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]
26
[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
27
[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
28
[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
29
[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
30
[The Exchange] Crypto’s roaring comeback may be...
Bitcoin’s price broke its record, nearly two years after crypto exchange FTX went bust. In this Exchange podcast, Andreessen Horowitz’s Arianna Simpson explains why digital assets and the ledgers underpinning them are inextricable, and what’s driving new excitement around both.
29 min
31
[The Exchange] How to sustain the big rebound i...
The year kicked off with a 75% increase in global M&A activity, to $525 bln. Speaking to The Exchange podcast from a gathering of merger mavens in New Orleans, Evercore banker Bill Anderson discusses the resurgence and what’s needed to keep the momentum after a two-year slump.
24 min
32
[The Exchange] How to solve Europe’s defence ri...
At 360 bln euros, the bloc’s military expenses are three times Russia’s. Yet fragmented defence systems are a problem, Bruegel senior fellow Guntram Wolff tells The Exchange podcast. To improve scale and boost aid for Ukraine, Europe should consider more joint debt.
25 min
33
[The Exchange] Why central banks risk making mo...
Western rate-setters were late in fighting inflation. In this Exchange podcast, TS Lombard economists Dario Perkins and Davide Oneglia argue that, as price growth abates, the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank may be too slow in easing monetary policy.
24 min
34
[The Exchange] The rocky road to an ‘eBay for c...
Markets that trade the right to emit greenhouse gases have a ropey history. Still, in this Exchange podcast Harvard University Fellow Ely Sandler argues that companies and countries may increasingly pay carbon taxes via emission permits – and unlock cash for the green transition.
37 min
35
[The Exchange] The green agenda’s best shot at ...
Economic distress prompted by globalisation undermines support for the energy transition, climate change economist Valentina Bosetti tells The Exchange podcast. That matters as key US and EU elections approach. Using proceeds from carbon taxes to address inequality is paramount.
31 min
36
[The Exchange] Why tech giants will rake in AI’...
Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia and Alphabet powered roughly 8% of 2023’s North American venture deals, largely in artificial intelligence. In this Exchange podcast, Altimeter Capital investor Apoorv Agrawal explains why these companies are reaping rewards from the latest tech craze.
28 min
37
[The Exchange] Shipping giants can withstand Re...
Houthi attacks near the Suez Canal are slowing global trade. In this Exchange podcast, Zvi Schreiber, CEO of shipping platform Freightos, discusses how the sector was caught by surprise, but excess container ships and more air cargo capacity are helping limit the immediate pain.
27 min
38
[The Exchange] Fixed income investors have reas...
Uncertainty over the direction of inflation and monetary policy is buffeting markets. In this Exchange podcast Jim Grant, founder of ‘Grant’s Interest Rate Observer’, discusses his gloomy outlook for US bonds and sounds a warning about the risks of shadow banking.
25 min
39
[The Exchange] Bain is keeping the private in p...
Rivals like Apollo and KKR went public more than a decade ago, over time de-emphasizing their buyout roots, especially amid a recent deal drought. In this Exchange podcast John Connaughton of Bain Capital explains why his firm isn’t following them, and how the market is healing.
36 min
40
[The Exchange] AI startups’ key challenge is cr...
Developing humanlike models is notoriously expensive. In this Exchange podcast, venture capital investor Konstantine Buhler of Sequoia Capital discusses how new breakthroughs are starting to lower costs and how that presents opportunities for challengers like OpenAI.
35 min
41
Global energy fissures are a risk for the West
Falling oil prices despite recent cuts imply a weak OPEC+. Yet the producer group may increasingly align with other emerging market states on areas like Russia and climate change. In this Exchange podcast commodities expert Helima Croft says that’s an issue for Europe and the US.
33 min
42
Subsidies are crucial to the green transition
The world is short not of capital, but of projects to fund and sovereigns willing to share risk. In this Exchange podcast, Fortescue’s Andrew Forrest discusses why all countries need an IRA and the lessons of leading the world’s 4th-largest iron ore miner through change.
34 min
43
COP28’s big dilemma: fossil fuel cuts, or fudges
The success of the Dubai climate shindig rests on how much it slashes emissions via cuts to oil production, and how much it relies on carbon storage or removal. In this Exchange podcast, Energy Transitions Commission chair Adair Turner warns against relying on the latter.
36 min
44
How the West can win the green metals race
China dominates the processing of stuff essential to the energy transition. Rich countries can shift the balance if they accept more mining at home. Most of all, Europe needs to be better at recycling, critical materials expert Gavin Harper explains in the Exchange podcast.
33 min
45
Labour is weak link in Israeli economic defences
The Middle Eastern country has withstood the financial pain of a war with Hamas, William Wechsler at the US think tank the Atlantic Council says in this Exchange podcast. But as the conflict continues, an increasing labour shortage will pile pressure on the economy.
23 min
46
Drug shortages demand quick and costly action
Chemotherapy and penicillin ran short over the past year amid supply-chain disruptions and regulatory pressure. In this Exchange podcast, Dr. Steffen Denzinger, president of the European Fine Chemicals Group, argues that safeguarding medicines may require patients to pay more.
26 min
47
Israel’s war is a risk and opportunity for Saudi
Hamas’s attacks complicate Mohammed bin Salman’s aim to build relations with the Israeli state, Gulf expert Kristian Coates Ulrichsen says in this Exchange podcast. But if the Saudi crown prince can use his leverage to help Palestinians, it may help his image at home and abroad.
32 min
48
How to spur investments in greener power grids
Electricity networks need to be upgraded and adapted to a carbon-free world. That means doubling investments to $750 bln a year. With returns uncertain, attracting cash is not easy, Secure Meters CEO Suket Singhal argues in this Exchange podcast. New pricing models would help.
27 min
49
The financial ramifications of US-China tensions
The rivalry between the world’s two largest powers is having an impact on almost every aspect of global business and finance. In this episode of The Exchange podcast, Jared Cohen from Goldman Sachs discusses how investors should approach geopolitics, and the limits of decoupling.
34 min
50
How the Federal Reserve got inflation wrong
US policymakers underplayed the spike in consumer prices in 2021. In this Exchange podcast, Don Kohn, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former Fed vice chair, argues that a rule change a year earlier was a key reason why the central bank failed to lift rates faster.
25 min