Interviews

Quotes, comments and interviews given to the media and at public events:

• Podcast The Sound of Economics: Italy and Europe, 18 March 2026

Building the best safe asset     – The Sound of Economics

In this episode of the Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel Director Jeromin Zettelmeyer, researcher Silvia Merler and Bank of France Deputy Governor Agnès Bénassy-Quéré to talk about common European debt and the idea of a 'safe asset'. What makes government bonds a part of public infrastructure as well as a tool for financing public goods? Why is how to borrow money for public goods treated as a separate question from how to spend it? Should the European Union sell more common debt or look at a layered system that works with national borrowers, such as the swap proposal put forward by Olivier Blanchard and Angel Ubide? Will United States Treasury bonds always be the world’s only major reference asset, or will the EU get a seat at that table? This episode discusses what a safe asset is, why it matters to Europe and what steps policymakers should take next.Related research: Lappe, M.S and J. Zettelmeyer (2026) ‘A sober look at the case for common European Union debt,’ Working Paper 20/2026, Bruegel Bénassy-Quéré, A. (2025) 'Looking for a “fair” international monetary system,' VoxEU Column, 16 April, CEPR Merler, S. (2025) 'More EU debt issuance would be the best response to Trump’s tariffs,' First Glance, Bruegel Christie, R. (2022) 'If it doesn’t trade, is it really marketable debt?,' Blog Post, Bruegel Christie, R. (2025) 'Unlocking the Own Resources Debate – Debt and Competitiveness,' Testimony, Bruegel

1. Building the best safe asset     53:19
2. The battle for the AI stack 43:01
3. The UK, the EU – and Ukraine? 45:48
4. Europe's China shock 2.0 39:51
5. AI, demographics and China 50:27

• Podcast The Sound of Economics: the evolution of European public goods, 4 December 2024

• European Defence Integration after the US Elections, DCU Brexit Institute, 4 December 2024

• Roundtable on the history of EMU: “The euro is not what we expected it to be.” Discuss!

• Roundtable on the Commission legislative proposal for the new Stability and Growth Pact, 12 June 2023

• Podcast The Sound of Economics: The idea of Europe: more than a feeling?, 16 April 2021

• Interviewed for the article ‘MMT has a big hurdle to overcome to succeed in Europe’, Bloomberg, 7 September 2019

• J’ai répondu aux questions de Pierre Wolf-Mandroux pour un article publié dans La Croix/Magazine Pèlerin: “Europe, des historiens réfutent Philippe de Villiers”, 23 April 2019

• J’ai signé une tribune collective publiée dans Le Monde: “Philippe de Villiers et la falsification de l’histoire de l’Union”, 27 mars 2019

• J’ai répondu aux questions de Politique Etrangère sur le Brexit, le 25 janvier 2019

• ‘Conversations for the Future of Europe‘: I discussed two proposals on the future of European monetary union, 5 March 2019

• ‘Au bout du jour’: j’ai répondu aux questions d’Eddy Caekelberghs sur la RTBF, 17 January 2019

• Roundtable speaker at the event Brexit Countdown: The Deal, the Politics and the Future, Edinburgh University European Union Society, Edinburgh, 4 December 2018

• Participation aux Journées de l’Économie à Lyon, 8 November 2018

• Interviewed for the article ‘No Sleep Till Brexit’, Bloomberg, 1 November 2018

• Oral history interview of Jean-Claude Trichet, in the framework of the EU historical archives’ Leaders Beyond the State Collection

• Oral history interview of Jean-Claude Trichet, in the framework of the EU historical archives’ Leaders Beyond the State Collection

• Panel ‘Leaders Beyond the State’, an Interview with former ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet, EUI, Florence, 16 February 2018

• Conversations on the Future of Europe, Bruegel, Brussels, 22 March 2017

• Bruegel Podcast, The Sound of Economics: Special Edition, The Treaty of Rome at 60

• Interviewed for the article “What the Bundesbank can teach the ECB about winning public respect”, Bloomberg, 15 January 2017

• “The UK already opts out of anything it dislikes; it could very well end up leaving the EU on an entirely flawed debate,” interviewed by Claudia Schrag Sternberg for University College London’s Britain & Europe, 20 October 2015

• Bruegel Policy Contribution quoted in ‘Britain wins EU games and set but match never ends‘, Reuters, 21 June 2015

• Talk at the European Business Summit, in Brussels, on 7 May 2015

• Interviewed for the Bulgarian TV station News 7 for the current affairs programme “Pincode”, on Sunday 4 May 2014, about the development of the Eurozone banking union.

• La zone euro est-elle viable? Une perspective historique, for the website La Vie des Idées, 20 May 2014

• The past and future of the EU: an interview with EurActiv, 7 April 2014

• Intervention introductive, table-ronde “la zone euro est-elle viable?”, Institut français de Vienne, 3 avril 2014

• La semaine historique d’Emmanuel Laurentin, 20 February 2014, quotes my post on the Guéant archives

• Could Déjà Vu Spell Trouble for a Eurozone Banking Union? Wall Street Journal, 17 January 2014