AI, demographics and China

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie looks into the future with Bruegel’s emerging talents Maria Catarina Louro, Tillman Schenk and Théo Storella. Demographic change is coming for the world, as fewer new workers grow up to replace earlier generations of workers. China is at a crossroads of not only population decline but also industrial dominance, putting its economy in renewed competition with the United States and Europe. And artificial intelligence will change the workforce, the manufacturing base and the productivity outlook all over the world. How should current policymakers and thinkers shape the world that lasts beyond their lifetimes? How can the field of economics contribute? Relevant research: Bruegel Dataset (2023) 'China economic database', version of 27 May 2026, Bruegel  Dabrowski, M. and M. Catarina Louro (2025) 'Economic convergence, demography, labour markets: what progress have EU candidate countries made?' Analysis 29/2025, Bruegel García-Herrero, A., T. Storella and J. Xu (2025) 'European companies operating in China: from digging in to rethinking their presence', Working Paper 14/2025, Bruegel  Richter, P. and T. Schenk (2025) 'EU data processing consent reform must account for market incentives', Analysis 39/2025, Bruegel  Schenk, T. (2026) 'Chips Act 2.0 and beyond: Indispensability, not self-sufficiency', Comment May 2026, Encompass