There’s no question that Artificial Intelligence will increase productivity- but at what cost? What happens when systems out-perform not only factory workers but society’s most esteemed professions? Daniel Susskind has written two thought-provoking books on how AI is changing the nature of work and what tomorrow’s labor market will look like. Susskind is a research professor at King's College London and a senior research associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University. In this podcast, Susskind speaks with journalist Rhoda Metcalfe about how encouraging technologies that complement rather than substitute human work would place fewer livelihoods at risk.

Transcript: https://bit.ly/3T146Kj

Global warming is wreaking havoc on so many levels, but climate action is costly and presents policymakers with difficult tradeoffs. High debt, rising interest rates, and weaker growth prospects make public finances harder to balance and climate goals harder to achieve. This is where fiscal policy and climate mitigation meet and why the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department is trying to help countries manage their limited resources. Economists Christine Richmond and Raphael Lam work on climate policy and the annual publications of the IMF Fiscal Monitor. In this podcast, they say governments now face a policy trilemma between achieving climate goals, fiscal sustainability, and political feasibility.  

Transcript: https://bit.ly/3sT6JmP

Carbon pricing is steadily emerging as one of the most viable solutions to reducing global emissions, but shedding its contentious past to build a global consensus is still a work in progress. Economist Ian Parry has championed the idea of carbon pricing long before it was fashionable- or even considered feasible by more than a handful of countries. Parry is the principal environmental fiscal policy expert in the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department and has made it his mission to present- on behalf of the institution, the benefits of incorporating climate risks into the cost of doing business through a carbon tax.

Transcript: https://bit.ly/47jrAP7

Having access to nature can improve lives. Walking through the forest or by a lake occasionally is proven to have both physical and psychological benefits. But nature is a resource that is undervalued in our economies, and all too often left off the balance sheet. Catherine Kling says determining the true economic value of nature will help foster its preservation. Kling is an environmental economist at Cornell University in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management and has focused much of her career on creating the kind of data that encourages governments to include the value of nature in their economic decision-making. In this special episode of our Women in Economics series, Kling and Journalist Rhoda Metcalfe discuss why putting a price tag on nature will help save it.

Transcript: https://bit.ly/3QHpRvZ

The world of money is changing fast and central banks are at the very center of that change. Shaktikanta Das is the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, which is responsible for regulating currency and securing monetary stability for the world’s 5th largest economy. Das is also an innovator and a pioneer when it comes to Central Bank Digital Currencies or CBDCs. In this podcast, Das sits down with IMF Asia and Pacific Department head, Krishna Srinivasan, to discuss RBI’s strategy for today and for the future. The conversation took place as part of the Governor Talks series held during the Annual Meetings in Marrakech.

Watch the webcast at IMF.org

Navigating an economy through multiple crises is not for the faint-hearted. Policy responses must be quick- often with little to go on, and decisions have lasting effects. Nigel Clarke has been Jamaica’s Minister of Finance since 2018 and led its economy through the pandemic as well as devastating natural disasters caused by climate change. In this podcast, Clarke sits down with IMF Western Hemisphere Department head, Rodrigo Valdés, to discuss Jamaica’s strong track record of investing in institutions and prioritizing macroeconomic stability. The conversation took place as part of the IMF’s Governor Talks series held during the Annual Meetings in Marrakech.

Watch the Webcast at IMF.org