Danny Quah. Li Ka Shing Professor in Economics and Dean at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, joins Kopi Time. A scholar whose focus ranges from inequality to income mobility, international systems of trade and finance to world order among superpowers, Prof Quah underscores the importance of building greater resilience to pandemic, climate change, and technology waves. He also cares about social cohesion, without which even wealthy societies can stumble. ...
Dec 09, 2021•49 min•Ep. 66
We welcome Martin Mühleisen , who until last year ran the International Monetary Fund’s Strategy, Policy, and Review Department. In a frank and wide ranging discussion, Martin assesses the global policy response to the pandemic, its seismic scale, impact, and potential costs. He considers our two generational challenges, inequality and climate change, and mulls over the political and macro cyclical dimensions of fighting these two trends. Martin is wary of multilateral over-reach, especially in ...
Nov 23, 2021•54 min•Ep. 65
Neeraj Seth, Managing Director and Head of Asian Fixed Income at BlackRock, joins to Kopi Time to talk about rates and credit outlook in the US, China, and rest of Asia. We begin with an overview of the current slowing-growth-firming-inflation dynamic, which Neeraj finds not alarming given the lingering strength in demand, and the supply side nature of production disruptions and inflation. He also thinks the US credit/rates space is likely to remain supported in 2022 even around a Fed taper wind...
Oct 27, 2021•41 min•Ep. 64
Dr. Ilan Goldfajn, former Governor of the Central Bank of Brazil (2016-19) and presently Chairman of the Board, Credit Suisse Brazil, joins Kopi Time to share his deep expertise on economic policy making and financial markets. We begin by talking about the policy space available in EM and DM to deal with the soaring cost of the pandemic. Ilan then shares his view on the social, political, and institutional dimensions of the cycle in Latin America. He proceeds to offer his views on the global inf...
Oct 06, 2021•37 min•Ep. 63
Paul Hiebert, head of Systemic Risk & Financial Institutions Division at European Central Bank, returns to Kopi Time to talk about ECB’s views on financial stability. We go over the pandemic’s impact on the financial system, interest rate sensitivity of various sectors, corporate solvency risks, and household balance sheets. We then move on to longer dated risks, of which climate change is the one that looms the largest. Paul shares with us the findings on measuring and modelling climate cha...
Sep 15, 2021•47 min•Ep. 62
Dr. Ma Jun wears many hats. The former PBOC Chief Economist is now the President of Institute of Finance and Sustainability in Beijing, Chairman of China Green Finance Committee, Special Advisor to PBOC Governor, Co-Chair of G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group, and Co-Chair of Steering Committee of Green Investment Principles for the Belt & Road. He begins with a startling figure: by his estimates, China would need to invest resources amounting to 10% of GDP every year for the next four de...
Sep 01, 2021•37 min•Ep. 61
On a recent beautiful afternoon, in the island of Sentosa, Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer, Monetary Authority of Singapore, joined Kopi Time to go over the nation’s burgeoning FinTech sector. He begins the conversation by noting that Singapore’s relatively small market size paved the way for numerous innovations in the area of business-to-business fintech: “Constraint brings new opportunity.” He then goes over Singapore’s journey of developing fin-tech relevant human capital , raising g...
Aug 04, 2021•39 min•Ep. 60
Anne Krueger, a veteran of international economics, Senior Research Professor at the School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, joins Kopi Time. She is candid in her criticism of the current US administration’s stance on trade with China, guarded about the usefulness of industrial policy, and against a substantial rise in federal minimum wage. With sharp reasoning, she breaks down the risks associated with inflation, stimulus measures, international support to deal with...
Jul 21, 2021•48 min•Ep. 59
"The risk is the Fed doesn’t overshoot 2% inflation by a small margin, but by a large amount. ” "Low interest rate cannot help the poor who don’t own real and financial assets. They need wage increases." Astute long-term market observer Komal Sri-Kumar (President of Sri-Kumar Global Strategies, Senior Fellow at the Milken Institute) returns to Kopi Time to share his concerns on economic overheating, inflation risks, Fed credibility, housing market, and rising inequality. Sri switched from being ...
Jul 07, 2021•54 min•Ep. 58
Dr. Hyun Song Shin, Economic Adviser and Head of Research at the Bank for International Settlements, joins Kopi Time to discuss the latest in Central Bank Digital Currencies or CBDCs. We begin with the basics: is CBDC nothing more than a digital banknote? What kind of interest in CBDCs is there among the community of central banks? What kind of payments, settlement, or other financial/social problems at the domestic level can be solved by a CBDC? What about cross border payments? What are the id...
Jun 24, 2021•54 min•Ep. 57
