Invested: The OMFIF Podcast

Rapid digitalisation, the declining use of cash and the growing influence of non-European payment providers have prompted European policy-makers to reconsider the future of money and payments. In the face of growing geopolitical tensions, the European Central Bank's exploration of a digital euro encompasses a wider effort to ensure that Europe retains control over critical payment infrastructure.

Joachim Nagel, president of the Deutsche Bundesbank, joins John Orchard, chairman of OMFIF’s Digital Monetary Institute to discuss financial sovereignty, the future of the European Central Bank and strategic autonomy in payments.

Long-standing assumptions about globalisation, multilateral co-operation and financial stability are increasingly being challenged, raising questions about whether the institutions designed to support prosperity are still fit for purpose.

Mark Sobel, vice chair and chief economist at OMFIF, is joined by Eswar Prasad, economist and author of The Doom Loop: Why the World Economic Order Is Spiraling Into Disorder. They discuss the central thesis of the book – how globalisation, inequality and institutions like the International Monetary Fund have created a destructive feedback loop, destabilising the world order.

As governments across Europe and beyond commit to significantly higher defence spending, a critical question is coming into focus: how can these ambitions be financed sustainably?

In the final instalment of the ‘Hard power’ series on defence, Mark Sobel, vice chair at OMFIF, is joined by Andrea Presbitero, economist at the International Monetary Fund. They discuss what rising military expenditure means for public finances and economic growth as well as the trade-offs facing governments – from advanced and emerging markets – already grappling with constrained budgets.

With tokenisation taking hold of capital markets, the platforms offering the services are actively shaping the infrastructure and the future of the marketplace.

 

Mark Rakhmilevich, vice president, product management and development at Oracle, joins Lewis McLellan, head of content at OMFIF’s Digital Monetary Institute, to discuss the way tokenisation is developing in capital markets and the ways in which artificial intelligence can support it, giving regulators and market participants comfort in their ability to scrutinise transactions.

Gold has re-emerged as a focal point in the global financial system. Against shifting trade dynamics, elevated public debt and questions over the future trajectory of the dollar-based monetary order, central banks are accumulating gold at a pace not seen in decades. At the same time, investors are reassessing the role of the precious metal as a hedge against inflation, market volatility and systemic risk.

David Marsh, chairman of OMFIF, is joined by Willem Middelkoop, founder of Commodity Discovery Fund and William White, former chief economist at the Bank for International Settlements, to explore gold's evolving place in the international monetary landscape and examine the forces shaping its demand.

Ahead of OMFIF’s Gold and Precious Metals working group meetings, which informed the ‘Gold and the new world disorder’ report in 2024, participants hold the metal to the light, inspecting it under newer circumstances.