The Brussels Report Podcast

Rod Richardson is a philanthropist who serves as the President of the Grace Richardson Fund (GRF), which is the leading private foundation pioneering free market climate policy. He is also co-founder/co-chair of the Climate & Freedom International Coalition Meeting, co-facilitated in collaboration with Americans for Tax Reform Foundation/Tholos Foundation. 

GRF pioneers new free market solutions to emerging 21st century challenges.  Their free market climate policy consists of a set of new proposals rooted in the

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- Why taxing carbon and the punitive approach to deal with climate change is simply not working

- What could be an alternative, more functional approach?

- The role of the non-Western world in the context of climate policies

- Nuclear power and liberalisation of energy markets 

Martin Kinnunen is a Member of the Swedish Parliament (SD-ECR). He has been a Member of the Riksdag since 2014, elected for the Stockholm constituency since 2018. Before, he was elected for the Gothenburg constituency. He is a member of both the EU Committee and the Environment and Agriculture affairs Committee, and serves as the climate and environmental policy spokesperson for his party.

Kinnunen has been press secretary for the Sweden Democrats in 2010–2014 and also served as Chairman of Sweden Democratic Youth between 2005 and 2007. Kinnunen is a trained economist (PhD) and has completed a bachelor of philosophy degree in economics at Stockholm University.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- The EU's energy crisis: how did it came so far and are EU member states on the right path?

- The EU's green deal and ever more expensive climate policies: is the Swedish EU Council Presidency putting the brakes on?

- Is there a chance to put a stop to EU legislative plans to ban the combustion engine?

- The latest on the European Union's protectionist response to the American "Inflation Reduction Act"

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Dalibor Rohac, originally from Slovakia, is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he studies European political and economic trends, specifically Central and Eastern Europe, the European Union (EU) and the eurozone, US-EU relations, and the post-Communist transitions and backsliding of countries in the former Soviet bloc.

He is concurrently a research associate at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies in Brussels and a fellow at Anglo-American University in Prague.

Before joining AEI, Dr. Rohac was affiliated with the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, the Max Beloff Centre at the University of Buckingham, the London-based Legatum Institute, and the Center for the New Europe in Brussels.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- Dalibor Rohac's latest book, entitled “Governing the EU in an Age of Division”.

- The eurozone and the risks resulting from higher interest rates

- The interest in Europe amongst D.C. policy wonks, beyond pure defense issues

- The political situation, rule of law and the economic situation in Slovakia and Central Europe

Dalibor Rohac recently wrote this comment for Brussels Report as well as the following insightful articles for The Spectator and AEI.

Previously, he authored “In Defense of Globalism” (Rowman and Littlefield, 2019). His previous book, “Towards an Imperfect Union: A Conservative Case for the EU” (Rowman and Littlefield, 2016), was included on Foreign Affairs magazine’s list of best books of 2016. Dr. Rohac has testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and has briefed the US Helsinki Commission. His commentary has been published widely in the popular media, including in the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. His scholarly articles have been featured in policy journals, including Constitutional Political Economy, Journal of Institutional Economics, Kyklos, and Public Choice.

He has a PhD in political economy from King’s College London; an MPhil in economics from St Antony’s College, University of Oxford; an MA in economics from George Mason University; and a BA in economics from Charles University in Prague.

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Elena Leontjeva is the co-founder and President of the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LMFI). She founded the influential Lithuanian think tank in 1990.

She holds degrees in economics, mathematics and programming and has directed research and policy advocacy at the Institute, whilst playing a key role in her country’s transition. Ms. Leontjeva was named by magazine Veidas among the ten personalities who have changed Lithuania. She has contributed to the reforms in the Banking system, introduction of the Currency Board and the Litas Credibility Law, building the legal foundations for the Securities Market and the Stock Exchange, Deregulation, Tax and budget reform as well as the introduction of Private Pension Insurance. She has published widely in the press and has also dedicated herself to writing fiction.

Ms Leontjeva has served as a State Councillor on economic reform in six consecutive administrations, and in 1998-9 has been chief economic advisor to Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus. She has also served on official bodies engaged in the transition from the Soviet system, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Sunset Commission, etc.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with her:

- What's the key reason we are facing inflation right now? Energy problems, monetary policy, the fall-out of Covid lockdowns, or something else?

- What should the ECB be doing?

- What if strong anti-inflation action by the ECB leads to a breakup of the Eurozone?

- The economic situation and free market reform in Lithuania and the Baltics

Daniel J. Mitchell is a public policy economist based in Washington D.C. For years, he has been extensively commenting fiscal and budgetary policy in the OECD, having served as a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation, as an economist for Senator Bob Packwood and at the Senate Finance Committee, and as a Director of Tax and Budget Policy at Citizens for a Sound Economy. He is also the founder of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity and often comments on fiscal and economic policy on his blog.

This podcast is an audio record of a Brussels Report seminarrecently hosted in Brussels, in cooperation with the Tholos Foundation, where Daniel J. Mitchell discussed the state of public finances in the Eurozone, exploring the following questions. This against a background of European governments engaging in yet another round of budgetary expansion as a response to the energy crisis, after stretching their fiscal capacity to deal with the consequences of Covid lockdowns, all amidst increasing interest rates and with a monetary union with only shaky political underpinning.

- How bad is the situation really for Eurozone governments?

- Could this ultimately once again threaten the monetary union?

- Which fiscal and economic policies can governments pursue to stimulate economic growth to alleviate debt levels?

- Which Eurozone member states are mostly in trouble?

His presentation can be downloaded here.

https://twitter.com/danieljmitchell/status/1586415034296852480

More from Dan:

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Dr. Björn Peters is a German physicist and energy economist. He is also an investor into the newest generation of nuclear power plants, as co-founder and CFO of Dual Fluid Energy. He heads the research and consulting institute Peters Coll, which he founded, and advises entrepreneurs and politicians. On a voluntary basis, he is a founding member of the Nuclear Pride Coalition as well as a member of the federal board and head of the energy policy department at the economically liberal think tank “Deutscher Arbeitgeberverband e.V.” (German Employers‘ Association), where he is responsible for the energy policy column „The Energy Question“.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- What is the cause of the energy crisis?

- The German debate on extending nuclear power plants

- What to expect from the new generation of nuclear power plants, as for example small modular reactors (SMRs)?

- How to assess the EU's response to the crisis, in particular the proposals for price regulation?

- Can shale exploration in Europe offer solutions?

- Are energy blackouts to be expected in Europe?

Ronald-Peter (Ronnie) Stöferle is an Austrian Managing Partner and Fund manager at Incrementum AG, based in the Principality of Liechtenstein. The company focusses on asset management and wealth management and is one hundred percent owned by its partners. Ronald manages a fund that invests based on the principles of the Austrian School of Economics.

He is the Author of the annual In Gold We Trust-report, one of the most comprehensive gold studies worldwide, published since 2014 and read all over the world. The title of this year’s report, published in May, is “Stagflation 2.0”.

Before becoming partner at Incrementum, he worked in the research department of Vienna-based Erste Group, where he started writing about gold in 2006. He gained media attention after forecasting that the price of gold would rise to USD 2,300/ounce at a time when the price was only at USD 500.

In 2014, he co-authored a book on investing based on the Austrian School of Economics. The English version of the book “Austrian School for Investors – Austrian Investing between Inflation and Deflation” was published in fall 2015.

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In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

– The “In Gold we Trust” report

– To what extent can inflation be blamed on Central Banks and to what extent on the energy crisis, the war and the Covid lockdown fall-out?

– Should we expect material interest rate hikes by the ECB, given how this may cause the break-up of the common European currency?

– The expectation for silver prices, assuming energy prices will remain high, which seems to be a troubling aspect of silver mining

– Should ordinary savers put a percentage of their wealth in crypto? Or should they play it safe and stick with gold?

– How risky is it to invest in government bonds, even assuming interest rates may rise in the next 10 years globally?

In this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the tense relationship between the EU and Iran with two eminent experts on the topic:

Rebecca Schönenbach, CEO of Veto! For the Rule of Law and expert in extremism and terrorist financing (Part I of the podcast)

and

Kambiz Ghafouri, Director KGM Media, journalist and expert on Iran domestic and foreign policy (Part II of the podcast)

The following topics are being discussed:

- Are we close to a new Iran deal? What are the pitfalls? Are there any upsides?

- Are Iran and Russia rivals or are they full-fledged allies? How should the EU and the West position themselves against this?

- What should be EU policy towards Iran?

- Is Russia already using Iran to circumvent the sanctions? Will this increase after a deal with Iran?

Matthias Bauer is a German economist and Director at European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), a think tank based in Brussels dedicated to supporting free trade. He works on EU and global trade policy with a focus on digital and technology policymaking.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- How to assess the two new import EU legislative initiatives to regulate the digital sector, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA)? Will these foster innovation, or, on the contrary, constitute an extra contribution to Europe losing competitiveness?

- The concept of “Strategic Autonomy” and the future of globalization. Is there a danger of the West decoupling from the rest of the world?

- The OECD’s Pillar I (redistributing corporate tax income) and II (minimum tax rates) initiatives

- What to think of the Western sanctions against Russia?

- The proposed EU external Climate tariff CBAM: will it effectively function as EU protectionism? This is a topic often covered by ECIPE.

- Lobbying in the Brussels bubble: Is it normal that green and other groups funded by the European Commission also lobby that institution? A question also raised in a 2019 paperauthored by Bauer.

Charlie Weimers is a Swedish MEP (ECR-SD), elected to the European Parliament since 2019.

He serves at the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs and is is a substitute member of the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the Delegation to the U.S. He is the co-chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists Migration Working Group.

Before he moved to SD, he has served as the chairman of the Swedish Young Christian Democrats between 2008 and 2011.

In the 2021 Brussels Report Ranking of MEPs, Weimers came second. He has been regularly publishing comment pieces on Brussels Report, amongst others supporting the migration policies of the Danish government.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- The Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE). How did it all go so wrong and why does it lack legitimacy?

- Migration policy and the EU Commission: is there any hope for change?

- EU funding to Islamofascist groups: is attention for this problem increasing?

- The upcoming Swedish election: What to expect?