:00:10. > :00:13.Hello, this is Business Live from BBC News with Susannah Streeter and
:00:14. > :00:16.Rachel Horne. Chancellor Merkel makes the case for trade, the German
:00:17. > :00:21.leader is on her way to Washington to meet President Trump with
:00:22. > :00:24.business at the top of their gender. Live from London, that is the top
:00:25. > :00:39.story on Friday the 17th of March. -- their agenda.
:00:40. > :00:44.Will be two leaders be able to overcome the bitter rhetoric on
:00:45. > :00:50.currency valuations and trade deficits? Also in the programme, we
:00:51. > :00:53.sleepwalking into a world of low productivity? We will look at how a
:00:54. > :00:57.lack of sleep could be making the global economy dozy. And other
:00:58. > :01:02.markets dozy this morning? This is the picture in Europe at the open,
:01:03. > :01:06.the FTSE 100 up again following on from a record close once again
:01:07. > :01:10.yesterday. And we will be getting the inside
:01:11. > :01:15.track on what the rising cost of borrowing in the US could mean for
:01:16. > :01:18.the rest of the world, and the car industry's big problems with the
:01:19. > :01:23.testing, business editor Simon Jack will be here to explain all.
:01:24. > :01:29.And today we want to know what is stopping you from getting a good
:01:30. > :01:35.night's sleep, and does it affect your work? Let us know on Twitter.
:01:36. > :01:39.We start in the US where President Trump will be hosting
:01:40. > :01:43.German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House later.
:01:44. > :01:45.The two nations are major trading partners,
:01:46. > :01:48.but there's been growing concern on the US side that their
:01:49. > :01:55.The rhetoric has raised fears of a damaging trade war.
:01:56. > :02:06.Last year, the US sold $49 billion worth of goods to Germany,
:02:07. > :02:08.everything from Boeing airliners to Pfizer medicines.
:02:09. > :02:11.That sounds like a healthy figure until you look at this one,
:02:12. > :02:14.$114 billion was the value of goods Germany sold to the US.
:02:15. > :02:18.not to mention everything from industrial machinery to medicines.
:02:19. > :02:27.known as America's trade deficit with Germany,
:02:28. > :02:33.That's a bigger deficit than the US has with Mexico,
:02:34. > :02:39.and in fact any other country except China and Japan.
:02:40. > :02:41.In January, one of President Trump's top
:02:42. > :02:44.of using a "grossly undervalued" euro to "exploit" the US.
:02:45. > :02:47.Chancellor Merkel rejects the claim and points out the thousands
:02:48. > :02:51.of jobs created by German investment in the US.
:02:52. > :02:54.She says she will remind the President that BMW's US plant
:02:55. > :03:00.exports more US-made cars than GM and Ford put together.
:03:01. > :03:02.The bosses of BMW and another huge employer in the US,
:03:03. > :03:04.industrial giant Siemens, will be travelling
:03:05. > :03:16.Julian Howard, head of multi-asset solutions at GAM, is with me.
:03:17. > :03:21.Thank you for coming in this morning, trade is obviously a huge
:03:22. > :03:28.concern here, the German Chancellor and arriving flanked by those big
:03:29. > :03:34.bosses from Siemens and BMW. At one point recently, President Trump
:03:35. > :03:39.threaten to slap a 35% tariff on BMWs coming into the US comedy think
:03:40. > :03:42.it could happen? Not in the short term, but I think Donald Trump is
:03:43. > :03:47.going to need all those top executives. On Wednesday he met with
:03:48. > :03:50.various US auto executives, including the president of Toyota
:03:51. > :03:54.North America, and said, listen, I am giving you a hard time, but you
:03:55. > :03:59.have got to build more plants in the US. There is definitely a push to
:04:00. > :04:03.try and reduce the deficit, try to get more production in the US, and
:04:04. > :04:07.Germany does have quite a lot of production in the US, but the profit
:04:08. > :04:12.is booked back in Stuttgart and Munich. What do you think will come
:04:13. > :04:15.out of this meeting? Only two hours and then a working lunch, and it
:04:16. > :04:19.does feel a little bit like the German Chancellor is geared up for a
:04:20. > :04:24.fight, coming with their back-up, because when it comes to trade
:04:25. > :04:29.deficit, she is in a vulnerable position, isn't she? Yes,
:04:30. > :04:33.potentially, but the European story is starting to improve, and the weak
:04:34. > :04:37.euro has been a big problem. Donald Trump has accused her of basically
:04:38. > :04:42.cheating, using that weak euro. It is not our fault, it is the ECB
:04:43. > :04:47.policy on quantitative easing, but the euro are starting to gain ground
:04:48. > :04:51.against the dollar, so if she can buy some time, the problem may start
:04:52. > :04:55.to ease on its own accord. Interesting, with these tariffs, if
:04:56. > :04:59.the US chose to put tariffs on Germany, Angela Merkel cannot
:05:00. > :05:04.respond to that, because it is above her head. This is the advantage the
:05:05. > :05:07.US has when dealing with individual European countries, that he can
:05:08. > :05:11.attack them on a bilateral basis, but they have the river all
:05:12. > :05:20.negotiation up to the European Commission. The US already proposed
:05:21. > :05:23.a bilateral defence deal with Angela Merkel and the Germans, but the
:05:24. > :05:25.response was, that has to be dealt with at the higher level. That is
:05:26. > :05:30.really interesting, the statistic that the BMW plant in the US
:05:31. > :05:34.produces more cars than General Motors and Ford put together, a
:05:35. > :05:39.really good fact for Angela Merkel to put on the table at this meeting,
:05:40. > :05:44.saying, really, you cannot slap tariffs on German goods, because it
:05:45. > :05:49.will harm your jobs if you do so. Yeah, and a German auto industry has
:05:50. > :05:53.a 271 billion euros investment in the US, but like I said, the profit
:05:54. > :05:57.still goes back to Germany. Toyota grasp this back in the 1980s when
:05:58. > :06:01.they started building plans in the US, they are still being called out
:06:02. > :06:05.on this issue. The reality is, unless it is by American and higher
:06:06. > :06:09.American, that is what Donald Trump is getting at. One of these big
:06:10. > :06:13.issues has been, why don't use the American cars on the streets of
:06:14. > :06:17.Germany? One of the reasons for that is self-inflicted. GM has chosen not
:06:18. > :06:22.to market Chevrolet aggressively within Germany, and they have
:06:23. > :06:25.actually sold that whole arm back to the Europeans. So not all of this is
:06:26. > :06:30.within Angela Merkel's control, some of it is at the industry level.
:06:31. > :06:30.Thank you for your time this morning.
:06:31. > :06:33.In other news: Shares in the maker of high-end winter jackets
:06:34. > :06:36.Canada Goose rose 26% on their first day of trading.
:06:37. > :06:38.Some of their coats sell for more than a $1,000
:06:39. > :06:45.$256 million has been raised listing the shares in Canada and New York.
:06:46. > :06:49.That's where animal rights groups protested outside the stock exchange
:06:50. > :06:53.about the company's use of fur including from Coyotes.
:06:54. > :06:55.But the company says its fur comes from regulated trappers
:06:56. > :07:02.Pakistan says it's asked Facebook to help investigate
:07:03. > :07:05."blasphemous content" posted on the social network.
:07:06. > :07:07.Blasphemy is a highly sensitive issue in Pakistan
:07:08. > :07:17.The interior ministry says Facebook has agreed to send a team
:07:18. > :07:20.to Pakistan to address reservations about content on its site.
:07:21. > :07:26.The private equity firm run by the former boss
:07:27. > :07:29.of Barclays Bob Diamond has made an offer to buy the loss-making
:07:30. > :07:32.Mr Diamond will be teaming up with QInvest,
:07:33. > :07:34.an investment bank with ties to Qatari government.
:07:35. > :07:43.QInvest already owns 43% of Panmure Gordon.
:07:44. > :07:44.Hong Kong's troubled flagship airline Cathay Pacific says
:07:45. > :07:49.as part of a major overhaul in the wake of losses.
:07:50. > :07:57.Simon Atkinson is in Singapore for us.
:07:58. > :08:04.This comes off the back of really terrible figures that Cathay brought
:08:05. > :08:09.out this week. That is right, we heard that 2016 had been a terrible
:08:10. > :08:13.year for Cathay Pacific, they lost about $74 million compared to a $6
:08:14. > :08:22.billion profit the before, and a lot of the reasons for that with things
:08:23. > :08:26.that really are not going to change. Chinese passengers flying directly
:08:27. > :08:29.out of China, rather than through Hong Kong. So these are the first
:08:30. > :08:33.concrete measures from the company about what they will do to try to
:08:34. > :08:37.reduce their costs, and as you say, one of the big things is cutting
:08:38. > :08:41.headcount. We reckon about 1000 jobs could go at headquarters, but that
:08:42. > :08:45.probably will not be enough. This is an airline which is struggling, the
:08:46. > :08:50.hub does not work for Hong Kong as well as it used to, so it will have
:08:51. > :08:56.to do a lot more. OK, Simon, many thanks.
:08:57. > :09:01.So let's take a look at the markets in a little more detail now.
:09:02. > :09:03.Overall in Asia there was a really positive trend,
:09:04. > :09:06.helped by some numbers from Singapore which showed the city
:09:07. > :09:08.state has seen its biggest jump in exports in five years.
:09:09. > :09:10.Although the Nikkei slipped back slightly,
:09:11. > :09:14.the Hang Seng index lifted once again to log weekly gain of 3%.
:09:15. > :09:17.In Europe, there is a little bit of treading water, no wild swings,
:09:18. > :09:20.and remember the FTSE 100 closed at a fresh record high yesterday.
:09:21. > :09:23.In the US, the Dow Jones turned negative at the close.
:09:24. > :09:25.We've talked about Angela Merkel's visit to the US later today.
:09:26. > :09:27.Investors will be watching that meeting closely.
:09:28. > :09:37.about what else is ahead for Wall Street today.
:09:38. > :09:47.Tiffany will be reporting earnings, and they may look available blingy.
:09:48. > :09:55.The upscale jeweller is focusing on new products to revive demand. And
:09:56. > :09:58.it is Saint Patrick's Day, an estimated 33.5 million Irish
:09:59. > :10:01.Americans live in the United States, seven times the population of
:10:02. > :10:11.Ireland. The average reveille will spend about $36 for a total of $5.3
:10:12. > :10:18.billion. Maybe luck of the Irish be with you!
:10:19. > :10:20.Joining us is a global market strategist
:10:21. > :10:32.You went green for St Patrick's Day! Let's move on, a fresh high on the
:10:33. > :10:35.FTSE, what is driving the market up? It has been having a great few
:10:36. > :10:40.weeks, and few months, given the low pound, remember that it sources
:10:41. > :10:45.around 70% of revenues from abroad, so with a low pound, that makes the
:10:46. > :10:48.exports of these companies more attractive, and those earnings, when
:10:49. > :10:52.you translate them back into sterling, are much higher. That is
:10:53. > :10:57.driving investors to pile into the FTSE 100. In recent days, we have
:10:58. > :11:04.had a rate hike from the US, but still some easy language from the
:11:05. > :11:08.Federal Reserve, so investors are more positive about equities on the
:11:09. > :11:14.whole. Do think the FTSE can keep going up? If it remains about the
:11:15. > :11:17.1.25 mark against the US dollar, and given that we expect Article 50 to
:11:18. > :11:20.be invoked and Brexit negotiations to begin, that rate should remain
:11:21. > :11:26.fairly low for the course of the year. Interesting remarks from
:11:27. > :11:32.Germany's finance buzzed, Wolfgang Schaeuble, about how the City of
:11:33. > :11:36.London retain its crown as a financial centre post-Brexit, and he
:11:37. > :11:40.has made these comments today, the G20 summit day, when they are
:11:41. > :11:44.starting to meet, quite important? It is, the G20 summit as a whole,
:11:45. > :11:48.and these comments Brexit, trade and where financial centres will remain,
:11:49. > :11:57.especially in the larger picture of the Trump administration being
:11:58. > :12:00.anti-trade and the deregulation of financial services, so London will
:12:01. > :12:05.be in a hotspot, thinking about what services can be a main to be located
:12:06. > :12:10.here in London, versus having to be shipped around to the rest of the
:12:11. > :12:13.European Union in the Brexit context, but also generally trade,
:12:14. > :12:17.emerging markets very dependent on global trade, other European
:12:18. > :12:23.countries that rely heavily on exports. How much attention to the
:12:24. > :12:28.market is paid to these big summits, it is all chat and ideas, to the
:12:29. > :12:33.markets listen? Or do they wait for the headlines afterwards? They do
:12:34. > :12:35.listen, it is important when these big economic trends are shifting
:12:36. > :12:40.equity indices and bond indices across the world, but like anything
:12:41. > :12:44.that is more discussion or policy based, we have to wait for something
:12:45. > :12:51.in terms of changes to policy or changes to trade and action. OK, we
:12:52. > :12:54.will have you back for the papers at the end of the programme, we want to
:12:55. > :12:56.know about your sleep patterns! It is hard when you have to get up at
:12:57. > :12:57.3am. Still to come:
:12:58. > :12:59.We'll get the Inside Track on all the big stories of the week
:13:00. > :13:02.with our business editor Simon Jack. You're with Business Live
:13:03. > :13:05.from BBC News. New research published today shows
:13:06. > :13:10.that 4% of UK working adults aged between 18 and 70 are working
:13:11. > :13:13.in the gig economy, that's a labour market characterised
:13:14. > :13:15.by the prevalence of short-term According to the Chartered Institute
:13:16. > :13:22.of Personnel and Development, about 1.3 million people are engaged
:13:23. > :13:25.in gig work and many workers are calling
:13:26. > :13:27.for basic employment rights. Ben Willmott, the Head of Public
:13:28. > :13:45.Policy at the CIPD, joins us now. The thing is, some people want to
:13:46. > :13:50.work flexibly and join the dead economy because of that flexibility
:13:51. > :13:54.that it brings to their lives. -- gig. Others of falls to, and that is
:13:55. > :14:01.where the real is you lies, and where you are campaigning, I
:14:02. > :14:06.suppose. -- others are forced to do. On the positive side, gig economy
:14:07. > :14:10.workers are at least as satisfied with their work as other workers,
:14:11. > :14:14.they are more satisfied in terms of things like flexibility and
:14:15. > :14:19.independence, and most gig economy workers choose to work in the gig
:14:20. > :14:23.economy, so about one in ten say that they are working in the gig
:14:24. > :14:26.economy because they could not get a regular job in the labour market,
:14:27. > :14:33.and most people do so in order to boost their income, rather than rely
:14:34. > :14:36.on income. So that is the sort of positive side. The negative side is
:14:37. > :14:42.we know from our research that many gig economy workers do not know what
:14:43. > :14:48.their employers are, and if they do feel exploited, where they can go to
:14:49. > :14:51.seek redress. And crucially, a lot of gig economy workers, a
:14:52. > :14:57.significant minority say that although they are classified as
:14:58. > :15:01.self-employed, they are actually treated as workers in terms of the
:15:02. > :15:07.level of control. So some people are getting the worst of both worlds in
:15:08. > :15:10.terms of not enjoying the autonomy and independence of self-employment
:15:11. > :15:12.and nor are they getting the rights that they should be getting if they
:15:13. > :15:15.were classified as workers, things like eligibility for national
:15:16. > :15:23.minimum wage, for example. That story is on the BBC Business
:15:24. > :15:41.Live page. Some are forced to and some are
:15:42. > :15:48.making a personal choice. Our top story: Transatlantic trade
:15:49. > :15:53.is at the top of the agenda as Germany's Angela Merkel gets set
:15:54. > :15:55.to meet President Trump The trade balance and currency
:15:56. > :16:21.valuations are likely to be Quite a lot of treading water going
:16:22. > :16:33.on at the moment. The Footsie closed at a record high yesterday. -- FTSE.
:16:34. > :16:35.Let's get the inside track on global interest rates.
:16:36. > :16:37.The US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest
:16:38. > :16:43.It was just the third time in a decade.
:16:44. > :16:49.Let's get more with our Business Editor, Simon Jack.
:16:50. > :16:57.Take as around the world in interest rates. It is a global thing because
:16:58. > :17:02.this is the cost of borrowing the world's reserve currency, all sorts
:17:03. > :17:10.of things are priced in dollars so it affects the entire world. When we
:17:11. > :17:15.had the rays everybody was expecting that. It is the third time in a
:17:16. > :17:19.decade. Every time they have moved interest rates we have got this is
:17:20. > :17:23.the beginning of the take-off and suddenly it peters out again and
:17:24. > :17:28.watches that yesterday was that the US economy has not strengthened a
:17:29. > :17:32.great deal since the last thing she looked at it. Although she can put
:17:33. > :17:36.it up because inflation is 1.9% and the jobless rate is low, it looks
:17:37. > :17:40.like a normal economy, it is not charging away, so she said maybe
:17:41. > :17:44.there will be another interest rate rise this week, people were
:17:45. > :17:50.factoring three or four a few weeks ago. The stock market got that
:17:51. > :17:55.Donald Trump was going to spend big and cut corporate taxes. She's that
:17:56. > :17:59.might be another one this year. Interest rates do not look as if
:18:00. > :18:04.they are going to shoot up and that is good news for people around the
:18:05. > :18:09.sluggish, wages are not going up. sluggish, wages are not going up.
:18:10. > :18:15.That decision that she has made has a knock-on effect on the global
:18:16. > :18:20.economy. Exactly because lots of people in emerging economies have
:18:21. > :18:23.lots of debts denominated in dollars particularly in places in Asia and
:18:24. > :18:27.South America and when the cost of borrowing goes up in dollars their
:18:28. > :18:31.and yet their debts are going up in and yet their debts are going up in
:18:32. > :18:35.price because the interest rates go up. That can cause a problem. Also
:18:36. > :18:39.beat will have got money elsewhere around the world because they have
:18:40. > :18:44.been chasing return and they think they can get a better return in
:18:45. > :18:47.dollars. Why am I taking this risk over here? Maybe I will move it back
:18:48. > :19:02.to somewhere safer. Capital flows go back as the interest rates go up on
:19:03. > :19:04.the dollar. We are going to talk about the car industry. The
:19:05. > :19:11.omissions scandal continues. Fresh allegations against rain all. VW are
:19:12. > :19:16.going to be $25 billion to clean up their affairs in the US. I much that
:19:17. > :19:22.will be in Europe is another case. Surely VW cannot be the only people
:19:23. > :19:26.doing this. Sure enough other people have been put under investigation.
:19:27. > :19:31.We got some allegations against Renault this week, a report compiled
:19:32. > :19:35.last year, a French news paper got hold of some of their son said there
:19:36. > :19:39.was reason to suspect that the cause of the difference in tests in
:19:40. > :19:44.scenarios and real life, maybe there was something going on. Renault have
:19:45. > :19:49.denied that saying there is no device in the way that VW have
:19:50. > :19:54.confessed to. We will see how that goes on but it is a rumbling
:19:55. > :19:57.question. As far as a mission scandals go it puts the spotlight on
:19:58. > :20:01.diesel cars and their future because if you have to cheat the tests it
:20:02. > :20:09.seems like they pollute more than we were told. It is interesting because
:20:10. > :20:15.here in the UK we were told to go diesel and were incentives to do
:20:16. > :20:20.that, diesel was cheaper, different taxes are my fees, everyone was
:20:21. > :20:24.going diesel because you got more miles to the gallon, and now diesel
:20:25. > :20:29.has been demonised saying you may win on one but the omissions on the
:20:30. > :20:35.other side are not so good. We got to a point where 50% of all new cars
:20:36. > :20:40.were diesel. I am not sure what the latest stats are but that advance of
:20:41. > :20:47.diesel has been halted. There is a question of whether diesel has run
:20:48. > :20:51.out of puff. Public policy changes as well, charging diesel drivers
:20:52. > :20:55.more to intercity centres for example.
:20:56. > :20:57.If all this news is giving you heavy eyelids, or like us
:20:58. > :21:00.you started work at 3am, this may wake you up.
:21:01. > :21:06.According to the Rand Corporation lack of sleep is costing the world
:21:07. > :21:08.economy billions of dollars in lost productivity and it can
:21:09. > :21:18.Theo Leggett stayed up just long enough to file this report.
:21:19. > :21:25.We know that we need sleep and some of us probably need more than others
:21:26. > :21:30.but what happens if you do not get enough? What can it mean for your
:21:31. > :21:34.ability to do your job? I have come here to this clinical research
:21:35. > :21:37.centre at the University of Surrey where they study sleep and in
:21:38. > :21:43.particular what happens to your brain if you do not get enough. I am
:21:44. > :21:48.going to go over a few things that we will do after we finish. This
:21:49. > :21:53.doctor is a research fellow at the University. Her team studies what
:21:54. > :21:56.happens to the sleeping brain and have analysed how insufficient sleep
:21:57. > :22:02.can have deeply damaging effects on health and performance. Sleep
:22:03. > :22:06.deprivation can lead to a mental state which is very similar to being
:22:07. > :22:15.drunk. In part because you are not aware of your inability to focus or
:22:16. > :22:20.perform at your best and your judgments are impaired, your speed
:22:21. > :22:27.is imperilled. Maria is going to give you instructions. This gives
:22:28. > :22:34.you a -- comes at a cost. Lost sleep can cut economic output by up to 3%.
:22:35. > :22:41.In the US would cost up to $411 billion a year. In Japan it is
:22:42. > :22:52.billion and in the UK $50 billion are just over ?40 million. People
:22:53. > :22:55.who do not sleep as much or more likely to die of cardiovascular
:22:56. > :23:02.disease and cancer and have a car accident. People who enough are more
:23:03. > :23:06.likely to come to work and are more productive at work compared to
:23:07. > :23:10.people who do not sleep enough. Sacrificing sleep to work long hours
:23:11. > :23:15.me impress your boss but it may be dangerous and could be costing your
:23:16. > :23:18.company a great deal. Perhaps it would be better all-round if we
:23:19. > :23:27.could sometimes sit back and take a well earned nap. We will prod him
:23:28. > :23:30.later to wake him up. It is an issue particularly if you are working
:23:31. > :23:37.shifts and trying to get sleep when you can. How do you manage with your
:23:38. > :23:44.sleep patterns? Do you get enough? What prevents it? I usually try to
:23:45. > :23:49.get a couple of hours. A couple? Seven or eight if I can but if there
:23:50. > :23:56.something big happening I often end up staying up too late. Have you
:23:57. > :23:59.ever slept the office? No. Sleep deprivation can make people feel
:24:00. > :24:12.like they are drunk. It is that serious. You may not want to be
:24:13. > :24:16.filling like that. The Times. Ads shown on videos are contributing to
:24:17. > :24:19.extremist content or extremist producers are not miss the family
:24:20. > :24:25.what these advertisers, companies we know and use every day, would like
:24:26. > :24:30.to be funding. He challenged for the likes of the internet companies or
:24:31. > :24:37.Google or YouTube or any of these that have that connection. It is the
:24:38. > :24:40.Home Office, the Royal Navy, the BBC, their ads are popping up on
:24:41. > :24:45.controversial or extremist videos but they would not want to have them
:24:46. > :24:52.on. How does it happen? That is the larger theme, algorithmic, high-tech
:24:53. > :24:56.processes that connect content to content which are not necessarily
:24:57. > :24:59.screening for the content of the extremist or nationalist videos so
:25:00. > :25:03.there is an element of the human review process that is maybe messing
:25:04. > :25:09.and that is what that investigation is looking into. This story about
:25:10. > :25:16.how a piano tuner found a stash of cash and it was a big one in a piano
:25:17. > :25:21.that he was working on. Incredible. A lot of piano is out there are not
:25:22. > :25:25.really worth that much anyway. A sack of gold coins. I would love to
:25:26. > :25:31.find that my old piano. Thinking about the history of how things are
:25:32. > :25:36.passed down and the value, not just finding these gold coins, but the
:25:37. > :25:43.history behind someone who must a stash this in there. The latest one
:25:44. > :25:49.is 1915, they think it was stashed around then. Around a time of war,
:25:50. > :25:57.where it was safe to put your money. Maybe they are worth more than we
:25:58. > :26:01.think. Do you think they will give one to the piano tuner?