A great wave of regulation is washing across business: capital rules for banks, cyber security and sustainability reporting mean corporate leaders appear to be in a new age of oversight. What’s driving this rule-making overdrive and how should business respond?

Mark Kennedy and George Lagarias of Mazars, and Gavin Hinks of Board Agenda—also ask why London is struggling as a centre for IPOs and, with the Paris Olympics just around the corner, we ask whether showpiece events can really boost finance and economics?

Those are some the big issues under discussion in this month’s Macro Memo podcast as it explores the international business landscape.

All this and much more in Board Agenda’s podcast series, The Macros Memo, the global trends briefing for boards and directors.

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The global economic landscape appears to be going through a form of fragmentation. There are growing tensions between the US and China over “dumping” of industrial products; the German economy is in “troubled waters”; France has revised down its growth; and the UK has sunk into recession (though could emerge quickly). Yet the largest developing world economies continue to do grow at a clip. What’s driving the differential performance? And how should business respond?

These are among the big questions tackled in this month’s The Macro Memo podcast, as it considers an evolving economic environment.

The team—Mark Kennedy and George Lagarias of Mazars, and Gavin Hinks of Board Agenda—also consider the maturing, or more realistic, view of artificial intelligence and its prospects, and examine what European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen (pictured) could do to improve EU competitiveness.

The Macro Memo podcast looks ahead at prospects for 2024. Some observers think the inflation crisis is close to resolution. But is it? And what are the implications for business and, most importantly, interest rates.

Those are some of the big questions tackled by The team—Mark Kennedy and George Lagarias of Mazars, and Gavin Hinks of Board Agenda, who also look at the risk of trade wars and whether the EU’s concern with Chinese electric cars reflects bigger issues.

Lastly, this episode looks at labour markets and how companies will cope with a global shortage of skills, a big theme of the World Economic Forum’s meeting this year in Davos.