Browse content similar to 24/11/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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This is Business Live
from BBC News with Ben Bland | 0:00:07 | 0:00:09 | |
and Samantha Simmonds. | 0:00:09 | 0:00:10 | |
It's a multi-billion dollar bonanza. | 0:00:10 | 0:00:13 | |
Black Friday sales have spread
around the world but how much extra | 0:00:13 | 0:00:16 | |
will we actually spend? | 0:00:16 | 0:00:18 | |
Live from London, that's our top
story on Friday 24th November 2017. | 0:00:18 | 0:00:22 | |
The post-Thanksgiving
discounts started in America | 0:00:37 | 0:00:40 | |
but retailers are looking to cash
in on the holiday spending | 0:00:40 | 0:00:43 | |
season everywhere. | 0:00:43 | 0:00:44 | |
Also in the programme... | 0:00:44 | 0:00:47 | |
China gives us the details
of its plans to cut import tariffs | 0:00:47 | 0:00:50 | |
so will it help the rest
of the world sell more | 0:00:50 | 0:00:53 | |
to the world's biggest market? | 0:00:53 | 0:00:57 | |
We will be keeping an eye on the
markets. A bit of a lacklustre start | 0:00:57 | 0:01:02 | |
on the European indices with London
being outperformed by Frankfurt, | 0:01:02 | 0:01:06 | |
Paris and Madrid. | 0:01:06 | 0:01:07 | |
And we'll be getting
the inside track on Britain's | 0:01:07 | 0:01:10 | |
productivity riddle and what the US
Fed's latest minutes tell us | 0:01:10 | 0:01:12 | |
about where the world's
biggest economy is heading | 0:01:12 | 0:01:14 | |
with our Economics
Correspondent, Andrew Walker. | 0:01:14 | 0:01:17 | |
One factory in Sweden has started
burning unwanted clothes to make | 0:01:17 | 0:01:20 | |
clean energy instead
of using oil and gas. | 0:01:20 | 0:01:24 | |
And as Black Friday sees people
grabbing bargains on new clothes, | 0:01:24 | 0:01:26 | |
what do you do with your old ones? | 0:01:26 | 0:01:28 | |
Let us know. | 0:01:28 | 0:01:29 | |
Just use #BBCBizLive. | 0:01:29 | 0:01:38 | |
Hello and welcome to Business Live. | 0:01:38 | 0:01:47 | |
Don't you say I should have burned
that tie! | 0:01:47 | 0:01:50 | |
It's the Friday after
Thanksgiving and for millions | 0:01:50 | 0:01:52 | |
of Americans that means one
thing - shopping. | 0:01:52 | 0:01:54 | |
Black Friday has come to signal
the start of the Christmas shopping | 0:01:54 | 0:01:59 | |
season with big discounts
to tempt buyers. | 0:01:59 | 0:02:01 | |
And, as with so much else,
what started in the US, | 0:02:01 | 0:02:04 | |
the world's biggest economy,
has spread rapidly around | 0:02:04 | 0:02:06 | |
the world to become one
the busiest times of the year | 0:02:06 | 0:02:09 | |
for the global retail business. | 0:02:09 | 0:02:12 | |
There have already been queues
at US shopping centres. | 0:02:12 | 0:02:16 | |
Altogether 164 million
people are expected | 0:02:16 | 0:02:18 | |
to shop this weekend -
that's over half the | 0:02:18 | 0:02:20 | |
country's population. | 0:02:20 | 0:02:26 | |
And that means make-or-break time
for the many US retailers who see | 0:02:26 | 0:02:28 | |
30% to 40% of their annual sales
come between Black | 0:02:28 | 0:02:31 | |
Friday and Christmas. | 0:02:31 | 0:02:33 | |
The spending has already
started here in the UK too, | 0:02:33 | 0:02:38 | |
where spending is expected to reach
the equivalent of $2.4 | 0:02:38 | 0:02:40 | |
million per minute. | 0:02:40 | 0:02:43 | |
An increasing share
of that is being done not in stores, | 0:02:43 | 0:02:46 | |
but on phones and tablets. | 0:02:46 | 0:02:50 | |
Online spending today is predicted
to be up 15% on last year, | 0:02:50 | 0:02:53 | |
hitting $1.5 billion. | 0:02:53 | 0:02:57 | |
Joining us now is Maureen Hinton. | 0:02:57 | 0:02:59 | |
She's the Group Research Director at
the retail analysts Global Data PLC. | 0:02:59 | 0:03:05 | |
I don't know if you're going to be
doing any shopping, I think I will | 0:03:05 | 0:03:10 | |
be! Is it getting bigger and bigger?
$2.4 million every minute in the UK | 0:03:10 | 0:03:16 | |
we are expected to spend. It is
definitely getting bigger having | 0:03:16 | 0:03:20 | |
started about five years ago and it
has really taken off, one of the big | 0:03:20 | 0:03:24 | |
events now but it has pulled forward
the January sales into November so | 0:03:24 | 0:03:29 | |
it is challenging for some of the
retailers. Are there true bargains | 0:03:29 | 0:03:35 | |
to be had? It is not just one day,
it is over a week and one report | 0:03:35 | 0:03:40 | |
said that around 60% of items could
be found cheaper at other times of | 0:03:40 | 0:03:44 | |
the year. How do we know if we are
getting a deal? I think some | 0:03:44 | 0:03:50 | |
consumers are getting a bit cynical
now. But the retailers are producing | 0:03:50 | 0:03:56 | |
true bargains, somebody like Dixons
the lexical retailer -- electrical | 0:03:56 | 0:04:02 | |
retailer, they are bringing in
products with low prices so there | 0:04:02 | 0:04:07 | |
are bargains to be had. I have heard
it said by prominent business people | 0:04:07 | 0:04:15 | |
that Black Rider is bad for
customers and bad for businesses. -- | 0:04:15 | 0:04:19 | |
Black Friday. It is bad for clothing
retailers. In the UK what would have | 0:04:19 | 0:04:25 | |
happened but for if we would have
had January sales after Christmas | 0:04:25 | 0:04:29 | |
and as consumers we would have been
willing to pay full price for | 0:04:29 | 0:04:34 | |
clothing and beauty and gifts and
toys but now all of those are being | 0:04:34 | 0:04:38 | |
slashed and they are not making a
profit they could do from before. | 0:04:38 | 0:04:42 | |
And the big thing seems to be
tablets and smartphones, I am using | 0:04:42 | 0:04:47 | |
these for work and not shopping! But
a lot of people are and that is | 0:04:47 | 0:04:52 | |
contributing to do it. Definitely
because it is so easy to compare | 0:04:52 | 0:04:57 | |
prices quickly, you can go into
store and asked if that is the best | 0:04:57 | 0:05:01 | |
price, maybe see if you could get it
somewhere else and then there is the | 0:05:01 | 0:05:04 | |
convenience of ordering online. It
is convenient for the consumer. Can | 0:05:04 | 0:05:11 | |
you see it continuing? It has been
going five years in this country, | 0:05:11 | 0:05:17 | |
but business insider were reporting
that they don't think it is going to | 0:05:17 | 0:05:19 | |
last much longer. I think it is
going to take a while before it | 0:05:19 | 0:05:25 | |
peters out in the UK. It is quite
well-established now. Some retailers | 0:05:25 | 0:05:33 | |
would like it to peter out but it is
going to spread across the | 0:05:33 | 0:05:36 | |
continent. Will you be doing some
shopping? The Billy Knott, I'm too | 0:05:36 | 0:05:41 | |
busy, but maybe this evening! --
probably not. I have had my eye on | 0:05:41 | 0:05:47 | |
address for weeks and I'm hoping is
discounted! But this is another | 0:05:47 | 0:05:52 | |
point, I went into the shop and ask
them if it would be discounted! They | 0:05:52 | 0:05:58 | |
sit it was unlikely because it was a
top seller and that is the point, | 0:05:58 | 0:06:02 | |
they shift the stuff they cannot get
rid of! Your tastes are clearly too | 0:06:02 | 0:06:07 | |
good! You might have to wait until
January. It might have gone by then! | 0:06:07 | 0:06:17 | |
Maureen Tom thank you very much. Our
director said she did her shopping | 0:06:17 | 0:06:22 | |
on a smartphone on the way in that
she has not said what she bought | 0:06:22 | 0:06:27 | |
them in must have been our Christmas
present! Let's have a look at some | 0:06:27 | 0:06:31 | |
other stories now. | 0:06:31 | 0:06:32 | |
Uber has been given the green
light for its tie-up | 0:06:32 | 0:06:34 | |
with Russia's Yandex. | 0:06:34 | 0:06:35 | |
Reuters is reporting
that the ride-hailing merger has | 0:06:35 | 0:06:37 | |
been approved by the country's
competition authorities | 0:06:37 | 0:06:39 | |
if certain conditions are met. | 0:06:39 | 0:06:44 | |
Uber has spent more than $200
million on the venture with Yandex | 0:06:44 | 0:06:47 | |
which is Russia's biggest internet
company. | 0:06:47 | 0:06:49 | |
Angela Merkel's hope of another term
in charge of Europe's biggest | 0:06:49 | 0:06:55 | |
economy have received a boost. | 0:06:55 | 0:06:56 | |
Germany's Social Democrats have said
they will now hold talks over | 0:06:56 | 0:06:59 | |
breaking the political deadlock
since September's | 0:06:59 | 0:07:00 | |
inconclusive election. | 0:07:00 | 0:07:01 | |
Mrs Merkel's former coalition
partners had said they wouldn't take | 0:07:01 | 0:07:04 | |
part in any new government. | 0:07:04 | 0:07:08 | |
A key part of YouTube's system
for reporting people who leave | 0:07:08 | 0:07:12 | |
sexualised comments on videos
of children has not been functioning | 0:07:12 | 0:07:15 | |
correctly for more than a year
according to volunteer moderators | 0:07:15 | 0:07:17 | |
with inside knowledge of the site. | 0:07:17 | 0:07:19 | |
A BBC investigation found a flaw
in a tool that enables | 0:07:19 | 0:07:22 | |
the public to report abuse. | 0:07:22 | 0:07:24 | |
YouTube has denied any technical
failure, and says content | 0:07:24 | 0:07:26 | |
that endangers children
is abhorrent and unacceptable. | 0:07:26 | 0:07:32 | |
The scandal around Mitsubishi
Materials demonstrates "a betrayal | 0:07:32 | 0:07:34 | |
of trust in Japanese manufacturing"
according to the country's | 0:07:34 | 0:07:36 | |
Economy and Trade Minister. | 0:07:37 | 0:07:39 | |
On Thursday the company became
the latest to apologise for faking | 0:07:39 | 0:07:41 | |
quality control data. | 0:07:41 | 0:07:43 | |
Shares in the company,
which is part of the same | 0:07:43 | 0:07:46 | |
group as the car firm,
closed more than 8% down in Tokyo. | 0:07:46 | 0:07:51 | |
China's government has unveiled some
of the details about its plan to cut | 0:07:53 | 0:07:56 | |
import tariffs for a range
of consumer products. | 0:07:56 | 0:07:59 | |
The changes could help companies
who want to sell to the world's | 0:07:59 | 0:08:02 | |
biggest consumer market. | 0:08:02 | 0:08:03 | |
Our correspondent Robin
Brant is in Shanghai. | 0:08:03 | 0:08:09 | |
Explain more. Good news if you are
trying to export whiskey to China, | 0:08:09 | 0:08:17 | |
also some skiing products and
pharmaceutical products and maybe | 0:08:17 | 0:08:23 | |
some hats because they are among the
187 products that will see the duty | 0:08:23 | 0:08:28 | |
imposed by the Chinese government
reduced. On average it will come | 0:08:28 | 0:08:32 | |
down from around 17.5% to 7%. It is
more on some items, vermouth is | 0:08:32 | 0:08:43 | |
coming down, and whiskey has been
halved. The explanation given is | 0:08:43 | 0:08:47 | |
that these are products mainly in
demand among the wealthy middle | 0:08:47 | 0:08:50 | |
class that you cannot really get in
China because they are not made | 0:08:50 | 0:08:54 | |
domestic league and the government
wants to increase the supply of | 0:08:54 | 0:08:58 | |
these high-quality products --
domestically. Is it significant? I | 0:08:58 | 0:09:03 | |
don't think so frankly. It is a move
on the tariffs. We will have to see | 0:09:03 | 0:09:09 | |
if retailers pass it on. But if you
are Ford and you want to bring in | 0:09:09 | 0:09:15 | |
expensive cars to this country can
you still pay 25%, if you bring in | 0:09:15 | 0:09:19 | |
food that will still have 14%. And
these are not the big structural | 0:09:19 | 0:09:24 | |
changes that were talked about by
President Xi talked about. Come and | 0:09:24 | 0:09:32 | |
Baxter is coming here wanting to
make and sell cars, they still had | 0:09:32 | 0:09:39 | |
to do a joint-venture -- car
manufacturers. Robin in Shanghai, | 0:09:39 | 0:09:44 | |
thank you. | 0:09:44 | 0:09:48 | |
Asian markets mostly rose
but investors moved warily on Friday | 0:09:48 | 0:09:51 | |
after a sharp sell-off in Shanghai
the previous day fuelled concerns | 0:09:51 | 0:09:55 | |
of fresh turmoil in China's
markets specifically. | 0:09:55 | 0:09:57 | |
Chinese shares dropped
to three-month lows on concerns | 0:09:57 | 0:10:01 | |
about fresh government steps to curb
financial risks and rise | 0:10:01 | 0:10:03 | |
in Chinese bond yields. | 0:10:03 | 0:10:10 | |
US markets closed for Thanksgiving
and the euro extended gains against | 0:10:10 | 0:10:16 | |
the dollar after data showed the
Eurozone economy continued to | 0:10:16 | 0:10:20 | |
improve while job creation came in
at its fastest pace in 17 years. | 0:10:20 | 0:10:26 | |
This is how the European indices
look at the start of the day lacking | 0:10:26 | 0:10:31 | |
direction really having opened
slightly higher but now turning into | 0:10:31 | 0:10:34 | |
the negative. This is a look ahead
of what is coming up on Wall Street. | 0:10:34 | 0:10:39 | |
It's the Friday after
the Thanksgiving holiday | 0:10:39 | 0:10:42 | |
here in the US, and markets are open
for trading, but volumes | 0:10:42 | 0:10:45 | |
are generally light on this day
as many people have taken the day | 0:10:45 | 0:10:48 | |
off to recover from too much turkey. | 0:10:48 | 0:10:53 | |
The big business story for the day
will obviously be Black Friday. | 0:10:53 | 0:10:59 | |
It marks the beginning
of the holiday season of shopping, | 0:10:59 | 0:11:01 | |
and many stores will be offering
deals to get customers | 0:11:01 | 0:11:03 | |
through their doors. | 0:11:03 | 0:11:04 | |
There is also some economic news
to pay attention to. | 0:11:04 | 0:11:07 | |
The latest purchasing
managers' index, or PMI | 0:11:07 | 0:11:08 | |
numbers, will be out today. | 0:11:09 | 0:11:10 | |
Now, this is important
because it reflects the health | 0:11:10 | 0:11:12 | |
of the manufacturing sector. | 0:11:12 | 0:11:15 | |
And it's based on five
major indicators. | 0:11:15 | 0:11:17 | |
New orders, inventory levels,
production, supplier deliveries | 0:11:17 | 0:11:19 | |
and the employment environment. | 0:11:19 | 0:11:24 | |
Joining us is Sue Noffke,
UK Equities Fund Manager | 0:11:24 | 0:11:26 | |
from Schroders. | 0:11:26 | 0:11:32 | |
Looking at the Chinese markets, they
are cooling off, what is your take? | 0:11:32 | 0:11:38 | |
We did see the biggest one-day fall
for 17 months on Thursday. It is | 0:11:38 | 0:11:43 | |
important to put it into the context
of how strong the Chinese stock | 0:11:43 | 0:11:47 | |
market has been in the last six
months. From early May it is up | 0:11:47 | 0:11:53 | |
nearly 30%. There were some profits
to be taken. And what did markets | 0:11:53 | 0:12:01 | |
take fright at? That was the
government indication that they | 0:12:01 | 0:12:04 | |
might be trying to tighten that
liquidity which is Willie Watt has | 0:12:04 | 0:12:10 | |
fuelled the economy and the stock
market. -- really what has fuelled. | 0:12:10 | 0:12:15 | |
Turning briefly to the UK budget, a
big statement from the finance | 0:12:15 | 0:12:20 | |
minister this week. It was rather
gloomy but the market did not seem | 0:12:20 | 0:12:25 | |
to take much fright and nor were
they particularly excited. | 0:12:25 | 0:12:30 | |
Definitely in the round this was
what was anticipated. I think some | 0:12:30 | 0:12:36 | |
of the forecasts were a bit stale.
Market forecasts had been running | 0:12:36 | 0:12:42 | |
ahead of the OBR and the Institute
for Fiscal Studies. The downgrades | 0:12:42 | 0:12:49 | |
we have seen to growth to the 1.5%
level were not a surprise, no | 0:12:49 | 0:12:56 | |
material impact on sterling or
interest rate or the stock market. | 0:12:56 | 0:12:59 | |
And what about oil prices? They have
rallied. They have been quite | 0:12:59 | 0:13:05 | |
robust. The six up week in seven,
and at levels not seen since the | 0:13:05 | 0:13:14 | |
middle of 2015 so pretty good. It
depends which price you want to use, | 0:13:14 | 0:13:18 | |
Brent is in the 60 or WTI is in the
high 50s. That is a much better | 0:13:18 | 0:13:27 | |
number for oil producers, whether
that is individual companies | 0:13:27 | 0:13:31 | |
particularly in the US and elsewhere
but also oil-producing countries | 0:13:31 | 0:13:37 | |
very much need those revenues. And
they have suffered quite a lot, some | 0:13:37 | 0:13:42 | |
having to completely rethink their
reliance on oil and they might be | 0:13:42 | 0:13:47 | |
taking a bit of heart as a result of
this. That's right and there is also | 0:13:47 | 0:13:51 | |
support from Opec with another
meeting coming up on Thursday and it | 0:13:51 | 0:13:56 | |
is a question of whether they can
agree to prolong their cuts into | 0:13:56 | 0:13:59 | |
early next year. Great to have you
with us, thank you for coming in and | 0:13:59 | 0:14:05 | |
we will see you later. | 0:14:05 | 0:14:08 | |
We'll get the Inside Track
on the signals the latest US Fed | 0:14:08 | 0:14:11 | |
minutes give us on the world's
biggest economy with our | 0:14:11 | 0:14:14 | |
Friday Editor, Andrew Walker. | 0:14:14 | 0:14:15 | |
You're with Business
Live from BBC News. | 0:14:15 | 0:14:21 | |
One of Britain's biggest brewers
has warned of economic | 0:14:25 | 0:14:29 | |
uncertainty in a "tough
and highly competitive" market. | 0:14:29 | 0:14:32 | |
Fullers owns hundreds of pubs,
largely in the south of England, | 0:14:32 | 0:14:35 | |
and brews the famous London Pride. | 0:14:35 | 0:14:37 | |
It's reported a 10% rise
in profits before tax | 0:14:37 | 0:14:42 | |
of £23.6 million in the six months
to the end of September. | 0:14:42 | 0:14:46 | |
But it's warning "economic
and political uncertainty" | 0:14:46 | 0:14:49 | |
could cause further challenges
on top of the rising costs | 0:14:49 | 0:14:51 | |
it's already facing. | 0:14:51 | 0:14:53 | |
Joining us from the London Stock
Exchange is Simon Emeny, the chief | 0:14:53 | 0:14:55 | |
executive of Fuller Smith & Turner. | 0:14:55 | 0:15:04 | |
So how worried are you about the
future of brewing as a business? I | 0:15:04 | 0:15:10 | |
think none of us are approaching
2018 from an economic perspective | 0:15:10 | 0:15:14 | |
with stunning confidence, but we
feel that as a business we are in | 0:15:14 | 0:15:19 | |
exceptionally good shape. We have
continued to invest in our pubs, | 0:15:19 | 0:15:23 | |
people and processes. So whilst I
don't think that we will get any | 0:15:23 | 0:15:27 | |
favours from the UK economy, I think
there is a considerable amount that | 0:15:27 | 0:15:30 | |
we can do to continue to improve our
business. What's your reaction to | 0:15:30 | 0:15:35 | |
the alcohol price freeze in the
budget this week? I think it has | 0:15:35 | 0:15:47 | |
been really reassuring that the
Chancellor is really listening to | 0:15:47 | 0:15:49 | |
the issues that the hospitality
industry faces. This has been a year | 0:15:49 | 0:15:52 | |
when the industry has faced with
unprecedented costs, and to give | 0:15:52 | 0:15:56 | |
reprieve to some businesses on
business rates was a good sign. He | 0:15:56 | 0:15:58 | |
needs to go further on business
rates, the system is outdated and | 0:15:58 | 0:16:02 | |
urgently needs reform, but it was an
encouraging budget for the industry. | 0:16:02 | 0:16:06 | |
We went through a stage where it
seemed like every week, almost every | 0:16:06 | 0:16:10 | |
day, we would being told that pubs
are closing, struggling to survive. | 0:16:10 | 0:16:14 | |
We pass that now? I think it is
stabilising more. The industry, we | 0:16:14 | 0:16:20 | |
are still opening pubs, we have two
brand-new station site opening in | 0:16:20 | 0:16:25 | |
2018, and I think these pubs are
better equipped to cope with the | 0:16:25 | 0:16:28 | |
needs of a modern consumer,
particularly around fresh food, | 0:16:28 | 0:16:32 | |
craft beer and great service. So
whilst you still see some pubs | 0:16:32 | 0:16:36 | |
closing, you see fantastic new pubs
opening, and we will continue to | 0:16:36 | 0:16:40 | |
invest in refurbishing our pubs and
opening new ones. Simon, thank you | 0:16:40 | 0:16:43 | |
very much, Simon Emeny there. | 0:16:43 | 0:16:56 | |
Lots of cat videos on Argos if you
are sick of Black Friday! Who | 0:16:56 | 0:17:02 | |
doesn't want to see those. | 0:17:02 | 0:17:07 | |
You are watching Business Live. Our
top story: Black Friday sales have | 0:17:09 | 0:17:13 | |
begun in the United States and
around the world. A quick look at | 0:17:13 | 0:17:21 | |
how the markets are faring at the
start of the trading day in Europe. | 0:17:21 | 0:17:25 | |
Seemingly lacking direction a bit,
they have opened slightly higher but | 0:17:25 | 0:17:28 | |
now moving into the red, fairly flat
in Paris, and that is what the pound | 0:17:28 | 0:17:34 | |
is doing against the dollar, just
above 1.30 three. -- 1.33. | 0:17:34 | 0:17:43 | |
Now it's our chance to look back
on some of the biggest business | 0:17:43 | 0:17:46 | |
stories of the week. | 0:17:47 | 0:17:48 | |
Here in the UK the budget gave us
another insight on the public | 0:17:48 | 0:17:51 | |
finances and in the US the clues
were in the Federal | 0:17:51 | 0:17:53 | |
Reserve's latest minutes. | 0:17:53 | 0:17:54 | |
Andrew Walker is our Economics | 0:17:54 | 0:17:56 | |
Correspondent. | 0:17:56 | 0:17:59 | |
He's here to talk
about the main points | 0:17:59 | 0:18:01 | |
from the UK budget. | 0:18:01 | 0:18:08 | |
The Chancellor bases his predictions
on the office but it was the Luthi, | 0:18:08 | 0:18:15 | |
and they have downgraded their
forecast of economic growth, they | 0:18:15 | 0:18:18 | |
are expecting around 1.5% per year
over the next four or five years. | 0:18:18 | 0:18:24 | |
That compares with figures in excess
of 2.5% in the years before, in the | 0:18:24 | 0:18:29 | |
quarter of a century before the
financial crisis. What is behind | 0:18:29 | 0:18:32 | |
that downgrade is the OBR finally
giving up on the expectation that | 0:18:32 | 0:18:39 | |
there is going to be a really
decisive rebound in productivity | 0:18:39 | 0:18:42 | |
growth, which is essentially the
amount each worker produces, either | 0:18:42 | 0:18:46 | |
over the course of a year or just
one hour. And because it is not | 0:18:46 | 0:18:52 | |
expecting this long delayed recovery
in productivity to come through, it | 0:18:52 | 0:18:56 | |
does mean that it is going to have
adverse financial implications for | 0:18:56 | 0:19:00 | |
the Government, they are going -- we
are going to be paying less in tax | 0:19:00 | 0:19:05 | |
than we would otherwise have been if
there was this improvement in | 0:19:05 | 0:19:08 | |
productivity. And to clarify this
point. When they said productivity, | 0:19:08 | 0:19:12 | |
are they essentially saying that UK
workers are not working hard enough? | 0:19:12 | 0:19:16 | |
Absolutely not. Just you! It is not
bad. It has economists are | 0:19:16 | 0:19:25 | |
scratching their heads about what is
going on. One factor is perhaps the | 0:19:25 | 0:19:29 | |
business investment has rebranded
quite weakly after the financial | 0:19:29 | 0:19:33 | |
crisis, nowhere near as strongly as
it recovered after previous | 0:19:33 | 0:19:35 | |
recessions. Very low interest rates
may be another factor. It enables | 0:19:35 | 0:19:41 | |
some low productivity businesses to
survive that might not have survived | 0:19:41 | 0:19:45 | |
had they had higher borrowing costs.
And there is also the possibility | 0:19:45 | 0:19:50 | |
actually that perhaps things are
little better than the data suggest, | 0:19:50 | 0:19:55 | |
because we are not measuring the
impact of technological change on | 0:19:55 | 0:19:59 | |
what we produce quite as well as we
should. Certainly there is some | 0:19:59 | 0:20:02 | |
evidence that that explains a bit of
it, but only a bit. Let's move on to | 0:20:02 | 0:20:06 | |
the US Fed minutes. They seemed a
bit confused, and also divided. What | 0:20:06 | 0:20:12 | |
did we learn? They certainly are
divided about just how worried they | 0:20:12 | 0:20:18 | |
should be about the inflationary
invitations of the very strong | 0:20:18 | 0:20:22 | |
American jobs market. The rate of
new job creation, they think, is not | 0:20:22 | 0:20:27 | |
sustainable in the long-term without
an increase in inflation. But at the | 0:20:27 | 0:20:33 | |
same time, there are some members of
the policy-making committee who | 0:20:33 | 0:20:35 | |
think that, who are getting worried
about the persistent level of | 0:20:35 | 0:20:42 | |
inflation being too low, and so that
is giving them some significant | 0:20:42 | 0:20:46 | |
divisions about just how quickly
they should be raising interest | 0:20:46 | 0:20:49 | |
rates. We are still expecting a rate
rise next month, but beyond that, it | 0:20:49 | 0:20:54 | |
is quite clear that they are again,
as we have been here in the UK about | 0:20:54 | 0:21:00 | |
other things, scratching their heads
about what the real state of the | 0:21:00 | 0:21:03 | |
American jobs market is. Andrew, we
can see some pretty jubilant scenes | 0:21:03 | 0:21:07 | |
in Zimbabwe, we can see some
pictures of that right now. A big | 0:21:07 | 0:21:11 | |
day as Emmerson Mnangagwa is sworn
in as Robert Mugabe exited the | 0:21:11 | 0:21:18 | |
stage. Some pretty heart-warming
views from the IMF for them? Yes and | 0:21:18 | 0:21:26 | |
no. The IMF is quite clear that the
Zimbabwe economy has, and I quote, | 0:21:26 | 0:21:33 | |
huge potential. But they do think
there is an awful lot of work to be | 0:21:33 | 0:21:36 | |
done to put right what they see as
the damage that has been done to the | 0:21:36 | 0:21:40 | |
economy under Robert Mugabe. They
think there is a lot of work that | 0:21:40 | 0:21:45 | |
needs to be done in sorting out the
public finances. Too much spending | 0:21:45 | 0:21:50 | |
on inefficient agricultural support,
civil service salaries. Crowding out | 0:21:50 | 0:21:53 | |
private sector investment,
politically difficult to deal with | 0:21:53 | 0:21:57 | |
those kind of problems. Andrew,
thank you very much. | 0:21:57 | 0:22:01 | |
Andrew Walker is our
Economics Correspondent. | 0:22:01 | 0:22:06 | |
It seems that now there is a nap for
pretty much everything, and in Kenya | 0:22:06 | 0:22:10 | |
it is a matter of life and death. A
new app is making it a lot easier to | 0:22:10 | 0:22:15 | |
summon the emergency services. | 0:22:15 | 0:22:19 | |
You just take for granted that 911
exists. The average person in | 0:22:39 | 0:22:46 | |
Nairobi had no idea what number to
call. And when you ask them they | 0:22:46 | 0:22:50 | |
would say, that is a good point.
What will I do? | 0:22:50 | 0:22:53 | |
We have different ambulance
companies. We work together to make | 0:23:19 | 0:23:25 | |
it. | 0:23:25 | 0:23:27 | |
There was once times that we have
seen has gone down from 162 minutes, | 0:23:34 | 0:23:41 | |
which was the average, which is
nearly three hours, which is insane, | 0:23:41 | 0:23:45 | |
down to 15-20 minutes. | 0:23:45 | 0:23:54 | |
Let's see what other
stories are being talked | 0:23:54 | 0:23:56 | |
about on social media. | 0:23:56 | 0:23:59 | |
The Bank of England have announced
that they pay a quarter more to men | 0:23:59 | 0:24:09 | |
than to women. Sue Noffke is with us
again. The Bank of England has been | 0:24:09 | 0:24:13 | |
the latest company to have to be
more transparent about its pay | 0:24:13 | 0:24:19 | |
rates. And we can see what the gaps
are. They are taking measures to | 0:24:19 | 0:24:24 | |
close that. They have made progress
in recent years. And they have set a | 0:24:24 | 0:24:30 | |
target as to where they want to be
to close further that gap in a | 0:24:30 | 0:24:34 | |
couple of years' time. And a power
plant in Sweden burning unwonted | 0:24:34 | 0:24:42 | |
unused clothes instead of call and
oil. A genius idea? It is a great | 0:24:42 | 0:24:47 | |
idea, and we are seeing fossil fuel
type power stations moving to | 0:24:47 | 0:24:51 | |
alternative fuel sources, so we are
seeing in Sweden but that can be | 0:24:51 | 0:24:56 | |
clothing that is mouldy or unfit for
use. It can be sustainable biofuels, | 0:24:56 | 0:25:03 | |
so it can be compressed pieces of
wood and shavings of wood. We can | 0:25:03 | 0:25:12 | |
see copy grounds, used coffee
grounds, powering London buses. That | 0:25:12 | 0:25:15 | |
is a question we have been asking
this morning, what do you do with | 0:25:15 | 0:25:18 | |
your clothes when you are done with
them? We have had for quite a few | 0:25:18 | 0:25:26 | |
responses. One viewer says that she
makes patchwork stars. Jack says he | 0:25:26 | 0:25:35 | |
bends them, and Maisie says give
them to charities, homeless or free | 0:25:35 | 0:25:38 | |
cycle, depending on what it is and
the condition. Only suitable for | 0:25:38 | 0:25:43 | |
rags? Given to the local garage to
use as class. | 0:25:43 | 0:25:47 | |
And Ben just doesn't throw anything
away! Sue | 0:25:47 | 0:25:52 | |
And Ben just doesn't throw anything
away! Sue, thank you very much. | 0:25:52 | 0:25:56 | |
There will be more business news
throughout the day on the BBC Live | 0:25:56 | 0:25:59 |