Podcasts related to Economics

How can investors keep up with the extraordinary pace of change in the past six days? Since US voters went to the polls on Tuesday, some investors have sold up and piled into safe havens like gold, only to see the financial markets do an unexpected about-face. With impeccable timing, the Open University Business School is staging its annual conference with the theme of "investor behaviour", and its Research Professor, Janette Rutterford, spoke to Share Radio's Nigel Cassidy about recent investor behaviour, and what it tells us about our understanding of finance.

As Donald Trump prepares to assemble his economic team, markets are rallying in expectation of a new period of fiscal stimulus. However, with Republicans in Congress set on strict deficit reduction targets, Mr Trump may be unlikely to achieve his policy pledges, including $1trn worth of spending on infrastructure. Robert Van Egghen has been speaking to Jim O'Sullivan, Chief US Economist at High Frequency Economics, who explained why the Republican party could stop Mr Trump from fulfilling his spending promises.

The number of people visiting our high streets and shopping centres has fallen for the second month in a row. Overall, retail footfall in October was 0.4% lower compared to the same time a year ago, but it was still better than September's fall of 0.9%. This is according to the latest BRC-Springboard Footfall and Vacancies Monitor, which found that customer traffic in shopping centres fell for the ninth consecutive month. Despite this, the 1.8% drop signalled an improvement on September's 2.5% drop. To discuss the findings in more detail, Simon Rose spoke to Diane Wehrle, Marketing and Insights Director at Springboard

How messy is your desk? If it is covered it clutter, then it could be standing in the way of a promotion. A study has found almost a third of people admit to having a packed workspace. Almost one in ten bosses say they'd think twice before promoting an employee who had an untidy desk. For more on this, Sue Dougan was joined on the line by Phil Jones from office supplier Brother UK.

Part of President Obama's legacy were rules to curb the excesses of investment banks on wall street - the Dodd-Frank Act, a United States federal law that places regulation of the financial industry in the hands of the government. Some would like to see the brakes off, though more commentators have voiced concerns after President-elect Donald Trump announced he hopes to enact reforms when he enters office in the New Year. They fear changes could herald the return of casino banks engaging in risky financial behaviour. Share Radio's Matt Cox spoke to Colin Cieszynski, Chief Analyst at CMS Markets and Philip Alexander, Editor at Risk.net.

Household debt in the UK has soared to a record high. We now owe an average of £30 thousand pounds each in household debt, according to figures from the Money Charity. This is mainly from mortgages and credit debt. To find out more information, Sue Dougan is joined on the line by Money Charity's policy and communication officer Frank Hobson.

As Christmas is creeping up on us quickly now, it can take a toll on your finances. As much as we love the mince pies and bottomless glasses of Bailey's it can be a very stressful time - not least because when you add it all up, it's a super expensive time of year. It doesn't always have to be though as Nick Hill explains.

Sue Dougan is joined in the studio by Hannah Maundrell editor in chief of money.co.uk. On the agenda today, as we head towards the winter, we are being warned to brace themselves for a rise in their energy bills. Elsewhere, Visa says consumer spending increased by 2.5% in October compared to the same month last year. Plus, Amazon is in the news again after being ordered to pay back the parents of children who made in-app purchases on mobile devices. All these stories and more on The News Review.

October saw a minimal decrease in available jobs from the previous month, highlighting the City's resilient nature in the face of post-Brexit alarmist rhetoric. London's picture is often different to the rest of the country and might have different needs, like for instance retaining passporting to continue the number of overseas operations. Hakan Enver, Operations Director at Morgan McKinley Financial Services, joined Share Radio to discuss this and other issues around London employment.

The UK's construction industry has been one of the biggest casualties of the vote to leave the EU, as worsening sentiment has seen output for the sector fall more than 1% in the three months to September, following a contraction in the previous quarter. Earlier, Gregor Watt spoke to Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight.