The Penta Podcast Channel is home to all of Penta's podcasts, including the Macrocast and What's At Stake: A Penta Podcast. The Macrocast, produced by Penta and Markets Policy Partners, features weekly insight and analysis on the latest macroeconomic trends. What's at Stake: a Penta Podcast features in-house experts and often special guests for analysis on the biggest issues shaping business and public policy.
On today's Macrocast, hosts Ylan, John, and Brendan are joined by Marc Goldwein, senior policy director at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, to break down the debt ceiling deal and its implications for fiscal and monetary policy going forward. Plus, the group dives into this month's surprisingly strong jobs report. Does the Fed have one more hike in it, or will it finally let up? Read Penta's May Jobs Day fact sheet here ....
This week on What's at Stake, host Elliott Owensby is joined by Penta experts Andy Whitehouse and Jill Craig to dive into the complicated mergers and acquisitions landscape companies are facing today. With a focus on the crucial role of communications and public affairs, they explore the complexities of completing transactions in today's uncertain macroeconomic environment while effectively managing stakeholder expectations. What are the key developments shaping the M&A landscape in the US a...
In this week's episode of the Macrocast, Ylan Mui, Brendan Walsh, and John Fagan tackle the looming issue of the approaching debt ceiling X-date, discussing the Treasury's decision to delay note auctions and the ripple effects the situation has had on the market. What can we expect from the Fed in the back half of this year? Does the White House have an ace up its sleeve in negotiations? And what does the "Taylor Swift economy" have to do with any of this? Tune in to this week's Macrocast to fin...
In this installment of What's at Stake, we are going to our archives and re-visiting an episode perfect for recent graduates hoping to land a job in D.C. Penta President Matt McDonald spoke with Tom Manatos, Head of Federal Affairs at Block and the mind behind Tom Manatos Jobs, and Mo Elleithee, Executive Director of Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service. The trio break down the D.C. job landscape, explain the importance of building your network, and offer their best a...
Today's Macrocast is a special one! First, Ylan interviews Raphael Bostic, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, with whom she spoke earlier this week at the 2023 Federal Reserve Financial Markets Conference. The pair discuss how the Fed makes predictions and decisions to tackle economic crises. Bostic explains that the Fed has amended the way they survey the private sector, including engaging local business leaders early, in order to identify coming economic trends, like inf...
On this week's episode of What's at Stake, Stratton Kirton hosts Penta Partners Andrea Christianson and Rory O’Donnell, who have both done extensive work on agriculture, food, and trade. With supply chain shocks, Russia's war in Ukraine, and climate change, there is a renewed spotlight on global food production and supply chains. In the U.S., Congress is writing a multi-year farm bill that will help shape what kind of food U.S. farmers grow, how they raise it, and how it gets to consumers. Simil...
This week on the Macrocast, Ylan Mui, Brendan Walsh, and John Fagan sit down with Jeanna Smialek, Federal Reserve and Economics reporter for the New York Times and author of the book "Limitless: The Federal Reserve Takes on a New Crisis." The group explores the challenges the Fed tackled during the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has been navigating the political and economic aftermath since. As pandemic-era policy winds down, how can the Fed stay above the political fray? And how will upcoming dis...
On the latest episode of "What's at Stake," Bryan DeAngelis hosts Penta Partner Lauren Wolfson and Managing Director Melissa Manson. With the Biden administration set to officially terminate the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11, the group reflects on the changes to the way we work that have occurred since the pandemic began over three years ago, and explores the challenges and opportunities this new era brings. Penta's experts begin by discussing which of their remote work predictions ...
On today's Macrocast, Ylan and Brendan host Wendy Edelberg, director of the Hamilton Project and a senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. They break down this morning's latest jobs day numbers, which signal an optimistic outlook for the labor market, even as the economy shows signs of cooling. On the flip side, the group warns of the impact of inflation expectations on wages as the Fed continues to hike interest rates. Plus, how will political dynamics affect market vola...
On May 6, King Charles will have his formal coronation in London, nearly eight months after he ascended to the throne following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. The coronation has been highly anticipated by royal watchers around the world, though not without criticism from some. On today's episode, Bryan DeAngelis hosts Louise Stewart, a Penta Strategy partner based in London, to consider the real implications of the new king. They discuss the role of the modern British monarchy soci...
This week on the Macrocast, Ylan Mui, Brendan Walsh, and John Fagan sit down with John Dick, CEO and Founder of Civic Science, to dive into the latest economic sentiment index from Penta and Civic Science. The group also explores what the new GDP and PCE figures mean for consumers and the broader economic outlook. Recession fears are rising, but will the Fed tap the breaks or carry out another rate hike? And how do markets' fears of debt ceiling chaos play into the outlook? Tune in to find out....
This week on What's at Stake, Bryan DeAngelis hosts Penta Partner Meghan Pennington and Managing Director Ylan Mui to dissect the looming battle over the U.S. debt ceiling. With an uncertain "X date" approaching, and President Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and the "five families" of the Republican caucus at odds, the stakes are getting higher every day. The group navigates the murky waters of debt ceiling negotiations in Congress and discusses whether the divides within the Republican cau...
The topic: the debt ceiling. On this edition of the Macrocast, our host Ylan Mui is joined by John Fagan and Brendan Walsh of Markets Policy Partners, as well as Zach Moller, Director of Third Way's Economic Program. The group delves into the looming debt ceiling, analyzing the political landscape, and predicting how the markets will react. From a hard-to-pin-down X date–the day on which the federal government is no longer able to meet its fiscal obligations–to "break glass strategies," the grou...
Generative AI is here and here to stay. Opportunities abound for adopters—but businesses need to consider the ways in which they are vulnerable to AI-driven risks, including risks to their brands. On today's episode of What's at Stake, Bryan DeAngelis, Andrea Christianson, Oliver Edelmann, and Blake McGill break down Penta's new framework to help companies assess the brand risks of AI. After describing some of the scenarios when a brand may be at risk from AI, Bryan, Andrea, Oliver, and Blake di...
This week on the Macrocast, Ylan Mui, Brendan Walsh, and John Fagan dive into the latest from the Federal Reserve and this week's IMF-World Bank spring meetings, exploring whether the FOMC's predictions and current macroeconomic indicators point to signs of a recession. The group also discusses Speaker Kevin McCarthy's upcoming speech laying out the U.S.'s debt limit plan, as well as their thoughts on the global trend towards an economic downturn and the expanding debt issue in emerging markets....
Today on What's at Stake, Bryan DeAngelis, partner at Penta based in Washington, D.C., is in London to interview two of the leaders of Penta's international financial services work, partners David Cook and Victoria Walsh. David and Victoria share how their experiences helping government institutions and businesses in Europe communicate around the biggest financial services developments in recent history–including the 2008 Financial Crisis–inform their thinking about stakeholder engagement. The g...
On today's Macrocast, Ylan Mui, Brendan Walsh, and John Fagan discuss this morning's "Goldilocks" March jobs report and the not-too-hot, not-too-cool labor market. Later, the group explores the impact of OPEC's production cuts on gas prices, which are rising just in time for spring break season, and examines the potential risks associated with de-dollarization. Finally, this week's episode wouldn't be complete without a discussion of former President Trump's indictment and the subsequent market ...
In this edition of What's at Stake, Andrea Christianson hosts Emily Duncan, senior vice president of federal affairs at American Electric Power (AEP), for a conversation on how AEP is taking on the complex challenges and opportunities facing the energy industry today. Emily's career has spanned a range of key areas within the industry. Though she began her career in energy law; over the past 15 years, she has worked on legislative and regulatory issues in sectors like natural gas, nuclear, and e...
The takeaway: the news is affecting consumer behavior, as indicated by major drops in confidence in the job market and in the overall U.S. economy. On today's Macrocast, Ylan, John, and Brendan host John Dick from Civic Science discuss the latest economic sentiment index, which shows that layoffs and banking crises in the headlines could be driving pessimism and lower spending among consumers. Later on, the group delves into tightening bank regulations as the Fed and FDIC tackle a shaken landsca...
On March 10, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapsed after what many are calling a bank run, triggering the second largest bank failure in U.S. history. Since then, regulators and policymakers have searched for answers, mid-sized banks across the country have struggled to assuage fears over their stability, and Swiss investment firm Credit Suisse has been taken over by UBS as the SVB fallout has rippled through the economy. On this episode of What's at Stake, Bryan DeAngelis, a partner at Penta, and...
On today's Macrocast, our new host Ylan Mui, managing director at Penta, sits down with John Fagan and Brendan Walsh of Markets Policy Partners to break down the Fed's latest 25 basis point rate hike. The trio points out that it was unique that Chairman Powell spoke so candidly about the Fed's uncertainty on how to adjust rates moving forward. Ylan, John, and Brendan discuss the state of the U.S. economy more broadly, including with respect to how the current commotion in the banking sector migh...
This week, Penta acquired Copperfield Advisory, a communications, brand, and strategy consulting firm based in New York, further cementing Penta's position as the world's first and foremost comprehensive stakeholder solutions firm. Andy Whitehouse, senior partner at Penta and former managing partner and founder at Copperfield, joins Penta President Matt McDonald on this week's episode of What's at Stake to break down what this acquisition means for Penta and its clients. Andy joins Penta with ov...
On today's Macrocast, hosts Bryan DeAngelis, Ylan Mui, Brendan Walsh, and John Fagan are joined by Penta's Oliver Edelmann to unpack another big week of macroeconomic news. The group unpacks the latest turmoil in the banking sector, saga of Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic Bank, and the banking sector more broadly, and discusses the potential reactions from the Federal Reserve. They also explain why consumer sentiment might impact the Fed's response, delving into insights from Penta and Civic...
On February 27, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen unveiled a new trade agreement between the UK and European Union (EU) called the Windsor Framework. This comes after years of confusion and empty shelves resulting from the post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol, which has been criticized for making it difficult to import goods to Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom. Penta Partners Kevin Madden and Rory O'Donnell sit d...
There's been no shortage of gripping macroeconomic developments this week. On today's Macrocast, hosts Bryan DeAngelis, Ylan Mui, Brendan Walsh, and John Fagan dive into the February jobs report and what it can tell us about women in the workforce, before breaking down some key takeaways from Fed Chair Jerome Powell's semi-annual testimony before Congress. In the second half of the show, the group takes on this morning's astonishing meltdown at Silicon Valley Bank. Read Penta's February Jobs Day...
On today's Macrocast, Bryan, John, and Brendan host John Dick from Civic Science and Ylan Mui, a managing director at Penta. Ylan just joined Penta by way of CNBC, where she covered economic and regulatory policy for six years. The group discusses the latest economic sentiment index, which shows consumer optimism ticking down from the record high two weeks ago and more evidence of a "hangover" in spending following the post-COVID surge. Plus, the group looks ahead to Federal Reserve Chair Powell...
In this edition of What's at Stake, Penta Partner Stratton Kirton interviews the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Principal Energy Specialist David Elzinga about the Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Countries around the world have committed to lowering their emissions over the coming decades. While the U.S. and Europe are approaching the transition to clean energy as developed nations, countries across southeast Asia and Africa are attempting to meet their climate commitments while their populat...
The Federal Reserve's next moves are on the minds of business leaders everywhere. Some experts warn of a recession, others hold out hope for a "soft landing," and there's plenty of data to support both sides of the argument. For many Fed watchers, that can make it difficult to understand the Fed's thinking. To cut through the noise, Bryan DeAngelis hosts three experts on the Federal Reserve for this episode of What's at Stake. John Fagan and Brendan Walsh, co-founders of Markets Policy Partners ...
On today's Macrocast, hosts Bryan DeAngelis and John Fagan are joined by Jill Craig, a partner in Penta's Brussels office, to take a look at new data on the Fed's (former?) favorite inflation rating and whether the market might finally be listening to its signaling. In the second half of the show, Jill shares a European perspective on the war in Ukraine as the group looks back on the year since Russia's invasion. Read Penta's new Q4 2022 GDP Fact Sheet here ....
How should businesses engage with policymakers in 2023? On today's episode of What's at Stake, Bryan DeAngelis talks to Meghan Pennington , a partner at Penta, and Michael Griffin, chief research officer of intelligence at Penta, about Penta's new Washington Insights Review. The Washington Insights Review is based on hundreds of conversations with DC policymakers and highlights their perspectives on policy issues and best practices for government affairs. The group discusses the necessity of a t...
