Germany was once the economic powerhouse of Europe. But since 2019 its economy has barely grown. The country is now under new leadership—but is Friedrich Merz the man to pull Germany out of its perma-slump?

Hosts: Ethan Wu and Mike Bird. Guests: The Economist’s Christian Odendahl; Monika Schnitzer, chair of the German Council of Economic Experts; and Philippa Sigl-Glöckner, founder of Dezernat Zukunft, a macro-finance think tank.

Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.

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Good bosses are rare. They don’t have to be. The skills of management can be learned.

The Economist’s management columnist, Andrew Palmer, is here to help. The second season of Boss Class features leaders at some of the world’s best performing companies, from Levi’s to Novo Nordisk to Google.

New episodes are out weekly starting May 12th.

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After months of bluster, he’s finally done it. At a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, Donald Trump overturned decades of American trade policy with a simple signature. The new wave of trade restrictions, if implemented in full, will raise tariffs to the highest level in more than a century. So how bad could it get?

Hosts: Mike Bird and Ethan Wu. Guests: The Economist’s Simon Rabinovitch; and Douglas Irwin, a professor of economics at Dartmouth College.

Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.

Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.

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