Get ahead of the trends and conversations that are shaping the City of London. Join Bloomberg's Francine Lacqua, Allegra Stratton and Dave Merritt every Thursday as they uncover the best stories and speak to the people in the know.
Rishi Sunak’s government is running out of time to win back voters. Bloomberg City editor Katherine Griffiths joins In the City hosts David Merritt, Francine Lacqua and Allegra Stratton to unpack Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s pledges in this week's budget. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jennifer Welch, chief geoeconomic analyst at Bloomberg Economics, joins to discuss how Joe Biden and Xi Jinping came together for a successful meeting following a long chill. We also unpack the reception Xi got from top American business executives at an exclusive dinner, as well as the surprising announcement that former UK prime minister David Cameron was returning to politics. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Martha Lane-Fox, president of the of the British Chambers of Commerce, said she sees Brexit as the main issue facing UK businesses. “Brexit affected the skills base full-stop,” she said on this week’s episode of In the City . Fox joined NFX General Partner Pete Flint for a panel discussion hosted by Bloomberg’s Stephen Carroll at the GROW Summit in London. Flint said he’s optimistic about the UK’s chances of replicating a San Francisco-style hub of business success, describing the country as “a ...
At Bloomberg, we’re always talking about the biggest business stories, and no one is bigger than Elon Musk. In this new chat weekly show, host David Papadopoulos and a panel of guests including Businessweek’s Max Chafkin, Tesla reporter Dana Hull, Big Tech editor Sarah Frier, and more, will break down the most important stories on Musk and his empire. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Andrew Griffith explains on this week's In the City that the British capital can act as an “honest broker” on digital currencies and artificial intelligence. Griffith joins David Merritt for a conversation in New York City, where he was meeting with investors and talking to firms about how London can factor into their futures. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week, the UK government is hosting global leaders and business executives in Bletchley Park, north of London, for the first major meeting on artificial intelligence. But what exactly can Britain contribute when it comes to understanding—and managing—the future of AI? Bloomberg technology editor Nate Lanxon, co-host of the Bloomberg Originals series AI IRL , says the UK effort to get in early on AI regulation is a smart one. He joins this week’s In the City with hosts Francine Lacqua and All...
On this week’s In the City, we look at Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s vision of regional prosperity, and whether it can survive the Israel-Hamas war. Saudi bureau chief Matthew Martin joins Francine Lacqua at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, with Allegra Stratton and David Merritt joining from London. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Rishi Sunak is the latest leader headed to Israel. The Gaza hospital attack “should be a watershed moment for leaders in the region and across the world to come together to avoid further dangerous escalation of conflict,” the UK PM said. But how likely are efforts by Sunak, Biden and other Western leaders to prevent the conflict, which in just 11 days has killed thousands on both sides, from escalating? In this week’s In the City , hosts Francine Lacqua, David Merritt and Allegra Stratton are jo...
In his podcast debut, C.S. Venkatakrishnan, Barclays chief executive officer, says stagnant deal activity, easing volatility and peaking interest rates are set to compound pressure on bank earnings. Despite tentative signs of activity returning at the start of September, Venkatakrishnan tells David and Francine that a dealmaking revival is still looking “a little further away.” They also discuss the IPO market, cricket and Taylor Swift. This conversation was taped on Oct. 5, 2023. See omnystudio...
Are the bulls about to return to Britain? Positive outlooks for UK equities are breaking through the clouds. London Stock Exchange Chief Executive Julia Hoggett says it’s about time. Hoggett also discusses executive pay, saying the UK’s restrictions are hindering companies’ efforts to recruit top talent and undermining a push to make the City of London more appealing to businesses post-Brexit. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
The pound is notoriously difficult to trade. It’s a “graveyard for G-10 traders,” says Mark Cudmore, senior macro strategist for Bloomberg’s Markets Live blog. When it comes to making calls on the British currency, he says, “people only ever lose money.” Cudmore joins reporter Sofia Horta e Costa on this week’s In the City to try and make sense of why markets are again turning on sterling, just one year after ex-Prime Minister Liz Truss’s spending plans drove the pound to a record low. See omnys...
They say time heals all wounds. But it seems the damage done to the UK economy by Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget last year has yet to be forgiven by investors. According to a new Bloomberg survey , about two-thirds of UK finance professionals said an outright win for Keir Starmer’s Labour Party or a Labour-led coalition would be the “most market-friendly outcome.” Senior reporters Phil Aldrick and John Stepek join to discuss the survey and what its findings tell us about the City’s thinking ...
A decline in growth in China may take some heat out of the global economy, helping bring down inflation. But a full stop would trigger deep recessions. Bloomberg Economics Chief Economist Tom Orlik joins this week for a conversation on what China's slowdown means for the rest of the world, and in particular the UK. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Capitalism as we know it isn’t really working, according to economist and author Mariana Mazzucato. Take the current concrete crisis across UK schools. For Mazzucato, that’s a case of too little being spent on the school buildings themselves. But there’s another problem: lax regulation. If we continue to weaken the rules in the name of a stronger economy, she says, we risk tragedy. Mazzucato, a professor in the economics of innovation and public value at University College London, joins this wee...
Karen Ward, EMEA chief market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management and a key adviser to Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, joins hosts Francine Lacqua and David Merritt to unpack key points by central bankers who attended the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, and what it all means for the BOE and the UK. For the latter, the answer is recession. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Britain’s eligible pension savers need to return to work, earn for longer and save more—otherwise they might find retirement less than stress free. That’s the warning from Andy Briggs, chief executive of Phoenix Group, in conversation with Francine Lacqua on this week’s episode of In the City . They discuss the plight of retired people over the age of 50 and how the UK pension system compares with those of other countries. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
What do rising incomes and interest rates mean for residential and commercial markets across Britain? Senior reporters John Stepek and Jack Sidders, as well as Sue Munden, a senior property analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence , join with answers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Francine Lacqua speaks to a panel of Bloomberg experts including Bloomberg Opinion columnist Marcus Ashworth, reporter Tom Rees, and Ana Andrade of Bloomberg Economics . They discuss the central bank’s strategy and what moves the monetary policy committee might make next. “We’re at a real crunch point,” Rees says. The choice between quick or slow action is a tough one, given the tight labor market, mortgage and rent strains and higher living costs. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...
When Julian Metcalfe helped launch the sandwich and coffee-chain Pret A Manger in 1986, interest rates were in the double digits and staffing was difficult, in part because full freedom of movement within the European Union was still a few years away. These days, the UK is out of the EU, the interest rate is 5%—though the Bank of England is expected to raise it. “Everyone’s complaining about 5% and it’s the end of the world,” Metcalfe says. “Back then I remember we paid 14%.” In this week’s In t...
NatWest Chief Executive Officer Alison Rose is stepping down after a fight over the way the bank closed accounts held by politician-turned-pundit Nigel Farage. Pressure for her to quit had been rising. Both UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt indicated her position was untenable after she admitted talking to a BBC journalist about the account closures. In this week’s episode of In the City , host David Merritt discusses the mistakes made by NatWest and Farag...
Jens Grede, co-founder and chief executive of Kim Kardashian’s new underwear label Skims says he finds inspiration in the creation story behind Nike’s Air Jordans. The cross-generational line of basketball shoes started in the 80s remains a part of global culture, and Grede says he aims to do the same with the celebrity influencer and her new brand. He joins this week’s In the City with host David Merritt and reporter Katie Linsell to discuss the brand’s identity and expansion plans. Next year, ...
Twelve years on, and four years after Jeffrey Epstein’s death in a Manhattan jail by suicide, the details of how former Barclays Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley and the convicted sex offender formed a mutually beneficial bond are only now becoming clear. This comes as Staley faces a lawsuit by JPMorgan and a British regulatory probe. The litigation has unearthed a trove of documents that reveal the extent of the relationship. Reporters Harry Wilson, Jonathan Browning and Ava Benny-Morrison re...
Adam Posen isn’t ruling out the Bank of England pushing UK interest rates as high as 7% . The president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, Posen says the 6.25% rate investors have priced in for the end of 2023 is the level he’s been predicting for the past year. “The fact that the inflation is proving more persistent,” he says, just means “they’ll have to go higher.” Joining David Merritt and Francine Lacq...
Britain’s National Health Service turns 75 years-old this week. But as reporter Suzi Ring and editor Andre Tartar explain in the latest episode of In the City , rather than being a cause for celebration, the NHS anniversary comes at a critical, maybe even dire moment for the service. Ring and Tartar unpack Bloomberg’s first-of-its-kind analysis of NHS data for eight indicators—including ambulance waiting times, cancer treatment times, overnight hospital bed availability and wait times for diagno...
The biggest threat to Vladimir Putin’s grip on Russia in his almost quarter-century of rule has huge implications for the oil market. But dissecting the precise impact of last weekend’s mercenary mutiny is difficult, according to Bloomberg Opinion columnist Javier Blas. On this week’s In the City, Blas explains the bearish case and the bullish case. He also on his conversations with the central banking community in Sintra, Portugal at the ECB Forum. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...
The job of chief executive is more demanding than it’s ever been. So says Simon Freakley, CEO of international business advisory firm AlixPartners. While they still have to handle the core responsibilities—revenue growth, earnings growth and dividends to shareholders—he says there are more duties now than was the case just a few decades ago. “They need to have a voice about the values of the organization, the purpose of the organization and to comment on important issues of the day,” he says. Fr...
When HSBC bought the UK unit of Silicon Valley Bank over one frantic March weekend, the chief executive of the bank’s UK arm at the time, Erin Platts, was surprised. Having spent almost 20 years with SVB, she wasn’t expecting such a swift end for the lender. But afterwards, she found herself surprised by how positive the outcome was for her and her team. She joins this week’s In the City podcast to discuss her outlook for the City’s technology scene as it vies for AI startups. Also in the episod...
The AI revolution is fast unfolding all across Wall Street . Even as banks in recent months have laid off thousands of workers and instituted hiring freezes, they nevertheless continue to pour money into artificial intelligence. But what are these financial institutions hoping to get out of their investment? On this week’s episode of In the City, Olson is joined by Alexandra Mousavizadeh, co-founder and chief executive of consultancy Evident. Together, they break down the financial industry’s gr...
London’s economy is in trouble. Just ask a taxi driver—or their boss. Liam Griffin is chief executive of Addison Lee, a London-based private hire cab and courier company. On this episode of In the City , he explains how his company’s performance is a reflection of the City’s economic health. Plus, reporter Helen Chandler-Wilde unpacks London's traffic problem. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
With In the City hosts David Merritt and Francine Lacqua in Doha for the annual Qatar Economic Forum, this week’s podcast focuses on the growing influence of the Middle East—and whether it will come at the expense of Western financial hubs. Bloomberg reporter Dinesh Nair joins. He says the Middle East is currently the only region that can “call the shots on big transactions.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
