Podcasts

Britain is defined by the personal generosity of our predecessors as much as by the state. But with demands on the voluntary sector growing and charitable giving stagnating, is our very way of life as a liberal democracy at risk? John Nickson is one of the country's most experienced fundraisers. In his new book 'Our Common Good: If the State Provides Less, Who Will Provide More?', he argues that there could be catastrophic effects on our democracy unless we commit to creating the social, cultural and intellectual capital we need to sustain society and our economy. He joins Simon Rose in the studio.

This is Emerging Opportunities, the only show on radio dedicated to global emerging markets. Hosting today's show are Share Radio's Simon Rose and Managing Editor of the Frontier Funds Consultancy, Gavin Serkin. Joining them in the studio today was Shivani Siroya, CEO of Tala Mobile. They discussed how the Tala app was disrupting the financial catch-22 of credit scores in developing countries, where many people have never taken out a loan or similar product.

The FTSE 100 has hit record highs since the start of the year, dumbfounding many analysts who had expected the UK's flagship index to endure some rocky times in the lead up to Brexit. However, the overall view of the stock market doesn't necessarily tell the tale of the companies within it. For more on this, Share Radio's Ed Bowsher is joined by Trevor Green, Head of UK Equities at Aviva Investors.

Share Radio's Simon Rose brings you Market Wrap, a roundup of what's been happening in the businesses of Britain and the world. To help put the day's events in context, Simon was joined by Share Radio's Senior Analyst Ed Bowsher. On today's show: HSBC's shares plummet after the bank announces a fall in annual profits, Government finances record a £9.4bn surplus in January, £0.3bn higher than the same month last year and the highest January surplus for 17 years, Yahoo agrees to a $350m cut on its original $4.8bn sale of its core-business to Verizon and more.

The Greek government and euro-zone finance ministers agreed a new plan for further negotiations on the Greek bailout yesterday. So what have they agreed so far and how significant is yesterday's deal? Ed was joined on the line by Iain Begg, professorial research fellow at the European Institute at the London School of Economics to find out more.

Greek bonds have strengthened this morning, following last night’s agreement between the Greek government and the Eurozone on reforms for further bailout payments. Meanwhile, French bonds have hit by Le Pen's improving position in opinion polls, For these stories and others shaping global markets, Share Radio's Ed Bowsher was joined in the studio by Jeremy Stretch, Head of G10 FX Strategy at CIBC.

It's our daily examination of some of the business stories making the corporate news headlines. Share Radio's Ed Bowsher was joined on the line by Daniel Thomas, Deputy Companies Editor at the Financial Times, for a full roundup. On today's edition: HSBC shares slide after 62% profit fall, Anglo American swings back to profit and retreats on disposal plan, BHP Billiton back in profit but warns of uncertainty, & more.

There are two by-elections in Labour seats this week, and it now appears there's a chance that the Tories could win BOTH seats. For this thoughts on this, Ed spoke to John Rentoul, chief political commentator at The independent.

Will all the controversy around triggering Article 50 derail UK banks recovery? With HSBC shares sliding today after it announced a fall in profits of 62% from last year, there is concern that the recovery seen by some banks could be hurt by the process of the UK leaving the EU. To find out more, Matt Cox spoke to Michael Hewson, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets UK.

This week on Track Record, Sue Dougan spoke to motorcycle adventurer and businessman, Billy Ward, an IT specialist who turned his passion for motorbikes into profit, after his divorce.