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Brought to you by Oxera. Welcome to the Top of the Agenda Podcast, where industry experts and senior executives delve into the most pressing topics of our time. By using the combination of economics, data science and finance, we can shape and improve the business, legal and regulatory landscape and inspire new solutions from the everyday, to ever-evolving global issues. Oxera is a consultancy that uses the expertise of economics, data science and finance to help its clients make well-informed and data-backed decisions. How is the green transition funded? Should sport be regulated, and if so, how? How are our urban transport needs changing and how should we pay for this? What is the impact of AI on jobs? These are just a few of the questions that we help to answer every day, in countries around the world, and ‘Top of the Agenda’ shares the insights from experts at the heart of these questions. Our skills apply to any industry and help to provide new and impartial solutions. You can find out more about Oxera, and how our work with our clients makes a difference, by visiting our website. www.oxera.com.
Episodes
Friday Jan 23, 2026
Friday Jan 23, 2026
Since the end of the Cold War, Europe has enjoyed a ‘peace dividend’ driven by a reduced perception of military threat. Recent developments — including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — have fundamentally altered this landscape. Europe now faces a hostile military power on its eastern border, while questions remain over the long-term durability of US security guarantees.
In response, defence spending has risen sharply across the continent. Frontline states in Eastern Europe have seen the largest increases, but nearly all European countries are boosting their defence budgets. As a result, defence has returned to the centre of economic and political decision-making across Europe.
In this episode of Top of the Agenda, Dr Helen Jenkins speaks with Aimie Stone, Chief Economist at ADS Group — the trade association representing the UK’s aerospace, defence, security and space industries — and Enrico Russo, Managing Consultant at Oxera. Together, they explore the challenges facing the European defence sector and consider how governments can best mobilise resources to strengthen the region’s security.