:00:07. > :00:10.This is Business Live from BBC News with Ben Thompson and Sally Bundock.
:00:11. > :00:15.European governments are spending big to boost growth
:00:16. > :00:34.Live from London, that's our top story on the 24th of November.
:00:35. > :00:41.Britain's national debt set to hit almost ?2 trillion in the biggest
:00:42. > :00:47.jump in borrowing since the financial crisis.
:00:48. > :00:50.We look at Europe's deteriorating public finances.
:00:51. > :00:54.Also in the programme: Flying high in China.
:00:55. > :00:57.Skyscanner, the travel search business, has been sold to a Chinese
:00:58. > :01:05.And as US markets rise, they fall in Europe.
:01:06. > :01:19.The weak pound has boosted tourism in the UK.
:01:20. > :01:22.So we hear from one hotel developer about plans to expand in Britain
:01:23. > :01:29.But if you are planning a trip to London and you are eating out, it
:01:30. > :01:33.could be costly. As a new list names and shames
:01:34. > :01:36.the most expensive restaurants in the UK capital, we want to know
:01:37. > :01:55.what's the most you've A very warm welcome to the
:01:56. > :01:56.programme. Yesterday Britain's finance minister Philip Hammond gave
:01:57. > :02:03.the autumn budget statement. He warned that after the vote
:02:04. > :02:07.to leave the EU, the UK is on track for the biggest deterioration
:02:08. > :02:09.in public finances since the '60s. Mr Hammond said that government debt
:02:10. > :02:12.will hit 90 percent In other words, Britain will owe
:02:13. > :02:16.almost as much as the whole Greece also hit the headlines
:02:17. > :02:21.with its own debt crisis and its national debt is approaching
:02:22. > :02:25.twice the size of its economy. But Italy and Portugal now also have
:02:26. > :02:29.debts far bigger than their GDP And France is also more indebted
:02:30. > :02:43.than the UK at 97.5 percent. It leaves governments very
:02:44. > :02:45.vulnerable if borrowing costs start The group of developed nations,
:02:46. > :02:52.the OECD, says governments should With me is Linda Yueh,
:02:53. > :03:10.professor of economics A familiar face. Good to see you.
:03:11. > :03:16.Everybody is die testing the news about the Autumn Statement, whether
:03:17. > :03:24.it is good, bad or ugly. -- digesting the news. What is your
:03:25. > :03:29.take on it? It is the job of the OBR to slow growth, and that is related
:03:30. > :03:35.to the UK's decision to leave the European Union, and they think that
:03:36. > :03:40.will add ?59 billion of debt, and the remaining ?122 billion will be
:03:41. > :03:46.added to the national British debt because of decisions by the
:03:47. > :03:50.Chancellor to invest more, which helps a bit. But what we should
:03:51. > :03:54.probably take away from it is that you need growth to bring debt down,
:03:55. > :03:59.and his investment in infrastructure and others is intended to boost
:04:00. > :04:03.growth. Hopefully in his view that will be coming down eventually and
:04:04. > :04:10.by the OBR's estimate it will peak in the next couple of years and then
:04:11. > :04:14.come down again. To be clear you are talking about the JAMs, the just
:04:15. > :04:19.about managing. Hard-working families not quite earning enough to
:04:20. > :04:23.get through. In terms of the context that Ben outlined with Europe and
:04:24. > :04:30.other economies, I know in the US for example, the debt to GDP ratio
:04:31. > :04:35.is over 100%. And in Japan it is skyrocketing. Put it in perspective
:04:36. > :04:40.for us. If you look across advanced nations, and obviously Japan is an
:04:41. > :04:45.outlier, but the US and other European nations, debt levels since
:04:46. > :04:48.the 2008 banking crisis have more than doubled, public debt. One of
:04:49. > :04:52.the reasons for that is that when you have a financial crisis you have
:04:53. > :04:56.a huge amount of debt, so the debate now is how to bring that debt down
:04:57. > :05:00.nearly a decade after the crisis. In Europe they are talking about
:05:01. > :05:03.boosting growth, investing in infrastructure, and the plan is to
:05:04. > :05:09.invest 600 billion euros of infrastructure over the next few
:05:10. > :05:11.years, and increasingly that is what Britain is doing and Japan has done
:05:12. > :05:16.that for some time. President-elect Trump in America, that is what he is
:05:17. > :05:20.intending to do as well. In terms of the risk that this debt poses for
:05:21. > :05:30.the UK economy and for the US, it is not the same as Greece or Portugal
:05:31. > :05:35.by any means, is it? No, it isn't. In the US and here, we control our
:05:36. > :05:40.own currency, so we don't have to coordinate what we do. If you want
:05:41. > :05:45.to spend more on infrastructure. Eurozone decides that for Greece,
:05:46. > :05:48.for instance. They are different kettle of fish. The debate around
:05:49. > :05:52.Greece is somewhat more striking because they clearly have had not
:05:53. > :05:59.just about crisis but they have deep organs. Output is down since 2008 at
:06:00. > :06:05.an implement is up 25% since then. Debt level is 125% of GDP. The
:06:06. > :06:13.debate about to do with Greece's debt is about forgiveness. Debt
:06:14. > :06:16.relief? Yes, writing off the debt, which is what you do for developing
:06:17. > :06:21.countries, and that is a different kettle of fish for what we are doing
:06:22. > :06:23.for developed economies. Thank you for that perspective. That will be
:06:24. > :06:29.of interest to viewers around the world in terms of where we are with
:06:30. > :06:30.the debt mountain, as it were. We will keep putting that into context
:06:31. > :06:33.for you. In other business news: A strike by Lufthansa pilots is set
:06:34. > :06:37.to continue for a third day after their union called
:06:38. > :06:39.for the action to be Germany's flagship airline cancelled
:06:40. > :06:41.900 flights yesterday and another 912 today,
:06:42. > :06:46.affecting around 200,000 passengers. It's the 14th strike
:06:47. > :06:48.since April by the union. Weak export figures have put
:06:49. > :07:01.the brakes on German economic The German economy halved its growth
:07:02. > :07:06.rate to 0.2 percent in the quarter despite rising private consumption
:07:07. > :07:08.and higher state spending. Exports from the country fell by
:07:09. > :07:11.0.4 percent on the quarter The Indian rupee has hit a record
:07:12. > :07:23.low of 68.86 to the US dollar. The dollar has strengthened
:07:24. > :07:27.on expectations of a rate hike next month following Donald Trump's shock
:07:28. > :07:29.presidential election victory. There have also been concerns
:07:30. > :07:35.about India's process of demonetisation as all 500
:07:36. > :07:42.and 1000 rupee notes are removed from the economy,
:07:43. > :07:51.prompting long queues outside It is a very busy day for business
:07:52. > :08:01.news and there are lots of stories on the website, so dig deep. This
:08:02. > :08:07.one about Airbnb. There are reports that Airbnb is in talks to buy
:08:08. > :08:13.China's second biggest accommodation service, which I probably can't
:08:14. > :08:16.pronounce. So far the Airbnb China focus has been on persuading
:08:17. > :08:19.outbound travellers to book places around the world through them and
:08:20. > :08:24.now it looks like they are looking to expand significantly in mainland
:08:25. > :08:27.China, which is interesting. Keep your comments coming in about the
:08:28. > :08:32.most expensive dinner you have had. The brilliant ones coming in. Lots
:08:33. > :08:34.of grumpy comments. People not happy about spending money on food! Keep
:08:35. > :08:37.them coming. Skyscanner, the UK-based
:08:38. > :08:39.travel search business, has been bought by Ctrip,
:08:40. > :08:41.China's biggest online travel Skyscanner is an Edinburgh-based
:08:42. > :08:56.company. Nice to see you. This is an
:08:57. > :09:00.interesting manoeuvre. Tell us more. Indeed. It is fair to say that we
:09:01. > :09:04.have been hearing about Chinese companies going on a shopping spree
:09:05. > :09:09.for quite some time, but unlike other deals that we have seen in
:09:10. > :09:14.Hollywood entertainment or nuclear infrastructure, this deal has been
:09:15. > :09:18.described by both bosses as win-win. Skyscanner allows users to compare
:09:19. > :09:23.prices from different travel sites when searching for flights and
:09:24. > :09:28.hotels. It is available in more than 30 languages with about 16 million
:09:29. > :09:34.monthly active users. Ctrip is quite keen to get this global reach that
:09:35. > :09:37.Skyscanner has got. Meanwhile Ctrip has quite a lot of money. It is one
:09:38. > :09:44.of the best-known companies in China. Skyscanner just last year
:09:45. > :09:48.looked for funding for expansion. Skyscanner has said it will continue
:09:49. > :09:53.to operate independently of Ctrip's shares which are listed in the US.
:09:54. > :10:03.They rose by 9% on the news. Thank you. An interesting story. This is
:10:04. > :10:11.what is happening as far as the numbers are concerned. Shares in
:10:12. > :10:14.Japan closing high up because of what is happening with the yen and
:10:15. > :10:18.also expectations of what is happening in Europe. Europe is
:10:19. > :10:21.funny. In the US, markets are rising with what the drum presidency will
:10:22. > :10:27.mean for business, business friendly policies that he has proposed on the
:10:28. > :10:32.campaign trail. -- Trump presidency. But in Europe there is the election
:10:33. > :10:35.in Italy and in Holland and France and Germany early next year, all
:10:36. > :10:39.weighing on the minds of investors. That is the current state of play in
:10:40. > :10:45.Europe and more on that in just a moment.
:10:46. > :10:48.Kathleen Brooks, research director at City Index, is here.
:10:49. > :10:58.No action in the US because it is thanks giving and they are tapping
:10:59. > :11:02.into the turkey. We had fed minutes out late last night. We have got the
:11:03. > :11:05.reaction to the Autumn Statement happening at the moment. Certainly
:11:06. > :11:09.from a currency perspective the more your government is willing to spend,
:11:10. > :11:14.that is very good news for currencies. The dollar is doing
:11:15. > :11:19.incredibly well and it is at a multi-year high events in various
:11:20. > :11:26.currencies and the pound is doing well. -- against various currencies.
:11:27. > :11:33.Austerity Europe is bad news for the Euro. And the stock market has
:11:34. > :11:37.reached record highs. There are reports out there about the
:11:38. > :11:41.divergences in the US and Europe in terms of where the money is going.
:11:42. > :11:45.Europe is out of favour. The markets are not diving or anything, clearly,
:11:46. > :11:50.but there is a different feel compared to the US. Definitely,
:11:51. > :11:54.rocket has been put up the markets in the US and that is because
:11:55. > :12:00.election risk has gone away. But how long will the Trump free lunch last?
:12:01. > :12:03.He is talking about spending which is opposed to boost growth but it is
:12:04. > :12:07.a temporary measure because at the end of the day you have got to pay
:12:08. > :12:11.for it at somewhat. And what about the other anti-economic views he put
:12:12. > :12:15.forward? People are taking an optimistic view in the stock market
:12:16. > :12:19.that might not deliver. Autumn Statement yesterday from the UK
:12:20. > :12:24.finance minister. Markets not very excited. All that attention is still
:12:25. > :12:28.on the US? Definitely. It depends which market you are looking at. The
:12:29. > :12:33.bond market did move with yields higher in the US and the UK. There
:12:34. > :12:42.is a divergences. Overall it was a Loki Autumn Statement but it did
:12:43. > :12:47.have a strong message behind it. -- low key. That is Philip Hammond's
:12:48. > :12:52.style. Borrowing is back and it will be good for our economy, he says.
:12:53. > :13:00.Watch this space. Looking ahead to December, everyone is looking to be
:13:01. > :13:04.on the same page, with a rate hike in the US. The markets are
:13:05. > :13:09.predicting a 100% chance of a hike, which I have never seen before. But
:13:10. > :13:15.they could be wrong! If it doesn't happen there will be a tsunami! We
:13:16. > :13:17.need some certainty! We are talking about expensive restaurants and you
:13:18. > :13:21.are sending in your thoughts thick and fast. Keep them coming.
:13:22. > :13:23.Still to come: How London is cashing in on China.
:13:24. > :13:26.With a slump in the value of the pound after the Brexit vote,
:13:27. > :13:29.we meet the hotel chain that says it's tapping into the Chinese
:13:30. > :13:31.tourism trend with big expansion plans in the UK.
:13:32. > :13:36.You're with Business Live from BBC News.
:13:37. > :13:43.They make the toy trains, planes and automobiles that have
:13:44. > :13:45.delighted children for decades but in a world of smartphones
:13:46. > :13:49.and computer games, revenue has taken a hit.
:13:50. > :13:51.We're talking about Hornby and they've just reported
:13:52. > :13:54.Theo Leggett has been looking at them for us.
:13:55. > :14:04.What do they show? On the face of it they don't look great. Hornby makes
:14:05. > :14:11.toy trains like this one I prepared earlier. Also I fix kits, model
:14:12. > :14:14.planes, Scalextric racing cars, but unfortunately they are not as
:14:15. > :14:19.popular as they used to be, even though people like myself and my
:14:20. > :14:24.cameraman Peter art enthusiasts. The underlying profit has gone down over
:14:25. > :14:28.the last six months. It is making a loss. ?3.6 million in the six months
:14:29. > :14:33.to the end of September against 4.3 million in the same period last
:14:34. > :14:38.year. But there is more to this than meets the eye. Their debt has gone
:14:39. > :14:44.down substantially. Why? That is because Hornby came close to
:14:45. > :14:49.collapse earlier. They went cap in hand to shareholders, launched a
:14:50. > :14:52.restructuring programme, have closed down unprofitable product lines,
:14:53. > :14:56.getting rid of unprofitable concessions and so on, and at the
:14:57. > :15:01.moment they say the recovery plan is an track. Did they use that pun?
:15:02. > :15:07.They could be running out of steam! Because of Brexit Dahmer presumably
:15:08. > :15:13.and the strength of the pound? Out of steam? Awful. There is a
:15:14. > :15:17.potential Brexit problem for Hornby. They have had to raise their prices
:15:18. > :15:21.because they saw as most of their products overseas. They pay for them
:15:22. > :15:25.in dollars and much of what it sells is sold in pound sterling in the UK
:15:26. > :15:31.and it books its profits in pounds sterling in the UK. The sum total of
:15:32. > :15:33.that is if the pound goes down, the profits are eroded further, which is
:15:34. > :15:37.something they have got to content with. They have had to raise their
:15:38. > :15:41.prices 10% since October and there could be further price rises in the
:15:42. > :15:46.pipeline, which is a potential headwind for the company.
:15:47. > :15:55.Ben and I had a chat. We think you were a Hornby kind of a boy, did you
:15:56. > :16:03.have them? My kids have a Scalextric and I play with it! I did have
:16:04. > :16:11.trains but not Hornby. I said that! Dominos is going to open more stores
:16:12. > :16:15.in the UK, it now wants 1600 up from the previous 1200.
:16:16. > :16:19.You're watching Business Live - our top story.
:16:20. > :16:22.The Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast a substantial rise
:16:23. > :16:39.National debt as a proportion of GDP will rise to 90.2% in 2017-18.
:16:40. > :16:43.80% is recommended as a working figure. That is in reaction to the
:16:44. > :16:45.autumn state out yesterday. A quick look at how
:16:46. > :16:57.markets are faring. We had some poor news from Germany
:16:58. > :17:04.about exports, imports for the previous month. That hasn't damp
:17:05. > :17:09.dampened trade there. The DAX is up by just under 0.4 of a percent.
:17:10. > :17:14.Now - what impact will Brexit have on business in the UK?
:17:15. > :17:17.It's the question everyone is asking, but few have answers.
:17:18. > :17:21.Well, the immediate winners have been tourists travelling to the UK.
:17:22. > :17:24.They've cashed in on the weak pound - making their money go further.
:17:25. > :17:27.Sterling fell sharply after the vote to leave the EU and it's meant UK
:17:28. > :17:32.One tour operator specialising in Chinese travel to Europe,
:17:33. > :17:35.says it saw a 20% increase in inquiries and bookings for the UK
:17:36. > :17:38.this summer compared to the same time last year.
:17:39. > :17:42.And last year was already a record-breaking year for visits
:17:43. > :17:47.from China to the UK with almost 270,000 visits.
:17:48. > :17:50.And it's why Dorsett Hospitality International is choosing
:17:51. > :17:53.the capital to expand its hotel network It's one of Asia's fastest
:17:54. > :17:57.growing hotel groups, and run by Winnie Chiu.
:17:58. > :18:00.She is now according to Forbes magazine one of Asia's most
:18:01. > :18:05.Victoria sat down with her and asked why the company is pursuing
:18:06. > :18:20.I think in terms of why, it's really because the company started in Hong
:18:21. > :18:24.Kong and Hong Kong is one of the most favourite sort of destinations
:18:25. > :18:30.of Chinese going overseas. It's still one of their preferred areas,
:18:31. > :18:36.the city to go to, and therefore it's very natural for us to make a
:18:37. > :18:41.China wallet strategy. Currently the hotel have 12 hotels in Hong Kong
:18:42. > :18:45.and we are opening one more. And so our focus is out bound Chinese
:18:46. > :18:49.travellers. To give you another example about the Chinese consumer,
:18:50. > :18:55.I think another thing which is very important to them is connectivity.
:18:56. > :18:58.In terms of if you look at the cellphone penetration, China is
:18:59. > :19:05.probably the highest in the world, so in all our Dorsett Hotels, we
:19:06. > :19:08.give you a phone, whichever category room you check into, we give you a
:19:09. > :19:15.phone, you can call countries for free, we have done research in terms
:19:16. > :19:20.of where our favourite customers go to, you can call eight countries for
:19:21. > :19:26.free, it also works as a pocket Wi-Fi so you bring the phone out and
:19:27. > :19:29.give yourself your own Wi-Fi. Our customers really benefitted from
:19:30. > :19:33.that and really love it. Shouldn't you be developing shopping malls and
:19:34. > :19:37.not hotels? I love the people development and my father is a
:19:38. > :19:40.property developer so I know it. Whatever business you choose, you
:19:41. > :19:46.have to choose something that you are very passionate about. I'm very
:19:47. > :19:50.passionate about hotels. You are absolutely right, according to
:19:51. > :19:54.statistics I when Chinese go overseas, they spend 73% on hop
:19:55. > :20:00.shopping and only 12% on lodging. But you can see the statistics
:20:01. > :20:04.actually moving, so again it's like when travellers started travelling,
:20:05. > :20:10.you want to, because to have visa, suddenly feel refreshed like oh wow
:20:11. > :20:15.I need to buy this for my family. The Chinese travellers are moving,
:20:16. > :20:22.getting more experimental and experienced travel so it's not just
:20:23. > :20:29.purely shopping, they would want to sight-see. Again, I think as the
:20:30. > :20:33.nations develop their travelling behaviour, it gets more developed.
:20:34. > :20:38.So from shopping in the beginning, it will move to others. And you are
:20:39. > :20:44.not concerned about the impact of Brexit on the attractiveness of
:20:45. > :20:50.London for example as a destination. Because of the weaker pound, it
:20:51. > :21:05.brings more tourists. So if you look at the number of tourists, there's
:21:06. > :21:08.been an increase. The lower sterling heralds higher sales, I think
:21:09. > :21:15.currency plays a big part when it comes to tourism. I still find the
:21:16. > :21:20.UK very competitive amongst a lot of other destinations. I think the
:21:21. > :21:29.reason being the heritage, there's so much to it. Also I think another
:21:30. > :21:33.really important element to that making the UK attractive is the
:21:34. > :21:39.schooling system, the education system. From a long time ago that's
:21:40. > :21:50.always been the Asians coming here to study and again while you feel
:21:51. > :21:58.more related to the city, the UK is still then a preferred destination.
:21:59. > :22:04.That was the boss of Dorsett Hospitality International.
:22:05. > :22:10.It was 20 years ago yesterday that the original Tamagotchis
:22:11. > :22:20.They're small egg-shaped computers that were like a digital pet.
:22:21. > :22:30.The original launch sparked a short-lived cyber-pet craze.
:22:31. > :22:43.Here's a look back at what was getting everyone excited in 1996.
:22:44. > :23:38.20 years ago! LAUGHTER.
:23:39. > :23:44.The memories are flooding back! What was yourses called? I can't
:23:45. > :23:49.remember. What happened to it, him, her? I think I took the battery out
:23:50. > :23:55.because it was annoying me. So you killed your pet, is that what you
:23:56. > :24:00.are saying? No, I put it down. Right. Kathleen has returned and we
:24:01. > :24:06.are going to discuss several stories in the papers. Also one is in
:24:07. > :24:11.business Insider about the 35 most expensive tasting menus on the
:24:12. > :24:16.planet. Many are in London. No big surprise there at all. We asked
:24:17. > :24:18.viewers to get in touch. Your thoughts, have you eaten somewhere
:24:19. > :24:23.so expensive that that's all you think about is the money and not the
:24:24. > :24:27.quality of the food? I have to say, I'm not the biggest fan of a tasting
:24:28. > :24:32.menu, too many things going on. Too many types? Too many different types
:24:33. > :24:39.of food in one go, but my husband has a few stories to tell through
:24:40. > :24:47.work, he spent ?650 once on some sea urchin. Your face says it all! It
:24:48. > :24:51.wriggled on the plate. And paid ?650 for the privilege.
:24:52. > :24:56.Someone did, it was a business thing. Harry paid ?150 a head in
:24:57. > :25:01.Edinburgh in one of the TV chef's restaurants, he doesn't name names,
:25:02. > :25:05.but says all I did was eat bread so he paid ?150 to eat bread. Our
:25:06. > :25:09.colleague Jamie Robertson said, if you remember the food it was worth
:25:10. > :25:17.it, if you remember the price it wasn't, which is a superb comment.
:25:18. > :25:23.Well done, Jamie. Washington Post, Donald Trump is selling a $149 gold
:25:24. > :25:31.finished Christmas ornament. It's classic. A picture here, you can
:25:32. > :25:35.that can go on your tree. The red hat he wore throughout the
:25:36. > :25:39.campaign's turned into the working class hero, as you mentioned. $150
:25:40. > :25:44.for this Christmas bauble, I don't know how many of us will buy it, not
:25:45. > :25:49.quite sure where the money is going to, is it to pay down the debt of
:25:50. > :25:53.his campaign which I know they amass a huge amount during the
:25:54. > :25:56.presidential election. 14 carat gold baseball cap, what more do you need?
:25:57. > :25:59.! A nice dinner out perhaps. Thank you. That's all from us for another
:26:00. > :26:12.day. See you very soon, bye. Good morning. Once again, we have
:26:13. > :26:13.seen some big