Podcasts from Morning Money at 6:00 presented by Nigel Cassidy related to Economics

The G20 summit is drawing to a close in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, and for many the worry is this could herald an end to the so called gold age of mutual trade relations cultivated between Bejing and Britain. Dr Kegang Wu, Executive Director at BCC LinkToChina, discussed whether wider trade relations could be impacted.

Has the Apple tax debacle further poisoned an already difficult environment for talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership? The planned free-trade agreement between the US and the EU, also known as TTIP, has been surrounded by controversy, and some European leaders have now called the talks dead. Professor Anand Menon, a director of a research body based at Kings College, shared his thoughts.

What would it take to retrain people to use computers and the internet more effectively? The UK is currently in the grip of an IT skills crisis with an estimated 12.6 million lacking even the most basic digital skills. Byron Nicolaides, President of the Council of European Professionals Informatics Societies (CEPIS), discussed.

This month, Scottish wind farms have received a record £5.5 million to shut down. It’s after hurricane-force gusts produced more electricity than could be consumed. August 7th saw winds blowing as high as 115 miles an hour, while demand for power fell to record lows. But Renewable UK’s Deputy Chief Executive, Maf Smith, told Share Radio's James Brydges that wind farms turning off was actually the least expensive solution.

It seems a number of Hedge Funds are investing in "tiny satellites", which have the ability to take high frequency images of "economically sensitive" spots. To find out more, Joe Aldridge has been speaking with Stuart Martin, CEO of independent innovation and technology company, Satellite Applications Catapult.

Now the cynic might say, who would want to sponsor the Olympic Games, what with doping scandals, corruption, venue deficiencies and the Zika virus. Whatever the true ideals of the movement, the Olympic brand and its many parts aren’t seen as trustworthy. So will any of that rub off on the prominent brands that are paying untold millions to be there? Izzy Pugh, Director of Culture at Added Value, a strategic brand consultancy, talks to Share Radio to discuss the games and the brands involved.

Retail sales volumes have declined more rapidly in July than at any time in the last four years, according to a survey by the CBI. The British Retail Consortium said jobs were being shed in the months leading up to the referendum. To analyse the findings of the survey, Richard Perks, Retail Analyst at Mintel, joined Nigel Cassidy and Paul Sedgwick.

It’s a month since the UK voted to leave the EU, and data from the Markit PMI shows that the UK business economy has sunk to its lowest level since April 2009. But what should we make of this? Joe Aldridge has been hearing from Scott Bowman, UK Economist at Capital Economics.

A string of possible business projects, including the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, will need to be decided on by new Government Ministers, as Brexit opens up new policy options, including a possible industrial strategy. But what will it look like? James Frayne, a former senior civil servant in government, discussed on Share Radio.

In the wake of the referendum there is a huge amount of uncertainty in many areas, not least regarding exports, trade agreements and the single market. As deputy Chief Executive of the London Chamber of Commerce, Peter Bishop oversees 5000 trade enquiries, 12 trade missions and 140,000 export and import documents a year. Peter gives Share Radio his view on the potential implications on trade in light of the EU Referendum.