Stephanomics

The Stephanomics podcast is back. Every week, host Stephanie Flanders takes one big question about the global economy and follows it wherever it leads. From trade and technology to inflation, central banks and markets, the conversation will connect the dots between the forces reshaping the world economy. Listen to new episodes every Thursday.

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The historic Democratic midterm victory will reshape Washington come January, but what will it actually change for the US economy? Stephanie Flanders is joined by Oren Cass, founder of the American Compass think tank, and Bloomberg reporter Josh Wingrove to look beyond the election to the next two years. Can either party address voter frustration with the economy, and how much of Donald Trump’s economic agenda is likely to endure?

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How has the conflict changed people’s car-buying habits — and could it accelerate the global shift to electric vehicles?

In this episode, Stephanie Flanders is joined by Bloomberg News managing editor Craig Trudell and Ethan Zindler, global head of BloombergNEF’s countries and policies research teams. They examine the way in which higher energy prices are reshaping demand for electric vehicles and hybrids, how the US under President Donald Trump is bucking the global trend and how cheaper Chinese EVs are transforming the global auto industry. Could one unexpected consequence of the Iran war be a faster transition to cleaner energy?

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What does Germany’s economic strategy tell us about the shifting global order? Stephanie Flanders is in Germany at the Berlin Global Dialogue, where she speaks with Chancellor Friedrich Merz about the pressures reshaping Europe’s largest economy, why he supports a tougher response to Chinese imports and how he intends to handle the Trump administration’s harsher line toward Ukraine at the upcoming G20 Summit in Miami. 

Setting the scene for the Chancellor’s comments is Bloomberg Senior Geoeconomics Analyst for Europe, Antonio Barroso. Flanders and Barroso unpack what Merz’s comments reveal about Germany’s changing approach to trade — and what that shift could mean for Europe and the wider global economy.

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What does the global economy look like from the rooms where some of the world’s biggest investment and business decisions are made? Stephanie Flanders is in New Delhi for Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum, where she speaks with Bloomberg Chief Economist Tom Orlik about the risks building beneath the surface — from higher borrowing costs to the vast sums flowing into artificial intelligence.

Then, in a session hosted by Bloomberg New Economy Editorial Director Erik Schatzker, former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Blackstone President Jon Gray and Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran debate what really matters in this new era of uncertainty — and which trends they believe are powerful enough to bet on anyway.

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Donald Trump’s wars, both the global trade version and the real one on Iran, are increasing costs for America’s farmers -- traditional followers of the Republican president who just might be reconsidering their allegiance. Stephanie Flanders speaks with Bloomberg’s Steven Dennis and former US Department of Agriculture chief economist Joe Glauber about why deep red farm states like Kansas are suddenly looking competitive, and whether economic frustration could produce a lasting shift in rural America.

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Elon Musk may be an extreme figure, but the authors of Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed argue he represents a much bigger dynamic that's quickly taking shape, one where promises of “sovereignty through technology” may permanently embed tech figures such as himself at the center of government and society. Stephanie Flanders speaks with Ben Tarnoff and Quinn Slobodian about how Musk turned close ties with government into extraordinary power, and what his rise tells us about the changing relationship between Big Tech, the state and the global economy.

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As Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with US President Donald Trump in Washington, this week's episode of Trumponomics asks whether the world’s leading AI powers can move beyond summit pageantry and start managing the dangers created by their technological rivalry. Host Stephanie Flanders speaks with Bloomberg Executive Editor Dan Ten Kate and Geoeconomics analyst Michael Deng about why distrust over chips, model distillation and open-source AI is making meaningful cooperation so difficult—and why rare earths and deeply intertwined supply chains mean neither country can truly decouple from the other.

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The US 10-year Treasury yield has breached 5%, but the forces pushing borrowing costs higher may run much deeper than the latest economic shocks. Stephanie Flanders is joined by Bloomberg Opinion columnist John Authers and Jamie Rush of Bloomberg Economics to discuss how demographics, rising government debt and the artificial intelligence investment boom are reshaping the price of money — and why 5% could prove to be a floor rather than a ceiling.

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Artificial intelligence companies are spending extraordinary sums on the promise that their technology will transform the global economy. Author and technology critic Cory Doctorow joins Trumponomics host Stephanie Flanders to challenge that sales pitch, arguing that AI may be useful without delivering the cost savings or profits investors expect — and warning of the consequences for workers, markets and the wider economy if the boom ends badly.

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