• 52 minutes 26 seconds
    What’s threatening financial stability?

    In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie discusses financial stability with Bruegel Director Jeromin Zettelmeyer and Olaf Sleijpen, President of De Nederlandsche Bank and a member of the European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council. What are the risks? How much should we worry about long-term interest rates and soaring budget deficits? Are the biggest threats coming from inside or outside the euro area? What are the ECB’s crisis-fighting tools, and how soon can they be ready? How much of a financial-stability risk is France's ballooning debt? This podcast touches on the European Commission’s banking reform effort, the risks from artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, and the need for resilience and economic growth.

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    24 September 2026, 2:12 pm
  • 1 hour 3 minutes
    State of the Union live

    In this special live episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie speaks with Bruegel Director Jeromin Zettelmeyer, Deputy Director Simone Tagliapietra and Non-resident Fellow Elina Ribakova about the 2026 State of the Union speech, delivered 16 September in Strasbourg by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Energy, China, defence, the single market – what were her priorities and can she convince the European Union to take action? What about her proposal to look into “associate” EU membership for Canada? Did Prime Minister Mark Carney’s 17 September speech move things forward?  What does the EU need to do and where will the necessary investment come from? How will big member states like France and Germany shape the debate? As the war in Ukraine continues, how will the EU manage its economic and security commitments? International alliances and political resilience will be more critical than ever in navigating these challenges.

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    Live version of the podcast: 
    The Sound of Economics Live: The State of the European Union 2026
    17 September 2026, 2:50 pm
  • 44 minutes 19 seconds
    What the US-Canada trade war means for Europe

    In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Philip Luck, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies economics programme, and Bruegel’s Ignacio García Bercero and Jacob Funk Kirkegaard to discuss the trade war between the United States and Canada. As the US announces import bans on various Canadian products, this podcast explores how Washington and Ottawa got to this point. What will happen next, and what will be the spillovers for Europe? The European Union has a strong free trade agreement with Canada and is discussing further integration in areas like digital policy. Will Mark Carney’s scheduled September visit to Strasbourg move the dial? What will be the impact on Canada’s internal economy, not to mention the EU single market? Will the EU and Canada move closer to establishing a coalition in support of rules-based trade? And how will the upcoming US November mid-term elections affect – or not – what happens next in the trade wars?

    Relevant research:

    9 September 2026, 10:22 am
  • 50 minutes 11 seconds
    Iceland, Switzerland, Europe

    In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie speaks with Bruegel’s Heather Grabbe and Stefanie Walter about Iceland’s referendum on restarting European Union accession talks, Switzerland’s upcoming votes on EU relations and what Europe has to offer for countries inside and outside the club. Why did Icelandic voters reject the proposal to reopen talks? Why does Switzerland have such a complicated relationship with its neighbouring countries, even as it remains part of the Schengen passport-free travel zone? Economic and security concerns are more intertwined than ever with Europe’s relationships with the United Kingdom, Ukraine and North Africa, especially given changes at NATO. Democracy is the cornerstone of Europe’s alliances and also comes with a host of complications – how can the European institutions position Brussels best?

    Relevant research:

    31 August 2026, 2:01 pm
  • 47 minutes 42 seconds
    Europe’s new anti-money laundering agency

    In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie speaks about how to fight financial crime with Bruegel’s Nicolas Véron and James Freis, former chief compliance officer at Deutsche Börse and former head of FinCEN, the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The European Union is setting up its new Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLA), which from 2028 will have a combination of supervisory and standard-setting duties. What does it mean to start a new EU agency? What effect will it have for prevention and enforcement in areas like fraud, tax evasion and other abuses? What is the EU’s history in this area, and what past weaknesses is the new agency trying to correct? Given such a big and important mandate, will AMLA have the resources to do its job?

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    26 August 2026, 10:08 am
  • 37 minutes 7 seconds
    Billionaires? In this economy?

    In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie talks about the rise of billionaires in the global economy and United States politics with guests David de Jong, author of the nonfiction book Nazi Billionaires, and Karel Lannoo, chief executive of the Brussels-based think tank CEPS. How are today’s billionaires shaping the US political climate, and how have things changed from the first Trump administration? What are the geopolitical consequences? How can Europe emulate US dynamism and economic growth while also resisting the conflicts of interest that arise when money and policy overlap? Will proposals currently pushed by the European Commission – like 'EU Inc' and the Capital Markets Union – shift the needle in this regard? What role does taxation play? This episode tackles some of the hard and complicated questions about money, politics and prosperity in today’s world. 

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    20 August 2026, 7:34 am
  • 47 minutes 39 seconds
    Are jobs disposable now?
    In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie speaks about the future of work with Bruegel’s Alexandre Mendonça and MIT professor Paul Osterman, author of a new book called Disposable Workers: the Transformation of Employment. In the United States and the European Union, companies are shifting away from long-term permanent jobs to a system with less certainty. Which industries have been most affected and how does that look for their workers? Who benefits from part-time work? Which workers are most disadvantaged? How can public policy adjust around these new dynamics? Artificial intelligence changes what skills workers need and immigration trends shape which workers are available. What conditions will help the economy grow and thrive?

    Related research: 
    22 July 2026, 8:52 am
  • 53 minutes 19 seconds
    Building the best safe asset    

    In this episode of the Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel Director Jeromin Zettelmeyer, researcher Silvia Merler and Bank of France Deputy Governor Agnès Bénassy-Quéré to talk about common European debt and the idea of a 'safe asset'. What makes government bonds a part of public infrastructure as well as a tool for financing public goods? Why is how to borrow money for public goods treated as a separate question from how to spend it? Should the European Union sell more common debt or look at a layered system that works with national borrowers, such as the swap proposal put forward by Olivier Blanchard and Angel Ubide? Will United States Treasury bonds always be the world’s only major reference asset, or will the EU get a seat at that table? This episode discusses what a safe asset is, why it matters to Europe and what steps policymakers should take next.

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    15 July 2026, 11:28 am
  • 43 minutes 1 second
    The battle for the AI stack

    In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan and Alicia García-Herrero are joined by Bertin Martens and Paul Triolo to take stock of the global artificial intelligence race, from energy and chips to models and applications. They discuss China's progress in catching up to the US, what the recent turmoil around Anthropic's most advanced models reveals about the politics of releasing frontier AI and why Europe, dependent on the US for both chips and models, is left exposed on all sides. They explore whether an "Airbus for AI", an initiative for pooling compute, capital and expertise across member states, could close the gap, and what it would take for Brussels' new cloud and AI industrial proposals to matter at scale.

    Relevant research:

    This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound of Economics. ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel, bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from Europe. Sign up now to receive it in your mailbox!
    8 July 2026, 8:40 am
  • 45 minutes 48 seconds
    The UK, the EU – and Ukraine?

    In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie talks about the future of European Union-United Kingdom relations with Bruegel’s Heather Grabbe and Richard Corbett, a former UK Labour Party MEP and also a former advisor to a president of the European Council. Did Brexit turn out the way its supporters hoped, and what have been the economic costs? Will the UK look to rejoin the single market any time soon? The EU has a slate of prospective new members lined up for closer relations who could take priority, especially Ukraine, whose candidacy has been fast-tracked because of the ongoing war. How does Kyiv’s progress affect British prospects? Would the UK have to join the euro if it wanted to come back fully? Are other kinds of relationships possible? With global uncertainty higher than ever, the UK and the EU still have great incentive to work together.

    Relevant research:

    1 July 2026, 10:27 am
  • 39 minutes 51 seconds
    Europe's China shock 2.0
    In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan and Alicia García-Herrero invite Philippe Le Corre to examine the growing tensions at the heart of European Union-China relations. With China reporting a record $1.2 trillion trade surplus last year, European industries face intensifying competition across a far wider range of sectors than before, from chemicals and green tech to pharmaceuticals and, most visibly, the auto industry. They explore whether the EU's new trade instruments are up to the task, why member state fragmentation may be a bigger obstacle than Beijing itself and how the risk of Chinese retaliation constrains every move Brussels makes.

    Relevant research:
    This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound of Economics. ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel, bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from Europe. Sign up now to receive it in your mailbox!
    23 June 2026, 12:41 pm
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