Podcasts related to Economics

With Black Friday and the busiest shopping period of the year approaching, research from Barclaycard has revealed that frustrated consumers are turning their backs on the high street. As a result, retailers are facing growing pressure to improve their in-store experience, or risk losing out on sales. To discuss this, Paul Lockstone, Managing Director at Barclaycard, joined Share Radio Breakfast.

While Donald Trump won't assume power for another 65 days, markets are already betting that a Trump presidency means higher inflation and interest rates. The Federal Reserve has been trying to get inflation up towards its 2% target for years and now the president-elect could help them achieve this goal. Share Radio’s Robert Van Egghen has been speaking to Brett Ryan, Senior US Economist at Deutsche Bank, about the forecast for the Trump administration.

Seijiro Takeshita, Professor of Management and Information at the University of Shizuoka in Japan, joined Share Radio Breakfast to bring his weekly round up from east Asia. One week on, has Japan resigned itself to a President Trump? And Japan's economy grew more quickly than expected in the third quarter, but how accurate is this data?

When it became apparent six days ago that Donald trump was to become president elect, we were preparing for another day of post-EU referendum volatility. There was movement but it was muted, as traders responded to the statesmanlike tone of Trump’s victory speech. So what was the take from a traders perspective? Randy Frederick, MD of Trading and Derivatives at Charles Schwab, joined Share Radio Breakfast to offer an insight.

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.