Sound Economies with Mel & Peter: 22 January 2026

Trump is pushing the markets to new limits as he threatens a renewed tariff war with the EU over his quest to acquire Greenland – an attempt that would make life harder for investors and offer little gains for the US. We also look at debt-heavy Japan’s plan to cut taxes on food, rising doubts about the Indonesian central bank’s independence, and our forecast for a 10% drop for the dollar this year.

“Sound Economies with Mel & Peter” is a weekly podcast show where our founding CEO Peter Lundgreen and Manila-based Chief Economist Mel Lopez discuss what’s happening in economies around the world and their views of the global financial markets.

Time stamps:

00:00 – Start

00:29 – Quick updates

02:14 – The latest on global markets

03:19 – Japan’s Prime Minister to remove food consumption tax

10:30 – Indonesian president’s pick for central bank deputy governor

17:00 – US vs EU on Greenland

24:49 – The falling US dollar

26:17 – Our global forecast 

Tune in to this episode on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts.