Debt & Development Finance in a Changing Geopolitical Landscape with Nick Jepson

Summary

In this episode, Seth and Jess are joined by fellow Second Cold War Observatory research associate and professor Nick Jepson. The conversation explores debt in the context of China-US rivalry while considering the nature of the current crisis/impasse and how we arrive here. It then turns to cases in Sri Lanka and Laos to explain the drivers of national debt and join many others who have debunked debt trap diplomacy. Nick concludes with thoughts on the border global financial system, where it might be heading, and how this looks in a world-historical context.

Dr. Nick Jepson is the Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the Global Development Institute and School of Environment, Education and Development at the University of Manchester. He studies the political-economic implications of the rise of China and is the author of In China's Wake (Columbia UP). His current project focuses on China's growing role as a financier of development projects across the world via the BRI.

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Second Cold War Observatory

This podcast is produced by The Second Cold War Observatory, a collective of scholars committed to advancing historically and contextually situated understandings of contemporary great power rivalry.

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