The Davos Summit of the World Economic Forum (WEF) draws a lot of attention every year. Started by German engineer Klaus Schwab, the WEF the stated mission to "engage business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.” It's no wonder there are a lot of conspiracy hypotheses about the real motivations of such an organisation. But despite their image as the club of the wealthy elites, the reality is much less sinister, but could somehow be worse than the conspiracy theories about lizard people... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apparently us guys think about the Roman Empire 5 times a day, but from an economic Perspective it's hard to see why. While they did build a lot of architectural monuments, their economy was actually rather pathetic by almost all metrics. Why was Rome, which had a large empire and notoriety throughout Europe for millennia after its demise, actually a very weak economy? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

France's problems arguably go back 200 years to their slow and steady approach to adopting industrialisation. While many other countries can learn from France's strong protection for workers' rights, at the moment this has made France a very uncompetitive country with some of the worst brain drain across the EU. Why work in France for lower wages when they can make so much more in the UK, Germany and the US. Is France stuck at just being the place with fancy handbags and perfumes, or can it change it's economy to stay internationally competitive? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is no more deadly area in the world than the DMZ between North and South Korea. Millions of mines, guns and surveillance prevent anyone from crossing. But if tensions were to somehow stop and North and South Korea reunite into one country, it would still be almost impossible to combine their economies. Why would we not be able to use the lessons learned by the reunification of East and West Germany? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Japan's economy has been stagnant for 2 decades, and while some economists look at this as an outlier, it might be something that just happens to all advanced economies, and Japan just got there first. After suffering the "lost generation", can Japan come back and recover growth, or is their fate one we will all eventually reach? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Australia's biggest export is natural resources, and as we have talked about on the channel many times, this isn't always a great thing for an economy. Resources don't provide much value to the local economy, especially in Australia where mines are thousands of miles from residential centres, and they don't employ all that many people for the massive wealth they create. Australia lags far behind technological centres like the US, but somehow has a strong economy. How has it done this and what can we learn from a country that just digs holes and builds homes? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While California is famous for its industries, Texas has so many incredible advantages and opportunities that it could one day overtake the biggest state economy in the US. What possible issues could affect the rapidly growing Texan economy, and what could its future look like? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/ee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Terms and conditions apply. The EU represents the third largest economy globally, with a population of 447 million people and 20 member states. Its five largest countries are Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Poland. However, the EU faces several significant economic challenges, including the debt crisis, Brexit, and tensions with major energy suppliers. This video explores these challenges, as well as the potential impact of a non-unified Europe on the global economy and the likelihood of other nations following the UK's example and leaving the union. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/ee⁠⁠⁠⁠. Terms and conditions apply. There's a reason we include confidence and stability on our National Leaderboard. It might not be an easily measurable economic metric, but it can have a massive effect on a national economy. If people don't have confidence that a country is in good hands and will be managed well into the future, then they will stop investing there. So why is the UK having a crisis of confidence, and to what extent is London to blame for the two-tier society that the UK is becoming? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/ee⁠⁠⁠. Terms and conditions apply. The first video we did on this channel was about Norway, a country that has some of the wealthiest citizens in the world, as well as incredible economic management. They avoided the Dutch disease when they discovered offshore oil, but now they have discovered the world's largest reserves of phosphates. Could this strategic resource cause issues, or will it make Norwegians even more wealthy than they already are? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Check out our new YouTube Channel Context Matters: https://www.youtube.com/@context.matters The consequences of politicising economics can be deep and long lasting. We would all like to think that economists focus on data and remove the personal and political from their studies, but we are not naive enough to believe this is true. Politicians want to get elected, and economists want to bolster their careers. So what can happen when the people who are supposed to be studying and looking after the economy ignore the data, or even worse, collect skewed and false data to support their opinions? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Italy is in trouble... but this doesn't seem to be a new thing. With mountainous protection from the north and great trade connections through the Mediterranean sea, Italy has been in an ideal geographic position that has benefitted the country economically for millennia. After a decade of stagnation, can Italy boom like it has in the past, or is this time different? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all know that corruption is a bad thing. People in government or the public sector using their position to personally enrich themselves is a form of stealing, but in some situations this can actually help to grow an economy. But in what situations, and how long can corruption continue to grow an economy once it becomes more developed? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most countries really want to bring in tourists for the big infusion of money into the local economy. But Bhutan makes it incredibly expensive to visit, and bans all visitors from climbing the parts of the Himalayan mountains that are within their borders. Why? Do they just want to protect their culture from tourists, with the hotels, photo spots and trouble that comes with them? And does make the people happier? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If unintended consequences aren't considered, there can be a real and deadly trade-off between economic benefit and human wellbeing. Making poor policy decisions that may seem like economic opportunities can and have lead to famines, economic collapse and people losing their livelihoods, homes and lives. This is why economics is so important, and poor economic decision making can literally be fatal for millions of people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're exploring South Korea's impressive economic transformation, from an agrarian backwater to a global powerhouse. Home to internationally recognized companies and cutting-edge industries, South Korea is a fascinating case study for economists worldwide. In this video, we'll examine the drivers of South Korea's potential growth in the next decade, the obstacles that could undermine its entire economic system, and why this is all so important for the rest of us outside South Korea for our own economies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We've avoided talking about the gender pay gap for a long time because, frankly, it's an emotional topic. But this year's Nobel Prize in Economics (Sveriges Riksbank Prize) was awarded to Claudia Goldin for her work explaining the gender pay gap using historical data and taking the emotion out of the equation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Argentina's prosperity used to rival the US, but now it is bouncing between economic highs and lows. In just decades, it's seen rapid growth and dire crashes five times. What keeps derailing this nation's economy, and can it break the cycle, and what can we learn from their unique economic situation? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Deng Xiaoping's reforms in the 80s transformed Shenzhen, a small town near Hong Kong, into an economic powerhouse. China's rapid growth lifted millions from poverty but did it grow too quickly to be sustainable? Now China faces deflation, and experts are worried that this could spell the end of the economic miracle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Poland defies European economic trends by having one of the fastest-growing economies on the continent. While many European nations face stagnation, Poland shines, even outperforming its former Soviet counterparts, including resource-rich Russia. Despite historical challenges and its unique geopolitical situation, Poland's success offers insights for struggling economies worldwide, although it faces hurdles ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's a massive cost that every developed economy has to deal with that nobody talks about... Infrastructure maintenance. It sounds boring but all of those developments that governments love to talk up can end up costing a fortune to maintain. So what can we do about this and why is this such a problem? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes as economists we need to analyse complex decisions to understand what the outcomes might be. On the more baffling end of the scale we have Saudi Arabia spending billions on football, golf and Formula 1 stars who are mostly a little past their prime to come and play in the largely unknown Saudi leagues. Is this simply sports-washing (a PR stunt) or is there something more clever going on? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/ee⁠⁠. Terms and conditions apply. Niger's coup has set a lot in motion. It's rich in uranium which has gotten France involved, and China's belt and road initiative was set to draw oil from Niger, which could help grow their desperately poor economy, and somehow Russia's Wagner group is involved. But with its suspended membership of ECOWAS, things are about to get much worse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/ee⁠⁠. Terms and conditions apply. Trade wars are costing the world trillions of dollars every year, but far less attention is paid to the movement and control of the movement of skills and labour. It is much easier than ever before to take an education and move to a country where workers can benefit personally, but at a certain cost to the country that trained them. Skills wars may be the new trade wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/ee⁠⁠. Terms and conditions apply. Brunei is a welfare state, where the government basically pays for everything from national defence to schools, energy to heavily subsidised housing. But their oil reserves are running out and they aren't diversifying their export industry quickly enough to prepare for the day when they no longer have a free lunch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/ee⁠⁠. Terms and conditions apply. We wanted to highlight the paradox of global economic growth alongside isolated national crises. Why do certain economies like Lebanon, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan face collapse when the global economy is reaching unprecedented highs? We'll identify common factors behind these failures, and discuss potential solutions to safeguard other nations from similar fates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/ee⁠⁠. Terms and conditions apply. Economists can't seem to decide if we need more or fewer children? Does overpopulation drain Earth's resources too much or does an ageing population threaten economies? What challenges does either option present and can we solve this paradox? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/ee⁠⁠. Terms and conditions apply. AI raises concerns for jobs and society. As machines surpass human abilities, a growing number of complex jobs are being outsourced to machine who can do better work for a lower cost. This prompts questions about how economic systems can adapt to most people having a net negative economic value." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/ee⁠. Terms and conditions apply. What has prevented Iran, teeming with natural resources and a young, educated population, from becoming a world-leading economy? How did it go from rapid growth to economic failure, and why is it still unable to fulfil it's potential? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/ee⁠⁠. Terms and conditions apply. BRICS, an influential economic alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, is reshaping the global economy. Plans for increased trade and a common currency may challenge the West, leading to concerns about political and economic shifts globally. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/ee⁠⁠. Terms and conditions apply. Singapore, once a poor nation, rose to the 33rd largest economy in 50 years, inspiring other countries globally. Yet, its unique journey, often misunderstood to be solely based on glamorous industries, is not easy to replicate, and many economists forget the draconian measures it took to build Singapore into the wealthy country it is today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Burry, the investor made famous when he shorted the US housing market before the crash of 2008, has recently bet against the US Bond market. Why would he do that and what relationship between the economy and the stock market made him think this would work? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos setting their sights on space exploration and development, there must be some commercially viable industries in space and on Mars, right? Well, it's a little more complicated than just mining the asteroids that contain trillions of dollars of value, or building heavy things in micro-gravity, and certainly a base on Mars might cost more than it's worth. Making Mars a viable economy might not even be possible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/ee⁠. Terms and conditions apply. Is $2.2 trillion per year wasted on the military, or is this massive spending necessary to defend the freedoms we enjoy? In this video we explain why military spending may be a necessary evil using the prisoner's dilemma and reframing some narratives about military spending you may have heard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at https://www.linkedin.com/ee. Terms and conditions apply. It might sound absurd, but some economists are talking about the possibility of the US defaulting on its debts, closing off to global trade and using its own domestic industries and energy production to save its economy, which currently is tipping further and further into unsustainable national debt (Fitch just downgraded the US credit rating from AAA to AA+). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at https://www.linkedin.com/ee. Terms and conditions apply. Unfortunately for theoretical economists, we are not allowed to run economics experiments on the whole of society to see definitively whether or not certain economic policies or systems work in practice. Millions of lives hang in the balance, so this is an ethical non-starter. But we can study countries that have experimented with socialism, communism, and laissez faire capitalism to see what the outcomes are. And the experiments have been done. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California, the US's third largest state, ranks as the world's 4th or 5th economy all by itself. With an output over $3.5 trillion, Californians are among the globe's top producers. But despite its growth, the state faces challenges: global pressures, population decline, and social problems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Global inequality is one of the biggest economic issues facing the world today. Global wealth is now thousands of times what it has been for the vast majority of human history, and yet a lot of that wealth is being hoarded by a smaller and smaller group of people. We were lucky enough to speak to Francisco Ferreira from the London School of Economics, an expert on global inequality and its impacts on developing countries, which have the potential to be the economic powerhouses of the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Indonesia's economy has been growing rapidly, and thanks to a younger population it could be on track to become one of the biggest economies in the world. There are a few things holding Indonesia back, such as Jakarta sinking into the ocean, but with their natural resource wealth and access to the world's oceans, it could become a huge player in making the goods we all use every day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite Mexico's strategic advantages and booming manufacturing sector due to global trade shifts, they haven't taken opportunities to replace China as a major manufacturer for the US. What factors stifle Mexico's growth and are there drawbacks to its proximity to the US? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When people think of Taiwan, they mostly think of tensions with China and the fact that Taiwan is a major manufacturing centre for the world's semiconductors. But Taiwan's leaders actually made some big bets decades ago that are paying off now, with a GDP per capita roughly 3 times that of mainland China. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The global wealth disparity has been greatly exacerbated by the pandemic, and there is a concentration of wealth among the top 1.2% of people. We explore factors causing inequality, the role of debt, and finding an optimal level of inequality (because you do need some). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Global debt has now topped $300 trillion USD, or three times total global economic output. This is a number that is going to have very real consequences for billions of people around the world, but as scary as the number sounds there is still reason to be optimistic and there are still reasons why most economists handling this issue are not too worried just yet. To help us understand this issue in the course of our research we were lucky enough to speak to Dr. Jason Furman an economics professor at Harvard University and a former economic policy director for the Obama Administration. His understanding of an issue as large as global debt is truly valuable not only because of his impressive academic background but also because he is one of only a handful of people in the world that has ever had their hands on the proverbial controls of economic policy at this scale.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the global debt of over $300 trillion really a problem? And does debt for the global economy work in a different way from debt on an individual level? In this video we'll explain who holds all the debt that countries and businesses owe, and whether this will be a big problem in the near future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a fantastic interview with Prof. Billari (Bocconi University) about education. A better educated economy is usually better, all things being equal, but issues like student debt, skills misalignment, migration and brain drain can put a lot of pressure on an economy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Education is rightly seen as one of the best ways to develop a country’s economy, as more productive workers can create better living standards for everyone. But is there a limit to the benefits of education and should countries be wary of this double-edged sword? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The US has had a much greater level of growth than the EU in the past decade despite the pandemic and Europe having a large collection of advanced economies with highly educated populations. Why is Europe always lagging behind? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tuvalu is a tiny island nation confronting existential threats. Rising sea levels jeopardize its sparse population and limited economy. As the nation becomes inhabitable, this video will explore what the economy of Tuvalu is reliant upon, and the measures to save it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices