Martin Wolf on the World

As Americans prepare to vote in the November 3 midterm elections, the FT’s chief economics commentator Martin Wolf asks what the result will mean for Donald Trump, the future of US democracy and America's place in the world. In the third of a six-part series, Martin speaks to political scientist and author Barbara F Walter, an expert on civil wars and political violence, about the risk of unrest surrounding the elections. Drawing on her research into countries around the world, Walter explains the warning signs of political violence, and why America's changing demographics and the struggle to hold on to political power are fuelling divisions. How close is the US to a dangerous tipping point? And can American democracy emerge from the midterms stronger rather than more divided?

To enjoy future episodes, be sure to subscribe to ‘Martin Wolf on the World’ wherever you get your podcasts. You can also watch Martin’s podcast series on the FT’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@FinancialTimes

Host: Martin Wolf

Producer: Mischa Frankl-Duval

Senior producers: Laurence Knight and Edwin Lane

Executive producer: Manuela Saragosa

Video editor: Richard Topping

Senior Audio Engineer: Breen Turner

Broadcast engineers: Andrew Georgiades

Podcast development: Laura Clarke

FT Global Head of Audio: Flo Phillips

Learn more at http://www.ft.com/martin-wolf-on-the-world

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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As Americans prepare to vote in the November 3 midterm elections, FT chief economics commentator Martin Wolf asks what the result will mean for Donald Trump, the future of US democracy and America's place in the world. In the second of a six-part series of interviews with leading historians and political analysts, Martin speaks to Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author Anne Applebaum about the global stakes of November’s elections. They discuss the parallels between Trump’s America and other authoritarian regimes and what the US’s changing role means for Europe and Ukraine. Even if Trump suffers a political setback, can the US ever regain the trust of its allies?

To enjoy future episodes, be sure to subscribe to ‘Martin Wolf on the World’ wherever you get your podcasts. You can also watch Martin’s podcast series on the FT’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@FinancialTimes

Host: Martin Wolf

Producer: Mischa Frankl-Duval

Senior producer: Laurence Knight

Executive producer: Manuela Saragosa

Video editor: Claire Justin

Audio engineering: Breen Turner

Broadcast engineers: Andrew Georgiades

Podcast development: Laura Clarke

FT global head of audio: Flo Phillips

Learn more at http://www.ft.com/martin-wolf-on-the-world

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

As Americans prepare to vote in the November 3 midterm elections, FT chief economics commentator Martin Wolf asks what the result will mean for Donald Trump, the future of US democracy and America's place in the world. In the first of a six-part series of interviews with leading historians and political analysts, Martin speaks to the scholar and former Republican adviser Robert Kagan, who has spent a decade warning about Trump's authoritarian ambitions. They discuss how Trump has accumulated so much power, whether America's democratic institutions can still constrain him, and what might happen if Republicans lose control of Congress. Could these elections mark a turning point for American democracy or has the country already gone too far down the road towards authoritarianism?

Watch the full episode now on the FT’s main YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@FinancialTimes

Host: Martin Wolf

Producer: Mischa Frankl-Duval

Senior Producer: Laurence Knight

Executive Producer: Manuela Saragosa

Video Editor: Richard Topping

Audio engineering: Breen Turner

Broadcast engineers: Andrew Georgiadis

Podcast development: Laura Clarke

FT Global Head of Audio: Flo Phillips

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

In the first of this four-part series, the renowned FT columnist and economist Martin Wolf tells the FT’s executive opinion editor Jonathan Derbyshire why he fears the marriage of liberal economics and democracy may be facing its toughest test in decades. Drawing on arguments in his latest book, The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism, Martin explains how his own life story and career have shaped his views.

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Martin Wolf: in defence of democratic capitalism

For Martin’s FT columns click here

For the FT review of Martin’s book click here

This episode is presented by Jonathan Derbyshire. The producer is Laurence Knight. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa and the sound engineer is Breen Turner. The FT's global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Clips: BBC, CNN, Fox News

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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The fault lines in the currency union stand revealed. The promise was that the eurozone would deliver its members from currency crises. But, as I, and others, warned, be careful what you wish for: credit crises would replace currency crises – and these are likely to be even worse.

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Borrowing is no sin, provided we use the funds to ensure that we bequeath a better infrastructure to the future, says Martin Wolf

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Berlin’s emphasis on deflationary adjustment in weaker countries risks turning the eurozone as a whole into a gigantic Germany, dependent on importing demand from the rest of the world, says Martin Wolf

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They came; they saw; they lost. That is the reaction to what emerged on global rebalancing at the summit meeting of the Group of 20 leading countries in Seoul last week. Publicly, surplus countries persist in calling on those in deficit to deflate themselves into economic health. The consequences of this folly are now evident in the eurozone. At the world level, the US will never accept it. But, beneath the radar, something more productive may be emerging.

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The International Monetary Fund does not normally respond to mere journalists. But its staff have explicitly rejected my arguments on the pace of fiscal consolidation in the UK. On one point – the need for a fiscal “plan B” – the IMF takes my side in the argument with the government. This is no small victory, not least because its latest report on the UK reads, in other respects, as if dictated to it by the Treasury.

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The sky is falling, scream the hysterics: the Federal Reserve is pouring forth dollars in such quantities that they will soon be worthless. Nothing could be further from the truth. As in Japan, the policy known as “quantitative easing” is far more likely to prove ineffective than lethal. It is a leaky hose, not a monetary Noah’s Flood.

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The debate on “global imbalances” has gone back to the future. The proposal from Tim Geithner, the US Treasury secretary, to target the current account takes us back to the preoccupations of John Maynard Keynes at the Bretton Woods conference of July 1944.

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Martin Wolf admires the courage of the government as it launches its spending review without a Plan B but wonders whether the public will accept the necessary pain

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A large part of the American public has forgotten the gravity of the financial heart attack that hit the US in the autumn of 2008. The Republicans have convinced many voters that the intervention by the Democrats, not the catastrophe George W Bush bequeathed, explains the malaise. Does President Obama deserve blame? No and yes, says Martin Wolf.

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This may be a great policy success or the biggest fiscal blunder since the early 1930s. More likely, it will be in between, says Martin Wolf.

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With the announcement of massive cuts in government spending the UK has launched a remarkable policy experiment. The contrast with the US – which has announced none – should at least be instructive, says Martin Wolf.

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The changes will bring pain. But the upside is also huge. The government should grasp this nettle now, says Martin Wolf

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US policymakers will do whatever is required to avoid deflation. Indeed, the Fed will keep going until the US is satisfactorily reflated. What that effort does to the rest of the world is not its concern, says Martin Wolf

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The post-crisis world economy will not work so long as its most dynamic economy is also its largest capital exporter. Policies that would turn China into a net importer would benefit both its own people and the rest of the world, says Martin Wolf

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Effective policy would see the government increase its deficit and have this rise funded by the Bank of England, says Martin Wolf

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Twenty five years ago, France, West Germany, Japan, the US and the UK met at the Plaza Hotel in New York and agreed to push for depreciation of the US dollar. Today America has the same desire. But this time, the focus of attention is not a compliant ally, such as Japan, but the world’s next superpower: China. When such elephants fight, bystanders are likely to be trampled, says Martin Wolf

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