Podcasts

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.

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.

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.

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.

UK politics is experiencing a realignment – with the old divides of left and right gradually giving way to new fault lines, based on social values, attitudes to immigration and a sense of national identity. That’s the view of Dr Steve Davies, who believes that the political parties of Britain are, increasingly, at odds with the electorate and their own core voters. This situation, he argues, has been exposed and exacerbated by the results of the EU referendum in 2016. A realignment in British politics is now inevitable. Today, the IEA’s News Editor sat down with Steve to discuss his theory, what it means for UK politics, and how the two major parties will navigate these momentous changes over the next few years.

It’s not long before the door slams shut on your chance to use this year’s Isa allowance. It’s always best not to leave Isa saving or investing until the last month of the tax year, but many of us will do so. So, here is our special Isa podcast – with a comfortable three weeks to spare before the 5 April tax year end. In it, Simon Lambert, Rachel Rickard Straus and Georgie Frost dive into everything you need to know about Isas, from cash, to stocks and shares, and Innovative to Lifetime. It also looks at why investing is the best way to get inflation-beating returns over the long term, how savers can eke some precious extra interest from accounts, and why an Isa is worth having.