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Money Talks from The Economist
Quizmas time: are you smarter than the Money Talks hosts?
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It’s the time of the year when the Money Talks hosts kick back with a glass of cheap sparkling wine and test their knowledge of the year’s business and economics stories in our annual festive quiz. But can you beat them?
Hosts: Mike Bird, Alice Fulwood, Tom Lee-Devlin and Ethan Wu.
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.
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Catastrophes and capitalism: can capital markets protect people from disasters?
49:05|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.DeepSeek and destroy: how a Chinese AI startup shook Silicon Valley
43:12|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.Trailer: Scam Inc
03:47|A sophisticated, predatory, multi-billion dollar industry is emerging from the shadows. It already rivals the size of the illicit drug trade. And it’s about to get bigger and much more powerful. The Economist’s Sue-Lin Wong follows a trail that starts with the collapse of a bank in rural Kansas to uncover a global, underground scam economy built around human trafficking, corruption and money laundering. Can it be stopped?Available now.To listen to the full series subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.Reeves on the line: an interview with Britain’s chancellor at Davos
44:07|Earlier in January, we discussed the growth crisis facing Rachel Reeves, Britain’s chancellor. Today, she’s in Davos trying to sell her remedy to the country’s manifold economic woes. But are her plans enough to rescue Britain from its 17-year funk?Hosts: Mike Bird and Ethan Wu. Guests: The Economist’s editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes; our business affairs editor Rachana Shanbhogue; and Rachel Reeves.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.The new tech right: how Silicon Valley fell in line with Donald Trump
44:13|In 2021, during the final days of Donald Trump’s first term as president, Facebook banned him from the platform citing “a serious risk to public safety”. Now, not only is Mr Trump posting again, but Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Facebook's parent company Meta, is reportedly planning a party next week to celebrate his inauguration. But Mr Zuckerberg is not the only Silicon Valley resident to change their stance toward the incoming president. What does that mean for the relationship between big tech and Mr Trump’s government?Hosts: Ethan Wu and Mike Bird. Guests: The Economist’s Henry Tricks and Simon Rabinovitch; and independent analyst Benedict Evans.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.Battered Britain: how the UK’s growth problem became a crisis
46:49|Britain is in a 17-year funk. A series of crises—some global and some homemade—have battered the British economy since 2008. GDP growth has been cut in half in the years since the global financial crisis, and after inflation, wages have barely budged either. Now, long-term government bond yields have risen to their highest levels in a quarter of a century, casting doubt on the new government’s plans for spending. So, just how broken is Britain? Hosts: Mike Bird and Ethan Wu. Guests: The Economist’s Archie Hall; Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies; and Bank of England rate-setter Catherine Mann. 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.Buying happiness: how to invest if you want to be cheerful
46:41|More than half a century ago, the Nobel-prizewinning economist Robert Merton came up with a formula for happiness. The Merton share is a rule of thumb for determining an individual’s ideal portfolio split between “risky” but lucrative assets and “safe” ones. His principles are almost universally accepted by academics as the “correct” approach to long-term investment. So why don’t more people follow his advice?Hosts: Ethan Wu and Mike Bird. Guests: The Economist’s Josh Roberts; Victor Haghani, founder of Elm Wealth; and John Cochrane, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.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.From our archive: Taylor's version (part two)
47:01|Taylor Swift’s rise to the top of the music industry has not been without controversy. A dispute with her old record label could have derailed the singer’s career—but instead, she used it to propel herself to superstardom. In the second of two special episodes from August 2024, “Money Talks” host Alice Fulwood gets the inside story of the battle to acquire the rights to Swift’s first six albums. Then she finds out how the artist used the story of the dispute to remake the music industry to her advantage.Hosts: Alice Fulwood, Tom Lee-Devlin and Mike Bird. Guests: Tim Ingham, the founder of Music Business Worldwide; Kristelia García of the Georgetown University Law Center; Michael Schill of the Darden School of Business; and Bill Werde, former editorial director of Billboard magazine, current director of the Bandier Program at Syracuse University and author of the “Full Rate No Cap” newsletter.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.From our archive: Taylor's version (part one)
45:32|Earlier this month, Taylor Swift played the final show of her Eras tour. More than 10 million people attended one of 149 shows in the tour, which grossed more than $2bn. In this episode, first released in August 2024, “Money Talks” host Alice Fulwood travelled to Nashville, where Swift’s career began, to find out how she built the biggest brand in music. Hosts: Alice Fulwood, Tom Lee-Devlin and Mike Bird. Guests: Tim Ingham, the founder of Music Business Worldwide; Kristelia García of the Georgetown University Law Center; Michael Schill of the Darden School of Business; and Bill Werde, former editorial director of Billboard magazine, current director of the Bandier Program at Syracuse University and author of the “Full Rate No Cap” newsletter.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.