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PODCAST

The Sound of Economics

The Sound of Economics brings you insights, debates, and research-based discussions on economic policy in Europe and beyond. The podcast is produced by Bruegel, an independent and non-doctrinal think tank based in Brussels. It seeks to contribute to European and global economic policy-making through open, fact-based, and policy-relevant research, analysis, and debate.

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All Episodes

49:21

Where can Europe be independent?

The Sound of Economics ·

2026/02/25

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie speaks to former EU Competition Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager -- now chair of the board at Danish Technical University -- and Ditte Brasso Sørensen, who leads Think Tank EUROPA’s Stocktaking EU project, about how Europe can reduce its dependencies without grasping for the impossible goal of full economic independence. How can the European Union make its state aid framework fit for purpose? Can Europe anchor its own AI

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32:08

China’s financial system: big, powerful and still...

The Sound of Economics ·

2026/02/18

China’s banking sector has expanded from a fragile, state-dominated system in the 1990s into the largest in the world. But this increased scale has not brought with it a shift toward market-driven finance, with the core logic of state-directed control over credit remaining a central feature of Chinese banking. In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan sits down with Alicia García-Herrero and Fraser Howie to examine how banks continue to serve state priorities, funnelling household

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42:55

Nature as equity

The Sound of Economics ·

2026/02/11

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie talks about nature and markets with Bruegel’s Heather Grabbe and Estelle Cantillon, FRNS research director at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. They explore policy efforts to make protecting natural resources more of a financial priority, such as nature credits and nature shares, as well as the difficulty of setting up these kinds of systems. How can public money and private investors cooperate? How does a program like this avoid

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43:05

Tax, sovereignty and the EU

The Sound of Economics ·

2026/02/04

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel’s Pascal Saint-Amans and Roel Dom to talk taxes. What happened to the OECD global minimum tax and the digital services levy debate in the wake of Washington’s turn against international agreements? How is the European Union gathering resources for its next budget? What is the difference between a tax and a levy – and why does it matter? Tax policy is social policy, and Bruegel’s new EU Tax Observatory project

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44:55

All about CBAM, the cross-border carbon levy

The Sound of Economics ·

2026/01/28

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel’s Ignacio García Bercero and Ben McWilliams to talk about the evolution of the European Union’s carbon border adjustment mechanism, known as CBAM. When will companies start paying? Which countries and sectors will be hit the hardest? And how will cross-border carbon levies work for electricity markets, given how hard it is to trace emissions to electrons? We discuss what it means to crack down on carbon leakage

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43:03

China’s Yuan and Europe’s industry: a growing imbalance

The Sound of Economics ·

2026/01/21

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Yuyun Zhan is joined by Bruegel Senior Fellow Alicia García-Herrero and Jürgen Matthes of the German Economic Institute to discuss a growing concern for Europe’s economy: the undervaluation of Yuan, the Chinese currency and its impact on European competitiveness.Is China’s price advantage the result of productivity and innovation, or of deeper structural distortions such as subsidies, overcapacity, and currency management? And what policy options does

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37:05

Europe’s looming budget fight

The Sound of Economics ·

2026/01/14

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie and Bruegel’s Zsolt Darvas discuss the European Union’s next seven-year financial plan with MEP Johan Van Overtveldt, chairman of the European Parliament’s budget committee. Negotiators have until the end of 2027 to figure out roughly €2 trillion in funding, with the parliament and member states not expected to sit down together until next year. How can the EU pay for public goods? Will countries and regions be willing to overhaul the

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46:31

AI, data and Europe’s quest to simplify

The Sound of Economics ·

2026/01/07

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel’s Mario Mariniello and Bertin Martens to discuss technology regulation in the European Union. Brussels hopes to make its complicated rulebook more fit for purpose with digital “omnibus” plans, intended to streamline and improve oversight. But artificial intelligence, data collection and relations with United States tech giants are tricky subjects that may not be so easily addressed. How should companies manage

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53:36

Europe’s 2025 identity crisis: the year in review

The Sound of Economics ·

2025/12/15

Will Europe do what it takes to defend the continent and the single market? In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie is joined by Bruegel Director Jeromin Zettelmeyer and Senior Fellows Simone Tagliapietra and Reinhilde Veugelers to discuss the highs and lows of the past 12 months. As Bruegel celebrated its 20th anniversary with close to 100 events held across the European Union, the EU itself grappled with how to support Ukraine, how to boost its self defence and how to

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48:50

EU-India: trading partners with potential

The Sound of Economics ·

2025/12/10

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie is joined by Professor Amita Batra, of Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for South Asian Studies, and Bruegel Senior Fellow Ignacio Garcia Bercero to discuss the European Union-India trade relationship and its potential. What scope is there for a free trade agreement, particularly regarding tricky sectors like steel and automotive manufacturing? How will Europe’s new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism affect the dynamic? Is there

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43:27

Inside the Nexperia crisis: what it means for...

The Sound of Economics ·

2025/12/03

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan sits down with Alicia García-Herrero and Marc Hijink to examine the Nexperia case – the Dutch semiconductor firm owned by China’s Wingtech – and how it became a flashpoint in Europe’s evolving relationship with China. We unpack how corporate governance disputes, US export controls, Chinese industrial policy and Europe’s growing focus on tech sovereignty collided in a single, high-stakes conflict.This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus

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43:27

Ukraine talks: peace progress or dead end?

The Sound of Economics ·

2025/11/26

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie discusses Ukraine peace talks with Bruegel’s Guntram Wolff and Nicolas Véron, and how the EU can manage the high-stakes standoff between Kyiv, Moscow and Washington. Over the past week, proposals from both sides of the Atlantic have jumpstarted efforts to find a way to stop the fighting. The EU is also locked in an internal debate over how to leverage Russia’s frozen cash to help Ukraine, a debate that affects the euro’s global

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42:14

How can carbon credits work better?

The Sound of Economics ·

2025/11/19

New ideas on reaching climate targets as COP30 gets underwayIn this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel’s Georg Zachmann and professor Jos Delbeke, former Director General of the European Commission’s climate division, to discuss how Europe can use its ambitious climate targets to best catalyse global decarbonisation. Zachmann proposes to develop the European Emission Trading System into an anchor for mitigation activities in other sectors and countries

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41:46

Understanding money in the EU

The Sound of Economics ·

2025/11/12

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Alexandra Jour-Schroeder, deputy director general of the European Commission’s DG FISMA, and Bruegel’s Silvia Merler, to discuss savings, investment and financial literacy. Sharing national best practices, monitoring what works and using EU funding can all support member state efforts to keep citizens in the know. They also discuss ways the EU can support development of accessible savings accounts and products. Better

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40:59

Double tax – why women pay it and what to do about it

The Sound of Economics ·

2025/11/05

Fixing gender inequality could reap big gains for the entire economyIn this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with economist Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman and Bruegel’s Marie-Sophie Lappe to discuss gender inequality and how economics can help to fix it. The data shows that it costs more to be a woman in society, especially a Black woman, in areas ranging from health care, to pension savings and workplace routines. These extra burdens drag the whole economy down – but

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39:55

Paradoxical EU-China climate relations

The Sound of Economics ·

2025/10/29

As COP30 approaches, what is the real state of EU–China climate relations?In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan sits down with Alicia García-Herrero and Cecilia Trasi to explore the state of EU–China climate relations. The discussion explores how both economies share a vision for a green transition but follow strikingly different paths—China prioritising industrial policy and green technology exports, the EU focusing on costly emission pricing and regulation. They also identify

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44:33

What are governments buying?

The Sound of Economics ·

2025/10/22

In this episode of the Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel’s Marie-Sophie Lappe and Francesco Nicoli, authors of a recent study on green public procurement, as well as Karolis Granickas of the Open Contracting Partnership non-governmental organisation. They discuss how governments decide what to buy, and what European policy can do to make this process work better. Is there a way for this purchasing to advance the climate transition agenda too? How can governments

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41:58

Climate, data and complacency

The Sound of Economics ·

2025/10/15

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel’s Heather Grabbe and Guntram Wolff to talk about the real costs of a changing climate. With all the fuss over how to manage the climate transition, economists may be overlooking the rising expenses of the changes happening now. From the rising cost of insurance to future housing shocks, evolving weather trends and water scarcity mean the world could be facing big hits to productivity and gross domestic product

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47:26

Western Balkan migration: win-win or brain drain?

The Sound of Economics ·

2025/10/08

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Rebecca Christie speaks about migration trends in the Western Balkans with Bruegel’s Nina Vujanovic and Nina Ruer, as well as Professor Herbert Brücker from Berlin’s Humboldt University in Germany, Since 2015, workers have been heading to Germany from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo, aided by a regulation specific to that region. How have those workers assimilated? What has been the effect on the countries they

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50:16

What should Europe pay for

The Sound of Economics ·

2025/10/01

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Bruegel’s Rebecca Christie, Zsolt Darvas and Jacob Funk Kirkegaard discuss the European Commission’s budget plan and the battle for the next multiannual financial framework. Will the budget be enough to cover the EU’s needs? What is an “own resource” and how do the member states contribute? Can the EU overhaul the way it supports agriculture, and does it make sense to merge support for farmers with support for lower-income countries? And how will Europe

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448 results

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