On this episode of Trumponomics, host Stephanie Flanders examines how the US-Israel war with Iran has presented China with two golden opportunities. The conflict provides Beijing with a chance to both widen its global diplomatic sway as the “adult in the room” and study the military tactics of its chief rival in real-time. Flanders is joined by Bloomberg's Fran Wang, who has spent almost two decades in China covering fiscal policy and economic planning, and Adam Farrar, Bloomberg Economics’ senior geoeconomics analyst for Asia-Pacific and a former adviser to US Vice President Kamala Harris, to unpack the geopolitical and economic implications of the crisis.

While the Iran war presents near-term risks to China’s economy, they say, the long-term benefits could be far reaching.

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A month into the US–Israel war with Iran, the global economy is already feeling the strain — such as surging oil prices and shifting interest rate expectations. Host Stephanie Flanders speaks with Tom Orlik and Dina Esfandiary from the Bloomberg Economics team about how Iran has managed to turn economic pressure into strategic leverage, complicating the outlook for President Donald Trump and raising the risk of prolonged instability.

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What makes a leader successful? Francine Lacqua interviews top CEOs and global industry leaders for candid lessons on leadership, management, and the future of work.

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Stephanie Flanders sits down with Nobel Prize–winning economist Daron Acemoglu to unpack one of the most urgent questions facing the global economy: how is artificial intelligence changing the future of work, and what are the potentially dire consequences for society and democracy?

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Everything we think we know about recessions is wrong—or at least mostly wrong—according to ExxonMobil Chief Economist Tyler Goodspeed. He argues downturns aren’t the inevitable result of overheated booms and don’t arrive simply because expansions last too long. In his new book, Recession: The Real Reasons Economies Shrink and What to Do About It, which spans 350 years of US and UK economic history, Goodspeed contends recessions are typically the product of sudden, overlapping shocks—particularly to energy and food—that derail otherwise healthy expansions.

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Oil and gas traders are confronting a potential worst-case scenario after the US-Israeli strike on Iran Saturday: the Strait of Hormuz is effectively paralyzed, Saudi Arabia’s largest refinery is shut and Iran has hit Qatar’s giant liquified natural gas export facility.

On this week’s episode of Trumponomics, host Stephanie Flanders speaks to Bloomberg Opinion columnist Javier Blas and Ziad Daoud, chief emerging markets economist for Bloomberg Economics. Together they unpack the unsettlingly wide range of outcomes from the war, and how Russia will gain economically the longer the conflict continues.

Read more:
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-03-04/iran-war-the-most-precious-commodity-is-water-not-oil

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On this bonus episode, Chancellor Rachel Reeves says Britain's pending trade deal with the US won't affect its view on the conflict with Iran, as she discusses the UK's economic future. The chancellor sat down with Bloomberg's Head of Economics and Government Stephanie Flanders after issuing her Spring Statement on Tuesday, as she seeks to convince markets and voters that Britain’s public finances are resilient enough to weather the fallout from the conflict in Iran and rising global energy prices.

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'Bloomberg This Weekend' features unique conversations on business, news, lifestyle and culture. Join David Gura, Christina Ruffini and Lisa Mateo Saturdays and Sundays for discussions with business leaders, lawmakers and cultural icons.

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