Stephanomics
- Episodes
- 515
- Released
- weekly
- Latest episode
- Nov 12, 2026
About the podcast
Stephanomics is for people who want to understand what’s really driving the global economy in a world of disruption. Each week, Bloomberg’s Stephanie Flanders connects the dots between geopolitics, trade, technology, policy and markets—to make sense of what’s happening now and what might happen next.
Episodes 515
What Happens When AI Replaces the Economists?
Jason Furman, the former White House chief economist now at Harvard University, has used artificial intelligence to build a platform that can do work once handled by teams of economists — and it has left him …
Show notes
Jason Furman, the former White House chief economist now at Harvard University, has used artificial intelligence to build a platform that can do work once handled by teams of economists — and it has left him wondering what happens to the people who used to do those jobs. He joins Stephanie Flanders to talk about AI’s impact on work, education and the economics profession, and what the US midterm results reveal about the politics of affordability and the backlash against data centers.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Reintroducing Stephanomics
The Stephanomics podcast is back. Every week, host Stephanie Flanders takes one big question about the global economy and follows it wherever it leads. From trade and technology to inflation, central banks and …
Show notes
The Stephanomics podcast is back. Every week, host Stephanie Flanders takes one big question about the global economy and follows it wherever it leads. From trade and technology to inflation, central banks and markets, the conversation will connect the dots between the forces reshaping the world economy. Listen to new episodes every Thursday.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Midterms Changed Washington. Will They Change the Economy?
The historic Democratic midterm victory will reshape Washington come January, but what will it actually change for the US economy? Stephanie Flanders is joined by Oren Cass, founder of the American Compass …
Show notes
The historic Democratic midterm victory will reshape Washington come January, but what will it actually change for the US economy? Stephanie Flanders is joined by Oren Cass, founder of the American Compass think tank, and Bloomberg reporter Josh Wingrove to look beyond the election to the next two years. Can either party address voter frustration with the economy, and how much of Donald Trump’s economic agenda is likely to endure?
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Has the US-Israel War With Iran Supercharged the EV Transition?
How has the conflict changed people’s car-buying habits — and could it accelerate the global shift to electric vehicles?In this episode, Stephanie Flanders is joined by Bloomberg News managing editor Craig …
Show notes
How has the conflict changed people’s car-buying habits — and could it accelerate the global shift to electric vehicles?
In this episode, Stephanie Flanders is joined by Bloomberg News managing editor Craig Trudell and Ethan Zindler, global head of BloombergNEF’s countries and policies research teams. They examine the way in which higher energy prices are reshaping demand for electric vehicles and hybrids, how the US under President Donald Trump is bucking the global trend and how cheaper Chinese EVs are transforming the global auto industry. Could one unexpected consequence of the Iran war be a faster transition to cleaner energy?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Germany’s New Approach to Global Trade
What does Germany’s economic strategy tell us about the shifting global order? Stephanie Flanders is in Germany at the Berlin Global Dialogue, where she speaks with Chancellor Friedrich Merz about the pressures …
Show notes
What does Germany’s economic strategy tell us about the shifting global order? Stephanie Flanders is in Germany at the Berlin Global Dialogue, where she speaks with Chancellor Friedrich Merz about the pressures reshaping Europe’s largest economy, why he supports a tougher response to Chinese imports and how he intends to handle the Trump administration’s harsher line toward Ukraine at the upcoming G20 Summit in Miami.
Setting the scene for the Chancellor’s comments is Bloomberg Senior Geoeconomics Analyst for Europe, Antonio Barroso. Flanders and Barroso unpack what Merz’s comments reveal about Germany’s changing approach to trade — and what that shift could mean for Europe and the wider global economy.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Live from New Delhi: What the World's Financial Leaders Fear Most
What does the global economy look like from the rooms where some of the world’s biggest investment and business decisions are made? Stephanie Flanders is in New Delhi for Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum, where …
Show notes
What does the global economy look like from the rooms where some of the world’s biggest investment and business decisions are made? Stephanie Flanders is in New Delhi for Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum, where she speaks with Bloomberg Chief Economist Tom Orlik about the risks building beneath the surface — from higher borrowing costs to the vast sums flowing into artificial intelligence.
Then, in a session hosted by Bloomberg New Economy Editorial Director Erik Schatzker, former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Blackstone President Jon Gray and Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran debate what really matters in this new era of uncertainty — and which trends they believe are powerful enough to bet on anyway.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Is Trump About to Lose America’s Farmers?
Donald Trump’s wars, both the global trade version and the real one on Iran, are increasing costs for America’s farmers -- traditional followers of the Republican president who just might be reconsidering their …
Show notes
Donald Trump’s wars, both the global trade version and the real one on Iran, are increasing costs for America’s farmers -- traditional followers of the Republican president who just might be reconsidering their allegiance. Stephanie Flanders speaks with Bloomberg’s Steven Dennis and former US Department of Agriculture chief economist Joe Glauber about why deep red farm states like Kansas are suddenly looking competitive, and whether economic frustration could produce a lasting shift in rural America.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Why Governments Can’t Unplug From Elon Musk
Elon Musk may be an extreme figure, but the authors of Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed argue he represents a much bigger dynamic that's quickly taking shape, one where promises of “sovereignty through …
Show notes
Elon Musk may be an extreme figure, but the authors of Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed argue he represents a much bigger dynamic that's quickly taking shape, one where promises of “sovereignty through technology” may permanently embed tech figures such as himself at the center of government and society. Stephanie Flanders speaks with Ben Tarnoff and Quinn Slobodian about how Musk turned close ties with government into extraordinary power, and what his rise tells us about the changing relationship between Big Tech, the state and the global economy.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Tough AI Questions Looming Over the Xi-Trump Summit
As Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with US President Donald Trump in Washington, this week's episode of Trumponomics asks whether the world’s leading AI powers can move beyond summit pageantry and start …
Show notes
As Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with US President Donald Trump in Washington, this week's episode of Trumponomics asks whether the world’s leading AI powers can move beyond summit pageantry and start managing the dangers created by their technological rivalry. Host Stephanie Flanders speaks with Bloomberg Executive Editor Dan Ten Kate and Geoeconomics analyst Michael Deng about why distrust over chips, model distillation and open-source AI is making meaningful cooperation so difficult—and why rare earths and deeply intertwined supply chains mean neither country can truly decouple from the other.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Why 5% Treasury Yields May Be Just the Beginning
The US 10-year Treasury yield has breached 5%, but the forces pushing borrowing costs higher may run much deeper than the latest economic shocks. Stephanie Flanders is joined by Bloomberg Opinion columnist John …
Show notes
The US 10-year Treasury yield has breached 5%, but the forces pushing borrowing costs higher may run much deeper than the latest economic shocks. Stephanie Flanders is joined by Bloomberg Opinion columnist John Authers and Jamie Rush of Bloomberg Economics to discuss how demographics, rising government debt and the artificial intelligence investment boom are reshaping the price of money — and why 5% could prove to be a floor rather than a ceiling.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Cory Doctorow Says Be Skeptical of the AI Sales Pitch
Artificial intelligence companies are spending extraordinary sums on the promise that their technology will transform the global economy. Author and technology critic Cory Doctorow joins Trumponomics host …
Show notes
Artificial intelligence companies are spending extraordinary sums on the promise that their technology will transform the global economy. Author and technology critic Cory Doctorow joins Trumponomics host Stephanie Flanders to challenge that sales pitch, arguing that AI may be useful without delivering the cost savings or profits investors expect — and warning of the consequences for workers, markets and the wider economy if the boom ends badly.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
"The Economics Show": Breaking China’s rare earths chokehold
In the US-China trade conflict, rare earth metals are Beijing's ultimate trump card. Last year, China ramped up restrictions on these key industrial elements, spooking industry, and forcing the US toclimb down …
Show notes
In the US-China trade conflict, rare earth metals are Beijing's ultimate trump card. Last year, China ramped up restrictions on these key industrial elements, spooking industry, and forcing the US to
climb down. Since that wake-up call, the US has worked hard to reduce its dependence on China. It has spent huge sums backing mining companies, penned eye-catching deals and moved to collaborate with allies. But after a little more than a year, how much progress has it made in breaking China’s hold on the rare earths supply chain?Featuring: Abigail Hunter of the SAFE Center for Critical Minerals Strategy; Gracelin Baskaran of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Cory Combs of Trivium China; and FT commodities correspondent Camilla Hodgson.
Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
As Canada Turns From the US, Is China the Alternative?
With tensions rising between Canada and the US over the latest broadsides in President Donald Trump's trade war, the White House is threatening even more levies following Prime Minister Mark Carney's announced …
Show notes
With tensions rising between Canada and the US over the latest broadsides in President Donald Trump's trade war, the White House is threatening even more levies following Prime Minister Mark Carney's announced dollar-for-dollar retaliation. The rupture between Ottawa and Washington is becoming harder to dismiss as temporary, with the war of words increasingly implicating the broader relationship between the once-close allies.
But as more countries seek to put distance between themselves and the US, will they really move closer to China? In a conversation recorded Aug. 20, before the latest US-Canada skirmish, Stephanie Flanders is joined by Bloomberg’s Dan Ten Kate and Chris Kennedy to explore how the so-called middle powers are trying to diversify their economic and security relationships — and why Beijing’s export dominance, strategic ambitions and trust deficit mean there may be no easy alternative to an economically belligerent America.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Why Inflation Could Be Good News for Japan
Can inflation in Japan be a sign of a healthier economy? On this week's episode of Trumponomics, Stephanie Flanders is joined by Taro Kimura, an economist with Bloomberg Economics, and Bloomberg News Senior …
Show notes
Can inflation in Japan be a sign of a healthier economy? On this week's episode of Trumponomics, Stephanie Flanders is joined by Taro Kimura, an economist with Bloomberg Economics, and Bloomberg News Senior Editor Chris Anstey to explore the potential cost and benefits of a weakening yen. Together, they examine Japan’s shift away from decades of deflation, why US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent intervened to support the yen and how instability in Japan could spill over into US Treasury markets and raise American borrowing costs.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Introducing: Our Town
Our Town from Bloomberg’s Big Take podcast follows residents of Gainesboro, Tennessee, after a group of far-right Christians moves in with plans for a radical social experiment. Listen to episode 1 here.See …
Show notes
Our Town from Bloomberg’s Big Take podcast follows residents of Gainesboro, Tennessee, after a group of far-right Christians moves in with plans for a radical social experiment. Listen to episode 1 here.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What Is Fed Chair Kevin Warsh Trying to Say?
Kevin Warsh has spent his first three months as chair of the Federal Reserve pretty tight-lipped about his views on the economy, a stark contrast to how central bank policymakers have traditionally communicated …
Show notes
Kevin Warsh has spent his first three months as chair of the Federal Reserve pretty tight-lipped about his views on the economy, a stark contrast to how central bank policymakers have traditionally communicated with market participants. On this episode, host Stephanie Flanders speaks with Bloomberg Opinion columnist Bill Dudley, a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Robin Brooks, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and chief FX strategist at Goldman Sachs, about whether Warsh’s approach is a welcome change or another threat to the Fed's credibility.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Why AI Isn't Actually Boosting Productivity
Why aren't we seeing the productivity boom the artificial intelligence industry has promised? Stephanie Flanders is joined by Oxford University professor and How Progress Ends author Carl Benedikt Frey to …
Show notes
Why aren't we seeing the productivity boom the artificial intelligence industry has promised? Stephanie Flanders is joined by Oxford University professor and How Progress Ends author Carl Benedikt Frey to explore why rapid advances in AI haven't yet translated into stronger economic growth. Together they examine the productivity struggle, the race between the US and China for AI leadership and what history teaches us about technological revolutions.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Tariff Trade-Off
US President Donald Trump's trade war may be here to stay, despite the fact that billions of dollars in tariff revenue has been refunded to companies after the Supreme Court ruled his initial levies illegal …
Show notes
US President Donald Trump's trade war may be here to stay, despite the fact that billions of dollars in tariff revenue has been refunded to companies after the Supreme Court ruled his initial levies illegal. Stephanie Flanders is joined by Bloomberg senior writer Shawn Donnan and Anna Wong, chief US economist at Bloomberg Economics, to explore what if anything the policy has delivered for US manufacturing and the federal budget, and why the biggest consequences may be the ones no one predicted.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Can the US Actually Tax Billionaires?
As wealth becomes increasingly concentrated — and artificial intelligence threatens to shift even more income from workers to investors — has the US tax system become outdated? Stephanie Flanders speaks with …
Show notes
As wealth becomes increasingly concentrated — and artificial intelligence threatens to shift even more income from workers to investors — has the US tax system become outdated? Stephanie Flanders speaks with Harvard professor Jason Furman, a former economic adviser to President Barack Obama, and Bloomberg reporter Caitlin Reilly about wealth taxes, capital gains, inheritance and whether taxing America's richest is politically or constitutionally possible.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Are We Being Priced Out of Happiness?
Americans are spending less time with friends, nights out are getting more expensive and even major sporting events are becoming harder to afford. Stephanie Flanders speaks with Bloomberg reporter Ben Steverman …
Show notes
Americans are spending less time with friends, nights out are getting more expensive and even major sporting events are becoming harder to afford. Stephanie Flanders speaks with Bloomberg reporter Ben Steverman and economist and author Richard Layard about what the "fun shortage" says about the economy, rising inequality and whether loneliness is becoming a political and economic problem.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The $2 Trillion Global Arms Race
A new, $2 trillion global arms race is underway — but this time it's being driven by artificial intelligence, drones and hypersonic weapons. Stephanie Flanders is joined by Becca Wasser, a geo-economics analyst …
Show notes
A new, $2 trillion global arms race is underway — but this time it's being driven by artificial intelligence, drones and hypersonic weapons. Stephanie Flanders is joined by Becca Wasser, a geo-economics analyst with Bloomberg Economics, and Gerry Doyle, a senior editor for Bloomberg News, to explore how rising defense spending could reshape economies, redefine warfare and alter the future of global security.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Midterms May Hinge on One Thing: How the Economy Feels
The economy may look resilient on paper, but voters aren't buying it. Bloomberg's senior national correspondent Nancy Cook and Stuart Paul, who covers the US and Canadian economies for Bloomberg Economics …
Show notes
The economy may look resilient on paper, but voters aren't buying it. Bloomberg's senior national correspondent Nancy Cook and Stuart Paul, who covers the US and Canadian economies for Bloomberg Economics, break down why affordability, gas prices, and lingering economic anxiety could reshape the battle for Congress—and whether Republicans can change the narrative before November.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What If AI Simply Ruins Your Job Instead of Taking It? (with Sarah O'Connor)
Artificial intelligence is often discussed in terms of how many jobs it will eliminate, but Sarah O’Connor argues the biggest concern may be not what it does to the quantity of jobs, but the quality. Speaking …
Show notes
Artificial intelligence is often discussed in terms of how many jobs it will eliminate, but Sarah O’Connor argues the biggest concern may be not what it does to the quantity of jobs, but the quality. Speaking on Bloomberg’s Trumponomics podcast about her new book, We Are Not Machines: The Fight for the Future of Work, the Financial Times columnist said AI and automation are increasingly reshaping jobs around the strengths and limitations of machines, leaving workers to perform narrower, less-rewarding tasks.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Fast Can the World Recover From a Hormuz Shock?
For 100 days, the world watched as one of its most important energy chokepoints got choked. Now, as the Iran war appears to be easing, Bloomberg Opinion columnist Javier Blas and Jamie Rush, Director of Global …
Show notes
For 100 days, the world watched as one of its most important energy chokepoints got choked. Now, as the Iran war appears to be easing, Bloomberg Opinion columnist Javier Blas and Jamie Rush, Director of Global Economics, debate how quickly oil markets can recover, and what we've learned about China's growing influence over global energy demand.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Why 2026 Is Beginning to Look Like 1929 (with Andrew Ross Sorkin)
Almost a century after the Wall Street crash of 1929, Andrew Ross Sorkin says he believes some of its most dangerous ingredients are reappearing. Joining Stephanie Flanders on Trumponomics, the financial …
Show notes
Almost a century after the Wall Street crash of 1929, Andrew Ross Sorkin says he believes some of its most dangerous ingredients are reappearing. Joining Stephanie Flanders on Trumponomics, the financial journalist and author of 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History argues that today’s market is filled with “eerie parallels” to the late 1920s. These include a transformative new technology, a flood of retail investors and a growing willingness to loosen the rules.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Is the US Economy Dangerously Dependent on the Rich?
The idea of a “K-shaped economy” has become one of the most persistent themes about the US economy: While some households continue to thrive, in particular the wealthy ones, everyone else falls further behind …
Show notes
The idea of a “K-shaped economy” has become one of the most persistent themes about the US economy: While some households continue to thrive, in particular the wealthy ones, everyone else falls further behind. On this episode of Trumponomics, host Stephanie Flanders, Moody’s Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi and Bloomberg Economics’ Andrew Sacher explore whether that narrative is simply another way of describing that longer-term American phenomenon of inequality — or whether it points to a deeper vulnerability.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Why Is America Turning Against Big Business?
A Gallup poll reported last year that just 15% of Americans said they had a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in big business, a record low. Since then, fear of artificial intelligence has made matters …
Show notes
A Gallup poll reported last year that just 15% of Americans said they had a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in big business, a record low. Since then, fear of artificial intelligence has made matters worse. So why is big business increasingly unpopular in Donald Trump's America? What does it tell us about the state of the nation and the long-term strength of the world's largest economy?
On this week's Trumponomics, host Stephanie Flanders explores those questions with Bloomberg Opinion global business columnist Adrian Wooldridge. He says the root of this malaise may be a US corporate culture that's shifted from genuine risk-taking entrepreneurship toward a mix of oligarchic tech elites and bloated bureaucracies, fueled by market concentration and declining competition. Later, Flanders and Wooldridge explore whether AI will in turn disrupt these dominant firms or further entrench their power — and what the backlash against tech could mean for politics, capitalism and American democracy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Great Bond Car Wreck — in Slow Motion
Across developed markets, bond markets are staging a slow-motion car wreck. As Opinion columnist and senior markets editor John Authers puts it, the phenomenon is truly global. Authers and Robin J. Brooks, a …
Show notes
Across developed markets, bond markets are staging a slow-motion car wreck. As Opinion columnist and senior markets editor John Authers puts it, the phenomenon is truly global. Authers and Robin J. Brooks, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former chief economist at the Institute of International Finance, join host Stephanie Flanders to explain why investors have turned sharply against government bonds across the world’s major developed economies — and how the fallout could affect us all.
Read John Authers's column here:
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/newsletters/2026-05-19/the-great-bond-car-wreck-in-slow-motion
And find Robin J. Brooks's substack here:
https://robinjbrooks.substack.com/p/liz-truss-bond-market-blow-upsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Why the US Must Engage China on AI Safety Before It’s ‘Game Over’
Sebastian Mallaby of the Council on Foreign Relations and author of The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind and the Quest for Superintelligence joins host Stephanie Flanders. He says Chinese AI is …
Show notes
Sebastian Mallaby of the Council on Foreign Relations and author of The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind and the Quest for Superintelligence joins host Stephanie Flanders. He says Chinese AI is closing the gap—and that means Washington can’t afford to ignore safety talks.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Will the Xi-Trump Summit Be Over Before It Starts?
As a high-stakes Trump–Xi summit looms, tensions over the Iran war and defiance of US sanctions threaten to derail what could be one of the year’s most consequential meetings. Stephanie Flanders is joined by …
Show notes
As a high-stakes Trump–Xi summit looms, tensions over the Iran war and defiance of US sanctions threaten to derail what could be one of the year’s most consequential meetings. Stephanie Flanders is joined by Jennifer Welch, chief geoeconomics analyst for Bloomberg Economics and Bloomberg News executive editor Dan Ten Kate to unpack whether the talks will happen—and what’s really at stake for the global economy if they do.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
These are the latest 40 of 515 episodes. You’ll find older episodes in the podcast’s feed.
Similar podcasts
More News podcasts
Is this your podcast?
Confirm it with an entry in your feed: you get a code here, add it as podcast:txt to the channel of your feed, and we check it. Your podcast is then shown as “verified” on SoundNode.