Intuitively, research and development is a building block of a productive future. But exactly how important is it, and can we put a number on it? Heidi Williams is a professor of economics at Dartmouth College, and an expert on innovation policy. She is also a visiting fellow at the Congressional Budget Office. Today on the show, she joins Soumaya Keynes to discuss public and private funding for R&D, how the two sources interact, and what we can know about how much it’s all worth to the economic future of a country.

Soumaya Keynes writes a column each week for the Financial Times. You can find it here

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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With the US election in a matter of weeks, today Soumaya Keynes is joined by the FT’s Washington bureau chief, James Politi. They discuss the Kamala Harris platform – from industrial policy to tax reform to housing – and what it might all cost. They also talk about how Kamala Harris might differ from Joe Biden, and which staff members might stay and which might go.

Soumaya Keynes writes a column each week for the Financial Times. You can find it here

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The effective altruism movement has been on a wild ride over the past decade. EA started – in the popular consciousness, at least – as a forum for mindful questions about where best to put charitable dollars. Think bed nets and de-worming pills. But, since then, EA seems to have devolved into rationalisations for making tons of money, freak-outs about AI and the end of humanity. Today, on the show, Soumaya and guest Martin Sandbu, the FT economics editorial writer, discuss EA’s evolution, its future and whether it even makes any sense.

Soumaya Keynes writes a column each week for the Financial Times. You can find it here

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Race and gender have dominated headlines about economic outcomes in the past decades, but class … not so much. Class is often invisible, hard to describe and awkward to talk about. Anna Stansbury, an assistant professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, sought to shed light on class in the US in a recent paper, co-written with Kyra Rodriguez. They found that independently of race or gender, people’s family circumstances can hold them back. And that is even after they have done enough work to get a “Dr” in front of their name. Today on the show, Soumaya and Anna discuss the problem and how to fix it.

Soumaya Keynes writes a column each week for the Financial Times. You can find it here

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jamaica’s economy struggled for decades, and at one point it had amassed debts worth more than 140 per cent of GDP. Even the IMF wouldn’t return its calls. But somehow, in the 2010s, it managed to halve its government debt – over just seven years. Today on the show, we ask how they did it, and what lessons Jamaica can teach much larger economies.

Soumaya Keynes writes a column each week for the Financial Times. You can find it here

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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This campaign, candidate Donald Trump is promising even more extreme versions of the policies that marked his first term. But what would higher, and more widespread, tariffs actually look like? And in what form would any retaliation come? Today on the show, Soumaya and the FT’s senior trade writer Alan Beattie discuss the candidate’s campaign promises on trade, and where they might lead.

Soumaya Keynes writes a column each week for the Financial Times. You can find it here

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Jared Bernstein is the chair of President Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers. Today on the show, Soumaya gets to put him in the hot seat. She grills him about everything from price caps to inflation to the recent jobs numbers. They even get into the mysterious problem of the vibes.

Soumaya Keynes writes a column each week for the Financial Times. You can find it here

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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When presidential candidate Kamala Harris proposed legislation to ban price gouging, we naturally thought to interview Isabella Weber, an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Weber’s paper on the subject lit up economic discussion in the wake of gas and food market disruptions caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Weber calls for governments to examine capping prices on certain staples, and amassing supplies to even out pricing. But is this prudent oversight of the markets, or a step down the road to central planning and scarcity?

Soumaya Keynes writes a column each week for the Financial Times. You can find it here

Subscribe to Soumaya's show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.