Latest Interviews
Showing 1–15 of 476 interview transcripts.
Clear all filters- The Economist7 min
Why China and America see AI differently | The Economist
While over 80% of the Chinese public maintains an optimistic view of AI driven by decades of technological progress, significant structural anxieties persist among tech workers facing age discrimination and mass layoffs. In response, authorities have launched a five-year monitoring strategy utilizing real-time data on power usage and payment flows to detect early signs of workforce disruption and preemptively stabilize the labor market. Despite these proactive government interventions aimed at balancing innovation with social stability, experts remain skeptical about whether retraining programs can match the rapid scale of AI-driven economic shifts without triggering explosive instability.
- The Economist6 min
Who’s really running Iran? | The Economist
David Rennie, Dr Sanam Vakil, Sir Simon Gass
Following a decapitation campaign by U.S. and Israeli forces that eliminated Iran's supreme leader and three layers of military command, the regime is navigating an existential survival war under the succession of the ailing Mojtaba Khamenei. Despite the loss of key figures like Ali Larijani, a consensus-based vote by 12 of 13 Supreme National Security Council members in June confirmed a unified commitment to signing a new MOU driven by rational forward defense rather than irrational hatred. Although the IRGC currently holds increased influence, the system faces critical uncertainty regarding Mojtaba's ability to replicate his predecessor's patronage network while managing severe health issues and a shifting political balance.
- The Economist9 min
Is billionaire wealth becoming more legitimate? | The Economist
Recent research distinguishes between "competitive wealth" derived from creating goods and services and "uncompetitive wealth" from natural resources or political favors, finding the former is expanding while the latter declines. This shift is driven by rapid consumer growth in China, strong market returns, and the mobile-first internet era, which has fueled self-made billionaires in sectors like entertainment and retail rather than just technology. Consequently, data indicates that effective tax rates for the wealthiest Americans are high and that aggressive wealth taxes on competitive entrepreneurs may incur greater economic costs than the benefits of curbing inequality.
- The Economist6 min
What can Big Macs tell you about the global economy? | The Economist
Zanny Minton Beddoes, Edward Carr, Simon, Henry, Josh
Conceived by economics correspondent Pam Woodall, the Big Mac Index uses McDonald's standardized burger prices to gauge Purchasing Power Parity and identify currency misalignments across nations. While widely cited in academic research and occasionally utilized for long-term investment strategy, the metric remains largely symbolic for traders and has faced public rejection from countries like Taiwan that actively undervalue their currencies. Despite successes such as predicting the euro's initial overvaluation, the index cannot account for institutional confidence or central bank policies that frequently drive exchange rates away from theoretical PPP values.
- The Economist8 min
Why knowing the future doesn't always help predict markets | The Economist
Elm Wealth's study compared the performance of laypeople, artificial intelligence models, and professional macro traders by simulating 15 days of trading with perfect future news on historical market data. While professionals doubled their starting capital by dynamically adjusting leverage based on confidence, average human and AI participants barely broke even or lost their entire stake due to poor bet sizing. The findings highlight that successful investing relies more on capital allocation and risk management than on superior directional prediction accuracy.
- The Economist7 min
Elon Musk on Europe, the far right and civil war in Britain | The Economist
Elon Musk, Zanny Minton Beddoes
Elon Musk and an interviewer clashed over the classification of his political views and his claims that civil war in Britain is inevitable due to demographic shifts. While Musk defended his promotion of a film depicting vigilante violence and rejected accusations of racism by citing his personal relationships, the interviewer challenged his assertions with crime statistics and labeled his influence on UK politics as irresponsible and based on a distorted American perception. Despite Musk's dismissal of his critics as a minority, the discussion highlighted a fundamental disagreement over his role in shaping public discourse and the validity of his warnings regarding Western safety and immigration.
- The Economist6 min
The art of deception in modern war | The Economist
The event analyzes how modern deception strategies now target an adversary's intent rather than mere presence to neutralize overwhelming surveillance, drawing on historical precedents like D-Day alongside recent intelligence failures in Ukraine, Israel, and Russia. It further details how transparent battlespaces compel forces to deploy resource-intensive drone operations that paradoxically increase human density and logistical footprints, requiring teams of five and nearly two tons of equipment per unit. By forcing enemies to waste munitions on decoys, these tactics aim to degrade capabilities, though the summary notes their inherent vulnerability and limited operational endurance of roughly three days.
- The Economist44 min
The final filmed interview with Sir Alex Younger, the late MI6 chief | The Economist
Sir Alex Younger, Shashank Joshi
Sir Alex Younger argues that the United States has lost the strategic initiative in its conflict with Iran, as Tehran's asymmetric warfare and selective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have forced the US to absorb unsustainable costs despite an effective air campaign. The interview highlights a fragile Iranian regime dominated by the IRGC, which retains leverage through deep intelligence penetration and nuclear stockpiles while benefiting from the war to suppress internal dissent and prolong its survival. Younger concludes that the conflict's global spillover disadvantages Western allies by diverting resources from the Pacific to the Middle East, exposing critical intelligence politicization risks under the Trump administration, and compelling Europe to develop independent hard power capabilities to counteract great power competition.
- The Economist7 min
Why the AI race won't have a winner | The Economist
Europe is pursuing a fragmented AI strategy that leverages sovereign capabilities in specific domains like audio processing and symbolic reasoning to capture a projected $1 trillion market without relying on a single US provider. National governments in France, Luxembourg, and other states are accelerating industrial policy to secure strategic power comparable to oil, prioritizing the ownership of AI infrastructure to enhance civil servant productivity. This approach aims to stabilize the region's economy against global commercial imbalances while addressing demographic challenges by using AI to augment, rather than replace, the aging workforce.
- The Economist7 min
Why Le Pen is keeping Trump at a distance | The Economist
Le Pen, Trump, Edward Carr, Adam Roberts, Sophie Pedder
France currently stands as Europe's only power combining significant military spending with the operational will to deploy forces globally, fostering a strong strategic partnership between President Macron and Prime Minister Starmer. Conversely, the rise of the far-right National Rally under Marine Le Pen threatens to fracture the EU's core France-Germany axis by prioritizing national sovereignty over integration, potentially clashing with Berlin on Ukraine policy and demanding fiscal concessions. While Le Pen's administration seeks to reduce EU contributions and rollback regulations, the French public's reluctance toward total withdrawal may force the party to adopt a more restrained, albeit disruptive, approach to European reform.
- The Economist56 min
A full-length interview with Tucker Carlson | The Economist
Tucker Carlson, Zanny Minton Beddoes, Jamin Beddows
Tucker Carlson argues that the United States has lost its strategic direction in the Middle East by allowing Israeli leadership to dictate security policy that accelerates regional chaos and undermines long-term national interests. He contends that America must pivot toward a power-sharing arrangement with China, abandoning futile defenses of Taiwan while reestablishing a central alliance with Europe to counter Russian influence. Ultimately, Carlson asserts that current US foreign policy is non-strategic and driven by foreign lobbying rather than the national interest, urging a return to an America First doctrine focused on geographic spheres of influence.
- The Economist8 min
Has the AI boom entered a manic new phase? | The Economist
Henry Curr, Mike Bird, Josh Roberts
US equity markets have reached near-record capitalization levels driven primarily by massive AI-focused "giga IPOs" like SpaceX and anticipated offerings from Anthropic and OpenAI. This concentration, now comprising nearly 40% of the S&P 500, coincides with unusual retail participation and inverted options pricing that signal a shift toward speculative mania. Simultaneously, major technology firms have redirected capital expenditure toward infrastructure, causing a collapse in free cash flow and transforming the sector into a dominant force in global corporate debt markets.
- The Economist8 min
Why European oil companies are doing better than America's | The Economist
European energy giants BP, Shell, and Total currently generate trading profits estimated at $15–20 billion by leveraging global logistical networks to execute volumes five to ten times higher than their actual production. While American majors like ExxonMobil and state-owned entities such as Saudi Aramco aggressively recruit talent to close this gap, they face a multi-year deficit in refining the agile, high-efficiency operations that have allowed European firms to capture roughly one-fifth of their total earnings. This competitive landscape is driven by Europe's historical necessity to develop independent trading capabilities, contrasting with the US focus on domestic resource exploitation that initially stifled their market agility.
- The Economist9 min
Why America is stepping away from the institutions it built | The Economist
U.S. foreign policy is undergoing a structural shift from values-based engagement to a transactional approach, driven by a bipartisan consensus that the post-World War II order has failed to deliver sufficient economic returns or strategic advantages. Former President Trump's 2015 platform catalyzed this pivot by framing the abandonment of multilateral institutions as a correction to decades of free-riding, leading to increased reliance on tariffs and coercive trade rather than traditional alliances. Experts project three potential futures for this realignment: a renegotiated U.S. hegemony, a fragmented status quo, or a chaotic descent into systemic collapse triggered by unchecked military coercion.
- The Economist7 min
Should Latin America replicate El Salvador’s President Bukele’s crackdown on gangs? | The Economist
Bukele, Zanny Minton Beddoes, Edward Carr
El Salvador has dramatically reduced its murder rate to levels comparable to Canada by imprisoning 2% of its adult population while systematically dismantling democratic institutions, including the legislature and judiciary, to consolidate power under President Nayib Bukele. This authoritarian security model exploits the distinct economics of extortion, which relies on civilian reporting, unlike drug trafficking operations where high profits from prohibition incentivize continued cultivation and recruitment. While experts debate the exportability of Bukele's tactics, the consensus identifies the legalization of cocaine and the shift from military eradication to financial investigation as the only viable long-term strategies to dismantle illicit trade networks.