logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2025
10m 50s

Defending Europe without the US

Financial Times
About this episode

Investors are urging the EU to make sweeping reforms to its debt securitisation market, Walmart has staged a major comeback, and Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba reported its fastest revenue growth in more than a year. Plus, the FT’s John Paul Rathbone explains how Europe could defend itself should Donald Trump pull US military assets.


Mentioned in this podcast:

Investors call for shake-up of Europe’s ‘failed’ securitisation market

How Europe can defend itself without US help

How a resurgent Walmart saw off the Amazon threat

Walmart points to ‘uncertain time’ with warning of weaker sales growth

Alibaba to ‘aggressively’ invest in AI over next three years

Subscription promo: ft.com/briefingsale


The FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon, Sonja Hutson, Kasia Broussalian, Ethan Plotkin, Lulu Smyth, and Marc Filippino. Additional help from Michela Tindera, Sam Giovinco, Peter Barber, Michael Lello, David da Silva and Gavin Kallmann. Our engineer is Joseph Salcedo. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music.


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
Quantitative easing is under the microscope
Donald Trump has said Israel and Hamas have agreed the first step in his plan for a Gaza ceasefire, and Washington wants its companies exempt from EU climate rules. Plus, Chinese customs agents are going after a wide range of US semiconductor tech, and central bankers around the ... Show More
10m 46s
Yesterday
Carmakers are falling back in love with petrol
A UBS fund has 30 per cent of its portfolio tied to the failed First Brands Group, and carmakers across much of the world are scaling back on electric vehicle plans. Plus, international investors are returning to China’s start-up scene, in addition to assets across emerging marke ... Show More
11m 25s
Oct 7
OpenAI’s circular deals
EU governments have agreed to limit the travel of Russian diplomats, analysts are worried about a flurry of circular AI deals, and France lost another prime minister after less than a month in office. Plus, why the weaker dollar is helping big US exporters, while domestic-focused ... Show More
10m 53s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 3
Humiliating Europe: Trump’s culture war and the EU’s response
What do Donald Trump’s culture war, Moldova’s EU ambitions, and Czechia’s upcoming parliamentary election have in common? They all reveal how Europe is being tested — and sometimes humiliated. In this episode of EU Confidential, host Sarah Wheaton speaks with Paweł Zerka, senior ... Show More
37m 33s
Apr 2025
Are US tariffs just the beginning? With Abraham Newman
As Donald Trump declares a trade war on the rest of the world, it’s time to learn about a field of economic research known as “weaponised interdependence”. The bad news is that the US president’s weapon of choice – imposing tariffs on goods imports – is a fairly outdated tool of ... Show More
31m 33s
Sep 14
Trump wages economic war on US allies, while BRICS builds alternative system
Donald Trump is imposing tariffs and unequal treaties on longtime allies in Europe, Japan, and South Korea, forcing them to pay and move their factories to the US. Meanwhile, BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) are building a new multipolar world order based on ... Show More
1h 25m
Aug 20
Palantir’s relentless rise
Palantir shares have soared this year, making the data analytics company one of the most valuable listed US tech groups. The FT’s Tabby Kinder explains how a paradigm shift in Silicon Valley helped propel Palantir to new heights and why many think it will be among the biggest win ... Show More
23m 29s
Sep 30
Shutdown looms, Trump’s Gaza deal, EA Sports and Hollywood tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump and his Democratic opponents appear to make little progress in talks aimed at heading off a government shutdown. Trump secures Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's backing for a Gaza peace proposal. Videogame developer Electronic Arts agrees to ... Show More
12m 41s
Aug 21
'There's an AI bubble' - but what happens when it bursts?
Nvidia's the first company to be worth more than $4trilllion, developers are being offered salaries in the billions, and companies that don’t even have a product are securing investments beyond their wildest dreams. Yet there were reports this week that Meta could downsize its AI ... Show More
24m 59s
Nov 2024
915. News: LATAM fintech is booming, Metrobank slapped with a hefty fine, and why Klarna chose NYC for its IPO
Join hosts Laura Watkins and Benjamin Ensor alongside some great guests as we look at the biggest financial services and fintech stories of the past week. Topics covered include: a LATAM fintech roundup featuring news from Nubank, Ualá, and Tako; Klarna announcing plans to IPO in ... Show More
1h 8m
Jan 2025
Teflon Son? How Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son’s legend keeps growing
On today’s episode, host Josh Christensen is joined by ‘Fast Company’ associate editor David Salazar to help break down the latest news in the world of business and innovation, including the fallout from DeepSeek’s LLM launch, the backtracked federal funding freeze, and the risin ... Show More
1h 3m
Sep 9
Britain's Free Speech Crisis, Rayner and Refugee Murder
Konstantin and Francis discuss Graham Linehan's arrest, Angela Rayner's resignation, the Ukrainian refugee who was murdered in America and more. Triggernometry is proudly independent. Thanks to the sponsors below for making that possible: - Protect your wealth with The Pure Gold ... Show More
55m 45s
Aug 29
Limping through the Trump era: Can Europe lead again?
From a picturesque mountain resort in Austria, at the European Forum Alpbach, host Sarah Wheaton unpacks fresh threats by the U.S. to hit countries with tariffs over their digital rules — drawing instant reactions from the European Commission’s Sabine Weyand and Nobel laureate Jo ... Show More
36m 55s