The Sound of Economics

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.

Episodes

AI, data and Europe’s quest to simplify

January 7, 2026 • 46 mins

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 s...

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Europe’s 2025 identity crisis: the year in review

December 15, 2025 • 53 mins
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 ...
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EU-India: trading partners with potential

December 10, 2025 • 48 mins
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 Europ...
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    Inside the Nexperia crisis: what it means for Europe’s tech sovereignty

    December 3, 2025 • 43 mins
    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...
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    Ukraine talks: peace progress or dead end?

    November 26, 2025 • 43 mins
    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 fr...
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    How can carbon credits work better?

    November 19, 2025 • 42 mins
    New ideas on reaching climate targets as COP30 gets underway

    In 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 Tradi...
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    Understanding money in the EU

    November 12, 2025 • 41 mins
    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 ...
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    Double tax – why women pay it and what to do about it

    November 5, 2025 • 40 mins
    Fixing gender inequality could reap big gains for the entire economy

    In 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 savin...
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    Paradoxical EU-China climate relations

    October 29, 2025 • 39 mins
    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,...
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    What are governments buying?

    October 22, 2025 • 44 mins
    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 purchasin...
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    Climate, data and complacency

    October 15, 2025 • 41 mins
    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 wo...
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    Western Balkan migration: win-win or brain drain?  

    October 8, 2025 • 47 mins
    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 th...
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    What should Europe pay for

    October 1, 2025 • 50 mins
    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 fo...
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    China’s race to electrification

    September 25, 2025 • 27 mins
    In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan sits down with Alicia García-Herrero and Ben McWilliams to explore China’s quest for energy self-sufficiency and especially its attempt to become an “electrostate”. Can a country transform its vast energy needs into a strategic advantage; and what does it mean for the world if that country is China? And where does Europe stand in this race?

    Relevant research
    ...
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    EU foreign direct investment, explained

    September 17, 2025 • 44 mins
    In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie talks with Niclas Poitiers and Damien Levie, head of the FDI screening unit in the European Commission's Directorate-General for Trade and Economic Security. They discuss how the EU aims to reduce risks, track projects and coordinate national procedures related to non-EU investments in companies and critical infrastructure. How can the EU protect itself when inve...
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    The Sound of Economics Live: The State of the European Union 2025

    September 10, 2025 • 61 mins
    In this episode of The Sound of Economics, we discuss the State of the Union address that Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, delivered on 10 September 2025. 

    Bruegel's Rebecca Christie, Simone Tagliapietra, Reinhilde Veugelers and Jeromin Zettelmeyer discuss whether the EU is ready to meet the moment. How can Europe boost its economic and geopolitical independence? What steps are most needed t...
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    The ECB is not the Fed

    September 4, 2025 • 45 mins
    In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Rebecca Christie discusses central bank independence and credibility with Francesco Papadia and Lucrezia Reichlin, Bruegel fellows and former top officials at the European Central Bank. As the Federal Reserve comes under increasing political pressure in the U.S., understanding what central banks do and why they are needed is more important than ever. Traditional monetary policy, digit...
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    How can the EU get its act together?

    August 27, 2025 • 55 mins
    In this episode of The Sound of Economics, we explore where Europe fits into a world of geopolitical uncertainty and whether it can rise to the challenge. Host Rebecca Christie is joined by Jeromin Zettelmeyer, Bruegel's Director, and Jason Furman, the Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy at Harvard University and former top economic adviser under President Barack Obama. 

    They argue that the EU needs to ...
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    Disaster risk in euro-area bond markets

    August 20, 2025 • 42 mins
    In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie is joined by ECB Senior Economist Christoph Kaufmann and Bruegel’s Stavros Zenios to unpack how disaster risk, political instability and investor behaviour collide in euro-area bond markets. They explore why investment funds respond differently to fiscal and political shocks, compared to other investor groups, and what are the consequences for both periphery and ...
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    Why European firms are rethinking their presence in China

    July 30, 2025 • 26 mins
    In this episode of The Sound of Economics, we explore the shifting strategies of European companies operating in China, as unveiled in a new Bruegel paper co-authored by Alicia García-Herrero, Théo Storella, and Jianwei Xu. Host Yuyun Zhan speaks with Alicia and Théo about the findings, which are based on panel survey data from the European Chamber of Commerce in China.

    The discussion dives into the four typologies of f...
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