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On this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Rachel Rickard Straus and Georgie Frost take a look at Professor Thaler’s work, his prize, behavioural economics and the whole nudge idea. Does this all really work? Behavioural economists believe a gentle nudge in the right direction can make you richer and over recent years they have managed to win the ears of governments around the world – including the UK’s. This week one of the thinkers who helped spread the word on behavioural economics, Professor Richard Thaler, won a Nobel Prize for economics. In the old world of economics textbooks, people behaved perfectly rationally and made the right choices. In the real world, of course, we don’t. We make irrational decisions that fly in the face of economic theory all the time. Yet, our irrational behaviour can be an asset. It means that we can be nudged into making the best choices. Professor Thaler’s catch-all advice is whether you’re a business or a government, if you want people to do something, make it easy. In Britain, one example adopted by the Government has been pensions. Instead of getting people to opt into a pension, we’re now automatically enrolled and then offered the chance to opt out. It’s now easier to have a pension than not to. Unsurprisingly, more people now save into pensions.

On this podcast, you’ll hear an update from our Brexit Unit, run by the IEA’s chief economist Julian Jessop. Coming up, digital Officer Madeline Grant discusses the concept of unilateral free trade with Julian – a policy he thinks should be considered during the Brexit negotiations. Julian gives a comprehensive explanation of what unilateral free trade would mean in practice – and how after Brexit, the UK will be free to set its own trade rules and tariff barriers. Julian and Madeline also discuss the potential disadvantages, especially in the short term, of such a policy – mainly the disadvantages to British producers, who will face increased competition, with no guarantee it’ll be easier to export to other parts of the world.

In this edition of Track Record: A former commissioning editor for TV's 'Big Brother' who's now recognised as an entrepreneur, motivational coach and speaker. He's Shed Simove and his latest work is 'Ideas Man', which is a look at his career to date, his maverick yet fun outlook, and how dozens of his ideas came to be - some successful and others disastrous failures.

We’re joined by Diego Zuluaga, Head of Tech Policy at the IEA, and Digital Officer Madeline Grant, as they discuss Uber and the gig economy in the light of last week’s decision from TfL not to reissue Uber’s licence. The pair discuss the ruling – how it came about, and take a look at some of TfL’s motivations. They also explore what the ruling means in practice – for the 40,000 drivers who earn a living from the platform, for the app’s 3.5 million users in London, and for the broader future of tech and innovation in Britain.

Helal Miah of The Share Centre looks back at news from BAE Systems, Marston's and Sky, and ahead to Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever, Rio Tinto and BHP.

Tim Evans of Middlesex University looks into what makes a great political speech and, in the light of recent events in Catalonia, asks what the future is for the nation state.

James Cameron-Wilson reviews the UK #1 Blade Runner 2049 as well as newcomer The Mountain Between Us. He also looks back at the career of French actor Jean Rochefort, who died recently.

Steve Caplin regales us with news of cars that can detect if a driver is dehydrated, a hoverbike from Kalashnikov, a padlock that responds to fingerprints and a Swiss Army Knife gizmo that can start fires.

Forget coughing fits, pranksters and tumbling letters for a minute. Along with a car crash speech for Theresa May, the Tory party conference also brought a few policies that might make a difference to our financial lives. Student fees, house building and an energy price cap all came up on the agenda. But was this just tinkering around the edges, or a solid plan to improve three highly controversial areas? Listen to join Simon Lambert, Laura Whitcombe and Georgie Frost on a tour through those Tory policies – and whether they have any chance of working – alongside the rest of the money news you need to know about this week. Also on the agenda this week, we talk pensions, discussing why a reader’s state pension has been cut even for the years they were contracted in and whether we need to be worried about final salary schemes paying out what they are meant to. 'Open banking' and whether banks should be allowed to scan your spending habits to then alert you to better deals is also discussed, along with the things you should avoid doing to your home if you ever want to sell it. And finally, in some breaking news we bring you the information you’ve all been waiting for. How much did the top new £10 note sell for at the Bank of England auction?

Want to keep up with the latest earnings updates from the States? Well join Chris Hill and the Motley Fool Radio Show team here on Share Radio - direct from Washington DC for news, views and analysis of the US stocks which matter. In this week's show, Costco slips on margin concerns. Netflix hits an all-time high after the company announces a price hike. And General Motors reports some electrifying news. Plus, Chris talks about the business of popularity with Derek Thompson.