Business Daily

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The next financial crisis Jun 13, 2019

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It's more than a decade since the global financial crisis. Central banks have pumped trillions of dollars into the financial system to support markets and the broader economy. But there are warning signs that major risks may be re-emerging in the financial markets.

This month, fund manager Neil Woodford suspended trading in his largest fund after rising numbers of investors asked for their money back. Could this highlight a vulnerability in the financial system that runs right through the investment management business?

The BBC's Manuela Saragosa and Laurence Knight speak to two veterans of the investment community: Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz and former head of Pimco in California; and Lord Paul Myners, the former head of Gartmore in the UK. Both worry that investors are unaware of the risk they are running that they won't be able to access their money when they most need it, and warn that regulators could be blindsided by the next big crisis.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Picture: A trading screen flashes red; Credit: Getty Images)

The global trade in trash Jun 10, 2019

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Asian countries have told the West to stop dumping its plastic waste on them - and it could spell the end of the recycling industry. China imposed a ban on imports last year, and now Malaysia and others are returning the stuff back its senders.

Manuela Saragosa speaks to Jim Puckett, founder of the Basel Action Network, who has successfully lobbied for the international trade in recyclable waste to be curtailed, because he believes it is actually bad for the environment. Arnaud Brunet, director of the Bureau of International Recycling, explains why he thinks that's an unfair depiction of his industry.

(Picture: A man scavenges for plastic for recycling at a garbage dump site in Bachok, Malaysia; Credit: Mohd Samsul Mohd Said/Getty Images)

Oil, guns and pollution Jun 05, 2019

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The Niger Delta is Africa's biggest oil producing region. It has also become a security and environmental nightmare thanks to dozens of spills and theft by armed rebels.

Oil and gas giant Shell has long been criticised for its operations in the region. Igo Weli, one of the company's directors in Nigeria, tells Manuela Saragosa how the threat of violence makes it hard for them to clean up their act.

But while Shell claims it is trying its best in challenging circumstances, Mark Dummett of Amnesty International says the company could be doing a lot more and is still under-reporting the extent of the problem. Manuela also speaks to Jumoke Ajayi of Nigerian oil conglomerate Sahara Group, and Erabanabari Kobah, who acts as a spokesperson for one of the Niger Delta communities.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Picture: A member of the Nigerian navy forces patrols on an abandoned site of an illegal oil refinery in the Niger Delta region; Credit: Stefan Heunis/AFP/Getty Images)

Is it time to tax robots? Jun 04, 2019

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With ever more jobs at risk of automation, should the automatons be taxed the same as humans?

Ed Butler speaks to Dr Carl Frey of the Oxford Martin School, who co-authored a report five years ago claiming that almost half of US jobs could made redundant by emerging technology in the next 30 years. His new book, The Technology Trap, looks to the history of the Industrial Revolution as a guide to current developments. He worries that millions of workers could soon find their careers devastated, while the ultimate benefits of technology may only felt decades in the future.

It is perhaps then not surprising that many politicians, academics and businessmen - including Microsoft founder Bill Gates - now advocate a tax on automation to level the playing field with humans. We pit an advocate of such a tax - Ryan Abbott of the University of Surrey - against critic Janet Bastiman, chief scientist at StoryStream, which provides AI services to the automotive sector.

(Picture: Robot call centre; Credit: PhonlamaiPhoto/Getty Images)

Jobs for prisoners May 31, 2019

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The challenge of getting ex-offenders back into work. Vivienne Nunis hears from Lester Young Jr, an ex-offender in the US where low-paid work for prisoners is commonplace, while Daniel Gallas reports from Brazil where female prisoners are allowed to operate businesses from their cells. Keith Rosser from the recruitment company Reed describes the challenge of persuading employers to take on convicts in the UK. Elizabeth Hotson meets Max Dubiel, founder of Redemption Roasters, a coffee company that makes a virtue of hiring former prisoners.

Is Google too big? May 29, 2019

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Is the search engine's share of our attention and our data too dominant, and should regulators step in and break their business up? Ed Butler gets to pitch these and other questions to Google's former chairman Eric Schmidt.

Google, along with other Silicon Valley leviathans such as Facebook, Amazon and Apple, faces increasing criticism from commentators, regulators and politicians for its monopolistic power. Among them is the tech journalist Franklin Foer of The Atlantic magazine, who tells Ed that the political tide is now turning against big tech in the US.

(Picture: The Google logo is reflected in the eye of a girl; Credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Romantic fraud May 28, 2019

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The cruel multi-million-dollar business of scamming lonely hearts out of their money by posing online as the perfect lover.

Vishala Sri-Pathma speaks to victim David in the UK, who gave almost $20,000 to a woman he met online and hoped to marry and start a family with, before discovering "she" was actually a fraudster. Meanwhile Australian Eliza tells of her amazement at the amount of homework the con artist she encountered must have done researching her background before attempting to swindle her.

Such cases are becoming ever more common thanks to the internet, which enables scammers to mine would-be victims' social media sites for valuable information, while concealing their own identity on dating apps. David Clarke, chair of the UK fraud advisory panel, says it has made romantic fraud a valuable international criminal enterprise.

(Picture: Woman looks at smartphone while biting lip; Credit: DeanDrobot/Getty Images)

Europe votes for uncertainty May 27, 2019

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Election results leave the European parliament more fragmented than ever. The greens, liberals and far right are up. The traditional left and right, which have dominated European politics for decade, declined further. How will this affect business sentiment on the continent, as well as the EU's economic reform agenda?

Ed Butler hosts a live discussion with Ben Butters of the European Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry; Allie Renison, head of Europe and Trade Policy at the UK's Institute of Directors; and the BBC's economics correspondent Andrew Walker.

(Picture: Young supporters of the European Green party react to exit poll results; Credit: Adam Berry/Getty Images)

India election: Modi's report card May 24, 2019

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured another five-year term after winning a landslide general election victory. His Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks set to win about 300 of the 543 seats in parliament, in what Mr Modi hailed as "a historic mandate". Fergus Nicoll has travelled to Mr Modi’s constituency at Varanasi on the River Ganges in Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Modi promised to clean up the river after decades of pollution. Professor VN Mishra has strong words for the Prime Minister on what needs to be done to save the river and modernise an outdated sewerage system. Outside the city, we meet the farmers for whom Modi has created a model village, complete with solar-powered street lights - and the farmers who are about to lose their fields to a big truck park. There are hundreds of thousands of workers who have concluded that their best prospects lie abroad, most often in the Gulf. It is a mixed prospect, with the promise of money to send back home, but prolonged absences can bring great strain to families Stephen Ryan speaks to Professor Irudaya Rajan, Centre for Development Studies in Trivandrum, the lawyer and writer Smitha Girish whose husband has lived in Dubai for the last 15 years, and VK Mathews, who set up his own business when he returned to India. (Picture: Voters lined up at a polling station in Varanasi, India. Picture credit: Madanmohan Sharma)

The plastic in the ocean May 23, 2019

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Why plastic ends up there and how to stop it. Stephen Ryan reports from the Ganges - a major source of plastic that ends up in the oceans. Manuela Saragosa speaks to Dr Hannah Ritchie of the Oxford University Martin School about the importance of plastic disposal. Professor Tony Ryan, a polymer chemist and sustainability leader at the University of Sheffield, explains why recycling is still the answer.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Photo: A plastic bottle floating in the Pacific ocean, Credit: Getty Images)