Last year, the members of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved an allocation of special drawing rights (SDRs) of USD 650 billion, the largest allocation in the history of the IMF.

We should all care what happens in China, because it will affect us all. Economic dangers and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s responses to them will affect China first and foremost — but trouble in China could spell trouble everywhere this year and next. The world is rightly focused on the atrocities being committed by Russia in Ukraine, and China’s choice to stand with Russia is straining globalization’s links. But China’s economic challenges go beyond the war. Threats to China’s outlook are rising in four distinct but overlapping areas: at home, in health, in debt, and in a fracturing globe.

Digital finance is booming, with the value of cryptocurrencies outstanding reaching more than $2 trillion from almost nothing a decade ago – almost entirely without regulatory oversight to protect investors and the broader financial system. This is not likely to end well, unless officials intervene in a thoughtful way.

In these times of information overload it is easy to overlook groundbreaking news.

This episode covers the power and influence of central banks, both on the Economy, as well as, on foreign policy. This includes the concerted action by the global financial markets to put pressure on Russia over its attack on Ukraine, and the role and options that central banks have to enforce peace.

Just 60 years ago, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were at the height of a Cold War that nearly resulted in nuclear warfare. Today, experts say, the U.S. and its old foe, now Russia, are headed into another one. But it won't be the same.