Stephanomics

One of the first global consumer companies to feel the impact of Covid-19 was the beer giant AB InBev, whose brands include Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois. AB InBev operates a brewery in Whuan China where the pandemic began and which was the worlds first city to go into lockdown.

But as life returns to normal in Wuhan and cities all over the world, beer is flowing again in record quantities. In this interview, Andy Browne talks to AB InBevs CEO Carlos Brito about this turnaround in fortunes and how Brito ultimately sees us bounce back from this temporary isolation in celebration.

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Before the pandemic, relations between the U.S. and China were already at rock bottom. Since then, they've gotten even worse, with both sides trading blame for the Covid-19 outbreak, spinning conspiracy theories and abandoning cooperation on all fronts. To discuss what this all means for the Covid economy,

Andy Browne caught up with two Wall Street Journal reporters, Lingling Wei and Bob Davis, to talk about their new book, Superpower Showdown: How the Battle Between Trump and Xi Threatens a New Cold War.

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In this bonus episode, Andy Browne, the editorial Director of the Bloomberg New Economy, talks to Brian Chesky, chief executive of Airbnb.

A few months ago, the company laid off a quarter of its staff. But since then, the business has since staged a remarkable comeback — and now Airbnb is said to be planning an IPO. Andy and Brian discuss the future of travel, and what a new nomadic workforce might mean for the home rental business.

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The novel coronavirus has reshaped the global economy, shifting the attitudes of governments, central bankers and consumers alike. It has changed how we work—if we work—and altered monetary and fiscal policy around the globe.

As this tumultuous season of Stephanomics draws to a close, host Stephanie Flanders speaks with two leading economists about what they’ve learned from the crisis so far. Stephen King, senior economic adviser at HSBC, and Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, share their thoughts on how their profession has reacted to the pandemic, what uncertainty means for businesses and markets, and the generational implications of closing down economies to protect the most vulnerable.

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The killers of Berta Caceres had every reason to believe they’d get away with murder. More than 100 other environmental activists in Honduras had been killed in the previous five years, yet almost no one had been punished for the crimes. Bloomberg’s Blood River follows a four-year quest to find her killers – a twisting trail that leads into the country’s circles of power.

Blood River premieres on July 27.

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Great things can rise from the ashes of failed companies, so governments shouldn’t rescue firms that would otherwise go bust. That’s the thinking behind so-called creative destruction, but amid the unprecedented shock of the pandemic, does this economic theory apply, or is it too risky? 

On this week’s episode, Stephanie Flanders talks to Bloomberg Federal Reserve reporter Rich Miller and Eurozone economist Maeva Cousin about the contrasting economic policy approaches taken by the U.S. and Europe. 

The pandemic has also thrown up new challenges for gender equality, with women more likely to suffer financially, especially in hard-hit sectors like tourism and hospitality. Bloomberg economy reporter Yuko Takeo reports how the crisis is another obstacle for Japanese women fighting for greater representation in the workplace, and more power in the world’s third largest economy. 

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Wuhan will forever be known as the place where Covid-19 and lockdowns began. But the Chinese city also might be the best place to learn how to restart the global economy. On this week’s episode, Stephanie Flanders talks to Sharon Chen, Bloomberg’s Beijing bureau chief, about the lessons we can learn from Wuhan’s efforts to get life—and business—back on track, and why it pays to be in the instant noodle business right now.

Flanders also speaks with Bloomberg Economics’ Tom Orlik about his new book, “China: The Bubble that Never Pops.” From the financial system to real estate and banking, Western commentators always seem to be waiting for the world’s second-largest economy to blow up. So why hasn’t that happened yet? 

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Covid-19’s fracturing of supply chains has left businesses and governments questioning the prudence of networks that crisscross the planet. Pandemic recovery plans talk of developing “strategic autonomy” in key sectors, and suggest that executives should bring production closer to home. But on the ground, companies say it’s not so easy. 

Host Stephanie Flanders hears from Frankfurt-based Bloomberg reporter Piotr Skolimowski and a German pharmaceutical executive about why it’s so hard for Europe to extract itself from Chinese supply chains. She also speaks with World Trade Organization Chief Economist Robert Koopman and Renaissance Capital’s Global Chief Economist Charles Robertson on the future of global trade and investment. They discuss what trade might look like in a post-coronavirus world, whether so-called reshoring is actually a good idea, and why emerging market economies might ultimately benefit from Covid-19.

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Adam Neumann had a vision: to make his startup WeWork a wildly successful company that would change the world. He convinced thousands of other people -- customers, employees, investors -- that he could make that dream a reality. And for a while, he did. He was one of the most successful startup founders in the world. But then, in the span of just a few months, everything changed.

Foundering is a new serialized podcast from the journalists at Bloomberg Technology. This season, we’ll tell you the story of WeWork, a company that captured the startup boom of the 2010s and also may be remembered as a spectacular bust that marked the end of an era.

Catch the first two episodes of Foundering, now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

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It’s no exaggeration to say the coronavirus has upended the global economy in ways few could have imagined. It's been called a wake-up call for capitalism and a foreshadowing of our exceedingly precarious future, one with more catastrophes waiting in the wings. What if anything can governments and central banks do about it?

Host Stephanie Flanders digs into this question with two famous economists, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and Nouriel Roubini, as part of the Bloomberg Invest Global virtual conference. From the possibility of a cold war between the U.S. and China to the impact of technology on employment, the fate of emerging markets and the end of globalization, they come to some pretty different conclusions. 

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