In this episode of Current Account, Clay is joined by two IIF colleagues, Garbis Iradian, Chief Economist for the MENA region, and Ivan Burgara, Economist, to give updates on the greater Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and recent developments in oil markets. The discussion begins with a brief summary of recent events in the region before narrowing in on Egypt and how the country looks to bounce back thanks to recent investments, what the implications are of the U.S. tariff policy for MENA and its countries, why oil market prices have dropped as a whole, how the Trump administration aims to both increase production and keep low prices, and much more.

This IIF Podcast was hosted by Clay Lowery, Executive Vice President, Research and Policy, with production and research contributions from Christian Klein, Digital Graphics and Production Associate and Miranda Silverman, Senior Program Assistant.

In this episode of Current Account, Clay gives an update on the current state of the U.S. tariff policies, namely with reaction and implications of the April 2nd "Liberation Day" tariff announcements. Clay begins with a scene-setting of what tariffs are currently in place and on hold, before providing a framework for how the current Trump Administration may be approaching tariff implementation - broken down into four main categories: (1) Market reaction, as demonstrated by the immediate market reaction following the April 2nd tariff policy announcements, (2) negotiations and diplomacy, highlighted by trade deals and discussions with many of the United States' main trade partners, (3) political backlash, with most impact likely to be shown at the upcoming 2026 Midterm Elections, and (4) litigation, mainly from legal challenges to the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

*please note that the Institute of International Finance does not provide legal advice

This IIF Podcast was hosted by Clay Lowery, Executive Vice President, Research and Policy, with production and research contributions from Christian Klein, Digital Graphics and Production Associate and Miranda Silverman, Senior Program Assistant.

In this episode of Current Account, Clay is joined by Richard Fontaine, CEO of the Center for a New American Security, to discuss U.S. foreign policy as President Trump wraps up his first official foreign visit this term. Clay and Richard begin with takeaways from President Trump's trip to the Middle East, what the White House may be thinking in relation to Iran and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), where things stand between the U.S. and China outside the realm of tariffs, how the President and his cabinet are approaching the recent and ongoing conflicts between Israel and Gaza, Russia and Ukraine, and India and Pakistan, what the reaction of the United States's major trade partners has been to its foreign policy approach and much more.

This IIF Podcast was hosted by Clay Lowery, Executive Vice President, Research and Policy, with production and research contributions from Christian Klein, Digital Graphics and Production Associate and Miranda Silverman, Senior Program Assistant.

In this episode of Current Account, Clay is joined by Ashok Bhundia, IIF's Deputy Chief Economist, to discuss developments in the U.S. Treasury markets in reaction to the recent implementations of tariff and trade policies by the United States. Clay and Ashok walk through the ripple effects of the April 2nd "Liberation Day" and ensuing seven-day tariff pause, how the market disruption compares to other shocks, reasons behind Bond market stability post-April 9th, why the Treasury market is important to the average consumer compared to the stock market, what potential measures may come in the short and medium terms, and much more.

This IIF Podcast was hosted by Clay Lowery, Executive Vice President, Research and Policy, with production and research contributions from Christian Klein, Digital Graphics and Production Associate and Miranda Silverman, Senior Program Assistant.

In this episode of Current Account, Clay is joined by David Ljunggren, a Correspondent covering politics for Reuters in Canada, to discuss the 2025 Candian Federal Election held on April 28. Clay and David begin with the results of the election, which saw Mark Carney of the Liberal Party become the country's 24th Prime Minister. After, the discussion centers on events leading up to the election, including the resignation of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, impact of the recent tariffs implemented by the U.S. and President Donald Trump, how Canada may pivot to other trade partners, what Prime Minister Carney aims to accomplish in the short-to-medium term, and much more.

This IIF Podcast was hosted by Clay Lowery, Executive Vice President, Research and Policy, with production and research contributions from Christian Klein, Digital Graphics and Production Associate and Miranda Silverman, Senior Program Assistant.

In this episode of Current Account, Clay recaps a busy week in Washington, centered around the 2025 Spring Meetings hosted by the IMF, World Bank and IIF. Clay begins by analyzing potentially the largest focal point of the meetings: Trade. To help elaborate on some of the discussions, the episode features a number of snippets from speakers at the IIF Global Outlook Forum, highlighted by U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, who gave insight and perspective directly from inside the Trump administration. Other quotations feature perspectives from the private sector, sentiment in Europe and China, how markets have been and will continue to react, issues regarding U.S. banking supervision, and many more. Other discussions proved to highlight the continued importance of transition finance and its evolving role in the financial industry, emergence of artificial intelligence and digital payments across a variety of agendas, and much more.

This IIF Podcast was hosted by Clay Lowery, Executive Vice President, Research and Policy, with production and research contributions from Christian Klein, Digital Graphics and Production Associate and Miranda Silverman, Senior Program Assistant.

In this episode of Current Account, Clay is joined by Eugene Ludwig, Founder and CEO of Ludwig Advisors, to discuss a variety of updates within financial regulation - specifically those in the spotlight as President Trump continues to fill his regulatory cabinet. Clay and Gene start the discussion by assessing how the current administration seems to be approaching regulation, before diving into topics such as increased White House supervision on regulators, plans for potential Basel III implementation, a drastic change from the previous administration in approaching digital assets, how the U.S. is varying its approach from other jurisdictions, how financial institutions are approaching this period of transition and much more.

This IIF Podcast was hosted by Clay Lowery, Executive Vice President, Research and Policy, with production and research contributions from Christian Klein, Digital Graphics and Production Associate, and Miranda Silverman, Senior Program Assistant.

In this episode of Current Account, Clay is joined by Rebecca Patterson, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and globally recognized investor and economic researcher, to discuss a potential new feature of the Trump Administration - A Mar-a-Lago Accord. Clay and Rebecca begin by explaining potential motives behind such an accord, followed by detailing the process of making it a reality, the impact the accord may have on the dollar, evaluating this potential scenario to similar measures in the past, how the U.S. may aim to get international support and the feasibility of this process leading to a real Mar-a-Lago accord.

This IIF Podcast was hosted by Clay Lowery, Executive Vice President, Research and Policy, with production and research contributions from Christian Klein, Digital Graphics and Production Associate and Miranda Silverman, Senior Program Assistant.

In this episode of Current Account, Clay is joined by Jenny Cosco, Global Head of Government Relations & Regulatory Strategy at LSEG, to discuss recent trends related to market risk and vulnerability. Jenny and Clay discuss some of the key market trends in 2025, how deeply volatile trends could be the pattern of the future, how markets seem to be combating volatility with resilience, regulatory frameworks that may bolster market stability and resilience, an overview of front-of-mind regulatory and market issues and much more.

This IIF Podcast was hosted by Clay Lowery, Executive Vice President, Research and Policy, with production and research contributions from Christian Klein, Digital Graphics and Production Associate and Miranda Silverman, Senior Program Assistant.

In this episode of Current Account, Clay is joined by IIF's Martin Boer, General Manager and Chief Representative, Europe, to discuss some of the recent developments captivating the European economy. Joining Clay from Brussels, Martin is able to dive into a number of key areas of focus in the region, including the path of Europe on the road to greater growth and competitiveness, potential implications for the financial industry on a broader consumer level, how things may have shifted since President Trump recently took office, how the European Union is balancing its trade relationship with the U.S. and other major partners, what the near-term outlook may look like for the European economy and much more.

This IIF Podcast was hosted by Clay Lowery, Executive Vice President, Research and Policy, with production and research contributions from Christian Klein, Digital Graphics and Production Associate and Miranda Silverman, Senior Program Assistant.