Your Weekend Podcast Roundup

IMF Blog, August 20, 2021

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Canonical URL: Your Weekend Podcast Roundup

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Bibliographic details

Authors: The Editors
Published: August 20, 2021

Overview and key statistic

Publication date: August 20, 2021
According to the latest Infinite Dial survey from Edison Research and Triton Digital, the percentage of people listening to podcasts weekly grew 17 percent in 2021.

Purpose and context

Curated list of podcast interviews selected by the editors at Finance & Development.
Intended for weekend listening while traveling or doing household tasks.

Featured podcast interviews and main themes

Ruchir Agarwal with a Proposal to End the Pandemic
- Argument: There will be no durable end to the economic crisis until enough people around the world are vaccinated against Covid-19.
- Collaboration: Economist Ruchir Agarwal and IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath present a plan to achieve widespread vaccination.

Nikita Aggarwal on the New Morality of Debt
- Presenter: Nikita Aggarwal, research associate at the Digital Ethics Lab at Oxford University's Internet Institute.
- Theme: Increasingly online lives provide valuable data for lenders and add new dimensions to the morality of debt.

Biyamin Appelbaum on Why Distribution Matters
- Theme: Rising inequality is weighing on growth and straining the fabric of liberal democracy.
- Note: Interest among economists in distributional issues has surged, though some still question its importance.

Luc Eyraud on Wooing Investors to Africa’s Development
- Theme: With public finances stretched, IMF research explores innovative ways to involve the private sector in financing Africa's development needs.
- Point: Fixing the business environment helps but sometimes is not enough to attract investment.

Rana Foroohar on the Economic and Social Force of Big Tech
- Presenter: Rana Foroohar, Global Business Columnist and Associate Editor at the Financial Times.
- Theme: The exponential growth of Big Tech firms and implications for the global economy.

Trevor Manuel on South Africa’s Lost Decade
- Presenter: Trevor Manuel, veteran of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle and former minister of finance.
- Theme: Reflection on drivers of the country's longest phase of economic growth and how the ruling party has lost its way.

Oral Williams on How Technical Assistance Translates into Better Live
- Presenter: Oral Williams, head of the IMF Regional Capacity Development Center for Anglophone West Africa and coauthor of a study.
- Finding: The study shows a direct relationship between technical assistance and improvement in tax revenues.
- Argument: Providing technical assistance and training leads to better living standards for more people.

Janet Yellen on Womenomics
- Participants: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
- Occasion: Conversation in celebration of International Women's Day.
- Theme: Advancement of women in the field of economics.

Engagement

Call to action: Readers invited to complete a 3-question survey on IMFBlog.

Source: Your Weekend Podcast Roundup, The Editors, August 20, 2021.

References