Money Talks from The Economist

South-East Asian countries are experiencing a new influx of cheap Chinese goods, pushing down prices and pressuring the region's domestic companies. And it's not just low-end goods like textiles or furniture, China has also become a powerhouse in advanced manufacturing. Some of these products, like EVs and legacy chips, are the same industries that South-East Asian countries have set their own sights on as engines of growth. So how can South-East Asia hold its own, in the face of the Chinese manufacturing juggernaut?Hosts: Mike Bird and Ethan Wu. Guests: Burin Adulwattana from Kasikorn Bank, a Thai commercial lender; and the Asia Society’s Brendan KellyTranscripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

The members of the so-called Paypal Mafia, who founded and grew the payments startup at the turn of the 21st century, have gone on to become the leading lights of Silicon Valley. Their ranks include Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and many others who have gone on to found and build many of the best-known firms in tech—or even run departments in Donald Trump’s government. Among them is Reid Hoffman, who co-founded LinkedIn, which Microsoft bought for $26bn in 2016. Now he invests in AI firms and he has also written a new book about what the technology could mean for the future of humanity. He also has some choice words for Elon Musk.Hosts: Mike Bird and Ethan Wu. Guest: Reid Hoffman.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

At the end of January, Donald Trump’s administration announced that all work carried out by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) would stop immediately. This week, secretary of state Marco Rubio announced that 83% of USAID programmes had been cancelled. Across Europe, governments are cutting foreign aid budgets, too. What caused the aid recession? And what should aid money really be used for?Hosts: Ethan Wu and Mike Bird. Guests: The Economist’s Cerian Richmond Jones; and Professor Stefan Dercon of the University of Oxford. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

After months of posturing, Donald Trump seemingly made good on his promise. On March 4th, he slapped a 25% tariff on goods crossing into America from Mexico and Canada, and raised tariffs on all goods arriving from China to 20%, from 10%. Investors took the news badly, wiping more than $3trn from the value of S&P 500 stocks. But just over 48 hours after they came into force, Mr Trump paused the tariffs on Mexico and Canada. So what should investors make of the president’s erratic new trade policy?Hosts: Mike Bird and Ethan Wu. Guests: The Economist’s Simon Rabinovitch, Sarah Birke and Don Weinland.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Europe’s economy is in trouble. Growth has been moribund for a decade and a half. Worries about the continent's shaky fiscal foundations and its heavy regulatory burden are only growing. Now, governments across the continent have a third economic threat to worry about: Donald Trump. The US president has threatened tariffs on European exports and told Nato allies they should spend 5% of GDP on defence—an unaffordable expense for most of the region. So how much trouble is Europe in?Hosts: Mike Bird and Ethan Wu. Guests: The Economist’s Christian Odendahl and Stanley Pignal; and Luis Garicano, an economist and former member of the European Parliament.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Indonesia has more nickel than it knows what to do with. The metal is a key component in some electric vehicle batteries—and almost half of the world’s supply is produced in the sprawling island nation. But that’s not enough for Prabowo Subianto, the new president, who wants to do more than just mine the mineral. He wants to use it to build a top-to-bottom electric-car supply chain. But just because the country has a near monopoly on nickel, should it really make EVs?Hosts: Ethan Wu and Mike Bird. Guests: Septian Hario Seto, Indonesian former deputy minister of investment and mining coordination; and Putra Adhiguna, managing director at the Energy Shift Institute, a think tank focusing on Asia’s energy transition.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

China’s economy is in trouble. The past few years have seen a crisis in the property sector and strict pandemic lockdowns. Demand is weak. Meanwhile, China’s factories are no longer humming at capacity, and the latest tariff spat with America will only add to the problem. All this is showing up in falling prices. The fear now is that these persistent pressures could turn into a deflationary spiral. So in the face of all these challenges, what will it take to turn around the Chinese economy?Hosts: Ethan Wu and Mike Bird. Guests: The Economist’s Simon Cox; Richard Koo, chief economist of the Nomura Research Institute; and Jing Liu, chief economist for Greater China at HSBC. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

For years, insurers have been reducing the number of policies they issue to Californian homeowners. And after last month’s wildfires, buying insurance is going to get even more difficult—and a lot more expensive—for people living in the state. But at the same time, the market for catastrophe bonds is booming. Can one of the world's fastest-growing (and most lucrative) asset classes make places like Hollywood insurable again?Hosts: Mike Bird and Ethan Wu. Guests: Richard Pennay, CEO at Aon Securities; and John Seo, co-founder of Fermat Capital Management, which invests in catastrophe bonds.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Over the past two years, investor enthusiasm for anything AI has sent shares in Nvidia, America’s chip champion, skyrocketing. But on Monday, a new AI model from Chinese firm DeepSeek sent shockwaves through the markets. It performs nearly as well as the best-in-class Western models, but requires a fraction of the computing power—and therefore a fraction of the cost. In this episode, we examine whether the DeepSeek drama could overturn the economics of AI, and what it will mean for Nvidia and the AI race.Hosts: Mike Bird and Ethan Wu. Guests: The Economist’s Alex Hern and Don Weinland. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.