We live in an increasingly uncertain world. But what are the economic and financial implications of such turbulent times? What does it mean for Europe’s banking and non-bank sectors, companies, households, and government finances? And how can Europe navigate such volatility?

Our host Paul Gordon discusses these questions and more with expert John Fell in the latest episode of The ECB Podcast.

The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.

Published on 22 May 2025 and recorded on 16 May 2025.

In this episode:

01:50 Geopolitical developments and global financial imbalances

How did markets react to the high level of uncertainty?

05:10 Safe havens

What are safe havens? What happened to US government bonds?

09:08 Europe’s reaction

Can Europe afford the increased spending in security and defense? What happens to other structural challenges?

13:18 Potential unexpected consequences

What positive benefits can defence spending bring? Can it boost growth? What are the solutions to instabilities that might bring?

16:33 Our guest’s hot tip

John shares his hot tip with our listeners.

Further readings:

Financial Stability Review, May 2025

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/financial-stability-publications/fsr/html/index.en.html

Our guest’s hot tip: When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management by Roger Lowenstein

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/When-Genius-Failed-Long-Term-Management/dp/0375758259

European Central Bank

www.ecb.europa.eu

Today our Governing Council decided on monetary policy, determining what’s needed to return inflation to our 2% goal in a timely manner.

Listen to President Christine Lagarde present today’s decisions. The statement also covers:

• how the economy is performing

• how we expect prices to develop

• the risks to the economic outlook

• the dynamics behind financial and monetary conditions

Our monetary policy statement at a glance, 17 April 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/visual-mps/2025/html/mopo_statement_explained_april.en.html

Christine Lagarde, Luis de Guindos: Monetary policy statement, 17 April 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/monetary-policy-statement/2025/html/ecb.is250417~091c625eb6.en.html

Monetary policy decisions, 17 April 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2025/html/ecb.mp250417~42727d0735.en.html

Combined monetary policy decisions and statement, 17 April 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/monetary-policy-statement/shared/pdf/ecb.ds250417~e613e58d41.en.pdf?95a8c391ee55936072302d86e709bf0e

European Central Bank

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html

You can also listen on all major podcast platforms.

Published and recorded during our press conference on 17 April 2025

#MonetaryPolicy #EuropeanCentralBank #ChristineLagarde #Finance #FinancialConditions #Inflation #EconomicActivity #EconomicOutlook #PressConference #Banking #CentralBanking #Podcast #Economics #EU #Europe #ECB

Will AI take our jobs? Does AI boost economic productivity? Is it a choice of going green or going digital?

Our host Paul Gordon talks to ECB colleagues António Dias da Silva, Guzmán González-Torres Fernández and Miles Parker to find out what AI means for the economy, especially for productivity, job prospects and energy supply.

The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.

Published on 9 April 2025 and recorded on 3 April 2025.

In this episode:

00:55 Is AI replacing jobs?

Can AI ever replace jobs in journalism or film-making? Will AI be our next podcast host?

02:14 Is AI a job changer?

How are new technologies changing our jobs?

04:00 Age, education and gender

Who uses AI and how do people feel about it? Does AI usage differ based on age, education and gender?

06:57 Sectors with the highest AI usage

Which sectors use AI the most? What’s behind the different attitudes towards AI in different areas of the economy?

09:00 Corporate usage of AI

What do companies need to effectively use AI?

11:02 How does AI affect productivity?

How can AI be put to good use? To what extent can Europe’s economy grow with current AI usage? Is the world ready for AI?

13:29 The role of policymakers

How can policymakers make it easier for companies to use AI?

15:10 AI and energy consumption

How much energy does AI need? How much energy does ChatGPT use for one search? Will energy demand go up or down?

17:15 Go green or go digital?

Do we need to choose or does AI allow both? How could AI help the green transition?

19:10 Obstacles

What are the roadblocks to the green and digital transitions? What investment is needed to make these transitions a success? What else needs to be done?

21:50 Our guests’ hot tips

António, Guzmán and Miles share their hot tips with our listeners.

Further reading:

The ECB Blog: AI adoption and employment prospects

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2025/html/ecb.blog20250321~6af1337b6b.en.html

The ECB Blog: AI versus green: clash of the transitions?

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2025/html/ecb.blog20250325~ed12b0ff35.en.html

The ECB Blog: AI can boost productivity – if firms use it

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2025/html/ecb.blog20250328~60c0a587f7.en.html

Hot tip from António: Tech-focused podcast Babbage by The Economist https://www.economist.com/audio/podcasts/babbage

Hot tip from Guzmán: The ECB recent conference on “The transformative power of AI: economic implications and challenges”

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/conferences/html/20250401_transformative_power_of_ai.en.html

Hot tip from Miles: International Energy Agency website

https://www.iea.org/

ECB Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/europeancentralbank/

European Central Bank

www.ecb.europa.eu

ECB Banking Supervision

https://www.bankingsupervision.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html

We need financial literacy to make good financial decisions. But did you know that half of Europeans have low financial literacy levels, and that 60% of them are women?

Our host Stefania Secola talks to Annamaria Lusardi from Stanford University about what financial literacy is, why it matters and how we can improve it, especially among women.

The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.

Published on 13 March 2025 and recorded on 7 March 2025.

In this episode:

00:01 Commitments made by central banks

How did central bank Governors commit to improving financial literacy in their respective countries? What are the desired outcomes?

00:27 Looking at the numbers

How financially literate are Europeans? How big is the gap between men and women? And what can we do about it?

01:55 Financial literacy defined

What is financial literacy? How does it relate to financial independence?

03:58 Measuring financial literacy

There are three simple questions, known as the “Big Three”, that experts use to measure financial literacy. Can you, our listener, answer them?

05:59 Why central banks care about financial literacy

Why does financial literacy matter for central banks? How does it relate to the effectiveness of monetary policy and trust in what a central bank does? And how does it affect banking supervision?

10:53 Financial knowledge in Europe

Why is financial literacy in Europe so low? What can we do to increase the overall level of financial literacy among Europeans?

12:30 When to start addressing financial literacy

When is the best time to improve people’s financial literacy? Is it limited to schools or are there also other teachable moments?

15:50 The gender gap in financial literacy

Why is there this gender gap and why is it a problem? What can we do to make sure that half the population isn’t left behind?

20:14 The role of fintech

Does fintech complement financial literacy? What risks do gender differences in digital literacy pose when it comes to using fintech?

22:26 The road ahead

Central banks made five commitments to improve financial literacy. What are these commitments?

24:50 Financial literacy question: answer revealed

We answer the first “Big Three” question. Listen and see whether you chose the correct answer!

25:45 Our guest’s hot tip

Annamaria shares her hot tip with our listeners.

Further reading:

Annamaria Lusardi’s research

https://www.annamarialusardi.com/research/

ECB International Women’s Day Event 2025

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/conferences/html/20250307_intl_womens_day.en.html

The ECB Blog: The gender gap at work is closing – but slowly

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2025/html/ecb.blog20250307~85fd774bd3.en.html

The “Big Three” and “Big Five”

https://gflec.org/education/questions-that-indicate-financial-literacy/

Chart: Gender gap in financial literacy is pervasive, incl. the young, well educated and high income

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvVzgcXCFBw&t=222s

ECB Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/europeancentralbank/

European Central Bank

www.ecb.europa.eu

ECB Banking Supervision

https://www.bankingsupervision.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html

Today our Governing Council decided on monetary policy, determining what’s needed to return inflation to our 2% goal in a timely manner.

Listen to President Christine Lagarde present today’s decisions. The statement also covers:

• how the economy is performing

• how we expect prices to develop

• the risks to the economic outlook

• the dynamics behind financial and monetary conditions

Our monetary policy statement at a glance, 6 March 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/visual-mps/2025/html/mopo_statement_explained_march.en.html

Christine Lagarde, Luis de Guindos: Monetary policy statement, 6 March 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/monetary-policy-statement/2025/html/ecb.is250306~4307bd0941.en.html

Monetary policy decisions, 6 March 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2025/html/ecb.mp250306~d4340800b3.en.html

Combined monetary policy decisions and statement, 6 March 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/monetary-policy-statement/shared/pdf/ecb.ds250306~ca4269dcc8.en.pdf

Macroeconomic projections, 6 March 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/projections/html/ecb.projections202503_ecbstaff~106050a4fa.en.html

European Central Bank

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html

You can also listen on all major podcast platforms.

Published and recorded during our press conference on 6 March 2025.

Your questions answered: whether it’s about careers at the ECB, how our work affects people and businesses, or how we plan to tackle global challenges, we tackle listeners’ questions in this #AskECB episode of The ECB Podcast.

Join our host Stefania Secola as she talks to colleagues Eglantine Devaux and Gabriel Glöckler.

The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.

Published on 25 February 2025 and recorded on 20 February 2025.

In this episode:

00:36 Your questions answered

You, our listeners, sent us your burning questions on social media. What did you want to know? And who do we have onboard to answer your questions?

01:54 Working at the European Central Bank

What does it take to join the team? How do we nurture and grow talent? And what are the advantages of working in such a diverse environment?

08:34 Small businesses and consumers

How do our monetary policy decisions affect small businesses and consumers? How does this relate to our mission? We tackle these questions by looking at the example of a garden centre.

08:54 Stable, predictable changes in prices

How do we keep prices stable? What tools do we have available? And how does our price stability objective help motivate us?

14:47 Facing global economic challenges

What challenges lie ahead? How can we respond to uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and a changing climate?

16:19 The challenge posed by tariffs

How will tariffs impact our economies, and what about inflation?

18:27 Europe’s potential

What opportunities can we harness as Europeans? And what could they mean for our economy?

22:43 Communication among central banks worldwide

How do we work together? Are there particular structures in place? And what topics do we discuss?

27:49 Our guests’ hot tips

Eglantine and Gabriel share their hot tips with our listeners.

Further readings:

ECB vacancies

https://talent.ecb.europa.eu/careers

Graduate programme

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/careers/what-we-offer/graduate/html/index.en.html

Traineeship

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/careers/what-we-offer/traineeship/html/index.en.html

What we offer

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/careers/what-we-offer/benefits/html/index.en.html

IMF - Ask an Economist https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmYAE4wV1YQzDbnDZlNJoqMhIDUQpEPTZ

IMF - Back to Basics https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmYAE4wV1YQyRb6H1_XJWY73HJVdR6oBX

IMF- Analyze This! https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmYAE4wV1YQz_LzOLaKTpDWyH93SNuF7x

IMF - Charts in Motion https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmYAE4wV1YQz6xXWx5eB7uT9zE-4KcmAZ

ECB - Espresso Economics

https://www.youtube.com/@Espresso_Economics

ECB Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/europeancentralbank/

European Central Bank

www.ecb.europa.eu

ECB Banking Supervision

https://www.bankingsupervision.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html

Today our Governing Council decided on monetary policy, determining what’s needed to return inflation to our 2% goal in a timely manner.

Listen to President Christine Lagarde present today’s decisions. The statement also covers:

• how the economy is performing

• how we expect prices to develop

• the risks to the economic outlook

• the dynamics behind financial and monetary conditions

Published and recorded during our press conference on 30 January 2025

Our monetary policy statement at a glance, 30 January 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/visual-mps/2025/html/mopo_statement_explained_january.en.html

Christine Lagarde, Luis de Guindos: Monetary policy statement, 30 January 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/monetary-policy-statement/2025/html/ecb.is250130~1f418aa0f4.en.html

Monetary policy decisions, 30 January 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2025/html/ecb.mp250130~530b29e622.en.html

Combined monetary policy decisions and statement, 30 January 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/monetary-policy-statement/shared/pdf/ecb.ds250130~1ac86112bf.en.pdf?b9377ca85fd3aef4fb5af6f3189be827

European Central Bank

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html

You can also listen on all major podcast platforms.

We’ve reached 100 episodes of The ECB Podcast! Our hosts Stefania Secola and Paul Gordon reflect on their favourite episodes and welcome two special guests to the show.

The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.

Published on 16 January 2025 and recorded on 10 January 2025.

In this episode:

00:54 100th episode

What topics have we covered? Which guests have joined us? And how can you – our listeners – help shape the podcast’s future?

03:18 What can podcasts do for central bank communications?

Why did we start a podcast? And how does it enable us to better explain our work to keep prices stable and banks safe?

06:09 What does Taylor Swift have to do with it?

Stefania reflects on our AskECB episode, where we answered YOUR questions. The next edition is coming up – find out how you can submit your questions!

07:50 A memorable episode

Paul reflects on the episode “War, geopolitics and the economy”. How can we apply the lessons learnt amid the rising geopolitical risks we’re observing?

09:56 Our most played episode

Which episode features three global leaders? What did they say about female empowerment and the importance of diversity? And how much progress has been made on this topic?

11:38 A special surprise guest

12:56 Spotlight on past guests

We’ve interviewed Presidents, Board members and experts. But who has been our most frequent guest? And what topics have they covered?

15:57 A special surprise guest

17:06 Our hosts’ hot tips

Paul and Stefania share their hot tips with our listeners.

Further reading:

“Swiftflation”, banknotes and the digital euro

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/tvservices/podcast/html/ecb.pod241005_episode94.en.html

War, geopolitics and the economy

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/tvservices/podcast/html/ecb.pod240705_episode88.en.html

What interest rate hikes mean for you, the economy and inflation

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/tvservices/podcast/html/ecb.pod220723_episode38.en.html

A conversation about female empowerment, the need for an inclusive recovery and transatlantic cooperation

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/tvservices/podcast/html/ecb.pod210715_episode18.en.html

A digital euro: what, why, when? (part 1)

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/tvservices/podcast/html/ecb.pod221015_episode41.en.html

A digital euro: what, why, when? (part 2)

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/tvservices/podcast/html/ecb.pod221019_episode42.en.html

The ECB Podcast Summer School #1: a deep dive into inflation

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/tvservices/podcast/html/ecb.pod230804_episode66.en.html

The ECB Podcast Summer School #2: the nuts and bolts of interest rates

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/tvservices/podcast/html/ecb.pod230811_episode67.en.html

The ECB Podcast Summer School #3: the role of banks in fighting inflation

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/tvservices/podcast/html/ecb.pod230818_episode68.en.html

The ECB Podcast Summer School #1: what do European banking supervision and football have in common?

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/tvservices/podcast/html/ecb.pod240808_episode91.en.html

The ECB Podcast Summer School #2: a day in the life of a banking supervisor

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/tvservices/podcast/html/ecb.pod240817_episode92.en.html

ECB Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/europeancentralbank/

Espresso Economics

https://www.youtube.com/@Espresso_Economics

BBC Radio 4 – Thing Fell Apart

https://open.spotify.com/show/5cQxyxeC057nGcx7epp4ed

European Central Bank

www.ecb.europa.eu

What impact do global events have on our economy? And how has the ECB’s monetary policy shifted?

As 2024 comes to an end, our host Paul Gordon discusses these questions and more with Chief Economist Philip R. Lane.

The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.

Published on 20 December 2024 and recorded on 13 December 2024.

In this episode:

01:43: Geopolitics and monetary policy

How has geopolitics influenced the ECB’s work in 2024?

05:59: Reaching our 2% medium-term inflation target

From holding rates to cutting rates: have we tamed inflation yet?

09:40: Unemployment at record lows

What is the overall state of the economy? And what do the ECB’s latest projections tell us?

13:35 Europe’s competitiveness problem and the Draghi and Letta reports

What does Europe need to do to become more competitive? What do these reports recommend?

15:40: Philip Lane’s hot tip

ECB’s Chief Economist shares his hot tip with our listeners.

Further reading:

Monetary Policy Decisions – 12 December 2024

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2024/html/ecb.mp241212~2acab6e51e.en.html

Much More Than a Market: Speed, Security, Solidarity – Empowering the Single Market to deliver a sustainable future and prosperity for all EU Citizens by Enrico Letta

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/ny3j24sm/much-more-than-a-market-report-by-enrico-letta.pdf

The future of European competitiveness: Report by Mario Draghi

https://commission.europa.eu/topics/strengthening-european-competitiveness/eu-competitiveness-looking-ahead_en

The Central Bank as Crisis Manager by Patrick Honohan

https://www.piie.com/bookstore/2024/central-bank-crisis-manager

Monetary policy under uncertainty

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2024/html/ecb.sp241125~df4c5a69c7.en.html

Navigating a fragmenting global trading system: insights for central banks

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2024/html/ecb.sp241121_2~a4cbddd0f2.en.pdf

European Central Bank

www.ecb.europa.eu

Today our Governing Council decided on monetary policy, determining what’s needed to return inflation to our 2% goal in a timely manner.

Listen to President Christine Lagarde present today’s decisions. The statement also covers:

• how the economy is performing

• how we expect prices to develop

• the risks to the economic outlook

• the dynamics behind financial and monetary conditions

Published and recorded during our press conference on 12 December 2024

Our monetary policy statement at a glance, 12 December 2024

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/visual-mps/2024/html/mopo_statement_explained_december.en.html

Christine Lagarde, Luis de Guindos: Monetary policy statement, 12 December 2024

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/monetary-policy-statement/2024/html/ecb.is241212~ce143b3bc8.en.html

Monetary policy decisions, 12 December 2024

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2024/html/ecb.mp241212~2acab6e51e.en.html

Combined monetary policy decisions and statement, 12 December 2024

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/monetary-policy-statement/shared/pdf/ecb.ds241212~154574b25f.en.pdf

Macroeconomic projections, 12 December 2024

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/projections/html/ecb.projections202412_eurosystemstaff~71a06224a5.en.html

European Central Bank

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html

You can also listen on all major podcast platforms.

#MonetaryPolicy #EuropeanCentralBank #ChristineLagarde #Finance #FinancialConditions #Inflation #EconomicActivity #EconomicOutlook #PressConference #Banking #CentralBanking #Podcast #Economics #EU #Europe #ECB