Podcasts

“My property is my pension”. That was the popular saying when buy-to-let was all the rage and every other person you met fancied their chances as a minor property mogul. But life has got much tougher for landlords, with a series of tax grabs and tougher mortgage rules hitting. So does buy-to-let still stack up as a way to build your wealth? It certainly requires a lot of money upfront, even more now than ever before, and while the taxman will take a big chunk of your buy-to-let investment pot in stamp duty, he’ll give you money back if you invest in a pension instead. Simon Lambert, Sarah Davidson and Georgie Frost take a look at Buy-to-Let and the property market in this week’s podcast, and at how it compares to investing in your ISA or a pension. They also look at investing in property without buying it directly yourself, whether houses are too expensive now for good profits in years to come, or if there are some areas where an investment still makes sense. Also - whether interest rates will definitely rise in May, and what’s behind the tough times on the High Street. And finally - ever wondered whether you could stick a hypercar on finance? We explain how much that costs.

Facebook’s CEO finally emerges to discuss the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Nike has a blowout quarter. Dropbox soars on its first day of trading. Jason Moser, Matt Argersinger and David Kretzmann discuss these stories.

In the very first episode of our brand new programme Economist Questions, host Peter Urwin is joined by economist and author, Vicky Pryce, to talk about one of her latest books: “Why Women Need Quotas”. Despite herself having enjoyed a successful career spanning business, academia and government, women still experience discrimination in the workplace. From massive pay gaps across the professions and male-dominated senior positions in all walks of life, a lack of role models and unconscious bias are all barriers to women climbing the career ladder – and that's even before counting the professional cost of starting a family. In this interview, Vicky speaks to Peter about why she believes there is only one solution: women need quotas.

ESG investing, also known as ethical investment, is a big growth area in investing, especially in ETFs. And it doesn’t just make you feel virtuous, it can also boost your investment performance. Ed Bowsher finds out more from Veronique Menou of MSCI, and John Ditchfield from Castlefield Advisory Partners.

It’s one of the biggest contradictions in British politics. Across the country, baby boomers who own a house cheer as the value of their property rises. Meanwhile their millennial children watch on in horror, as owning their own home increasingly falls out of their reach. Politicians talk about building more homes but very few of them talk about directly reducing house prices. If house prices are too high for people to be able to buy houses, how can we bring them down? And can we do it without upsetting homeowners and crashing the economy? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Joe Beswick, who leads on housing for the New Economics Foundation, and housing campaigner Beth Stratford, a PhD researcher at the University of Leeds.

Adam speaks to Vice President of International at Etsy, Nicole Vanderbilt, about the psychological barriers woman can experience when starting a business. Etys is a platform that enables people to create original products and reach a global audience. In contrast to most other sectors, 86% of Etsy sellers are female. Also joining the discussion is Mahri McKenzie, one of Etsy’s female online sellers, to talk about her experiences of both the opportunities – and risks – that come with being a woman in business.

Tim Price, director of Price Value Partners, discusses irrational markets from a rational viewpoint, bringing in Trump's tariffs, the backlash against the FANGs, some of MIFID's drabacks, the changing nature of the bond market and why ETFs could cause problems in a downturn.

Steve Caplin looks at the first autonomous vehicle casualty and the woman who almost died from staring at her smartphone. He also looks at the trash-cleaning robot you can control, a combined phone and fidget spinner and the Google Street view Easter Egg.

James Cameron-Wilson reviews Peter Rabbit, a phenomenal hit in the United States, the new Tomb Raider and Mary Magdalene, while marvelling at the continuing success of The Greatest Showman.

Graham Spooner, Investment Research Analyst at The Share Centre, looks at the general state of the stock market, as well as numbers from Kingfisher and Micro Focus. He also looks at what we might expect from Ferguson (ex-Wolseley) and United Utilities and SSE.