The Big View
Reuters Breakingviews columnists tap their best contacts to explore the biggest issues driving business and markets today. Every Tuesday, Global Editor Peter Thal Larsen and his team tackle a pressing question with a senior executive, financier, policymaker, or other expert. The Big View helps you understand what is going on, explore all sides of the argument, and think about what happens next.
[For previous The Exchange podcast users, we didn't want to leave you hanging so we've decided to repurpose this feed for the launch of The Big View podcast. You can still find the legacy episodes below marked under the old title]
1
Ireland’s $25 bln tax bounty reveals OECD flaws
Dublin expects a record budget surplus in 2024 thanks to a cash deluge from tech giants. In this episode of The Big View podcast, Pascal Saint-Amans, the architect of a landmark tax 2021 treaty, explains how the US’s failure to ratify the deal allows havens to rake in billions.
29 min
2
The power and peril of American economic warfare
Successive US presidents have wielded sanctions and export controls against rival nations. Donald Trump promises further escalation. In this episode of the Big View podcast, political scientist Henry Farrell explains how weaponizing finance and technology can be self-defeating.
34 min
3
Making sense of China’s big economic reboot
Officials have taken dramatic steps to boost confidence and growth in the world’s second-largest economy. In this episode of The Big View podcast, Arthur Kroeber, head of research at Gavekal, explains why he sees the People’s Republic turning into a high-tech, low-growth country.
38 min
4
How the US election affects the rest of the world
Next week, voters will choose between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Their decision will impact governments, companies and investors outside the US. In this episode of The Big View podcast, geopolitical strategist Tina Fordham explains why markets misjudge the possible turmoil.
30 min
5
Why brewers are betting big on alcohol-free beer
Consumers are shunning booze due to health concerns and shifting tastes, forcing beermakers to adapt. In this episode of the Big View podcast Louise Fitzpatrick, an executive at the Dutch brewer Heineken, explains the opportunities and challenges of selling suds without alcohol.
31 min
6
Why data centres are a bottleneck for the AI boom
Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT depend on chips and energy. But a $1 trln rush to build data centres faces constraints on planning and power. In this episode of The Big View podcast, Morgan Laughlin of asset manager PGIM explains the virtual frenzy’s physical limits.
32 min
7
Decoding the puzzle of SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son
The Japanese tycoon shaped global technology while building and losing vast fortunes. How does he keep going? In the first episode of Breakingviews’ new podcast, The Big View, former FT editor Lionel Barber discusses what he uncovered in his biography of Son, ‘Gambling Man’.
28 min
8
Introducing The Big View
From our sources to your ears: fresh perspectives on global business and finance.
1 min
9
[The Exchange] Boeing and Airbus headwinds are ...
The troubled US jet maker and its European rival aren’t delivering as many planes as customers want. On this Exchange podcast, AirInsight co-founder Addison Schonland explains how some problems stretch back to Covid, whether a third player can break the duopoly, and much more.
34 min
10
[The Exchange] European board pay requires a US...
Non-executive directors at UK and EU-based firms own little equity in the companies they oversee. In this Exchange podcast, Liad Meidar of the hedge fund Gatemore argues that this is a problem, while Peter Boreham of the pay consultancy Mercer explains why it’s hard to change.
25 min
11
[The Exchange] Copper’s green step change is an...
Supplies of the red metal have to motor if the world is to adequately decarbonise. In this Exchange podcast Tae-Yoon Kim, senior energy analyst at the International Energy Agency, lays out the challenges that need to be overcome if the private sector is going to make that happen.
29 min
12
[The Exchange] India's consumer market is large...
Consumption is not a bright spot in the South Asian country, with growth half the pace of GDP. In this Exchange podcast, former Nestlé India board member Rama Bijapurkar explains why international companies need to stick their elbows out to tap the low-earning masses.
23 min
13
[The Exchange] Why the French vote also matters...
The outcome of snap elections in France will reverberate beyond its borders. Debt-laden Italy is particularly exposed if borrowing costs rise. In this Exchange podcast, former top Treasury official Fabrizio Pagani discusses Rome’s fiscal challenges in a changing EU landscape.
31 min
14
[The Exchange] China’s EV makers can ride the t...
The US and the EU have imposed hefty import duties on electric vehicles BYD, Tesla and others make in the People’s Republic. In this Exchange podcast, consultant and former Chrysler executive Bill Russo explains why Europe’s levies are more a speeding fine than a stop sign.
27 min
15
[The Exchange] McKinsey powers through its many...
Despite scandals from South Africa to Big Oil, the secretive consultancy charms Ivy League recruits and blue-chip clients. In this Exchange podcast, investigative reporter Michael Forsythe explores the mystique and whether opioids advice threatens the firm’s $16 bln of revenue.
30 min
16
[The Exchange] Investors are hunting securitiza...
Whether a bundt cake bakery or an internet address, if it generates steady cash, it can be diced up in the financial alchemy of securitization. In this Exchange podcast, Janus Henderson’s John Kerschner explains the promise and perils, and why the oddest assets can be the best.
38 min
17
[The Exchange] Japanese funds will unlock power...
Pushy foreigners helped boost short-term value in the Nikkei stock index. In this Exchange podcast, Hiroyuki Otsuka, CEO of Newton Investment and ex-Carlyle executive, explains how local asset managers will create the next wave of gains and usher in dramatic change for Japan.
26 min
18
[The Exchange] China’s cars fine-tune their dri...
Automakers in the country are touting autonomous driving, and Tesla is preparing to join the fray. On this week’s Exchange podcast, Maxwell Zhou, CEO of Alibaba-backed DeepRoute.ai, explains why progress is accelerating and how that is already changing consumers’ expectations.
25 min
19
[The Exchange] China tests EU resolve on export...
France’s Emmanuel Macron got little to show from President Xi Jinping’s European tour this month. In this Exchange podcast, MERICS expert Grzegorz Stec explains the difficulty of managing ties with Beijing and why balancing risk and business opportunity is so tricky.
28 min
20
[The Exchange] How investing in news can make s...
The media industry has been struggling since the digital era and VC-led initiatives like BuzzFeed and Vice failed. Yet betting on independent outlets can reap decent financial rewards, Harlan Mandel, who runs a specialised impact fund, tells The Exchange podcast.
33 min
21
[The Exchange] Global retailers are headed for ...
Zara owner Inditex, H&M and other apparel giants are holding ground against the Asian fast-fashion upstart. However, AlixPartners’ retail expert Matt Clark argues in this Exchange podcast that Shein’s focus on garment quality could threaten the dominance of pricier rivals.
28 min
22
[The Exchange] Chinese stocks have found a bottom
After a $5 trln crash, there are early signs of healthy buying. In this Exchange podcast, Herald van der Linde, HSBC head of equity strategy, Asia Pacific, unpicks the shifting sentiment of Chinese households and implications for the rest of the region’s capital markets.
25 min
23
[The Exchange] Why rich nations have to keep he...
The world faces many onerous financial and climate challenges. Still, as Axel van Trotsenburg, the World Bank’s Senior Managing Director, explains in this Exchange podcast, governments and companies in advanced economies cannot afford to stop supporting developing ones.
23 min
24
[The Exchange] How new stock rules are boosting...
Young companies in the European Union have traditionally lagged US rivals in both value and numbers. But in this Exchange podcast, Index Ventures Partner Hannah Seal explains how friendlier regulations on employee share ownership are helping EU-based entrepreneurs fill that gap.
20 min
25
[The Exchange] Big banks’ shock absorbers are s...
Credit Suisse and a string of US regional banks failed last year. In this Exchange podcast, Stanford Professor Anat Admati argues that lenders’ equity buffers are punier than they seem – and that fixing the problem needn’t cause a credit crunch.
31 min