The Economics Show with Soumaya Keynes

Economist Isabella Weber grew up in Nuremberg, the German city where Adolf Hitler staged his vast Nazi rallies. Growing up in the shadow of that history helped shape her thinking about the relationship between economics and democracy. Now, with the cost of living dominating US politics and fuelling protests across Europe, Weber argues governments must do more to guarantee life's essentials rather than leave them to market forces. She joins guest host Martin Sandbu to explain why she believes we are living through an age of overlapping crises, how targeted price controls for essentials could help and whether making life more affordable can help keep authoritarianism at bay.Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

What does it really take to get rich in America? Straight As at an elite university or entrepreneurial parents? And as America holds midterm elections and California votes on whether to tax billionaires on their wealth, what does it mean for the rich to be paying their fair share? Host Soumaya Keynes speaks to economist Owen Zidar, co-author of Everywhere Millionaire, Who Is Really Rich in America and How They Got There, about a fairer approach to taxing the wealthy. Can the US tax the rich more without discouraging the entrepreneurs who drive economic growth?Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Katya Kumkova. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio. Thanks to John Cappuccino for his help recording this episode in the Princeton Broadcast Centre.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Eight months ago, when the Iran war began, analysts worried that oil could go up to $200 per barrel. That’s a huge jump compared with about $70 before the conflict, and there were fears it would cause a huge shock to the global economy. Luckily, that hasn’t happened. But oil prices have been climbing again since July. Commentator and analyst Rory Johnston joins host Soumaya Keynes to talk through how high prices could still go and why what you pay at the pump doesn’t reflect the cost of unrefined oil.Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Katya Kumkova. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

It is not a calm time in the markets. Investors are losing their cool while bond yields rise along with inflation. So where are central bankers? Offering words of calm? Or adding to the anxiety? The Fed’s Kevin Warsh has been telling people they need to look to the data, not to him. But is it that simple? The FT’s Chris Giles joins host Soumaya Keynes to talk through what makes for good central banker communication – and what happens if the message gets lost.Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Katya Kumkova. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Europe has a China problem. Every single day, Europe buys a billion euros’ worth more stuff from China than it sells back. And the EU wants to stand up to Beijing over surging exports, which are challenging European industry. But China is also a vital market for European businesses and a crucial supplier of goods and raw materials. So how do you pick a trade fight with a country you depend on? Host Soumaya Keynes speaks to Bernd Lange, the German MEP who chairs the European parliament’s international trade committee, about what Brussels can do to level the playing field with China. Plus, with President Donald Trump rewriting the rules of global trade, how can the EU ensure the US plays fair too?Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Katya Kumkova. Original music by Breen Turner, sound design by Sean McGarrity. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Tech companies are hiring economists to study how AI is reshaping work and society. But what happens when the companies building the technology also produce the research into its effects? Host Soumaya Keynes talks to Ara Kharazian, chief economist at Ramp and Peter McCrory chief economist at Anthropic, alongside FT data journalist John Burn-Murdoch, about why economists are in such demand, what proprietary data can reveal about AI’s impact, and whether industry-backed research can avoid conflicts of interest.Want more?Are economists making themselves too useful in the AI boom?Find John Burn Murdoch and Sara O’Connor’s The AI Shift newsletter herePresented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Original music by Breen Turner, sound design by Sam Giovinco and Sean O’Garrety. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

The global economy is becoming increasingly hostile with tariffs, export controls and industrial policy being used as geopolitical weapons, while the world’s biggest powers compete for economic advantage. So where does that leave a middle power like Britain? Host Soumaya Keynes speaks to UK senior civil servant Jenny Bates, who’s just completed the Heywood Fellowship at Oxford university, where she got to think about Britain's place in the world and how it should adapt to a changing geopolitical seascape. They discuss what Britain can learn from historic partnerships and why closer co-operation between government and business could be crucial to navigating a more dangerous global economy.Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Further reading: Mark Carney urges EU to cement trade deal as Ottawa seeks pivot from USUrsula von der Leyen backs Canada’s ‘associate membership’ bidTrump lays a new trap for TakaichiPresented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Dads today are doing more childcare than previous generations, so why hasn’t the parenting gap between mothers and fathers disappeared? One reason: mums are doing more too. Host Soumaya Keynes talks to Corinne Low, associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and author of 'Femonomics’ (titled ‘Having it all’ in the US), about what the data tells us about how couples divide the work of raising a family and what same-sex couples can teach us about gender roles in parenting. Plus, can Soumaya’s parenting spreadsheet really help make childcare more equal?Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Further reading: The perks of parenting by spreadsheetCan AI improve parenting?Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Original music and sound design by Samantha Giovinco and Breen Turner. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Building data centres and running the US government have something in common: they cost a lot of money. Tech companies are borrowing heavily to fund the AI build out, just as Washington is borrowing vast sums to fund the US government, and those two borrowing binges may be on a collision course. Investors are already worried about America’s mounting debt burden and about whether the AI boom has become a bubble. Ruchir Sharma, chair of Rockefeller International and contributing editor to the FT, explains how the two worries might be more closely connected than they first appear, how rising US Treasury yields could raise borrowing costs for AI companies and which number investors should be watching.Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.Further reading: Why America’s debt binge is starting to matterRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com