08/12/2015 BBC Business Live


08/12/2015

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This is Business Live from BBC News with Ben Thompson and Sally Bundock.

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Imports and exports to and from the world's second largest economy

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continue to fall, fuelling concerns of a hard landing.

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Live from London, that's our top story on Tuesday December the 8th.

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Made in China is selling globally at a slower rate, and the Chinese

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It's the wrong trend that is gathering momentum.

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Is this the world's biggest ever sponsorship deal?

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Basketball superstar LeBron James signs a lifetime contract with Nike,

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the first such deal ever signed by the sporting goods giant.

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And financial markets are quite worried about the news out of China,

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and oil prices continue to bump along the bottom. We'll talk to you

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about the winners and losers. And the battle

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for our books this Christmas. We hear from the boss of e-reader

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firm Kobo on the battle with And LeBron James becomes Nike

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for life in a deal said to be worth Nice work if you can get it,

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but is that too much? Get in touch -

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use the hashtag #BBCbizlive. We start with China, the latest news

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on trade. Both exports and imports declined

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in November compared with The big question now is

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whether or not the cooling economy will face a hard or soft landing

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in the coming months and years. Chinese trade last year was worth

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$4.3 trillion, making it the world's largest trader, a title it took

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from the United States in 2013. Those figures disguise

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a big problem, though. China saw imports drop

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for a record 13th month in a row in November, down 8.7%

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on the same time a year before. The falling import numbers suggest

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domestic demand is not as strong And as you can see here,

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the rate of Chinese growth has been coming down from the heady heights

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of over 12% in 2010 to less than 7% The Chinese government is attempting

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to shift the economy to one that is fuelled by consumer demand,

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as seen in the West. However these latest figures

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demonstrate this is not Our correspondent

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in Beijing is Celia Hatton. How worried should we be by a

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slowdown in those How worried should we be by a

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slowdown in those figures? These numbers really just tell us that the

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decline in the Chinese economy is continuing. Some analysts were

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hoping that the numbers would a little bit, and maybe that would

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just show the numbers in the fourth quarter would plateau altogether. So

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we have seen declines in exports and imports. Imports in particular are

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down across all major markets except to South Korea -- exports are down.

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And import numbers, although better-than-expected, they are also

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down, so it is not looking good for the Chinese economy. What are people

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saying? Are they worried about the future? We know that economic growth

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relies on confidence, it relies on people spending, and that

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rebalancing of the Chinese economy will rest on whether people feel

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confident to go out and spend and consume. They feeling about the

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state of the economy? It depends on who you ask. If you listen to the

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Government line, the government is saying, they are saying they knew it

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was going to happen and are trying to refocus the economy and aim for

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slower and medium long-term growth. The Government is saying that they

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are still on track for China to hit its economic growth targets of 7%.

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So it is really trying to reassure people, but yes, people on the

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ground are concerned. It is quite a big worry, and we can really see

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this were we look at Chinese savings rates. Chinese people save much more

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individually than many people in many other countries around the

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world, and most people say, that is because there is this insecurity,

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this need to save for the future, this need to save for retirement

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prop cos there is no real confidence that the government will provide a

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safety net. But this is something we have seen for the past few years,

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this economic slowdown is set to continue to 18 months, some analysts

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say. Celia Hatton, thank you very much.

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They have put out a red alert warning for the first time.

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Internet firms including Google and Amazon operating in the EU

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will be forced to report serious security breaches under

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Reuters says EU countries have agreed to report any issues, for

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companies in critical sectors such as transport, energy and finance.

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The price of oil has fallen to its lowest level since 2009 as global

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The price of US light crude sank to $37.65 a barrel, down 5.8%, while

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The slumping price comes as Opec, a group

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of the largest oil-producing nations, refused to cut oil

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Financial regulators in Japan have recommended more penalties

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The Securities Commission says the electronics giant should be

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slapped with a record $60 million fine

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over a massive accounting violation where the firm inflated profits by

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around 155 billion yen over seven years.

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Let's take you to the business live page. -- the Business Live page.

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Stay with me, it is there. Air France on target despite the attacks

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in Paris that knocked 50 billion euros of its revenue that month. --

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50 million euros. But it says despite that, it is still on track

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for growth in passenger numbers. They had such a difficult year

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anyway because of disputes with various unions and parts of Air

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France and KLM as they try to restructure. Not an easy year for

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them. Here in the UK, flooding is dominating the headlines after a

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deluge of rain over the last few days. But already now concern,

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talking about concerns over insurance and whether people are

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properly insured in high-risk flood areas. A new insurance organisation

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is good to be set up to be able to offer insurance to people in high

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risk areas, but it won't start until April 2016, despite being agreed in

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principle in 2013. There is too much legislation that has to go through

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Parliament to make it happen. Not good news for people struggling with

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insurance claims. Let's take you to Asia now,

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where Japan has avoided Sharanjit Leyl has the details in

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our Asia Business hub in Singapore. It is down, now it is up? What is

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going on? That is right. They narrowly dodged a technical

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recession in that last quarter. They have the economy figures showing a

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contraction, and this will be a really welcome relief to

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policymakers who have been trying to lift Japan's economy from the

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doldrums. They have put in place aggressive stimulus measures aimed

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at re-inflating the economy, and the Government have really been

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pressuring companies to try to invest more of their record

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properties to put the economy on a sustained recovery path, and they

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have been warned by rising capital expenditure, which was a key

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component of the upgrade. There was also some good news on the trade

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front, posting a trade balance surplus.

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Thank you very much, Sharanjit Leyl in Singapore. The situation in Asia

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today was quite grim, Japan down 1% and Hong Kong 1.3%, and all of this

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was about the news out of China which Celia and Ben have discussed

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so far. It didn't really help markets in Tokyo. Europe following

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the trend in Asia. All the markets in Europe down, so a sea of red

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here, too. The fact that oil prices are so low, other commodity prices

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so low, not helping either. So the sentiment is pretty negative right

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now. Michelle Fleury is in New York for us.

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The job prospects and labour turnover survey will help to answer

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the question this Tuesday. Lots of Americans are quitting their jobs,

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this may be and this would be yet another indication of improving

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economic health. Turning to the housing market, the world's largest

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home improvement retailer, Home Depot, will lay out its financial

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targets for the next three years. And for a snapshot of the financial

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industry, the bosses in Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo are among the

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top banking brass attempting to speak.

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Michelle Burger in New York for us. -- Michelle there in New York. Let's

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pick up an oil. Opec have kept the taps open, oil is flowing and prices

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are falling. Good news and bad news. Good news for consumers and bad news

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for countries producing it and the inflation around the world. It is a

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balance between winners and losers. But what this is about is an intense

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battle for market share. Saudi Arabia said it will not cut its

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production even if the oil price does fall to $20 a barrel. Iran is

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coming back into the equation as they return to markets after

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sanctions, and Russia has continued to pump oil, so all of these factors

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mean there is too much supply and too little demand.

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In terms of the effect on global markets, there is plenty of good

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reasons why this is good news. Someone arguing the United States

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where money spent on gasoline is a pretty big part of people's outgoing

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is, it is good news there in terms of people having more money to

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spend. But then we have the Chinese trade numbers out as well. Just put

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it all in perspective for us. Low oil prices are good for the

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consumer, and it means prices at the pumps are low, but the reasons

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markets are down is because markets are interpreting this low oil price

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as a sign that global growth is slowing. Add to that the Chinese

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data, which also shows China is a big consumer of resources and is

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also slowing, that is really weighing on market sentiment.

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How worried need we be about China? We always talk about America

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sneezes, the world catches a cold. Is it the same with China? It is an

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important destination for our goods but also what we buy from China.

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Should the world economy worry about China when it is coming off such a

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high? It is slowing significantly, but not the same level we have seen

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in Europe or the US. Is important to distinguish where the slowdown is.

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We need to look at infrastructure, imports, exports. But we are not

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seeing such a slowdown in the services sector, health care,

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education. Those are the really important sectors. I know you will

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talk us through some of the other story is a little later, but for

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now, thank you. Still to come: Have you got one of these on your

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Christmas list? We will be hearing from the Canadian company Cobo --

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Kobo, over the battle for the e-book business. First, with that massive

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event just how many days away, my children are counting, many will be

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welcoming a pay rise over the next few months to pay for it all. So we

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do have some good news. Salaries in the UK are expected to rise by 2.5%

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next year in real terms, with workers in the retail sector feeling

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the benefit the most. But at the other end of the scale, public

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sector workers are still expected to see their pay frozen. Let's talk to

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Ben frost about this, a consultant with the group but have come up with

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the research. Nice to have you on the programme. Just tell us more

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about wages in the UK next year in real terms, up by 2.5%. Surely that

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has to be good news? Pay increases, roughly where the key

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for the last couple of years, 245%, but very slow inflation, almost all

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of that increase will benefit people in their pocket and not be beaten

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away by inflation. -- .5%. -- 2.5%. Where will felt most keenly? Receive

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benefit for the retail industry, people are benefiting from lower

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petrol prices and they are spending that money. -- we will see benefit.

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Things are not so good in the oil and gas sector. Not so many pay

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rises there this New Year and of course the public sector is seeing a

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significant pay freeze. Also we talk about the fact that oil prices are

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falling and we are benefiting, but in terms of energy prices, white

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households spending, that does not seem to be going down as quickly.

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Household energy prices don't seem to be going down. The forecast is at

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0.2%. The 2.5% salary increase, that is good news for people in the UK.

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Thank you for joining us, then was joining us to talk about the fact

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that real wages in the UK could be becoming higher in 2016, that is not

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for all across industries of course. You are with business alive, the top

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story is the falling trade figures from China. Also to bring you some

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breaking news we are having through to the BBC. It is all about the

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Oscar Pistorius keirin, it is ongoing in South Africa, Victoria.

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-- hearing, it is ongoing in Pretoria, South Africa. He is to be

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released on bail. The hearing has been taking place in South Africa

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today and the news as Sally said, the court has granted him bail after

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the conviction for murder. More details at the top of the hour with

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the latest headlines just at nine o'clock. We will bring you that news

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as soon as we have it. With Christmas around the corner this is

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the busiest time of year for book-sellers, whether the

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traditional printed page or e-books, they are flying off the

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shelves. Amazon sells more e-books than any other retailer, but last

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year the company faced criticism from some of the world leading

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authors about its negotiations with publishers. Kobo was taken over by a

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Japanese retailer, one of the largest in the world and the hope

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was that it would help it to compete with Amazon. Michael Tamblyn is the

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president. During his time at the company he has overseen berries

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acquisitions and helped to launch the world's first waterproof e-book.

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Our colleague caught up to talk to him about the rise of e-books and

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what encourages readers to make the switch.

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A lot of people do both, they may be reading their fiction, their science

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fiction, their science-fiction, that fantasy on a digital device, but

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then they are buying cookbooks and children's books and illustrated

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books in print. A lot of people find themselves as a hybrid reader who

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does both. Do people like the e-books or the e-readers? We look at

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the devices as a way to bring people into that and to serve that person

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who has books at the centre of their lives. You tend to gravitate towards

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a new reader if you read one or two books a week and you have a device

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that is optimised for that experience. You may use applications

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if you or an occasional reader. How do your products differ from

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Amazon's? The biggest difference is a philosophical one, reading is what

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we do and it is all we do. We do not look at acquiring a reading customer

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as a way to solve a bunch other things. We come out of book-selling

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most of us professionally and then we look at this not so much as a

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technology problem, more as a way to sell devices, but as a way to make

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reading better. -- not as wages more devices. We have always believed

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that there are two ways, the transition from print to digital

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could go, it could either be a revolution that was happening to

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publishers or it could be a revolution that happens with them.

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We always believed the latter. With collaborating together, figuring out

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what it is that readers want and by trying to bring the best knowledge

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we have about digital reading back into publishing, that makes it

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better for everyone. We would much rather be doing that in a more

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friendly and less contentious way than some of our competitors do. It

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seems to have worked well. That is the Chief Executive of kobo. Are you

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an e-reader man or real book man? Definitely an e-reader. Then if you

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go away you don't have to carry so many books. I still like a book, I

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like turning the page. A traditionalist. Sorry! Coming up:

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Would you pick an English bottle of bubbles over a bottle of champagne?

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There is demand in places as far afield as China and Japan! Frazer

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Thompson, no relation, the boss of Chapel down wines will join us live.

:21:57.:22:00.

Let's have a look at some of the stories out there. We mentioned this

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incredible deal that the Bron James has clinched with an IQ. -- LeBron

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James has clinched with Nike. If these reports are accurate, a $300

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million deal, it is a lifetime deal. It is believed to be the first kind

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of this contract signed by Nike. In some ways I am not surprised, it is

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a lot of money and unprecedented. I would be interested in the terms and

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conditions. We know Nike sponsored a lot of other young sports stars who

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have had a fall from grace. Tiger Woods, Oscar Pistorius, Lance

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Armstrong. What does it mean if you sign a lifetime deal, are they

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locked in? What is interesting is it sounds like a lot of money, $300

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million is a lot of money, but you look at what they generate, the

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brand association, the product range that it will no doubt launch for

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them, it will bring in the money and it will be a profitable deal for

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Nike, they will get something out of this. Absolutely, global sponsorship

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deals worth billions and Nike is at the forefront of that. Let's talk

:23:50.:23:54.

about a similar theme, Star Wars and the money it will make for Disney.

:23:55.:24:01.

Star Wars carries its own marketing weight for Disney. What Disney is

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arguing is that Star Wars has such a loyal fan base is they do not need

:24:08.:24:12.

any linked merchandise or any commercial objects. At the moment

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there is a Star Wars frenzy for all the bits and bobs to do with the

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moving and all the merchandise is on sale for kids. You are speaking from

:24:27.:24:32.

personal experience gesture marked my kids are pretty obsessed have not

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even seen the film! This is a new fan base as opposed to an old fan

:24:38.:24:43.

base. Yes, for Disney this has been a huge part of their business since

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the 1920s, you think of Mickey Mouse, appearing on school

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stationery, Star Wars has such a loyal fan base. Really good to see

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you, thank you for talking us through that. We are wrapping up

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business live slightly earlier, we are taking you to Johannesburg to

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bring you the latest on Oscar Pistorius hearing. Oscar Pistorius

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has been granted bail of 10,000 rand which is the equivalent of $700. He

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will return to court on the 18th of April in 2016 and that is when his

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lawyer will have to tell the court how far his appeal to the

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Constitutional Court has gone, because he wants to appeal his

:25:33.:25:36.

murder conviction dating that his constitutional rights have been

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infringed upon. We have also heard from the judge that Oscar Pistorius

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will be allowed to leave the house between seven and 12 in the day.

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More news on that at the top of the hour. Oscar Pistorius granted bail.

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That is it from us on business live .

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