The US Federal Reserve chairman has said the central bank will continue to raise interest rates "if appropriate" as inflation remains "too high". Jerome Powell told an annual gathering of central bankers that the pace of price rises had fallen from a peak. The Director of the British Museum is stepping down over the way the institution under his leadership handled a series of thefts that have shaken its reputation. The international leg of Taylor Swift's Eras tour kicked off last night in Mexico...
Aug 26, 2023•50 min
The BRICS group of nations has invited six countries to join them. They are Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. We look at how some of these countries would benefit from joining this bloc. China suspends all seafood imports from Japan over the release of wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific. Central banks from around the world are gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for the start of the influential three-day economic conference. (The national ...
Aug 25, 2023•50 min
We look at how US government bonds have become a good source of income for investors. We hear from one businessman in Canada as wildfires spread across his neighbourhood. and we discuss why some of the biggest hotel groups in the world are helping to boost all-inclusive holidays
Aug 18, 2023•50 min
We discuss Joe Biden plans to boost the US economy through the landmark legislation known as the Inflation Reduction Act. We hear the arguments both for and against its potential to develop green industries in the US. We hear from the man who came up with the term BRICS to describe the economic alliance that binds Brazil, Russia, India and China. The countries came together two decades ago. And Sotherby’s in California is auctioning off twenty vintage Ferraris which came into their possession in...
Aug 17, 2023•50 min
Businesses in South-West of the United States explain how the weather is impacting them. India and Sri Lanka have announced that they will carry out feasibility studies on laying an oil pipeline across the narrow sea strait that divides them. Taylor Swift is the latest big name to take her international tour to Singapore but not Hong Kong. And, we discuss Burberry, the 170 year old high-fashion brand built on its British principles. (A sign warns of extreme heat danger on Death Valley National P...
Jul 22, 2023•50 min
Global wheat prices have risen sharply after Russia carried out missile attacks on military infrastructure near grain ports in Ukraine. And the new barbie film is on the way but this is not the only film and TV series we expect from the Mattel franchise. (Picture: TQ Samsun last grain ship off the Black Sea on July 17, 2023 after Russia announced that it withdrew from the Grain Corridor Agreement. Source: Getty Images)
Jul 21, 2023•50 min
Moscow notified the UN, Turkey and Ukraine on Monday that it would not renew the Black Sea grain initiative, accusing the West of not keeping its side of the bargain. The decision has been condemned by world leaders including the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres and the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. (A farmer holds grains in pictured July 16, 2023. Source: Getty Images)
Jul 18, 2023•50 min
A US court has given Microsoft the green light to buy the videogame maker Activision Blizzard in a deal worth $69bn. Microsoft said after the US win, it would focus on resolving concerns around competition in the UK. The tech giant's merger with the Call of Duty owner would be the biggest deal of its kind in gaming industry history. Bank of America has been ordered to pay out $150m (£116m) in penalties after it was found to have opened credit cards without customers' permission. (Picture: Call o...
Jul 12, 2023•51 min
Threads, the social media app aimed at rivalling Twitter, has signed up more than 100 million users in less than five days. The platform, launched by Instagram-owner Meta, has beaten a record set by Open AI's ChatGPT app. China’s consumer inflation rate was flat in June while factory-gate prices fell further, causing alarms about deflation risks and adding to speculation about potential economic stimulus. Could countries be soon mining the seabed? A meeting of The International Seabed Authority ...
Jul 11, 2023•53 min
The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, is heading to Beijing to restore the line of communication between the two countries after a persistent economic and diplomatic tensions. Filipinos make up around a quarter of all mariners worldwide, but many find it hard to get proper care abroad because of confusing legal loopholes. And should tourists try their hand at haggling abroad – or just pay what they’re asked? (Picture: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Source: Getty Images)...
Jun 17, 2023•54 min
Leaders and representatives from various African countries are traveling to Eastern Europe in an effort to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia – and provide an Africa-led boost to the world’s economy. Roger Hearing is joined by ambassador Rama Yade from the Atlantic Council’s Africa Centre to discuss the visit. Foxconn, one of the biggest electronics manufacturers in the world, makes more than half of Apple’s products as well as goods for Amazon, Dell and Sony amongst others. But how is the ...
Jun 16, 2023•54 min
Roger Hearing looks at how the Federal Reserve has left the United States interest rates unchanged and steady for the first time in more than a year. However, its latest economic forecast suggest that more rate hikes lie ahead. Half of workers aren’t engaged on the job, putting in slightest effort to get by, according to research by Gallup. Employee engagement, a measure of involvement and enthusiasm at work, globally declined for the second year in a row. And the frenzy stoked by the start of t...
Jun 15, 2023•54 min
This week the EU votes on ways to regulate AI. Vice-President Margrethe Vestager leads the charge against threats posed by artificial intelligence. She tells the BBC that although the threat of human extinction ”probably does exist”, the likelihood is “quite small”. She says initial threats include discrimination, and criminals getting ahead of the police in understanding AI. This week European politicians debate the issue as they vote on the AI Act. It's the first law for AI systems in the West...
Jun 14, 2023•49 min
The U.S watchdog has asked a judge to block a $69 billion bid by Microsoft to buy Activision Blizzard. The gaming company makes ‘Call of Duty’ and many other titles. But the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) position on the deal is now closer to the that taken by the UK regulator. The issue hangs on claims the sale would give Microsoft's Xbox exclusive access to Activision games, leaving Nintendo consoles and Sony's PlayStation out in the cold. Also in the U.S, America's biggest bank, JPMorgan Chas...
Jun 13, 2023•49 min
President Biden has said that he should know by the end of Friday whether there is a deal with Republicans to raise the government debt ceiling, so it can continue to pay its bills. Mr Biden said things were looking good and he thought negotiators were very close to a deal. The two sides have a little more breathing room after the US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, extended the debt ceiling deadline by four days, to 5 June. (Picture: U.S. President Joe Biden. Source: Somodevilla/Getty Images)...
May 27, 2023•54 min
Nvidia, a US firm which specializes in chips powering artificial intelligence, surged as much as 27% on Thursday, putting the company on course for record performance with a market cap above $900 billion. But where is the future of AI while there are raising concerns about regulation and safety? And have you ever heard of ‘greedflation’? Find out why price rises might be bringing out some unsavoury tendencies in retail. (Picture: The logo of NVIDIA is seen displayed on a mobile phone screen with...
May 26, 2023•54 min
It's day two of the G7 summit, and the leaders of the group of major developed economies are in the Japanese city of Hiroshima. So far the focus of their talks has been Russia and Ukraine - today there is another major issue on the table – China. The Indian government says it will start withdrawing its highest value currency note from circulation saying it is not widely in use. People have been asked exchange their two-thousand rupee notes (worth around twenty five dollars) for smaller denominat...
May 20, 2023•54 min
Royalty and dignitaries from around the world have arrived in London ahead of the coronation of King Charles. Many of them will be guests in Westminster Abbey on Saturday morning where the coronation ceremony will begin at 11 o'clock. Millions of other people across the UK and beyond are preparing to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III - a symbolic ceremony combining a religious service and pageantry. The day of splendour and formality will feature customs dating back more than 1,000 ye...
May 06, 2023•54 min
Apple has reported quarterly revenue and profit above Wall Street's expectations, fuelled by strong iPhone sales - particularly in emerging markets such as India (where the company recently opened its first stores). The US tech giant reported profits of twenty-four billion dollars ($24 billion) on revenue of ninety-four-point-eight billion dollars ($94.8 billion) in the first three months of this year. The US regional banking sector is coming under renewed pressure amid a crisis in confidence. T...
May 05, 2023•54 min
Geoffrey Hinton helped to establish some of the basic foundations of AI but now fears the technology is racing ahead too fast. He is leaving Google after more than ten years so he can speak more freely about the risks. The White House says First Republic bank, which collapsed to be taken over by JP Morgan, was ‘severely mismanaged’. However, some customers and former staff disagree. The failure of San Francisco-based First Republic is the second-largest in US history and the third in the country...
May 02, 2023•49 min
Apple Chief Executive, Tim Cook, has met with Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, as he is looking for a market growth and investment in India. Tesla shares dropped 2% after the electric-vehicle maker cuts down the price U.S for the sixth time this year. Tesla shares slid further in initial after-market trading on Wednesday following the company's quarterly report. April 18th - was Tax Day in the US - the day that marks the deadline for individuals to file their income tax returns for the year. That ...
Apr 20, 2023•54 min
The US voting technology firm Dominion has settled with Fox News just before their defamation trial was due to begin. Dominion had sought $1.6bn (£1.3bn) from Fox, whom it claimed spread falsehoods about its voting machines in the 2020 presidential election. The final settlement agreed between both parties was for $787.5m. The world of its biggest competitor the streaming giant Netflix has just released its latest financial results and it has bounced back from the loss of 200,000 subscribers a y...
Apr 19, 2023•53 min
There have been economic tensions between the US and China that has been for some time dominating the news and the involvement of their respective allies. Is this a new trade war that is coming back to the boil? And as a jobseeker, ChatGPT is affecting job applications as fears of cheating grow and employers thinking to disqualify any AI-aided submissions. (Picture: A photo illustration showing Chinese 100 yuan banknotes and US banknotes in Beijing. Source: EPA/WU HONG)
Apr 18, 2023•54 min
US inflation fell to 5% last month – the lowest rate since May 2021. March’s monthly consumer price index – which measures the price of a ‘basket’ of goods and services – continued its steady decline from its peak of just over 9%. It prompted US President Joe Biden to tweet that: “Inflation has come down 45% since its summer peak. Gas prices are down, and grocery prices fell last month for the first time since September 2020”. But the slowdown is not expected to sway officials at the Federal Res...
Apr 13, 2023•49 min
The International Monetary Fund raises concerns about the sudden failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the United States, and the loss of market confidence in Credit Swiss. At its spring conference with the World Bank in Washington, the IMF warned that global financial stability risks have increased rapidly in the last few months, in part because banks generally didn't prepare adequately for interest rates increases. The IMF warns that this might impact in particular regional and...
Apr 12, 2023•49 min
The spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are beginning in Washington - the major global financial institutions - are gathering at a time of profound concern about persistent inflation, struggling countries, and the health of the banking system. It follows several failures of regional banks and uncertainty in giant finance houses like Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank There’s another twist in the story of FTX - the crypto-currency exchange that collapsed spectacular...
Apr 11, 2023•49 min
Healthcare company Johnson and Johnson has offered nearly $9 billion to settle a claim from tens of thousands of people who claim its talc product caused cancer. We hear from a lawyer whose firm is representing 17,000 claimants who say they've been affected by the company's trademarked talcum powder product. The housing boom is definitely over. In Europe anyway. House prices in the EU have suffered their first quarterly fall since 2015, according to the EU statistics office this week. House-hunt...
Apr 06, 2023•49 min
US House committee votes to release Donald Trump’s tax information to the public Japan’s central bank catches markets off guard by making a move to tackle inflation. And what impact will the Taliban government’s decision to close universities for women have on the economy ? Devina Gupta discusses these and other business news stories with the Editor of National and Strategic Affairs at The Print website in India Jyoti Malhotra, and Walter Todd, the President and chief investment officer of US ba...
Dec 21, 2022•51 min
One of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance, has pulled out of a deal to acquire its struggling rival FTX, leaving the latter's future in doubt. The near-collapse of FTX which was valued at $32 billion at the start of the year has shaken the crypto market, with Bitcoin and other currencies suffering steep falls. Rahul Tandon is joined by Tracy Wang, the deputy managing editor at Coindesk in New York, and entrepreneur Candy Valentino, the author of Wealth Habits: Six Ordinary Ste...
Nov 10, 2022•49 min
There are warnings people could starve across the globe due to food shortages caused by the war in Ukraine. The World Trade Organisation is seeking solutions to the crisis - we'll hear from UNICEF's Rania Dagesh along with University of Maryland economist Peter Morici, and Sushma Ramachandran, a Delhi-based independent journalist. Our live guests will also discuss turbulence in the Asian markets and a potentially lucrative deal in cricket's Indian Premier League. Also on Business Matters, India'...
Jun 14, 2022•49 min
