The European Central Bank Podcast – bringing you insights into the world of economics and central banking.
Our hosts Paul Gordon and Stefania Secola talk to e...
Will AI take our jobs? Does AI boost economic productivity? Is it a choice of going green or going digital?
Our host Paul Gordon talks to ECB colleagues António Dias da Silva, Guzmán González-Torres Fernández and Miles Parker to find out what AI means for the economy, especially for productivity, job prospects and energy supply.
The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.
Published on 9 April 2025 and recorded on 3 April 2025.
In this episode:
00:55 Is AI replacing jobs?
Can AI ever replace jobs in journalism or film-making? Will AI be our next podcast host?
02:14 Is AI a job changer?
How are new technologies changing our jobs?
04:00 Age, education and gender
Who uses AI and how do people feel about it? Does AI usage differ based on age, education and gender?
06:57 Sectors with the highest AI usage
Which sectors use AI the most? What’s behind the different attitudes towards AI in different areas of the economy?
09:00 Corporate usage of AI
What do companies need to effectively use AI?
11:02 How does AI affect productivity?
How can AI be put to good use? To what extent can Europe’s economy grow with current AI usage? Is the world ready for AI?
13:29 The role of policymakers
How can policymakers make it easier for companies to use AI?
15:10 AI and energy consumption
How much energy does AI need? How much energy does ChatGPT use for one search? Will energy demand go up or down?
17:15 Go green or go digital?
Do we need to choose or does AI allow both? How could AI help the green transition?
19:10 Obstacles
What are the roadblocks to the green and digital transitions? What investment is needed to make these transitions a success? What else needs to be done?
21:50 Our guests’ hot tips
António, Guzmán and Miles share their hot tips with our listeners.
Further reading:
The ECB Blog: AI adoption and employment prospects
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2025/html/ecb.blog20250321~6af1337b6b.en.html
The ECB Blog: AI versus green: clash of the transitions?
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2025/html/ecb.blog20250325~ed12b0ff35.en.html
The ECB Blog: AI can boost productivity – if firms use it
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2025/html/ecb.blog20250328~60c0a587f7.en.html
Hot tip from António: Tech-focused podcast Babbage by The Economist https://www.economist.com/audio/podcasts/babbage
Hot tip from Guzmán: The ECB recent conference on “The transformative power of AI: economic implications and challenges”
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/conferences/html/20250401_transformative_power_of_ai.en.html
Hot tip from Miles: International Energy Agency website
https://www.iea.org/
ECB Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/europeancentralbank/
European Central Bank
www.ecb.europa.eu
ECB Banking Supervision
https://www.bankingsupervision.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html
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23:57
Mind the gap: gender and financial literacy
We need financial literacy to make good financial decisions. But did you know that half of Europeans have low financial literacy levels, and that 60% of them are women?
Our host Stefania Secola talks to Annamaria Lusardi from Stanford University about what financial literacy is, why it matters and how we can improve it, especially among women.
The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.
Published on 13 March 2025 and recorded on 7 March 2025.
In this episode:
00:01 Commitments made by central banks
How did central bank Governors commit to improving financial literacy in their respective countries? What are the desired outcomes?
00:27 Looking at the numbers
How financially literate are Europeans? How big is the gap between men and women? And what can we do about it?
01:55 Financial literacy defined
What is financial literacy? How does it relate to financial independence?
03:58 Measuring financial literacy
There are three simple questions, known as the “Big Three”, that experts use to measure financial literacy. Can you, our listener, answer them?
05:59 Why central banks care about financial literacy
Why does financial literacy matter for central banks? How does it relate to the effectiveness of monetary policy and trust in what a central bank does? And how does it affect banking supervision?
10:53 Financial knowledge in Europe
Why is financial literacy in Europe so low? What can we do to increase the overall level of financial literacy among Europeans?
12:30 When to start addressing financial literacy
When is the best time to improve people’s financial literacy? Is it limited to schools or are there also other teachable moments?
15:50 The gender gap in financial literacy
Why is there this gender gap and why is it a problem? What can we do to make sure that half the population isn’t left behind?
20:14 The role of fintech
Does fintech complement financial literacy? What risks do gender differences in digital literacy pose when it comes to using fintech?
22:26 The road ahead
Central banks made five commitments to improve financial literacy. What are these commitments?
24:50 Financial literacy question: answer revealed
We answer the first “Big Three” question. Listen and see whether you chose the correct answer!
25:45 Our guest’s hot tip
Annamaria shares her hot tip with our listeners.
Further reading:
Annamaria Lusardi’s research
https://www.annamarialusardi.com/research/
ECB International Women’s Day Event 2025
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/conferences/html/20250307_intl_womens_day.en.html
The ECB Blog: The gender gap at work is closing – but slowly
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2025/html/ecb.blog20250307~85fd774bd3.en.html
The “Big Three” and “Big Five”
https://gflec.org/education/questions-that-indicate-financial-literacy/
Chart: Gender gap in financial literacy is pervasive, incl. the young, well educated and high income
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvVzgcXCFBw&t=222s
ECB Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/europeancentralbank/
European Central Bank
www.ecb.europa.eu
ECB Banking Supervision
https://www.bankingsupervision.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html
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27:17
President Lagarde presents the latest monetary policy decisions – 6 March 2025
Today our Governing Council decided on monetary policy, determining what’s needed to return inflation to our 2% goal in a timely manner.
Listen to President Christine Lagarde present today’s decisions. The statement also covers:
• how the economy is performing
• how we expect prices to develop
• the risks to the economic outlook
• the dynamics behind financial and monetary conditions
Our monetary policy statement at a glance, 6 March 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/visual-mps/2025/html/mopo_statement_explained_march.en.html
Christine Lagarde, Luis de Guindos: Monetary policy statement, 6 March 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/monetary-policy-statement/2025/html/ecb.is250306~4307bd0941.en.html
Monetary policy decisions, 6 March 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2025/html/ecb.mp250306~d4340800b3.en.html
Combined monetary policy decisions and statement, 6 March 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/monetary-policy-statement/shared/pdf/ecb.ds250306~ca4269dcc8.en.pdf
Macroeconomic projections, 6 March 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/projections/html/ecb.projections202503_ecbstaff~106050a4fa.en.html
European Central Bank
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html
You can also listen on all major podcast platforms.
Published and recorded during our press conference on 6 March 2025.
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16:15
You ask, we answer: careers, inflation and cooperation
Your questions answered: whether it’s about careers at the ECB, how our work affects people and businesses, or how we plan to tackle global challenges, we tackle listeners’ questions in this #AskECB episode of The ECB Podcast.
Join our host Stefania Secola as she talks to colleagues Eglantine Devaux and Gabriel Glöckler.
The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.
Published on 25 February 2025 and recorded on 20 February 2025.
In this episode:
00:36 Your questions answered
You, our listeners, sent us your burning questions on social media. What did you want to know? And who do we have onboard to answer your questions?
01:54 Working at the European Central Bank
What does it take to join the team? How do we nurture and grow talent? And what are the advantages of working in such a diverse environment?
08:34 Small businesses and consumers
How do our monetary policy decisions affect small businesses and consumers? How does this relate to our mission? We tackle these questions by looking at the example of a garden centre.
08:54 Stable, predictable changes in prices
How do we keep prices stable? What tools do we have available? And how does our price stability objective help motivate us?
14:47 Facing global economic challenges
What challenges lie ahead? How can we respond to uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and a changing climate?
16:19 The challenge posed by tariffs
How will tariffs impact our economies, and what about inflation?
18:27 Europe’s potential
What opportunities can we harness as Europeans? And what could they mean for our economy?
22:43 Communication among central banks worldwide
How do we work together? Are there particular structures in place? And what topics do we discuss?
27:49 Our guests’ hot tips
Eglantine and Gabriel share their hot tips with our listeners.
Further readings:
ECB vacancies
https://talent.ecb.europa.eu/careers
Graduate programme
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/careers/what-we-offer/graduate/html/index.en.html
Traineeship
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/careers/what-we-offer/traineeship/html/index.en.html
What we offer
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/careers/what-we-offer/benefits/html/index.en.html
IMF - Ask an Economist https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmYAE4wV1YQzDbnDZlNJoqMhIDUQpEPTZ
IMF - Back to Basics https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmYAE4wV1YQyRb6H1_XJWY73HJVdR6oBX
IMF- Analyze This! https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmYAE4wV1YQz_LzOLaKTpDWyH93SNuF7x
IMF - Charts in Motion https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmYAE4wV1YQz6xXWx5eB7uT9zE-4KcmAZ
ECB - Espresso Economics
https://www.youtube.com/@Espresso_Economics
ECB Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/europeancentralbank/
European Central Bank
www.ecb.europa.eu
ECB Banking Supervision
https://www.bankingsupervision.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html
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30:27
President Lagarde presents the latest monetary policy decisions – 30 January 2025
Today our Governing Council decided on monetary policy, determining what’s needed to return inflation to our 2% goal in a timely manner.
Listen to President Christine Lagarde present today’s decisions. The statement also covers:
• how the economy is performing
• how we expect prices to develop
• the risks to the economic outlook
• the dynamics behind financial and monetary conditions
Published and recorded during our press conference on 30 January 2025
Our monetary policy statement at a glance, 30 January 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/visual-mps/2025/html/mopo_statement_explained_january.en.html
Christine Lagarde, Luis de Guindos: Monetary policy statement, 30 January 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/monetary-policy-statement/2025/html/ecb.is250130~1f418aa0f4.en.html
Monetary policy decisions, 30 January 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2025/html/ecb.mp250130~530b29e622.en.html
Combined monetary policy decisions and statement, 30 January 2025 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/press_conference/monetary-policy-statement/shared/pdf/ecb.ds250130~1ac86112bf.en.pdf?b9377ca85fd3aef4fb5af6f3189be827
European Central Bank
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html
You can also listen on all major podcast platforms.
The European Central Bank Podcast – bringing you insights into the world of economics and central banking.
Our hosts Paul Gordon and Stefania Secola talk to experts about the topics and trends that matter to the eurozone economy today.
The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.