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Biden's trillions Apr 29, 2021

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The US president announces a massive spending plan for the US economy, with trillions of dollars earmarked for jobs and infrastructure. But is it too ambitious for Republicans to support? Ed Butler speaks to Ryan Heath, senior editor at Politico, and Gordon Hanson, professor of urban policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Hundreds of billions of dollars are also planned for the US's creaking healthcare system. Carer Sharon Tosten and democrat Debbie Dingell explain why it's needed.

(Photo: US President Joe Biden outlines his spending plans to Congress, Credit: Getty Images)

Changing a city's name Apr 28, 2021

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What’s in a name? It’s something that Shakespeare’s Juliet pondered. But what’s in the name of a city? And what are the economic and social costs for a city which opts to change it’s name? Lots have done so down the years – New Amsterdam became New York City and Istanbul became Contantinople. Last year, the residents of Asbestos in Canada choose a new name for their city. And back in February, the South African city of Port Elizabeth became Gqeberha. Matthew Davies speaks to Christian Martin an activist who pushed for that name change, as well as local mayor, Nqaba Bhanga, who strongly resisted it. Business owner, David Stopforth, tells Business Daily that he’s been left counting the cost of the name change to his small print firm. Meanwhile, Andy Marchant from Tom Tom says changing place names is not an altogether easy process for the satellite navigation companies. And Tirthankar Roy, professor of economic history at the London School of Economics, ponders whether part of the essence of a city’s past is lost when it changes its name.

Does business travel have a future? Apr 27, 2021

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Why fly when you can videoconference? After a year of Covid lockdowns, that's the question many business executives are asking themselves.

Manuela Saragosa speaks to one frequent flyer, Juliette Kayyem, who says that after a year of being grounded, she now thinks more about time with her kids, not to mention the carbon footprint of all her air miles. And she's not the only one - business travel consultant Scott Gillespie says corporate travel managers across the planet are now using the opportunity to reassess the financial and climate cost of their entire corporate travel policy.

So should the airlines and travel agencies be afraid? After all, business clients pay the fattest profit margins. We ask Jeffrey Goh, chief executive of the world's biggest airline grouping, the Star Alliance, plus Evan Konwiser of American Express' global business travel agency.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Picture: A woman with a suitcase at the Madrid airport; Credit: Alejandro Martinez Velez/Europa Press via Getty Images)

Covid in paradise Apr 26, 2021

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How are small island tourist destinations like the Caribbean island state of Antigua and Barbuda coping with the shutdown of global travel?

Manuela Saragosa speaks to the Antiguan Minister of Tourism Charles Fernandez about the innovative steps his country took to continue welcoming holidaymakers from North America and Europe last year, while keeping them safely contained within their own beachside bubbles.

The pandemic has been devastating for the travel industry more generally, according to Helen McDermott of Oxford Economics. Among those hardest hit are aircrew. Former pilot Matthew Wilson tells how he ended up relocating halfway across the planet to become a gardener after his airline went into liquidation. Meanwhile Jeffrey Goh of the Star Alliance global grouping of major airlines says they urgently need world governments to agree the conditions under which restrictions on travel can finally be lifted.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Picture: Mother, child in face masks have fun on sea beach; Credit: Bicho_raro/Getty Images)

Business Weekly: 24/04/2021 Apr 24, 2021

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As India battles a surge in Covid cases and hospital beds become scarce, Business Weekly hears how social media is helping connect patients with medical help. Several areas of the country have gone back into lockdown. We get reaction from businesses. In Denmark, the authorities have introduced a Corona Pass, which lets the vaccinated attend various events. Our reporter looks at how well it’s working. We look at the online advertising industry as several big companies scale back their digital marketing spend. The suggestion is that they aren’t seeing the returns on investment they perhaps should be, and that data doesn’t always give an accurate idea of success. Could a bubble be about to burst? And is your boss clueless? We hear about a new piece of research from Microsoft which suggests managers aren’t aware of how lockdown has affected their workers. Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Matthew Davies.

Big Data, conspiracy theories and ‘Magical Thinking’ Apr 23, 2021

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Filmmaker Adam Curtis questions the value of Big Data in society. In his latest BBC series, 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head', Curtis explores "Love, power, money, ghosts of empire, conspiracies, artificial intelligence – and You." Curtis spoke to Business Daily's Ed Butler about how the rise of artificial intelligence, Big Data and targeted advertising have come to shape the way we see our world and caused us to feel helpless within it. He also explains that the psychological experiments which underpin our faith in the effectiveness of such technologies might not be as reliable as once thought, which Curtis says gives us some cause for hope.

Producer: Frey Lindsay. (Picture credit: Adam Curtis/BBC)

Is the digital ad market overvalued? Apr 22, 2021

Show notes

Large companies have slashed their digital marketing budget. Airbnb and Procter & Gamble made such a cut in recent years, after coming to believe the cost doesn’t necessarily translate to increased sales. They follow in the footsteps of eBay who, in 2013, announced it would cease paying for ad sponsorship on Google. Economics professor Steve Tadelis, who led eBay’s research into this, explains how they came to conclude advertising wasn’t worth it. Also in the programme, brand safety advocate and co-founder of Check My Ads Nandini Jammi explains how the modern digital ad market works, and where some doubts lay about its effectiveness. Luke Smith of marketing consultancy Croud says companies need to be clearer in what they want from digital marketing, in order to get the most out of it. But what if the market is overvalued as a whole? Former Google employee Tim Hwang, author of ‘Subprime Attention Crisis’ says we might be looking at an inflated market that could threaten a financial crash online. Producer: Frey Lindsay. (Picture credit: Getty Creative)

Can Biden woo the world on climate change? Apr 21, 2021

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President Biden hosts a virtual summit this week as the US seeks global climate action. But can he convince the rest of the world to go further and faster on cutting carbon emissions when the country has been out of the game for the past four years? Justin Rowlatt asks former US climate envoy Todd Stern and Isabel Hilton, founder of China dialogue. And, in a world where some countries are rolling back protections, can consensus still be found? We hear from the heart of the Brazilian rainforest, where the environmental police say they are losing the war against the loggers. Lisa Viscidi, director of the energy and climate change programme at the Inter-American Dialogue think-tank, says the summit provides an opportunity for Latin American countries.

Photo: Climate protestors in Lyon, France hold up a sign saying 'SOS' (Credit: Getty).

Demille and the gig economy Apr 20, 2021

Show notes

In 2016 when producer Georgia first met him, Demille was a cycle courier in his early twenties, taking his company to a tribunal over better working conditions. He was fired-up, political, and excited about a case he would go on to win.

For the past five years, Georgia and Demille have been meeting and recording.

Demille’s story is one of being young and trying to stay afloat in the gig economy; of resilience and hope and trying to find control over his city and life.

Meeting expectations Apr 19, 2021

Show notes

Every day 55 million meetings take place in the United States. But just how effective are they at actually getting stuff done? British comedian David Mitchell has been investigating how the meeting evolved and the "meeting-isation" of society.

(Picture: a man boring colleagues during a meeting. Credit: Getty Images.)

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