Tune In Stephanomics

Over just a few weeks, US President Donald Trump has turned the Western security alliance on its head and unleashed a slew of tariff threats (and tariffs) on China, Canada and Mexico (with many reversals and retreats). At the same time, talk has intensified over a so called “Mar-a-Lago accord” named after Trump’s Florida home and aimed at deliberately weakening the dollar. On this week’s episode of Trumponomics, host Stephanie Flanders discusses this with guests Shawn Donnan, senior writer for economics with Bloomberg, and Mark Sobel, the US chairman of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. What ties together Trump’s security and tariff bluster? A paper written in November 2024 by Stephen Miran, where the idea of such a deal first appeared. Miran, a former US Treasury official who went on to work as a strategist in the private sector, is now poised to lead Trump’s White House Council of Economic Advisers.

Instead of the “Trump bump” we were talking about at the beginning of the year, a combination of mass terminations across the federal government (many of which may be illegal), sweeping tariffs and a whole lot of uncertainty could be leading to a Trump slump. Or is it, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reassured us this week, just a period of transition? That’s the question we tackle on this episode of Trumponomics. Host Stephanie Flanders speaks with Evercore ISI’s Kathryn Holston, who served as a White House senior economist last year and before that in the office of the chief economist of the World Bank, and Anna Wong, chief US economist for Bloomberg Economics.

On this episode of Trumponomics, host Stephanie Flanders speaks with Joshua Green, national correspondent at Bloomberg Businessweek, and editor Laura Davison about the likelihood of a shutdown, its consequences for the government and for Americans—and whether anything can stop Musk’s efforts to shrink the government.

One month in, Wall Street’s view on Donald Trump is evolving. Guest host Nancy Cook, Bloomberg’s senior national political correspondent, speaks with chief Wall Street correspondent Sridhar Natarajan and finance reporter Hannah Levitt about how finance executives are feeling now. “There is still broadly this palpable optimism,” says Levitt, “but it’s a bit more caveated.” Levitt and Natarajan explain those caveats, discussing what the likelihood of higher volatility throughout Trump’s second term means for the bottom lines of big Wall Street firms and unpack why a deregulatory agenda might have unforeseen consequences.

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised to end Russia’s war on Ukraine in a day. Weeks into his presidency, that hasn’t happened. Now his decision to start negotiations with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin while demanding Europe bear the brunt of future aid to Ukraine has been met with shock—but not surprise. In a bonus episode of Trumponomics, recorded at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, we discuss the cost of Trump’s about-face on American commitments and whether a continent beset by fiscal constraints and political division can go it alone. Alberto Nardelli, Bloomberg’s correspondent-at-large for Europe, and Antonio Barroso, senior geoeconomics analyst for Europe at Bloomberg Economics join host Stephanie Flanders.

Bill Dudley, a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and former New York Federal Reserve Bank president, and Bloomberg Economics Chief US Economist Anna Wong join Stephanie Flanders to discuss the Treasury secretary’s plan to reduce the deficit and its collision with economic reality.

In a live taping before an audience in New York, host Stephanie Flanders was joined by Bloomberg political correspondent Nancy Cook and Bloomberg Opinion Senior Executive Editor Tim O’Brien to unpack the way in which US President Donald Trump is making tariff decisions during his chaotic first few weeks in office, whether he has a plan and who his most influential advisers might be. For the second part of the conversation, Bloomberg TV anchor Katie Greifeld and senior editor Ed Harrison discuss how Trump’s economic policy is causing uncertainty among business leaders and why a key metric to look at is the 10-year Treasury rate.

On this week’s episode of Trumponomics, we ask what it is exactly US President Donald Trump may be trying to accomplish with his tariff threats and trade wars. Host Stephanie Flanders, Bloomberg’s head of government and economics, is joined by Anna Wong, chief US economist at Bloomberg Economics, and Bloomberg reporter Shawn Donnan, who covers economics and trade policy, to discuss.

On this week’s Trumponomics, we look at how Trump's immigration policies will affect the nation’s economy, and especially whether it will be good or bad for American workers. Oren Cass, joins host Stephanie Flanders and Bloomberg Opinion Senior Executive Editor Tim O’Brien. Cass, formerly with the right-leaning Manhattan Institute and founder of the conservative think-thank American Compass, is author of The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America.

On this week’s Trumponomics, we look at how Trump's immigration policies will affect the nation’s economy, and especially whether it will be good or bad for American workers. Oren Cass, joins host Stephanie Flanders and Bloomberg Opinion Senior Executive Editor Tim O’Brien. Cass, formerly with the right-leaning Manhattan Institute and founder of the conservative think-thank American Compass, is author of The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America.

The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, once a hub of globalism and progressive ideals, is now seeing a shift towards embracing the ideology of US President Donald Trump. With CEOs and other business leaders trying to get in line with his views, many are abandoning previous initiatives around equality, diversity, free trade and climate change. On this week’s episode of Trumponomics, we discuss how and why so many of the global elite at Davos are pressing “unsubscribe” on their previous commitments in favor of (like Trump’s book) the art of dealing with the new White House occupant. We also analyze the implications for markets and investors. In a live taping before an audience at Bloomberg House in Davos, host Stephanie Flanders speaks with Bloomberg News Editor in Chief John Micklethwait, Washington reporter Jenny Leonard and Bloomberg Businessweek Editor Brad Stone. They unpack how the world order has already changed in anticipation of Trump’s return, what the Republican’s style of transactionalism will look like for foreign policy, and what will be the fallout for the global economy and trade policy.

Bond market investors have been extremely busy so far this year, pushing up the cost of government borrowing—especially in the US but also around the world. On this, the inaugural episode of Trumponomics, we look at whether recent moves in the bond market are worrying the incoming Trump administration, what effect they will have on a narrowly-split Congress and whether concerns on Capitol Hill may put some of Donald Trump’s agenda at risk. Host Stephanie Flanders, Bloomberg’s head of government and economics, is joined by Anna Wong, chief US economist at Bloomberg Economics (she’s worked at the Federal Reserve and in the first Trump administration), and Bloomberg managing editor for US economic policy Kate Davidson.

Former Trade Representative and Council on Foreign Relations President Michael Froman discusses what the world can expect from Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, and how Harris is breaking from Joe Biden. Hosted by Stephanie Flanders and Adrian Wooldridge.

On this episode of Voternomics, we discuss the rise of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and what’s behind the far-right’s electoral success across the continent.

India has frequently claimed the mantle recently of having the fastest growth among the world's major economies, even if there is some skepticism about the numbers. But there's a significant dilemma: the growth doesn't seem to be creating enough jobs. Anirban Nag and Vrishti Beniwal report on how the official unemployment figures may be obscuring bigger problems of joblessness in the nation. We also hear more about India's economic challenges from Bloomberg Opinion columnist Mihir Sharma, who talks with host Stephanie Flanders. Then Stephanie discusses some important new insights on the U.S.-China trade war with Bloomberg economist Maeva Cousin.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi earned the ire of Donald Trump this week with his farewell speech at a major annual conference. Editor Paul Gordon was there at the prestigious gathering in Sintra, Portugal, and breaks down Draghi's comments with host Stephanie Flanders. Then hear a special recording of Stephanie's engaging live panel discussion this week in London with two of the city's most prominent economic voices, HSBC Chief Economist Janet Henry and the Chief Economic Advisor to the UK Treasury, Clare Lombardelli. They discuss an increasingly hazy outlook for the world economy and offer their unique perspective on women and diversity in the economics profession -- or lack thereof.

Workers around the globe are in for a shock in coming decades as automation transforms the workplace and maybe destroys their jobs. But for Nobel-winning economist Christopher Pissarides, it's not all dismal. Host Stephanie Flanders has an extended talk with the London School of Economics professor about the upsides of automation and how Europe may actually be well-positioned to survive this transition. They also discuss the risk of another Eurozone crisis and the need for a broader measure of economic success than national output or GDP. Then Stephanie catches up with Bloomberg reporter Shawn Donnan for an update on the U.S.-China trade war and his observations from a recent visit to the Asian nation.

If you live in the U.K., your workweek could soon be a day shorter if the political winds tilt more heavily toward the left. Jess Shankleman reports on how the proposal is gaining momentum and how it might affect Britain, then Bloomberg Opinion columnist Noah Smith joins host Stephanie Flanders for a deeper look at the economic questions raised by the four-day week.

The longest economic expansion in the developed world may not be much longer for this world -- and that fear helped drive the shock election result in Australia last week. In the country where GDP has been growing for an amazing almost 28 years, Bloomberg's Chris Bourke explores how the cratering real estate market is threatening the first recession since Vanilla Ice topped the music charts. Host Stephanie Flanders also talks with Bloomberg editor Malcolm Scott and economist Tamara Henderson about what the conservative government's re-election means for the economy Down Under. Then Stephanie catches up with Federal Reserve reporter Chris Condon about the central bank's sweeping review of how it approaches policy.

Germany's engineering prowess has driven the nation's economic success for decades. Now that model is being questioned thanks to rising protectionism, slowing global growth, new technologies and Germany's own underinvestment in its infrastructure. Bloomberg's Catherine Bosley has a report from the factory floor, then host Stephanie Flanders talks with columnist Ferdinando Giugliano about what's ailing Europe's powerhouse. Stephanie also hears from economic editor Paul Gordon about another hot topic where Germany's influence is uncertain: the race for the next president of the European Central Bank.