Business Daily

A series of governments on both sides of the Atlantic have announced punitive measures in response to Russia ordering troops into rebel-held regions of eastern Ukraine. But how much of an impact will these sanctions actually have on Russia?In addition to restrictions on banks and access to capital markets, a number of individuals have had assets frozen. We speak to veteran anti-corruption campaigner Bill Browder, who has written a book "Freezing Order" about Russian money-laundering. Also Maria Shagina, a visiting senior fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, who isn't convinced that the sanctions targeting individuals will work, but says financial institutions may be vulnerable.Vladimir Putin's move has not triggered the full range of sanctions Western nations have prepared though. We hear from Hal Hodgson, technology reporter for The Economist, who says freezing out of the trade in western technology has had a devastating effect against the Chinese technology firm Huawei and could be depl

Increasingly scientists are using genetic material from wild plants to make agricultural crops more resilient to climate change. To find out how, Rebecca Kesby heads to the Millennium Seed Bank for the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, in the south of England. There she meets Dr Chris Cockel, one of their project coordinators. We also hear from Asmund Asdal of the Global Seed Vault, which is located in a mountain on the archipelago of Svalbaard, between mainland Norway and the North Pole. We speak to Dr Shivali Sharma, who is developing climate resistant varieties of pigeon pea, a staple crop in many parts of rural India. And Mohamed Lassad Ben Saleh, farmer in Tunisia, tells us how breeding crops that combine properties of indigenous wild varieties has improved the quality and yield of his crops. This is a repeat of an episode first broadcast on 17 September 2021.Producers: Clare Williamson and Benjie Guy(Picture: a hand holding seeds. Credit: Getty Images)

California's state capital suffers from a serious shortage of housing, like much of the Golden State. Small informal encampments along riverbanks or the side of the road are a common sight.We hear from Laura Nussbaum, a woman living in one of these camps in Sacramento. She's trying to get back into permanent housing but doesn't think she'll get any help from the city. Meanwhile, the mayor of Sacramento thinks his city should pass a law which gives everyone the legal right to housing. Darrell Steinberg tells presenter Sarah Hawkins how it would work, and why a law is needed to cut through red tape. But not everyone is convinced; Faye Wilson Kennedy of the Sacramento Poor People's Campaign worries that the law could force people to choose from the city's very limited list of housing options without necessarily building new options. And local reporter Chris Nichols gives us the perspective of local builders, NIMBY groups, and even some YIMBY groups who positively want new developments to take shape.(Picture: Wom

In Business Weekly, we look at the implications of the European Court of Justice clearing the way for the European Union to cut billions of euros in funding to Poland and Hungary. Judges dismissed a challenge by the two nations, with the court ruling that the EU can suspend funding to member states that violate the bloc’s democratic values. Sophie Pornschlegel at the Brussels-based European Policy Centre explains how the cut in funding will hit both countries’ economies. Also, we hear why India has banned more than fifty Chinese mobile apps, claiming they pose a threat to national security. Amit Bhandari, a senior fellow for energy investment and connectivity at Gateway House, tells us about the power dynamics between the Asian giants. After years of delays, the green light for what will be the largest heated oil pipeline in the world has been given. Running from Uganda to the cost of Tanzania, the pipeline is being heralded as an economic boon for both countries, but has been fiercely opposed by activists wh

There’s a credit crunch facing dozens of the world's poorest countries: billions of dollars are now owed and some countries simply won't manage the repayments. So who should foot the bill? We speak with Sri Lankan businessman, Indika Merenchige, who imports vehicles in to Sri Lanka – but it’s not business as usual when your government has defaulted with one of the world’s most influential creditors: China. Meanwhile, the percentage some African countries are now paying just to service loan repayments has become alarmingly high. Jan Friederich is an African specialist at the Ratings Agency Fitch and speaks with us from Hong Kong. Plus, saying there’s no crisis on the horizon is Sonja Gibbs, the managing director and head of global policy initiatives at the Institute of International Finance, a trade group for the global financial industry. And it is when middle income countries like Turkey default on debt that really worries banks, says Harvard economist Ken Rogoff. Finally, Tim Jones represents the Jubilee

Two years on from the start of the pandemic and most visitors are still banned from Japan. We take a look at why the world’s third largest economy has one of the strictest border controls in the world. How is it affecting people? And how is it affecting the economy? Tamasin Ford goes on a virtual tour of Tokyo’s foodie hotspots with Yukari Sakamoto, writer, chef and the author of a book called Food Sake Tokyo. Yukari explains how a lack of tourists has impacted her business, and how travel bans have stopped her from seeing family and friends. We also hear from a student stuck in the UK, and from Seijiro Takeshita. Professor of Management and Information at the University of Shizuoka Japan about the concerns from some big business over continued isolation. (Image: Women cross a street at night, in Tokyo on November 3, 2021. Credit: Charly Triballeaue / AFP/ Getty Images)

Have US pharmaceutical companies created a web of disinformation to boost their profits?That's the accusation of John Abramson, an academic at Harvard Medical School. In an extended interview with the BBC's Ed Butler, he discusses the thesis of his new book, Sickening: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair It.According to Abramson, scandals such as the opioid addiction epidemic caused by drugs like Oxycontin, or the shockingly high cost of insulin in America, have a common cause - the ability of big pharma companies to gull American doctors into overprescribing their premium products.(Picture: Pills spilling out of a prescription bottle; Credit: Getty Images)

Many of us will have noticed 'friend' or 'follow' requests on our social media from strangers with profiles which don’t quite ring true. They mainly use cloned pictures, often taken from accounts of those in the US military. Zoe Kleinman investigates the global industry of romance scamming, which can have tragic consequences. Zoe hears from Lisa Forte, a cyber security expert from Red Goat Security, Professor Alan Woodward from Surrey University, and she goes into the tragic story of Renee Holland, as investigated by Jack Nicas of the New York Times. With thanks to the New York Times for their material. This is a repeat of a programme first broadcast on 26 August 2020Producer: Sarah Treanor.(Photo: Mobile phone display. Credit: Getty Images)

The UN describes people living with disabilities as the world’s largest minority group. A billion of us live with some sort of disability and are up to twice as likely to be unemployed than non-disabled people. For Caroline Casey, the founder and creator of the Valuable 500, this was a challenge. She calls herself a troublemaker and as such she has persuaded the CEO's of more than 500 of the world's biggest companies to personally sign a declaration to end disability exclusion in the workplace. Tamasin Ford meets Caroline and hears her story and what motivates her. We also hear from disabled Ugandan worker Naome Akwee, Sam Latif from London and executives from some of the Valuable 500 including Santen, a Japanese pharmaceutical company and Ernst and Young. Produced by Tom Kavanagh and Clare Williamson. (Image: Caroline Casey; Credit:The Valuable 500)

On this edition of Business Weekly, we’re looking at BP’s latest results. The energy giant made a profit of $12.8bn last year - thanks mainly to surging oil and gas prices. This comes after a loss in 2020. We hear why some are calling for a ‘windfall tax’ - a one-off charge that would then be channelled to help struggling consumers battling price rises. We hear the response from BP, and comments from Connor Schwartz at Friends of the Earth and Tom Wilson from the Financial Times. Staying with rising bills, the BBC’s Tamasin Ford investigates the cost of living in different parts of the world. She hears how it is calculated and how increases in everyday essentials impact people in different ways. Also on the programme, we enter the world of fashion, and hear how some apps are trying to increase the sustainability of the industry by encouraging us to buy or rent second-hand. We get a tour of the technology from the BBC’s Justin Rowlatt and his daughter, Zola. Turkey is a country with soaring inflation. The cur

Argentina’s government and the International Monetary Fund have been renegotiating the terms of a 2018 loan issued to the country – the largest in IMF history. The Fund’s own internal analysis of that deal was scathing. The 2018 package had been vaunted for its commitment to protecting the most vulnerable in society. Yet people in Argentina, and particularly those on the lowest incomes, are currently enduring a cost of living crisis, with inflation running at above 50% in 2021, and wages struggling to keep pace with increased housing, food and energy costs. Amy Booth is a journalist in Argentina, and says many people have lost hope in the midst of the country’s seemingly interminable economic crisis. Daniel Munevar, who works on debt justice at the European Network on Debt and Development, says the IMF broke its own rules in order to issue the 2018 loan. Carolina Millán is Bloomberg’s bureau chief in Buenos Aires, and tells us that the Fund’s decades-long association with austerity and misery in Argentina loo

The use of robots in North American workplaces has increased by 40% since the start of the pandemic and the small to medium sized businesses, which never automated before, are getting in on the act. The robotics industry has responded to the global increased demand by creating more and more customisable robots, which can be leased or hired. Ivana Davidovic explores what effect this has had - and could have in the future - on the labour markets, innovation, but also on social inequality. Ivana hears from a small restaurant owner from California who wouldn't be without her server robot Rosie any more, after months of being unable to fill vacancies. Joe Campbell from the Danish company Universal Robots and Tim Warrington from the British company Bots explain how they are taking advantage of the post-pandemic "great resignation" and which industries are next in line for a robotics boom. Karen Eggleston from Stanford University explains her research into the consequences of the use of robots in over 800 nursing

Greed is considered one of the seven deadly sins; but is the accumulation - and retention - of wealth always a bad thing? With economic inequality growing, Elizabeth Hotson asks John Paul Rollert, from the Chicago Booth school of management, why greed has historically invited criticism. We also hear from Paul Piff, Associate Professor of Psychological Science at the University of California, Irvine, who tells us about an experiment in acquisitiveness, played out during a game of Monopoly. Plus serial entrepreneur and self-made multi millionaire, Richard Skellett, tells us why he supports a wealth tax. Presented by Elizabeth Hotson Produced by Sarah Treanor(Picture of dollar bills, picture via Getty Images).

Can apps like Depop and By Rotation, which are giving new life to old clothes, help reduce the fashion industry's enormous environmental footprint?Justin Rowlatt heads to the London offices of both these online platforms. Depop's Justine Porterie explains how their clothing resale app helped Gen Z take back control of their wardrobes and fall in love with second-hand clothes. Meanwhile Eshita Kabra-Davies, founder of By Rotation, retells how she came up with the concept of a high fashion rental app after seeing all the discarded garments piling up in her hometown in Rajasthan.These apps have grown enormously during the last two years of lockdowns, attracting millions of users, particularly teenagers. But Sarah Kent, editor at the Business of Fashion website, questions whether they can really make a dent in the sheer volume of clothes produced and disposed of every year.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Someone photographing a sweater for sale online; Credit: Getty Images)

Prices around the world are rising at their fastest level for years. Rising energy prices and a surge in demand after the pandemic lockdown have pushed up the prices of many of the goods that we rely on and our wages are not keeping pace. Tamasin Ford looks at the factors behind the rises and hears why it is often the poorest in our society who are impacted the most. Tamasin talks to Davide Angeletti who owns Ovenbird Coffee in Glasgow; he's looking at how he can cut his costs whilst he struggles to pay his bills; Tehiya Ben Zur is a mother living in one of the world's most expensive cities, Tel Aviv and Claudia Keller, the CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank in Orange County in California. And to explain how inflation is measured and why price rises are felt differently across society, economist Xavier Jaravel of the London School of Economics breaks down the data. (Image: A shopper at a supermarket in London, Credit: European Pressphoto Agency)

On this edition of Business Weekly, we’re looking at Spotify’s latest results, and hearing how it has had to react to controversy surrounding its star podcaster, Joe Rogan. We hear from music industry writer Eamonn Ford, who tells us how the service is expanding more into the spoken word, and how it will now have to editorially manage the content it acquires. The Winter Olympics has now officially started, and we hear how some people would like sponsors to be more politically active, when choosing where to place their money. The mining giant Rio Tinto has pledged to take on board all the recommendations from a damning report that said racism, sexual harassment and bullying were rife at its sites. We hear from ABC’s Peter Ryan how this could be the ‘Me Too’ moment for the mining industry. Also on the programme, we hear how Wordle’s creator has decided to sell his five-letter game to the New York Times, and if the puzzle’s fans will be happy to turn to the newspaper’s website instead. The BBC’s Mike Johnson del

From its early reputation as mothers’ ruin to its prime spot in upscale cocktail bars, we tell the story of the juniper-infused spirit. And as the gin craze in the US and the UK shows no sign of slowing, we ask where the next global hotspots will be. Dr Angela McShane of Warwick University tells Elizabeth Hotson how and why gin drinking became popular in the UK and Sandie Van Doorne, from Lucas Bols - which claims to be the oldest distillery brand in the world - explains how the Dutch spirit, genever, fits into the story. Sean Harrison of Plymouth Gin explains how the company is taking on the new contenders in the market and we hear from up-and-coming brands; Toby Whittaker from Whittakers Gin and Temi Shogelola of Black Crowned Gin. Plus, we hear from Emily Neill, Chief Operating Officer at the IWSR which provides data and analysis on the beverage alcohol market. And a programme about gin wouldn’t be complete without a cocktail; William Campbell-Rowntree, bar supervisor at Artesian in London’s Langham Hotel

Drawn by the favourable exchange rate, tourists are flocking to Turkey, but can they compensate for the country's wider economic woes? In 2020, Turkey was hit hard by the pandemic lockdown, soaring inflation, a weakening currency and a current account deficit. Last year, the number of visitors jumped 85.5%. Victoria Craig talks to tourists in Istanbul about how they're getting more value for money and visits traders in the Grand Bazaar. Tour guide Sebnem Altin at tour company Grand Circle Travel has mixed feelings about the future and economist Roger Kelly at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development puts the latest tourism figures in context. Produced by Stephen Ryan and Gulsah Karadag. (Image: Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, Credit: Victoria Craig)

Sanctions, energy supplies, cyber-attacks - how bad could the economic fallout be if the situation in Ukraine spirals out of control?How likely would Russia be to simply cut the gas supply off to Europe in the middle of winter for example? Ed Butler asks Jane Collin, editor of the UK-based publication, Energy Intelligence. Meanwhile Matthew Olney, director of threat intelligence at Cisco, discusses another possibility - the disabling of key energy and other infrastructure in America by Russian hackers.Meanwhile the West has plenty of threats it can make against Moscow, in the form of further economic and financial sanctions - including the option of kicking Russia off the SWIFT international financial payments messaging system. But Maria Shagina, a visiting fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, says the West will need to look beyond sanctions if it wishes to influence President Putin's thinking(Picture: Ukrainian soldier with rifle; Credit: Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Allegations of human rights' abuses have led to an official boycott by a number of Western governments of the Winter Olympics in Beijing this month. China has responded angrily, accusing them of politicising a sporting bonanza. The International Olympic Committee insists that sport should be above politics. So where does this leave the sponsors on whom the Olympics depend for funding? International marketing expert Allyson Stewart Allen tells us that sponsors are stuck between a rock and hard space, whilst former Olympic skiier Noah Hoffman calls on sponsors to do more to protect athletes, and British politician Rob Hayward is calling for a boycott of Coca Cola products for not taking a stand. Ed Butler presents and the programme producer is Clare Williamson.(This podcast is an edited version of the original broadcast programme for reasons of accuracy)(Image: Short Track Speed Skating official training session ahead of the Winter Olympics, Beijing, China, Credit: Getty Images)