Trumponomics

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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In the US-China trade conflict, rare earth metals are Beijing's ultimate trump card. Last year, China ramped up restrictions on these key industrial elements, spooking industry, and forcing the US to
climb down. Since that wake-up call, the US has worked hard to reduce its dependence on China. It has spent huge sums backing mining companies, penned eye-catching deals and moved to collaborate with allies. But after a little more than a year, how much progress has it made in breaking China’s hold on the rare earths supply chain? 

Featuring: Abigail Hunter of the SAFE Center for Critical Minerals Strategy; Gracelin Baskaran of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Cory Combs of Trivium China; and FT commodities correspondent Camilla Hodgson.

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With tensions rising between Canada and the US over the latest broadsides in President Donald Trump's trade war, the White House is threatening even more levies following Prime Minister Mark Carney's announced dollar-for-dollar retaliation. The rupture between Ottawa and Washington is becoming harder to dismiss as temporary, with the war of words increasingly implicating the broader relationship between the once-close allies.

But as more countries seek to put distance between themselves and the US, will they really move closer to China? In a conversation recorded Aug. 20, before the latest US-Canada skirmish, Stephanie Flanders is joined by Bloomberg’s Dan Ten Kate and Chris Kennedy to explore how the so-called middle powers are trying to diversify their economic and security relationships — and why Beijing’s export dominance, strategic ambitions and trust deficit mean there may be no easy alternative to an economically belligerent America.

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Can inflation in Japan be a sign of a healthier economy? On this week's episode of Trumponomics, Stephanie Flanders is joined by Taro Kimura, an economist with Bloomberg Economics, and Bloomberg News Senior Editor Chris Anstey to explore the potential cost and benefits of a weakening yen. Together, they examine Japan’s shift away from decades of deflation, why US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent intervened to support the yen and how instability in Japan could spill over into US Treasury markets and raise American borrowing costs.

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Our Town from Bloomberg’s Big Take podcast follows residents of Gainesboro, Tennessee, after a group of far-right Christians moves in with plans for a radical social experiment. Listen to episode 1 here.

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Kevin Warsh has spent his first three months as chair of the Federal Reserve pretty tight-lipped about his views on the economy, a stark contrast to how central bank policymakers have traditionally communicated with market participants. On this episode, host Stephanie Flanders speaks with Bloomberg Opinion columnist Bill Dudley, a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Robin Brooks, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and chief FX strategist at Goldman Sachs, about whether Warsh’s approach is a welcome change or another threat to the Fed's credibility.

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Why aren't we seeing the productivity boom the artificial intelligence industry has promised? Stephanie Flanders is joined by Oxford University professor and How Progress Ends author Carl Benedikt Frey to explore why rapid advances in AI haven't yet translated into stronger economic growth. Together they examine the productivity struggle, the race between the US and China for AI leadership and what history teaches us about technological revolutions.

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