region's young and rapidly expanding labor force.

Transcript: https://bit.ly/4i7F6vt

Read the full report at IMF.org

It's not unusual for countries to reevaluate trade relationships as the global economy evolves. However, the persistent uncertainty brought on by tariffs has prompted entire regions to reconsider long-established alliances and rethink new ones that were unimaginable only a year ago. Gordon Hanson, international economist and Professor of Urban Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, was invited to join a panel discussion on the global economy during the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings. In this podcast, Hanson says, we need to reinvigorate the process of building new trade agreements that reflect the new world, and middle- and newly high-income countries should play a leading role.

Transcript: https://bit.ly/4qT4LvS

While the US dollar has been at the top of its game for decades, new players are testing its reign. Chess grandmaster-turned-economist Kenneth Rogoff has long cautioned of the dangers that high debt and fiscal burdens could have on the world's favorite reserve currency, and in his latest book, Our Dollar, Your Problem, he says its share of global reserves may be on the decline. Kenneth Rogoff is currently the Maurits C. Boas Chair of International Economics at Harvard.

Transcript: https://bit.ly/3WXdHCZ

The US is a breeding ground for startups, and California has been the center of that universe since the dot-com boom in the late 1990s. But rising costs, tighter quarters, and increasing bureaucracy have many tech innovators seeking greener pastures, well beyond Silicon Valley. Princeton University's Swati Bhatt has been studying the evolution of America's startup boom in recent years and has uncovered a surprising trend toward rural communities, better known for raising cattle than for high-tech infrastructure. In this podcast, Bhatt talks to journalist Rhoda Metcalfe about these new entrepreneurs opting for a different lifestyle.

Transcript: https://bit.ly/3WcTvfM

Read the article in Finance & Development magazine IMF.org/fandd

While countries came together in the late 80s to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism, technology and the advent of virtual currencies have further complicated the tracking of illicit financial flows across borders. Over $51 billion in cryptocurrency was used by criminals last year to circumvent traditional banking regulations. Chady El Khoury is an assistant general counsel and heads the Financial Integrity Group at the IMF. In this podcast, El Khoury says the anonymity of virtual currency transactions is supercharging the ability for criminals to grow their empires.

Transcript: https://bit.ly/3KOjzeA

Bringing nations together to maintain peace and security and raise living standards for all seemed a utopian idea in the early 20th century. Still, geopolitics, economics and vision by world leaders eventually came together to make it a reality. But what happens when the great powers that have been supporting the multilateral system decide it's not working for them anymore? Danny Quah has studied the increase in global economic tensions and sees the rising East as an important factor. Quah is the Li Ka Shing Professor of Economics at the National University of Singapore. In this podcast, he says that while economics and geopolitics worked together to build the multilateral rules-based system, they are now working together to break it apart.

Transcript: https://bit.ly/4grrx9n

Read the article in Finance & Development magazine: IMF.org/fandd

A lot has happened in the global economy since 2019, and few people know that better than Gita Gopinath. As the IMF Chief Economist and subsequently the institution's First Deputy Managing Director, she navigated unprecedented global crises, including the pandemic and the ensuing great lockdown, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, inflation, and geopolitical fragmentation. Her career as a Professor at Harvard University was put on hold to take on those IMF roles, but now she's back. How will the 2025 version of Professor Gopinath compare to the 2018 version? In this podcast, Gita Gopinath reflects on her experiences at the Fund and what she's taking back with her to Harvard.

Transcript: https://bit.ly/4npTyR5

As tech innovation, particularly in the field of AI, is increasingly focused on a few key players, the industries benefiting from these tools have also become more concentrated, which Carl Benedikt Frey says could weigh on growth. Frey is an associate professor of AI and Work at Oxford University, and his latest book, How Progress Ends, suggests that waves of technological and economic progress are often followed by stagnation. In this podcast, Frey says the concentration of AI-using industries will push the direction of technological change further towards automation rather than product innovation.

Transcript: http://bit.ly/45Z1IbR

Read the article in Finance & Development magazine: imf.org/fandd

There was a time when economic expertise ruled policy debates at virtually all levels of government. And while trade, taxation, and other important policies are still guided by economic analysis, economists increasingly feel sidelined by politics. In her former roles as chief economist at the US Treasury Department and senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Harvard professor Karen Dynan has seen too much solid economic research be rejected due to overly dense presentations. In this podcast, Dynan says economists need to engage with policymakers and the public at a level that they can understand if they want to be part of the policy conversation.

Transcript: https://bit.ly/4ojNbA6

Read the article in Finance & Development magazine: www.imf.org/fandd