Podcasts from Share Radio Breakfast

The US Federal Reserve has raised interest rates for the first time in the year and the second time in a decade. The US Central Bank has also predicted further three hikes for the upcoming year. 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 the announcement.

A new report by the National Infrastructure Commission claimed that the rollout of 4G networks wasn't sufficient, with the UK only ranking 54th in terms of network coverage putting us behind Peru, Colombia, and Romania, among others. The report said that the UK's future 5G mobile network must be handled better than 4G. Share Radio's Matt Cox has been finding out more from Dave Millett, Founder and MD of telecoms broker Equinox.

A new EU Banking proposal, Article 21b, which requires non-EU banks to set up holding companies for their EU operations hasn't gone down too well, especially with US banking institutions. But as arguments on the new proposal have yet to spill over into the public eye, Share Radio's Matt Cox spoke to Francesco Guerrera, Associate Editor and Chief Financial Correspondent at POLITICO, to see what all the quiet complaints were about.

Dan Hodges, Political commentator at the Mail on Sunday, joined Share Radio Breakfast to give his weekly politics round-up. He looked over the situation in Syria and gave his take on the ASLEF and RMT union strike affecting Southern rail services. Finally, we discussed the latest that the News industry is worth £5.3 billion to the economy.

The Taiwanese government had the diplomatic spotlights turned on it when Donald Trump accepted a phone call from Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen upon his ascension to President-Elect of the US - the first conversation between the two nations at this level in decades. But others were less pleased - namely the Chinese Government. Alongside other anti-China sentiments expressed by Trump, this conversation with President Ing-wen marks a new faux-pas. Share Radio's Matt Cox spoke to Dr Steve Tsang, Director of the SOAS China Institute, and expert in governance, foreign, and security policies of China and Taiwan.

Aviva's latest Real Retirement report reveals that baby-boomers are enthusiastic users of technology but pensions need to catch up. According to the report, the 45-64 year old is very confident when it comes to mobile technology where banking is concerned, but when it comes to pensions there's less confidence. So if this is a generation of tech adopters, what's the problem? Alistair McQueen, Aviva's retirement spokesperson, joined Share Radio to discuss.

The Schroder European Real Estate Investment Trust was launched a year ago. It targets growth regions in Continental Europe and aims to provide a regular and attractive level of income together with the potential for long-term income and capital growth. Tony Smedley, Investment Manager & Head of Continental Europe, joined Share Radio to discuss their latest full year results.

In its 19th year, the survey of 1,735 organizations globally examines some of the most compelling cybersecurity issues facing businesses today in the digital ecosystem. The 19th EY Global Information Security Survey has been released and it revealed that, despite the growing risks, three quarters of global organizations do not have a threat intelligence programme, more than half lack the ability to identify vulnerabilities and 44% do not have a security operating centre to continuously monitor for cyber attacks. Paul Van Kessel, global cybersecurity leader at EY, joined Share Radio to discuss the survey.

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.