Podcasts related to Economics - UK

With Christmas now just a few weeks away - now's the time many are stocking up on festive food. With such a wide range on offer choosing a decent spread can be tricky...especially if you want to stick to a budget. The team at Moneywise have taken the Christmas hit and done the hard work for us - trying a range of mince pies, and prosecco. Plus do kids need more toys and games or would the money be better spent setting up saving or investment plans? It will probably be more valuable in the long term - especially when you consider over a third of Christmas toys don't make it past January. £1.2 billion is wasted each year by family and friends buying gifts that get broken or discarded.

For most, Christmas is a fun and exciting time of year. But for many it can also bring a lot of anxiety and stress who have got the money. We know that financial troubles often go hand-in-hand with mental health issues. Help is at hand though, as Georgie Frost is joined in the studio with Money Advice Expert Jane Clack.

Economists are warning that Brexit and the election of Donald Trump could cause a return to 70s style inflation. But if inflation is so bad why did central banks spend the past few years trying to get it to occur? Robert Van Egghen reports on whether we are headed back to the future.

The Financial Conduct Authority has announced a set of new rules to protect investors using CFD's, after it was revealed 82% of investors lost money. According to research by Financial Orbit, there are 125,000 active CFD accounts in the UK and the average loss is £2200. So, what's in store for companies offering financial spread betting and other risky investment instruments? Matt Cox spoke to Dice McCairn, Editor and Analyst at WhichInvestmentTrust, to find out more.

Financial heavyweight, Lindsay Cook is here, slugging away for that pound in your pocket. This week we'll be taking on the energy firms hiding their cheapest tariffs from customers. As Christmas shopping continues apace we debate whether store cards are really worth it and delivering the sucker punch to the rip offs. Plus continuing the festive theme we look at the demise of the Christmas card in modern manners.

Shapr allows its users to make new business connections and network by offering up relevant potential contacts in a Tinder-like format. Georgie Frost spoke on the line to Shapr's CEO Ludovic Huraux to discuss his app.

Could high street shops we obsolete by 2050? With more of us going online - is there a need any more for traditional bricks and mortar? Georgie Frost was joined in the studio with Jonathan Chippindale, CEO at Holition to discuss the possibility of our high street disappearing.

This week as Christmas celebrations get going - things can get pretty expensive what with office parties and drinks, dinners out and that's before you include presents and other festive spending. Georgie Frost spoke to blogger Lynn James on how we can keep to a budget, avoid the curse of contactless payments, and find ways to keep things cheap.

In a speech later, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling will announce a plan to take track maintenance responsibilities away from Network Rail, and give them to the train operators. He says it will make things simpler and more accountable to passengers. But not everyone's happy about the changes, with some experts worried it could cause a decline in safety standards. Share Radio’s James Brydges spoke to Lianna Etkind, from the Campaign For Better Transport.

Our rail fares are one of the highest in Europe. A recent study found we spend as much as six times more of our salaries on rail fares than our European counterparts do. We are often overcharged as rail firms do not show the cheapest price on two-thirds of cross-country routes. Well, change might be on the way. Rail firms may now be forced to display its lowest priced ticket on self-service ticket machines. Sarah Pennells spoke to Lianna Etkind about the constant rise of rail fares.