:00:00. > :00:08.This is Business Live from BBC News with Ben Thompson and Sally Bundock.
:00:09. > :00:10.No longer a hyper growth company - Apple says iPhone sales are slowing
:00:11. > :00:15.and the next quarter will be tougher.
:00:16. > :00:24.Live from London, that's our top story on Wednesday,
:00:25. > :00:40.So if Apple can't rely on ever-growing sales of its iphone
:00:41. > :00:44.or a booming market in China - what next for the tech giant?
:00:45. > :00:47.Also in the programme: What's not to like about Facebook's
:00:48. > :00:53.We'll explain why it's been given a thumbs down.
:00:54. > :00:55.And shares in Tokyp soared today, ending the session 2.7% higher
:00:56. > :00:59.with investors concentrating on central bank meetings in Japan
:01:00. > :01:06.and the US and shaking off worries over that slumping oil price.
:01:07. > :01:09.We'll be getting a totally different take on the world economy from a man
:01:10. > :01:24.Professor Steve Keen will explain why he supports so-called
:01:25. > :01:25.people's quantitative easing
:01:26. > :01:28.As reports suggest Facebook is resisting attempts by the UK
:01:29. > :01:31.to claim back taxes - we want to know - is it time
:01:32. > :01:33.the treasury got tough with the tech giants.
:01:34. > :01:46.Technology giant Apple has reported the biggest ever quarterly profit
:01:47. > :01:54.It came in at a staggering $18.4 billion.
:01:55. > :02:02.But while that exceeded expectations for both revenue and profit,
:02:03. > :02:12.For the first time ever, iPhone sales are slowing
:02:13. > :02:19.and it's directly reflecting the slowdown in China.
:02:20. > :02:27.The company's sold 74.8 million iPhones for the quarter -
:02:28. > :02:34.That's a big slowdown on the same time last year when sales
:02:35. > :02:39.And it warns sales will fall for the first time later this year.
:02:40. > :02:52.Apple's share price hit a high six months ago -
:02:53. > :02:54.just above $132 now it's below $100 mark.
:02:55. > :02:57.Apple's sales in Greater China - defined by the company as China,
:02:58. > :02:59.Hong Kong and Taiwan - rose 14%, but that was much slower
:03:00. > :03:05.He's the Global President for digital marketing company,
:03:06. > :03:09.The money is coming in but the iPhone sales are slowing. Your
:03:10. > :03:15.response to this news we got overnight? It is tough, isn't it? On
:03:16. > :03:19.the one hand you've delivered record numbers, record revenue, record
:03:20. > :03:23.profit, unbelievable margin, something like 40%, but your core
:03:24. > :03:26.product is a product that represents the lion's share of what you sell,
:03:27. > :03:30.68% of what you sell, that's slowing down and that's what spooked
:03:31. > :03:34.investors in the markets. We have highlighted the sales in China. A
:03:35. > :03:39.massive drop off, but at the same time, it is not that long ago that
:03:40. > :03:44.Apple did the deal with China Mobile and presumably lots of people in
:03:45. > :03:50.China got their iPhones, they are not going to upgrade quickly, are
:03:51. > :03:57.they? They're not cheap. China is 25%, more than Europe, 25% of what
:03:58. > :04:01.Apple sell. And remember, 68% of that is the iPhone. The challenge is
:04:02. > :04:06.lots of consumers, lots of those consumers in China are becoming
:04:07. > :04:09.middle-class and they have moved in and bought product and there is no
:04:10. > :04:14.incentive for them to upgrade. The difference between the iPhone 6 and
:04:15. > :04:19.the iPhone 6 S wasn't great. All eyes are going to be on the new
:04:20. > :04:23.this year. There is going to have to this year. There is going to have to
:04:24. > :04:31.be a step change in that product to persuade consumers to step out of
:04:32. > :04:37.the iPhone 6. We are obsessing about sales figures and they are still
:04:38. > :04:42.growing and most companies would be glad of sales figures are that
:04:43. > :04:46.growing. You touched on it, they are waiting for their next big thing? Is
:04:47. > :04:50.it the iPhone or something different? There is lots that Apple
:04:51. > :04:55.can do. The iPhone has been that killer product for the last few
:04:56. > :05:01.years. But let's think about the advances it is making in other
:05:02. > :05:04.areas. It bought Beats. It has really interesting potential in the
:05:05. > :05:10.head phone market, the speaker market, it is thinking about cars,
:05:11. > :05:12.people are exciting about an operating system to control the car
:05:13. > :05:16.and perhaps going into manufacturing cars themselves. There is lots that
:05:17. > :05:21.Apple can do, of course. But it is that iPhone, it is that core product
:05:22. > :05:24.that everybody is looking at. Let's remember the watch that everyone was
:05:25. > :05:29.excited about last year. That's clustered by Apple into a category
:05:30. > :05:33.it calls, "Other" With a few other product and other represents 6% of
:05:34. > :05:37.total sales. So, I think, we are all looking to see what's next, whether
:05:38. > :05:42.it will be a substantial step up in terms of the iPhone and in terms of
:05:43. > :05:45.innovation or whether it will be a new product that we don't know about
:05:46. > :05:48.yet. Ben, thank you very much for coming in and giving us your
:05:49. > :05:53.thoughts on Apple. There is more on our website too about Apple
:05:54. > :06:00.including analysis from our technology correspondents.
:06:01. > :06:01.The share price skirting with that $100, it is worth watching to see
:06:02. > :06:04.what happens next. Toyota has clung onto its status
:06:05. > :06:09.as the world's top-selling carmaker The Japanese firm says it sold
:06:10. > :06:17.nearly 10.2 million vehicles in 2015 compared to VW's 9.9 million
:06:18. > :06:20.and Gm's 9.8 million. Toyota, which also makes the Prius
:06:21. > :06:22.hybrid and Lexus luxury models, has forecast sales at 10.1
:06:23. > :06:25.million vehicles this year. Profits are up - slightly -
:06:26. > :06:28.at the eurozone's biggest bank, It's posted a 0.3% rise
:06:29. > :06:33.in fourth-quarter profits boosted by better than expected
:06:34. > :06:34.lending income. The Spanish bank, which makes
:06:35. > :06:37.the biggest portion of its profits in the UK and Brazil,
:06:38. > :06:55.said that income came in at $8.6 It is the big lenders that are
:06:56. > :07:00.moving markets in London today. The FTSE 100 being dragged down by Royal
:07:01. > :07:05.Bank of Scotland. RBS shares down over 4%. It had a lot of things to
:07:06. > :07:10.say, didn't it? Really putting their house in order. RBS is owned by the
:07:11. > :07:13.UK taxpayer after the bail out at the height of the financial crisis.
:07:14. > :07:17.Well, today more provisions. Provisions for its pension fund and
:07:18. > :07:22.provisions for mis-selling of payment protection insurance, that
:07:23. > :07:25.scandal that rumbles on and on. The US mortgage drama of 2008 is hitting
:07:26. > :07:31.Royal Bank of Scotland. There you could see the Chief Executive. Also
:07:32. > :07:36.on the BBC live page, other stories as well. It is looking at the
:07:37. > :07:40.iPhone, of course. It says it is the most expensive smartphone in the
:07:41. > :07:45.world. Interesting Apple sales in India went up by 76% in the quarter,
:07:46. > :07:49.but many are asking how many people in India, ie the mass market in
:07:50. > :07:53.India can actually afford one of these phones?
:07:54. > :07:57.Hot on the heels of Apple, we will get an update from Facebook later
:07:58. > :08:01.today and one of the company's key projects is providing free internet
:08:02. > :08:07.access to people who haven't been able to afford it.
:08:08. > :08:10.But critics say it goes against the principal of so-called
:08:11. > :08:12.net neutrality and India's telecom regulator has stopped it for now.
:08:13. > :08:14.Simon Atkinson is live for us in Delhi.
:08:15. > :08:22.S Bring us up-to-date on the day that Facebook releases its earnings.
:08:23. > :08:26.That's right. In the past year or so, Facebook has been on something
:08:27. > :08:30.of a charm offensive really, trying to launch its free basics programme
:08:31. > :08:35.here in India. This is something which exists in about three dozen
:08:36. > :08:37.countries already. It has been introduced without too much
:08:38. > :08:44.controversy, but here that hasn't been the case. There has been
:08:45. > :08:49.protest in the big tech cities and the big comedy troop as well led a
:08:50. > :08:53.protest against it. Now we are in a situation where India's telecom
:08:54. > :08:59.regulator ordered the provider of the service, who Facebook tied up
:09:00. > :09:03.with, to suspend it. Free basics isn't available in India. So what do
:09:04. > :09:09.you think will happen next? Well, I think to be honest, we will expect
:09:10. > :09:13.more of these charm offensive. Mark zuker burg has been in India. He has
:09:14. > :09:17.been meeting the Prime Minister and he makes the point, he says, that
:09:18. > :09:22.getting millions more people on to the internet is important to help
:09:23. > :09:27.lift people out of poverty, but he has got his back against the wall
:09:28. > :09:32.because of the strength of protest there has been from campaigners who
:09:33. > :09:35.say that free basics goes against net neutrality, the idea that every
:09:36. > :09:39.website should be accessible for the same price at the same speed and it
:09:40. > :09:44.is all going to come down to the telecoms regulator. It is consulting
:09:45. > :09:47.on it, we will get a verdict on what it is going to allow to happen in
:09:48. > :09:51.the next few months, but it is a big market. India, lots of growing
:09:52. > :09:56.internet users and one that Facebook is keen to increase its presence.
:09:57. > :09:57.Simon, good stuff, thank you very much. Simon Atkinson for us in
:09:58. > :10:01.Delhi. Shares in Tokyo ended up 2.7% today
:10:02. > :10:10.with the focus firmly on central banks meetings
:10:11. > :10:12.in Japan and the US - Stocks were higher yesterday too -
:10:13. > :10:18.after oil staged another comeback, RBS dragging shares lower in London
:10:19. > :10:36.- they're down more than 4% as it announces major clean-up plan
:10:37. > :10:38.and puts more money aside for PPI Michelle Fleury has
:10:39. > :10:51.the details in NY. America's Central Bank wraps up its
:10:52. > :10:55.first policy making meeting of 2016 with the release of its statement
:10:56. > :10:59.later this Wednesday. No one expects a change in interest rates, but what
:11:00. > :11:03.will officials say about the future? Is the Fed still on track to raise
:11:04. > :11:07.rates four times this year? Or will they use the statement as a chance
:11:08. > :11:10.to reassess the US economy, given the rough start to this year? More
:11:11. > :11:14.evidence, of course, on the health of the economy, will come on Friday
:11:15. > :11:18.with the release of the latest growth figures, but until then,
:11:19. > :11:21.there is plenty of corporate news. Social media giant, Facebook,
:11:22. > :11:26.releases its fourth quarter profits as well as the usual focus on its
:11:27. > :11:29.monthly active users, watch out for any updates on how much time people
:11:30. > :11:34.are spending watching videos on the site. This is because it is a
:11:35. > :11:39.potential area for advertising growth and therefore, a future
:11:40. > :11:41.profits source. Some other big names reporting also include Beauing,
:11:42. > :11:44.PayPal and eBay. Joining us is Colin McLean,
:11:45. > :11:53.managing director at fund managers Good morning. Good morning. So there
:11:54. > :11:56.is quite a bit going on. We've got big names in the world of business
:11:57. > :12:00.reporting their earnings and telling us how they're doing. The Americans
:12:01. > :12:04.companies are interesting with the strength of the dollar and the other
:12:05. > :12:09.issues going on and the meetings of Central Bank. Your thoughts. Well, I
:12:10. > :12:13.think we've since the Fed raised rates, we have had a lot of cooling
:12:14. > :12:17.of the global economy. I don't think there is any appetite for doing more
:12:18. > :12:21.just now. I don't think the market is worried about that, but some of
:12:22. > :12:24.the company earnings show they are facing head winds. There is low
:12:25. > :12:27.inflation, there is disinflation, slowing growth, so the biggest
:12:28. > :12:31.companies, that get the headlines are generally struggling a bit,
:12:32. > :12:36.yeah. It is interesting when you look at what the investors are
:12:37. > :12:43.thinking about about the market. It is the old adage, spot something
:12:44. > :12:47.signe and they get focussed. There is no consistency really in their
:12:48. > :12:52.response and certainly what they are interested in hearing? Very often
:12:53. > :12:55.when markets are turbulent, you know, volatile just now, people try
:12:56. > :12:59.and correlate particular announcements, but as we saw in
:13:00. > :13:02.2008, there is something else bubbling underneath, it was
:13:03. > :13:05.sub-prime and other things going on, and bubbling under we have got this
:13:06. > :13:10.US company debt, the corporate credit market and some of the debt
:13:11. > :13:15.funds, the disinflation, there are things not in the headlines and they
:13:16. > :13:21.are bubbling under. For the viewers thinking what does that mean?
:13:22. > :13:26.Explain why it is a concern. In the US we're seeing a company borrowing
:13:27. > :13:30.rates likely to increase and it is because some of the lending has gone
:13:31. > :13:34.into energy firms. Ones that are being hit by all this shale oil
:13:35. > :13:37.collapse. One or two of the businesses that are linked to
:13:38. > :13:40.commodities are suffering and the lenders into that are suffering too
:13:41. > :13:45.and that's the linkage into financials. Interesting. Thank you
:13:46. > :13:48.for sharing that and Colin will return in five minutes to talk us
:13:49. > :13:53.through some other stories out there in the press today.
:13:54. > :13:56.Still to come: We meet the rebel economist who says we shouldn't be
:13:57. > :13:58.pumping money into the financial system but into our pockets instead.
:13:59. > :14:02.Professor Steve Keen tells us why austerity is wrong and why
:14:03. > :14:06.quantitative easing for the people and giving ourselves a financial
:14:07. > :14:09.bail out is the only way to kick start the economy.
:14:10. > :14:19.You're with Business Live from BBC News
:14:20. > :14:26.The story regarding Royal Bank of Scotland. It has announced a major
:14:27. > :14:30.clean-up plan and put aside more money for PPI mis-selling and
:14:31. > :14:34.scandal and bad debts. The Chief Executive says he is determined to
:14:35. > :14:40.put the issues of the past behind them. Kamal Ahmed has the details.
:14:41. > :14:43.Kamal flesh this out for us. What are the details we have of the many
:14:44. > :14:52.announcements made by RBS this morning? It is remarkable that so
:14:53. > :14:55.long after the 2008 financial crisis, the Royal Bank of Scotland
:14:56. > :15:00.is still announcing some of those legacy issues. Two big numbers we
:15:01. > :15:04.need to focus on. One is they are provisioning billions of pounds more
:15:05. > :15:09.to deal with problems they have in America connected to mortgage-backed
:15:10. > :15:14.securities. They are facing lots of legal actions there. The other
:15:15. > :15:17.number is payment protection insurance, Mr selling here in the
:15:18. > :15:21.United Kingdom. They have provisioned another 500 million for
:15:22. > :15:26.that. There are another couple of bits in this clean-up operation. One
:15:27. > :15:30.is around the pensions deficit, PPI has a huge pensions deficit. It will
:15:31. > :15:35.accelerate its payments into its pensions fund to try to sort some of
:15:36. > :15:42.that out. Also, it has written down the value of its private bank
:15:43. > :15:45.Coutt's in the UK. It is writing down the value of that private bank
:15:46. > :15:50.in the UK, which is not performing at the same value it once was. Quite
:15:51. > :15:54.the big clean-up by Ross McEwen in preparation, at some point, for some
:15:55. > :16:01.sort of major stake sale by the government. What does this mean for
:16:02. > :16:03.that major sale? It is going to be slow and steady and probably
:16:04. > :16:07.delayed. Let's look at the share price this morning. It has come down
:16:08. > :16:13.a few pence. The government sold a 5% stake here when the share prices
:16:14. > :16:19.went down by quite a lot more since then. It is now right down here.
:16:20. > :16:27.What is called to be in price, the Price paid by the government, it is
:16:28. > :16:32.now ?2 57. Long way off what government pay. A sale will be slow
:16:33. > :16:36.and steady and over a number of years. The notion of a retail sold
:16:37. > :16:42.to the general public, I think, is a long way off. Thank you very much.
:16:43. > :16:48.We are following this story. Qatar is ready to back the new Sainsbury's
:16:49. > :16:51.bid. The deadline is looming. Our top story: US tech giant Apple
:16:52. > :16:55.says iPhone sales are slowing and the next quarter
:16:56. > :17:02.will be tougher. Full details of that story on our
:17:03. > :17:04.website. Ever heard the phrase
:17:05. > :17:06."rebel economist"? And he's got a very different take
:17:07. > :17:11.on the global economy. Professor Steve Keen claims
:17:12. > :17:13.that mainstream economic theory is not only uncomfortable
:17:14. > :17:19.to hear, but just plain wrong. and what he sees as a misguided
:17:20. > :17:24.policy of austerity - on a misunderstanding
:17:25. > :17:27.of the role of banks, governments and money
:17:28. > :17:31.play in our society. And his slogan -
:17:32. > :17:33."Quantitative Easing for the people" He suggests creating money
:17:34. > :17:38.but instead of pumping it into the financial system,
:17:39. > :17:41.giving it to individuals instead. Alice Baxter has been
:17:42. > :17:47.speaking with him, and started by asking him
:17:48. > :17:51.to explain his assumption that all banks, and most importantly
:17:52. > :17:54.central banks, have the ability The funny thing is, the laymen
:17:55. > :18:00.are closer to knowing what reality is like than mainstream economists,
:18:01. > :18:05.because the ironic reality is that, back in the 19th century,
:18:06. > :18:09.mainstream economists thought they could model capitalism
:18:10. > :18:12.as if it is a barter system, Economists assume that
:18:13. > :18:15.banks just play a role They stand between somebody
:18:16. > :18:19.who is a saver and somebody They then enable the exchange
:18:20. > :18:24.to take place and they charge a fee Banks have not, and
:18:25. > :18:32.virtually never, do that. They create money by doing lending
:18:33. > :18:36.and they create additional demand. The mainstream continues to pretend,
:18:37. > :18:39.and is quite indignant when I say And it is also these high levels
:18:40. > :18:45.of private debt, relative to GDP, In global terms, we're
:18:46. > :18:49.at the highest level of private debt, compared to GDP,
:18:50. > :18:52.in the history of humanity. When it comes to the role
:18:53. > :18:56.of the banks particularly, you describe yourself as a rebel,
:18:57. > :18:59.and yet, in its quarterly report in the first quarter of 2014,
:19:00. > :19:01.the Bank of England So why do you think mainstream
:19:02. > :19:05.economists, the likes of Joe Stiglitz and Ben Bernanke,
:19:06. > :19:10.the former Fed chief, why have they got it so wrong
:19:11. > :19:12.and why have institutions like the Bank of England not pointed
:19:13. > :19:15.this out more vociferously? I take my hat off to
:19:16. > :19:18.the Bank of England. They stick their necks out,
:19:19. > :19:20.virtually write a letter to the economic profession saying,
:19:21. > :19:23.you've got it wrong, guys. It has got past the point
:19:24. > :19:32.where it is an academic job. -- It has got past the point
:19:33. > :19:35.where it is an academic joke. This is a large part of why
:19:36. > :19:37.we are still on the slump. Looking to the UK, how should
:19:38. > :19:41.we reduce the private debt burden How do we get around
:19:42. > :19:44.the paradox of thrift? What you would have to do is use
:19:45. > :19:48.this capacity of the one other institution in a society
:19:49. > :19:49.which can create money, Rather than putting money
:19:50. > :19:55.in the hands of the pension funds and insurance companies,
:19:56. > :19:57.which is what they are doing now, rather than that, if you actually
:19:58. > :20:00.made a direct injection into people's bank accounts,
:20:01. > :20:02.irrespective of whether they were a saver or a debtor personally,
:20:03. > :20:04.and then require the debtors to pay their debts down
:20:05. > :20:07.while the savers continue with the cash injection,
:20:08. > :20:09.that could enable us to cancel some of the debt created money,
:20:10. > :20:14.make it government backed, So converting quantitative easing
:20:15. > :20:19.as we've known it in this country since March 2009 into people's
:20:20. > :20:21.quantitative easing, We are living in an age of austerity
:20:22. > :20:25.right across Europe. We've been told by the Chancellor,
:20:26. > :20:27.George Osborne, that we must turn the government's deficit
:20:28. > :20:29.into a surplus in order It just drives me barmy that this
:20:30. > :20:41.is put across as wisdom. Fundamentally, the government
:20:42. > :20:43.is another form of bank. If the government runs a surplus,
:20:44. > :20:51.that's like a bank that takes in more in repayments every year
:20:52. > :20:54.than it makes out of loans, which means the money
:20:55. > :20:55.supply shrinks. What you are saying by saying
:20:56. > :20:58.the government is running a surplus, you are saying it's a really good
:20:59. > :21:01.idea for the government to destroy That will make the economy
:21:02. > :21:04.grow really well. It will either force individuals
:21:05. > :21:09.to go to borrow from banks themselves instead, or it means
:21:10. > :21:13.you have a collapse in demand. Or you've got to have a huge export
:21:14. > :21:16.surplus and it's some time By the end of 2017, the UK
:21:17. > :21:20.is scheduled to host The Prime Minister says he wants
:21:21. > :21:24.to stay within a reformed European Union, but in your opinion,
:21:25. > :21:26.when the time comes, should we vote for
:21:27. > :21:28.or against a Brexit? The best thing England did
:21:29. > :21:31.was not join the euro. It makes it less significant is not
:21:32. > :21:36.to be in the European Union than it would be if they had
:21:37. > :21:45.taken on the euro. Someone has to leave to wake
:21:46. > :21:48.the Brussels beaurocrats up, to make them realise they have
:21:49. > :21:50.created Frankenstein's monster. I'm tossing a coin to decide
:21:51. > :21:58.which way I vote. The self titled global economist,
:21:59. > :22:05.speaking to Alex. Interesting stuff, especially when it comes to Brexit.
:22:06. > :22:11.The debate goes on and on. We have weeks and months for that to come.
:22:12. > :22:13.What other business stories has the media been taking
:22:14. > :22:16.Colin McLean, managing director at fund managers SVM
:22:17. > :22:18.Asset Management, is joining us again to discuss.
:22:19. > :22:24.Let's talk about Facebook. This is another story that is grabbing
:22:25. > :22:27.attention. Facebook requests -- resists UK backpacks. This will
:22:28. > :22:33.heighten the mood against Facebook heighten the mood against Facebook
:22:34. > :22:36.in the UK. They are not willing to make any public concessions until
:22:37. > :22:39.they have such is out privately. I would be surprised if they don't
:22:40. > :22:42.agree the same sort of settlement we have already seen. It would possibly
:22:43. > :22:48.be a small amount because Facebook has not been as profitable as long
:22:49. > :22:51.as Google. I think there will be some settlement. It will come back
:22:52. > :22:56.to how much they managed to claim. That is the issue. The Treasury was
:22:57. > :23:00.hailing this Google deal as a great deal and a landmark deal, and when
:23:01. > :23:06.people crunched the numbers, it turned out they would pay two or 3%
:23:07. > :23:11.tax, rather than the standard rate. It is about getting a level right
:23:12. > :23:14.and that it is seen to be fair. When you are asking was concessions from
:23:15. > :23:18.companies, it is difficult to force them into big sums. You have to
:23:19. > :23:22.remember the UK is quite a winner out of this low tax regime. We have
:23:23. > :23:28.other international companies here you are paying less tax. It is
:23:29. > :23:34.swings and roundabouts. We're losing for the text giants -- tech giants,
:23:35. > :23:39.but winning for others. We ask your thoughts on this. Thank you. We have
:23:40. > :23:43.been fairly vocal. For Greece says, yes, the UK should be much tougher
:23:44. > :23:48.with those who are evading tax and tech giants should be more
:23:49. > :23:53.cooperative. We have TV news in the dock. This is a viewer who is
:23:54. > :23:57.watching in Geneva, who says, yes, governments need to collect these
:23:58. > :24:01.taxes. They are playing one country's rebate against another's.
:24:02. > :24:11.If not, it will be a taxpayer. That debate will go on and on like PPI.
:24:12. > :24:22.Let's look at List now. It is like Uber. They will give people $12.5
:24:23. > :24:29.million in compensation. -- 12 .25. It is not so much these back
:24:30. > :24:33.payments, but once you are employed, you have to get a lot of other
:24:34. > :24:39.rights, all the social rights, ranging from the holidays,
:24:40. > :24:44.maternity, everything else. There is a real risk for Uber and four Lift.
:24:45. > :24:48.They will have to treat their employee is differently. We talk
:24:49. > :24:54.about rise of the robots. I love the phrasing in this article. Lift has
:24:55. > :24:57.agreed to pay them 12.25 million dollars, given certain benefits, and
:24:58. > :25:02.warned them when they are about to be deactivated. This means they will
:25:03. > :25:07.no longer be required, they are deactivated, not fired, not let go,
:25:08. > :25:10.not laid off. It is this automation of the industry that many find so
:25:11. > :25:15.staggering. It shows what it must be like working for some of these
:25:16. > :25:21.companies. Deactivation. UK property boom is bigger than the 2007 housing
:25:22. > :25:26.bubble in the US. This is talking about concern about the buy to let
:25:27. > :25:29.industry. Bigger measure by the appreciation we have seen over the
:25:30. > :25:34.last 20 years, but was not absolutely bigger in size. The
:25:35. > :25:38.government wants to cool down the buy to let area, which is one area
:25:39. > :25:42.overheating in the UK economy. They can possibly stimulate other areas
:25:43. > :25:46.will stop this is not an aim to cool the overall economy, but to prick
:25:47. > :25:50.one bubble that is developing. We shall see if they manage to do this.
:25:51. > :25:54.Thank you for coming in. Thank you, too, for your company, as
:25:55. > :25:56.well. We will be back again tomorrow.
:25:57. > :25:58.See you then. Goodbye.