Money Talks from The Economist

At the end of January, Donald Trump’s administration announced that all work carried out by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) would stop immediately. This week, secretary of state Marco Rubio announced that 83% of USAID programmes had been cancelled. Across Europe, governments are cutting foreign aid budgets, too. What caused the aid recession? And what should aid money really be used for?Hosts: Ethan Wu and Mike Bird. Guests: The Economist’s Cerian Richmond Jones; and Professor Stefan Dercon of the University of Oxford. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

After months of posturing, Donald Trump seemingly made good on his promise. On March 4th, he slapped a 25% tariff on goods crossing into America from Mexico and Canada, and raised tariffs on all goods arriving from China to 20%, from 10%. Investors took the news badly, wiping more than $3trn from the value of S&P 500 stocks. But just over 48 hours after they came into force, Mr Trump paused the tariffs on Mexico and Canada. So what should investors make of the president’s erratic new trade policy?Hosts: Mike Bird and Ethan Wu. Guests: The Economist’s Simon Rabinovitch, Sarah Birke and Don Weinland.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Europe’s economy is in trouble. Growth has been moribund for a decade and a half. Worries about the continent's shaky fiscal foundations and its heavy regulatory burden are only growing. Now, governments across the continent have a third economic threat to worry about: Donald Trump. The US president has threatened tariffs on European exports and told Nato allies they should spend 5% of GDP on defence—an unaffordable expense for most of the region. So how much trouble is Europe in?Hosts: Mike Bird and Ethan Wu. Guests: The Economist’s Christian Odendahl and Stanley Pignal; and Luis Garicano, an economist and former member of the European Parliament.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Indonesia has more nickel than it knows what to do with. The metal is a key component in some electric vehicle batteries—and almost half of the world’s supply is produced in the sprawling island nation. But that’s not enough for Prabowo Subianto, the new president, who wants to do more than just mine the mineral. He wants to use it to build a top-to-bottom electric-car supply chain. But just because the country has a near monopoly on nickel, should it really make EVs?Hosts: Ethan Wu and Mike Bird. Guests: Septian Hario Seto, Indonesian former deputy minister of investment and mining coordination; and Putra Adhiguna, managing director at the Energy Shift Institute, a think tank focusing on Asia’s energy transition.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

For years, insurers have been reducing the number of policies they issue to Californian homeowners. And after last month’s wildfires, buying insurance is going to get even more difficult—and a lot more expensive—for people living in the state. But at the same time, the market for catastrophe bonds is booming. Can one of the world's fastest-growing (and most lucrative) asset classes make places like Hollywood insurable again?Hosts: Mike Bird and Ethan Wu. Guests: Richard Pennay, CEO at Aon Securities; and John Seo, co-founder of Fermat Capital Management, which invests in catastrophe bonds.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Over the past two years, investor enthusiasm for anything AI has sent shares in Nvidia, America’s chip champion, skyrocketing. But on Monday, a new AI model from Chinese firm DeepSeek sent shockwaves through the markets. It performs nearly as well as the best-in-class Western models, but requires a fraction of the computing power—and therefore a fraction of the cost. In this episode, we examine whether the DeepSeek drama could overturn the economics of AI, and what it will mean for Nvidia and the AI race.Hosts: Mike Bird and Ethan Wu. Guests: The Economist’s Alex Hern and Don Weinland. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

A sophisticated, predatory, multi-billion dollar industry is emerging from the shadows. It already rivals the size of the illicit drug trade. And it’s about to get bigger and much more powerful. The Economist’s Sue-Lin Wong follows a trail that starts with the collapse of a bank in rural Kansas to uncover a global, underground scam economy built around human trafficking, corruption and money laundering. Can it be stopped?Available now.To listen to the full series subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.

Earlier in January, we discussed the growth crisis facing Rachel Reeves, Britain’s chancellor. Today, she’s in Davos trying to sell her remedy to the country’s manifold economic woes. But are her plans enough to rescue Britain from its 17-year funk?Hosts: Mike Bird and Ethan Wu. Guests: The Economist’s editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes; our business affairs editor Rachana Shanbhogue; and Rachel Reeves.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.