Podcasts related to Economics

Culture secretary Karen Bradley's referred the Fox/ Sky bid to Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority. 21st Century Fox is offering £11.7bn for the 61% stake in Sky it does not already own. The company said it was "confident" the takeover would be approved. Critics of the merger fear it will mean Rupert Murdoch has too much control of the UK media. So can the takeover succeed after failing in 2011? James Brydges recaps the issues the regulators will be looking into.

Research released by the ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) suggests that long-term business investment is set to shrink on the back of Brexit uncertainty. The long wait to see Theresa May trigger Article 50 and start Brexit negotiations has created much uncertainty among businesses, meaning they've put on the brakes when it comes to investment. Simon Thompson, ICAEW Business and Economic Spokesperson, joined Nigel Cassidy on Share Radio Breakfast to discuss the key points from the forecast.

It’s been a mixed week for the job market. The surveyor’s organisation, RICS, bemoaned the potential loss of 200,000 essential EU workers in the construction industry if Brexit bites. And on Thursday, Morgan Mckinley's London employment monitor picked up a fall in the number of jobs on offer, blaming Brexit uncertainty. To assess the mood of the market, Becky Barr of Adzuna, joined Nigel Cassidy on Share Radio Breakfast.

On the latest Market Wrap, mining company Anglo American's shares jumped almost 9% after Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal said he would buy a 12% stake in the company. The Bank of England voted to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.25%, but one of the Monetary Policy Committee members expressed concerns over inflation. Finally, sales have fallen at Sainsbury's during the first nine weeks of the year, but the newly-acquired Argos reported a strong growth.

The US Federal Reserve increased its interest rate by 0.25 percentage points last night, that's the third time in a decade. The Fed seemed to be guiding markets not to expect three more rate rises this year. Gregory Daco, Chief US Economist at Oxford Economics joined us to discuss.

The Bank of England has left rates on hold at 0.25% - but the move wasn't unanimous, with one vote for a rate rise. So what does this mean for consumers and markets? Plus both the FTSE 100 and 250 hit record highs today, what's driving this? For more on these and the day's biggest economic stories, Alastair McCaig, Director of Investment Management at Fern Wealth, joined Share Radio's Ed Bowsher for more.

Georgie Frost was joined by finance expert from moneysupermarket.com Kevin Pratt this morning. Today on the agenda, they discussed Chancellor Philip Hammond defending his U-turn on increasing National Insurance contributions for some self-employed workers. Plus they look into why around 2-million pounds was lost to financial fraud every day of 2016. All these stories and more on The News Review.

To go through all the political headlines this morning, Georgie Frost was joined Josh Lowe from Newsweek. The Chancellor says his u-turn over tax hikes for self-employed people was necessary to maintain voters' trust. Philip Hammond's reversed a National Insurance increase announced in his budget, because it broke a Tory pre-election pledge. Plus the Conservative Party has been fined £70,000 following an investigation into election campaign expenses. The Electoral Commission says there were significant failures by the Party to properly record how much was spent on canvassing. And a far-right party which called for mosques to be closed and the Koran to be banned has failed to win a general election in the Netherlands. Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom came second, winning fewer seats than expected.

Joining Georgie Frost to discuss the latest market headlines was Share Radio's very own Nigel Cassidy starting with this morning's company announcements. We've heard from Sainsbury's and Eurostar this morning. And we have the Bank of England's interest rate decision later. It will be the last before the UK starts formal proceedings to exit the EU. This comes after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday by a quarter of a percentage point to 1 per cent. It's the second rise in three months - and only the third-time rates have been put up since the 2008 financial crisis. So what can we expect?

Today at 12pm the Bank of England will be releasing its latest interest rate decision. It's likely that the bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will unanimously vote to hold rates at 0.25% in the face of potential economic upset from Brexit negotiations. Members of the Shadow MPC for the North East are supporting a rise in interest rates, arguing that it would be a positive move at the moment, especially for regional economies. Nigel Cassidy was joined by Christopher White, Financial Director at Darlington Building Society.