Can Europe sell America?
The Indicator from Planet Money
NPR
4.7 • 9.5K Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2026
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On today’s show, taking stock of Europe’s financial arsenal. How could America’s largest foreign lender lighten Americans’ wallets?
Planet Money wrote a book and is going on tour, come see us: tickets and tour dates here.
Related episodes:
Davos drama, credit card caps and tariff truths
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Planet Money is going on a book tour. Come see us live and hear stories from the upcoming Planet |
| 0:05.9 | Money book and the making of it. Each stop has a special guest, economists, business owners, |
| 0:12.5 | other podcast friends. It'll be a night of smart conversation and celebrating this book |
| 0:17.9 | that we're really proud of. And we've got a giveaway going. |
| 0:23.1 | You can get a limited edition tote bag with your ticket purchase while supplies last. |
| 0:26.2 | Details on that and how to get tickets in our show notes. |
| 0:29.5 | Hope to see you in person soon. |
| 0:31.8 | NPR. The boiling of tensions in Europe over US President Trump and Greenland have subsided to this somewhat uneasy simmer. |
| 0:51.9 | But Europe is still on edge. |
| 0:56.0 | Let's start with French President Emmanuel Macron last week on stage at Davos in his aviator sunglasses. The sunglasses were for an eye |
| 1:01.6 | condition, by the way. Okay, yes, we need to be clear about that. And Mahon talked about the ways |
| 1:07.0 | Europe could respond to bullying by other countries. Europe has very strong tools now, and we have to use them when we are not respected, and |
| 1:16.5 | when the rule of the game are not respected, by the way. |
| 1:19.6 | The anti-coercion mechanism is a powerful instrument, and we should not hesitate to deploy |
| 1:24.9 | it into a tough environment. |
| 1:27.1 | The anti-coercion mechanism, sometimes called the EU's bazooka. |
| 1:31.8 | This is a legal tool that the European Union could use to economically hit back at a country. |
| 1:37.1 | Even without the anti-coercion mechanism activated, some in Europe are already changing their behavior. |
| 1:43.3 | Last week, a Denmark teacher's pension announced |
| 1:46.0 | it would sell off about $100 million of U.S. government bonds. |
| 1:50.0 | Down the hall in Davos, where U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant was speaking, |
| 1:55.0 | he answered a question about this. |
... |
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