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Wed, 18 June 2025

7:15 pm - 8:30 pm BST

What Happens if Globalisation Fails?

Ben Chu In Conversation With Stephanie Flanders

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The BBC’s Ben Chu joins Stephanie Flanders to share his insights on the rise of economic nationalism and its risks to security, trade, and prosperity.

The world is turning inward. Globalisation – once seen as the key to prosperity – is now in retreat, undermined by economic shocks, geopolitical tensions, and the pursuit of national self-sufficiency. Governments are moving away from interdependence, prioritising domestic industries and supply chains over international cooperation. But does this shift create security, or does it fuel instability and division?

BBC correspondent Ben Chu believes that this race for self-sufficiency could have unintended consequences. By tracing the flow of commodities, silicon, steel, soybeans, and solar panels, he joins Stephanie Flanders live in conversation to reveal how deeply connected nations remain and the dangers of severing those ties.

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Ben Chu

BBC Correspondent

Ben Chu is a seasoned journalist, broadcaster, and speaker specializing in economics and current affairs. He is the Policy and Analysis Correspondent at BBC Verify, where he investigates key policy issues and economic trends shaping the world today.

Previously, he served as Economics Editor of Newsnight, the BBC’s flagship nightly current affairs program, and Economics Editor and Chief Leader Writer at The Independent. Over his career, he has covered major global events, including the 2008 financial crisis, the eurozone emergency, Brexit, and Donald Trump’s trade wars. His work has earned multiple award nominations, including Business Journalist of the Year (British Journalism Awards, 2015) and Business Commentator of the Year (Comment Awards, 2018).

Stephanie Flanders 

Head of Economics and Government at Bloomberg News and Head of Bloomberg Economics

Stephanie Flanders is Head of Economics and Government at Bloomberg News and Head of Bloomberg Economics, overseeing the research and journalism of 250 economists and reporters worldwide. Previously, she was Chief Market Strategist for Europe at J.P. Morgan Asset Management (2013–17) and Economics Editor at the BBC (2002–13). She also served as Senior Advisor and Speechwriter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers (1997–2001). Flanders has been a reporter at The New York Times, Principal Editor of the 2002 Human Development Report, an editorial writer and economics columnist at the Financial Times, and an economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and London Business School. In 2016–17, she chaired the Inclusive Growth Commission for the Royal Society of Arts. She is also Chair of the non-profit arts company Artichoke and a trustee of the Kennedy Memorial Trust. Additionally, she is an Honorary Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, and a Fellow of the Society of Professional Economists.