## Eswar Prasad on Escaping the Doom Loop

_IMF Podcasts_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Eswar Prasad on Escaping the Doom Loop](https://www.imf.org/en/news/podcasts/all-podcasts/2026/05/06/eswar-prasad-doom-loop)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/news/podcasts/all-podcasts/2026/05/06/eswar-prasad-doom-loop/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/news/podcasts/all-podcasts/2026/05/06/eswar-prasad-doom-loop/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/news/podcasts/all-podcasts/2026/05/06/eswar-prasad-doom-loop/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Guest: Eswar Prasad-podcast

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### Episode summary
- The podcast was published May 6, 2026.
- The episode centers on Eswar S. Prasad’s latest book, The Doom Loop.
- The project began as an exploration of promising recent trends in global economic and power structures but revealed darker dynamics instead.
- The podcast highlights how positive forces that normally bring stability can begin to work against each other, producing a negative feedback loop that has led to the erosion of institutions across the globe.
- A transcript is available.
- A book review will appear in the June issue of IMF's Finance & Development magazine.

### Principal themes and findings
- The Doom Loop concept:
  - Describes dynamics in which mutually reinforcing forces that typically stabilize systems instead interact to create negative feedback.
  - Explains how those dynamics contribute to institutional erosion worldwide.
- Analytical focus:
  - Shifts from initial optimism about structural trends to diagnosing a darker set of interactions undermining stability.
- Institutional implications:
  - The episode links the Doom Loop dynamics directly to the weakening of institutions, implying broad systemic risk.

### Author and expertise
- ESWAR PRASAD is a professor of economics at Cornell University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
- The episode features insights drawn from Eswar Prasad’s book, The Doom Loop.

### Production and series context
- The episode is part of the IMF podcast program produced by Bruce Edwards.
  - Bruce Edwards is an award-winning audio producer and journalist who produces the IMF podcast program and aims to showcase economists’ research in IMF podcasts.
- The episode is presented under F&D Magazine and categorized within Geoeconomics.

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## Content in this bundle

- [Eswar Prasad Doomloop Mix 2 Small (MP3)](/-/media/files/news/podcasts/mp3/english/2026/eswar-prasad-doomloop-mix-2-small.mp3){rel="external" type="audio/mpeg"}

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## References

- [Finance & Development](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd)
- [Jeffry Frieden: The Cost of Geoeconomic Coercion](https://www.imf.org/en/news/podcasts/all-podcasts/2026/06/23/jeffrey-frieden-coercion)
- [Trade among Geopolitical Rivals: Michele Ruta](https://www.imf.org/en/news/podcasts/all-podcasts/2026/06/11/michele-ruta-trade-cooperation)
- [Nationalizations Get Another Look: Nicholas Mulder](https://www.imf.org/en/news/podcasts/all-podcasts/2026/06/04/nicholas-mulder-on-nationalizations)
- [Ha-Joon Chang on Infant Industry Protection](https://www.imf.org/en/news/podcasts/all-podcasts/2026/08/10/ha-joon-chang-2026)
- [Krishna Srinivasan on Asia’s Next Chapter](https://www.imf.org/en/news/podcasts/all-podcasts/2026/09/01/krishna-srinivasan-sept-2026)
- [Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas on the Story Behind the Number](https://www.imf.org/en/news/podcasts/all-podcasts/2026/06/30/pierre-olivier-gourinchas-2026)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/podcasts/all-podcasts/2026/05/06/eswar-prasad-doom-loop_