Money Talks from The Economist

More than 1bn people around the world are obese. That means there should be extraordinary demand for drugs to cure or mitigate the condition. Novo Nordisk is now Europe’s most valuable company and Eli Lilly’s market value has more than doubled. Both make the “miracle” drugs that can help people shed up to a fifth of their body weight. But these drugs promise to do more than boost drug companies’ profits. How will they reshape the economy?Hosts: Alice Fulwood, Mike Bird and Tom Lee-Devlin. Guests: The Economist’s Georgia Banjo; pharmaceuticals analyst Michael Nedelcovych; and John Cawley, a professor of public policy and economics at Cornell University.Subscribers to Economist Podcasts+ can listen to our January 2023 episode on the economics of thinness.Sign up for our new weekly newsletter dissecting the big themes in markets, business and the economy at www.economist.com/moneytalks 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.

Five decades ago, the field of behavioural economics was just getting off the ground, as psychologists brought insights from their studies to the theory-heavy world of academic economics. The discipline shot to international fame in the aftermath of the financial crisis, and faced a major test during the covid pandemic, when governments around the world used the theories of its founding father, Daniel Kahneman, to encourage people to stay at home and get vaccinated. Following the death of Mr Kahneman last month, what’s next for the field of behavioural economics?Hosts: Mike Bird, Alice Fulwood, and Tom Lee-Devlin. Guests: Simon Cox, The Economist’s China economics editor; George Loewenstein, one of the founders of behavioural economics; and Caltech’s Colin Camerer, who applies psychology and neuroscience to economics.Sign up for our new weekly newsletter dissecting the big themes in markets, business and the economy at www.economist.com/moneytalks 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.

Five decades have passed since the oil embargo of 1973 sent shockwaves through the global economy. For many years, the biggest fears about oil centred on its supply. But soon demand for the commodity will be the primary influence on energy markets, as governments try to incentivise the shift to clean energy. When will the world hit “peak oil”—and how turbulent will the energy transition be? And as the age of oil reaches its endgame, which producers will be left standing?Hosts: Alice Fulwood, Mike Bird, Tom Lee-Devlin. Guests: Jason Bordoff of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University; Meghan O’Sullivan of the Belfer Center at Harvard University’s Kennedy School; Vijay Vaitheeswaran, The Economist’s global energy and climate innovation editor. If you would like to apply for The Economist’s finance and economics internship, please click here for more information.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.

Restructuring advisers are often the first on the scene when a business starts to teeter. To some, that makes these bankers, consultants and lawyers capitalism’s emergency surgeons, rescuing companies from death. To others, the steep fees of these advisers, which may be the final bill an ailing company can afford, suggest a less flattering comparison: vultures. This week, we settle the debate once and for all.Hosts: Tom Lee-Devlin, Alice Fulwood and Mike Bird. Guests: Kevin Kaiser of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; and Joff Mitchell of AlixPartners.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.

Amazon started with a plan to disrupt bookselling. It sold cheap books online, delivering them straight to customers’ homes. Three decades later it employs a million people in America and owns one hundred warehouses, each stocked with millions of products. More than a third of the US e-commerce market flows through it. Now, another company has spied an opportunity to disrupt Amazon: Temu. The Chinese e-commerce giant wants to undercut its US rival, delivering impossibly cheap stuff to Americans straight from factories in China. How worried should Amazon be?Hosts: Alice Fulwood, Mike Bird, Tom Lee-Devlin. Guests: Wendy Woloson of Rutgers University-Camden; Mark Shmulik of Bernstein; Michael Morton, an e-commerce analyst at MoffettNathanson; and Josh Silverman, CEO of Etsy.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.

An article from The Economist read aloud. Our leader argues that both Donald Trump and Joe Biden have ideas that endanger America’s economy.

Investing in infrastructure used to mean partnering with governments to build unglamorous assets like roads or sewage treatment plants. But increasingly, companies are turning to infrastructure investors to help build and pay for everything from chip factories to fibre-optic networks. Why are investors pouring money into these assets?Hosts: Tom Lee-Devlin, Alice Fulwood and Mike Bird. Guests: John Buttarazzi, a professor at Georgetown University; and Leigh Harrison, head of real assets at Macquarie, the world’s largest infrastructure investment manager.Get a world of insights for 50% off—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

American investors have had a phenomenal run. Over the last 14 years, the S&P 500 index of US stocks has delivered returns of 11% a year in real terms. In cash terms, $100 invested in 2010 would be worth $600 today. What would it take for the good times to keep coming? Can AI keep the bull market alive? Hosts: Alice Fulwood, Mike Bird, Tom Lee-Devlin. Guests: Lisa Shalett, chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management; and Jordan Brooks of AQR Capital Management, a quantitative hedge fund.Get a world of insights for 50% off—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

An article from The Economist read aloud. Our Bartleby column explains why office anger can be helpful, so long as you don’t throw anything.