The Exchange

The Exchange is a regular conversation with some of the most influential movers and shakers in business and markets hosted by Peter Thal Larsen, global editor of Breakingviews, the commentary publication of Thomson Reuters. Breakingviews debates and discusses trends in finance and economics with those who shape them, from central bankers and corporate executives to authors and film directors.

News
201
The Exchange: Duflo and Banerjee
This year’s Nobel economists showed that people often do the opposite of what theory predicts – whether they’re in a Kenyan schoolroom or a dying U.S. factory town. Here, two of the winning trio explain their method, and what happens ...
25 min
202
The Exchange: PBS CEO Paula Kerger
Streaming is upending the media landscape, including public television. Its funding model, local structure and social mandate make broadcaster PBS unlike any other U.S outlet. Its longest-serving boss, Paula Kerger, discusses the challenges an...
30 min
203
The Exchange: CalPERS’ Ben Meng
Almost a year into the job, the investment chief of California’s near-$400 bln public pension fund tells Tom Buerkle that size can be a double-edged sword. He explains why returns targets are a challenge and what CalPERS is doing to ensure its new priv...
36 min
204
The Exchange: A new space race
Fifty years ago, NASA landed the first people on the moon. Today, billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are blasting satellites into space to boost global internet coverage. Adrian Steckel of SoftBank-backed OneWeb explains why there’s a brewing g...
19 min
205
The Exchange: Richard McGregor
One of the world's foremost experts on the Chinese state has a new book on global backlash against President Xi Jinping. McGregor, a Lowy Institute Fellow, argues internal resistance against Xi's agenda is finding some traction, and explains ...
22 min
206
The Exchange: Matthew Putman
The factory floor may be an odd place to find a musical virtuoso. But the founder of Nanotronics, a near-unicorn on the Brooklyn waterfront with Peter Thiel on its board, is as comfortable tinkling the ivories as he is tinkering with the complexities o...
26 min
207
The Exchange: Lord John Browne
The former BP boss-turned-renewable-energy-supporter-turned-gas baron stops by to discuss “Make, Think, Imagine,” his new book that’s part an explanation of and part an ode to the benefits of engineering. As UN Climate Week kicks off, he also discusses...
39 min
208
The Exchange: The Asianisation of the world
A splintering West and increasingly interconnected East is creating a newly powerful mega-region, according to Parag Khanna, author of “The Future is Asian.” He swung by the Breakingviews office in Hong Kong to break down the economic and geopolitical ...
30 min
209
The Exchange: Enrico Letta
Italy’s new coalition government, cobbled together from the center-left and quixotic 5-Star Movement, has been greeted gleefully by markets and EU allies. But one former prime minister warns about complacency, calling for a reset with Brussels, tax cut...
28 min
210
The Exchange: White House hopeful Tom Steyer
The hedge fund founder has already spent millions to impeach Donald Trump. He’s now trying to replace the U.S. president, joining a crowded Democratic field. The Exchange went to his campaign office to discuss why he is running and what he thinks of bu...
31 min
211
The Exchange: Banking on water
The Exchange: Banking on water
32 min
212
The Exchange: Nile Rodgers and Merck Mercuriadis
How much is a song worth? Two people who should know are the Chic founder and his manager, who have started a company to buy some of the world’s most famous back catalogues. They explain how music investing works and why many songwriters are miffed wit...
35 min
213
The Exchange: China’s unicorn squeeze
Mainland startups are under pressure, as once-plentiful funds dry up. Jixun Foo, managing partner at GGV Capital and a backer of tech giants like Didi Chuxing, discusses with Alec Macfarlane why the drop-off in financing could ultimately benefit invest...
18 min
214
The Exchange: Soccer gets smart
It’s summer, which means top teams like Barcelona and Manchester United are brandishing their cheque books in the player-transfer market. But the way soccer clubs choose their stars and fund the purchases is changing. Researcher Sophie Tomlinson and fi...
21 min
215
The Exchange: Andreessen Horowitz’s Scott Kupor
The venture capitalist’s new book, “Secrets of Sand Hill Road,” is a fundraising guide for entrepreneurs. At his office off the famed Silicon Valley street he discusses with Breakingviews whether tech founders make good CEOs and details the biggest fin...
36 min
216
The Exchange: Tiananmen 3.0
Han Dongfang was expelled from China for organising worker protests that were bloodily suppressed in 1989. He founded China Labour Bulletin, which tracks factory protests, strikes and policy. He speaks with Pete Sweeney about the economic stress on wor...
17 min
217
The Exchange: Surviving the digital-media meltdown
Venture capitalist Ben Lerer, whose firm backed BuzzFeed and Axios, drops by Breakingviews to discuss why startups in the news industry have been suffering. Unlike some of his peers, Lerer reckons these minnows can have mutually beneficial relationship...
33 min
218
The Exchange: Hong Kong's political crisis
Michael Tien was among the first politicians from the city’s pro-Beijing faction to oppose the controversial extradition proposal. Just before protesters ransacked the legislature, he spoke with Breakingviews about Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s future a...
17 min
219
The Exchange: Escaping carbon’s grip
Saipem made its name building drills and pipelines for fossil-fuel giants like Saudi Aramco. CEO Stefano Cao visits Breakingviews to discuss how climate change is pushing the company into greener projects – and how tech challenges and a need to protect...
24 min
220
The Exchange: John Delaney
The first Democrat to bid for 2020’s presidential election has a pitch rarely heard in today’s political slugfest: that Democrats and Republicans can get along. Despite being a peacemaker, the former Maryland congressman has some punchy views on China,...
23 min
221
The Exchange: Dick’s sticks to its guns
Dick’s Sporting Goods lost sales, customers and suppliers when it banned assault-style weapons from its stores last year. Over a year later, boss Ed Stack tells Breakingviews what he learned from taking a stand on gun violence, and addresses his newer ...
13 min
222
The Exchange: Dustin Yellin
Is there a better way to signal the hydrocarbon era’s end than by flipping a 1,000-foot oil tanker vertically from the sea to create the world’s largest sculpture? Not according to the artist behind “The Bridge,” who discussed his project with Rob Cox ...
17 min
223
The Exchange: The trouble with America
The country no longer loves the unremarkable and its inequitable universities are unsustainable, NYU’s Scott Galloway tells Breakingviews. As his new book “The Algebra of Happiness” hits the shelves, he also discusses his prescient Amazon call and why ...
30 min
224
The Exchange: John Taylor
The economist and leading proponent of a rules-based strategy for monetary policy recently convened a powwow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution at which top policymakers brought diverse views on the Fed’s conduct to the fore. He fillets some of the choic...
24 min
225
The Exchange: Margrethe Vestager
The EU’s antitrust commissioner is famous for imposing multi-billion-dollar fines on Alphabet and Apple. She joins Peter Thal Larsen and Liam Proud to explain why combatting the greed, power and fear that stifles competition is even more crucial in a d...
29 min