Podcasts from Share Radio Breakfast presented by Sarah Lowther related to Economics

There is widespread concern after British Airways and the Post Office joined Southern Rail in striking over the Christmas period. According to the latest figures by the Office for National Statistics, 281,000 days were lost to strike action up until the end of October 2016, which is over 100,000 more days than the same time last year. Share Radio’s Matt Cox investigated this new era of strike action with industrial action expert Professor Chris Rowley, Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College, University of Oxford, and Professor Emeritus at Cass Business School.

The market is heading into the last US Federal Reserve meeting of the year almost certain that the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) will raise the Fed fund rate by 25 bps, from current 0.25% to 0.50%. Professor Peter Rupert, Department of Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Former Senior Economic Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank joined Share Radio to discuss.

Japan's government is set to forecast real economic growth of around 1.5% and nominal growth of about 2.5% for the next fiscal year from April. This according to two government officials involved in the projection process told Reuters. The projections have not yet been finalised and can change slightly by the time the government announces the figures on Dec. 20. Seijiro Takeshita, Professor of Management and Information at University of Shizuoka, Japan, joined Share Radio to discuss.

Iran's state airline says it's signed a $16.6 billion deal with US aircraft maker Boeing. Iran Air will buy 80 passenger planes as part of a 10-year deal, in the biggest business agreement between the US and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. So is this the first big sign of a thawing relationship, or will matters be complicated by President-Elect Trump's indication of anti-Iranian policies? Matt Cox spoke to Howard Wheeldon, Founder of Wheeldon Strategic Advisory, to find out more.

Italy's largest bank, UniCredit, has announced plans to cut 14,000 jobs by 2019. It may also say it will raise €13 billion euros in the country's biggest share issue, to clean up its balance sheet and boost longer-term profitability. The move comes at a troubled time for Italian banks and the economy, with the country's third-largest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, at risk of failure. Bruce Packard is a Senior Analyst at bank rating and advisory organisation, Lafferty Group, and he joined Share Radio Breakfast to discuss.

The UK is building 15% fewer homes than it was in the five years before the downturn in 2008, according to a new report by Carter Jonas that has laid bare the disjointed residential construction industry. For more on this, Lee Layton, a Research Analyst at Carter Jonas, joined Share Radio Breakfast to offer an insight into the research.

Barclays has agreed to sell its French retail banking operations to European private equity firm, AnaCap Financial Partners. This follows the UK bank’s decision to sell its credit arms in Spain and Portugal. The bank says it's going to focus on its core markets in the UK and US. So is this the Barclays equivalent of Brexit? Share Radio’s Matt Cox spoke to Jeremy Cook, Chief Economist from World First, to find out more about the decision and what it will mean.

India's monetary credibility took a hit following the government's decision to remove large denomination notes from circulation one month ago. Prices in the country have reportedly collapsed and consumer sales fell by as much as 30% in November. Now, rating agency Fitch has cut its growth forecast for the country from 7.4% to 6.9% and some economists believe the damage could be even worse. Robert Van Egghen reports.

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.