The Battle Over USAID Is Heating Up

There’s a new way for some countries struggling under piles of debt to get relief: by agreeing to spend part of the difference on the environment. The Nature Conservancy, the US-based environmental group, is teaming up with big financial institutions to offer what’s called Blue Bonds, or debt-for-nature swaps. The bank alleviates some of the country’s debt burden, and the government puts the savings toward restoring coral reefs and other environmental projects. Belize and the Seychelles are among a handful of nations that have taken the offer so far, and many more are in the works. Bloomberg journalists Sydney Maki and Natasha White join this episode to explain how these complex deals work–and who’s profiting from the bargain.Learn more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3ZwzcdC Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK  Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

12 Tammi 202322min

It’s been nothing but mayhem at Twitter since Elon Musk took the helm of the social media company late last year and began shaking things up in ways that don’t always seem to make much sense, especially from the outside. Many users are furious and advertisers are fleeing. Musk’s preoccupation with Twitter is also fueling concerns that he’s not paying enough attention to Tesla, his once-invincible electric car company that’s lost hundreds of billions of dollars in value. Bloomberg journalists Brad Stone, Sarah Frier and Kurt Wagner join this episode to explain Musk’s chaotic moves and where he goes from here. Read more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3ivqHig  Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK  Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11 Tammi 202327min

Millions of Americans–union workers, school teachers, firefighters, office employees at major corporations–are counting on a pension to support them when they retire. Pensions have always been seen as secure and reliable. But in recent years, some of the nation’s biggest pensions have run into trouble. Underfunded or underperforming, they don’t have enough to pay out. Increasingly, that means taxpayers are being asked to step in so retirees aren’t left with nothing. Which means the shaky pension pension system is very well costing you money–even if you don’t have one yourself. Bloomberg reporters Neil Weinberg, Suzanne Woolley and Akayla Gardner join this episode to explain why the nation’s $4 trillion pension system is having such a rough time–and how much it will cost the rest of us to pick up the slack.Read more about this story HERE.  Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK  Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

10 Tammi 202328min

In just the past ten years, the biggest US banks made an eye-popping trillion dollars in profit. To help get our heads around that staggering number, we asked Bloomberg reporters Max Abelson and Hannah Levitt–who cover the world of Wall Street–to explain how banks were able to dramatically increase their profits in such a short time–and how it impacts the rest of us. Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK  Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

9 Tammi 202324min

Some big, crowded cities like New York and London have tried to reduce traffic jams and air pollution with congestion fees that make it expensive to bring your car downtown.  Now London is taking things a step further. Air pollution has fallen there. So the government is trying not just to cut down on the number of cars in the city, but using carrots–and sticks–to get people to abandon their gasoline cars altogether. Eric Roston, Bloomberg’s sustainability editor, joins this episode to explain why electric cars are such a big deal in tackling air pollution–and what a tall challenge it will be to make the switch on a large scale. And Feargus O’Sullivan, a contributing writer at Bloomberg CityLab, talks about what London is doing, and why other cities are watching. For more on this story: https://bloom.bg/3CsLf1Q See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

6 Tammi 202327min

One big obstacle for any Republican dreaming of becoming president in 2024: figuring out how to get past Donald Trump–without angering his legions of loyal supporters. One person who just may crack that code is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. He won re-election in November by a huge margin, one of few bright spots for Republicans in a disappointing year. And he did it by doing something no other Republican has been able to do–appealing to Trump voters (along with independents and even some Democrats) while removing Trump himself from the conversation.  Bloomberg’s national political correspondent Joshua Greene joins this episode to talk about how DeSantis has so far managed to out-Trump Trump, and whether his strategy will work outside Florida–and possibly take him all the way to the White House. Red more about this story here: https://bloom.bg/3IoNUx7 Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK  Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

5 Tammi 202321min

If all the news lately about cryptocurrencies–and the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried and his FTX exchange–have left you wishing you had a better handle on the maddeningly complex world of crypto, we’re with you. So we asked Bloomberg Opinion columnist Matt Levine to join Wes this episode to answer: What exactly is crypto, both in theory and reality?(In case you missed it, Matt wrote a cover-to-cover story for Bloomberg Businessweek on the subject. So he seemed like a good person to ask.)Matt explains how crypto works and what gives it value. He looks at why once-soaring cryptocurrencies have now plummeted into an extended “crypto winter.” And he assesses the FTX fallout — and what it means for the fate of crypto when billions of dollars of customer money go missing. Learn more here: https://bloom.bg/3GjHFs6 Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK  Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

4 Tammi 202332min

It was huge news when Carlos Ghosn, the once-celebrated auto executive, vanished from Japan in 2019 after being charged with financial crimes. He later emerged in Beirut, where he’s lived ever since, beyond the reach of Japanese authorities. Now the American father and son team who helped carry out his spy-novel escape are coming forward. They served time in a Japanese prison and are hoping Ghosn will help them pay off millions of dollars in legal bills. Bloomberg journalists Reed Stevenson and Brian Bremner join this episode to tell the story of what Ghosn’s escape cost the men—and the very different lives they, and Ghosn, live today. Learn more about the episode here: https://bloom.bg/3IjYZj2 Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK  Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

3 Tammi 202325min