Julio Bacio Terracino talks with On The Level's Bill Below about the influence of the powerful few—those individuals and organisations that manage to shape political outcomes to favour their narrow interests rather than the public good. This cycle that can only be broken through governance systems that ensure that all voices are heard. Yet, political parties and labor unions, once powerful representatives of people's interests, now face a historical lack of trust. What can be done to break the vicious cycle of narrow interests overriding the public good?

Kathryn Dovey of the OECD talks to On The Level’s Bill Below about National Contact Points (NCPs) — the unique grievance mechanism created to address and resolve cases of potential non-compliance to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. To date, over 400 cases have been handled by NCPs in 35 OECD countries and 13 non-OECD countries. If it sounds technical, it’s not. NCPs are addressing and resolving issues in the areas of human rights, business responsibility, anti-corruption and much more.

In Part II of our 2-part series on the Blockchain revolution, Bill Below interviews Greg Medcraft, head of the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, on the how Blockchain technology is set to disrupt, and bring value, to governments and industries, alike.

What is blockchain technology? Why block? Why chain? Who controls a blockchain and how? Where is the brain? Many of those who know about blockchain, or at least know of it, do so through bitcoin. What is the relationship between bitcoin and blockchain?

In Part 1 of a two-part podcast series, Greg Medcraft, who leads the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, talks to Bill Below about blockchain, starting with the basics of this revolutionary technology.

Visit the website of the OECD Blockchain Policy Forum taking place in Paris on 4-5 September 2018 http://www.oecd.org/finance/oecd-blockchain-policy-forum-2018.htm

At the end of July 2018, the OECD announced a 44% drop in global outward foreign direct investment in the first quarter of 2018. Maria Borga of the OECD explores the causes and likely impacts going forward of what could become a permanent reduction in outward FDI. With Bill Below.

Find latest data and analysis for global FDI flows at http://www.oecd.org/investment/statistics.htm

Behavioural Economics plays an increasingly important role in the design of public policy worldwide. OECD On The Level talks with Faisal Naru and Filippo Cavassini of the OECD on some of the latest developments in this ground-breaking discipline. With Bill Below.

Bill Below of OECD On The Level interviews Piotr Stryszowski, Senior Economist at the OECD and specialist in Counterfeit Trade. Piotr talks about the impacts of counterfeit trade on the global economy and steps being taken to crack down on a USD 450 billion industry.

Enterprises struggle to implement responsible supply chains in a multitude of sectors. The OECD's Tyler Gillard is interviewed by Bill Below following the recent release of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct, They discuss the background of the OECD's involvement in due diligence and the state of progress towards responsible supply chains.

Read the blog at https://oecdonthelevel.com/2018/06/20/a-nudge-or-a-shove-what-will-it-take-to-push-responsible-business-conduct/

Find out more at https://mneguidelines.oecd.org/duediligence/