The Economics Show21 Nov 2025

Did globalisation kill neoliberalism? With Branko Milanović

Thirty-five years ago, the global economy could be neatly divided into market economies, socialist economies and poorer non-aligned countries. Today, that picture is rather more complicated. Western-style neoliberalism – expected to become the dominant economic system after the end of the cold war – is in retreat; socialism is no more; China has emerged as a global superpower; and formerly-poor countries in the global south are rising rapidly – all while neoliberalism itself becomes, well… less liberal. If neoliberalism is on the way out, what will replace it? And what does the rise of Asia mean for western consumers who find their spending power dwindling? The FT’s European economics commentator, Martin Sandbu, speaks to Branko Milanović, senior scholar at the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality at the City University of New York, and a visiting professor at the International Inequalities Institute at the LSE.

Episoder(137)

Will US debt burst the AI bubble? With Ruchir Sharma

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 v...

11 Sep 27min

Memory chip mania isn’t going away, with Dan Kim

In recent months, part of the chip market has been going bananas. Prices for memory chips – which AI data centres use in droves – have rocketed, as US tech companies lock in massive orders. That’s bad...

4 Sep 32min

Kevin Warsh spoke — what did we learn? With Torsten Slok

Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh took to the stage at Jackson Hole under pressure. Inflation is sticky, bond markets have been wobbling and his insistence on minimal Fed communication has been seen b...

29 Aug 19min

From "The Story of Money": How a stock market crash gave birth to modern antisemitism

The 1873 Gründerkrach, the spectacular stock market crash that followed Germany’s unification, is one of history’s great financial maelstroms. But its most enduring legacy isn’t about money. Host Robi...

21 Aug 50min

From "Trumponomics": Can the US Actually Tax Billionaires?

As wealth becomes increasingly concentrated — and artificial intelligence threatens to shift even more income from workers to investors — has the US tax system become outdated? Stephanie Flanders spea...

14 Aug 24min

How to break China’s chokehold on rare earths

In the midst of the US-China trade conflict last year, Beijing unsheathed its fiercest weapon. By ramping up restrictions on exports of rare earth metals – crucial elements for high-tech manufacturing...

7 Aug 31min

Will AI solve the productivity puzzle? With Nick Bloom

Productivity has been a problem for the past 15 years. In developed countries, weak demand, a lack of competition and a paucity of new ideas have all been blamed. Could AI finally reverse that trend? ...

31 Jul 29min

Is China catching up with the US in AI? With Kyle Chan

The US has long been the world’s undisputed leader in AI. Now, that lead looks under threat. Cutting-edge Chinese models such as Kimi K3 are proving almost as capable as leading American models; meanw...

24 Jul 30min