:00:00. > :00:20.Sparks fly over the US economy - but will it really affect
:00:21. > :00:34.We continue our look at the booming gig economy.
:00:35. > :00:44.Also in the programme the presidents of China and the Philippines meet
:00:45. > :00:48.Our team in the region will have the latest.
:00:49. > :00:53.We start with the US election - and that third and final debate
:00:54. > :00:55.overnight between presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Hilary
:00:56. > :00:57.overnight between presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Hillary
:00:58. > :01:01.According to a recent poll the economy remains the biggest
:01:02. > :01:07.But how healthy is it - and how will it influence
:01:08. > :01:12.According to the latest figures from the US Census Bureau -
:01:13. > :01:14.household incomes rose 5.2% last year.
:01:15. > :01:20.That was the first real increase since before the financial
:01:21. > :01:25.Hispanic Americans actually saw their incomes rise faster
:01:26. > :01:28.than whites, Black Americans slightly slower, but all
:01:29. > :01:33.This could be seen as positive for Clinton -
:01:34. > :01:36.she's seen as inheriting the Obama legacy.
:01:37. > :01:43.Take a look at the amount a white household earns - compared
:01:44. > :01:54.Donald Trump has argued the Democrats have failed both
:01:55. > :01:57.groups - these figures could be seen as backing that up.
:01:58. > :02:02.1.4 million people found permanent jobs last year.
:02:03. > :02:05.The Democrats say the Obama years were the longest streak of job
:02:06. > :02:11.Donald Trump has criticised the quality of jobs created.
:02:12. > :02:14.Here's a figure that's difficult to argue with though.
:02:15. > :02:18.43.1 million Americans were living in poverty last year.
:02:19. > :02:24.That's a slight improvement on the previous year but still five
:02:25. > :02:30.million more than before the financial crisis.
:02:31. > :02:33.Ironically neither side has talked much about poverty.
:02:34. > :02:36.But poor people are far less likely to vote than well off people.
:02:37. > :02:48.Here's how the candidates clashed over the state of the economy.
:02:49. > :02:55.I propose that we invest from the middle out and the ground up. Not
:02:56. > :03:00.from the top down. That will not work. That is why what I have put
:03:01. > :03:04.forward will not add a penny to the debt what is the sort of approach
:03:05. > :03:09.that will enable more people to take new higher waged jobs. We are seeing
:03:10. > :03:14.an increase in incomes and we have had a long string of increasing
:03:15. > :03:18.jobs. We must do more to get the whole economy moving and that is
:03:19. > :03:24.what I believe we will be able to do. I just left some high
:03:25. > :03:29.Representatives of India. They are growing at 8%. China grows at 7% and
:03:30. > :03:35.that is a catastrophically low number for them. We are growing, our
:03:36. > :03:39.last report came out and it is around 1% and there think it is
:03:40. > :03:44.going down. Last week, at the end of last week, they came out with an
:03:45. > :03:49.anaemic jobs report. A terrible one. In fact I said is that the last jobs
:03:50. > :03:52.report before the election? Because if it is a should win easily because
:03:53. > :03:53.it is so bad. Megan Greene, Managing Director
:03:54. > :04:01.and Chief Economist, You are from Boston and you will be
:04:02. > :04:06.returning home to vote before election day. What is your take on
:04:07. > :04:11.the economy? There was nothing new. I thought the whole section on the
:04:12. > :04:15.economy was disappointing, including some of the questions about how
:04:16. > :04:20.stimulus had led to lower growth which is not the case at all. We
:04:21. > :04:25.just saw a clip of Donald Trump complaining about the last jobs
:04:26. > :04:28.report which was pretty good so I don't know what he is complaining
:04:29. > :04:33.about. They are relying less on trickle-down economics so they want
:04:34. > :04:37.to put money in the hands of the middle on the lower classes because
:04:38. > :04:40.they are the ones who will spend it. Economically that is right and there
:04:41. > :04:44.is nothing really new in this section. Hillary spoke of all the
:04:45. > :04:49.policy she has discussed before and Donald Trump did as well but he was
:04:50. > :04:55.a lot left it out and spoke about India and China. He said we could
:04:56. > :05:00.hit five or 6% growth but I think our potential growth is around 125%.
:05:01. > :05:03.When he spoke about India and China and the fact that there are
:05:04. > :05:07.economies were booming and the fact that the country America have lost
:05:08. > :05:09.so many jobs, so much work to those kind of economies because of the
:05:10. > :05:13.poor administration of previous governments. I don't quite
:05:14. > :05:18.understand how he would change that scenario when the future. He is
:05:19. > :05:22.correct that we are adding jobs in low income sectors. That is not
:05:23. > :05:25.because of the previous administration. That is driven by
:05:26. > :05:29.global factories. There is a massive oversupply of cheap labour globally
:05:30. > :05:33.that is keeping pressure off wages. There is not a lot of wage growth.
:05:34. > :05:39.Also we consume a lot more services than goods. Goods are a high
:05:40. > :05:46.producing sector. So, you know, in 1950 the US confirmed to third goods
:05:47. > :05:50.one third services. That is now reversed. It is a trend we can not
:05:51. > :05:54.lame on the last administration. They argue about trade and Donald
:05:55. > :06:00.Trump is constantly criticising what Bill Clinton agreed to years ago.
:06:01. > :06:04.When it comes to trade it is not clear what either will go for, is
:06:05. > :06:09.it? If they get the job. That is true. There are few areas in which
:06:10. > :06:13.the President has executive power. Trade is one of them. If we took
:06:14. > :06:17.what they said about trade at face value it is clear that neither
:06:18. > :06:21.candidate is as in favour of free trade is the current administration
:06:22. > :06:27.and that is worrisome for growth. Can you take what said at face
:06:28. > :06:31.value? Hillary Clinton has come out against TTP but in the past she has
:06:32. > :06:35.been in favour so maybe she will flip-flop again. Donald Trump has
:06:36. > :06:41.been protectionist in his rhetorical Will he implement policies? I think
:06:42. > :06:51.it will tip the US into recession if he did so I think that he will back
:06:52. > :06:52.off. We will have more in the debate later in this half-hour.
:06:53. > :06:55.All this week, we been hearing from the workers and entrepreneurs
:06:56. > :07:00.In the Europe and the US, up to 30% of the working-age
:07:01. > :07:03.population earn some form of income through freelance service providing
:07:04. > :07:06.But it's sparked fierce debate about the winners and losers.
:07:07. > :07:09.Viktor Nyics, originally from Hungary, is a part-time driver
:07:10. > :07:12.He is also the founder of a tech startup.
:07:13. > :07:16.He says he likes the flexibility of being able to drive for Uber
:07:17. > :07:30.I was always a creative person. I run a tech start-up and we are very
:07:31. > :07:36.busy. Sometimes I can't drive for days. Sometimes I think all week I
:07:37. > :07:41.will drive and I will make some cash. I love people, to be honest. I
:07:42. > :07:48.enjoy many of the passengers in their company and when I get paid
:07:49. > :07:52.for my time that is the icing. I have people pay for my petrol and I
:07:53. > :07:57.do my business is I want to. All when I go away I don't need to ask
:07:58. > :08:04.for permission. Is it a case I don't work? I don't want to be owned by a
:08:05. > :08:10.company. I don't want to be ruled by a company. I want to do my projects,
:08:11. > :08:14.I want to achieve my goals, build my own business. Live my life and run
:08:15. > :08:19.my life as I see fit. I don't want to be asking for permission to go
:08:20. > :08:25.for holidays or do this or that. I don't think that will be the future
:08:26. > :08:29.of employment at all. What's more about that on our website. Let's go
:08:30. > :08:34.to Asia where the Chinese president is hosting the Philippine president.
:08:35. > :08:38.You can see them greeting each other behind me. Relations between the two
:08:39. > :08:43.have not been great to see the very least. They locked in a territorial
:08:44. > :08:47.dispute over the South China Sea. They are, hoping to improve trade
:08:48. > :08:51.relations during this meeting. Let's go to our Asia business hub to find
:08:52. > :08:56.out more about this. What is going on? How likely is it that they will
:08:57. > :09:07.make an agreement on trade issues? It seems rather likely because
:09:08. > :09:12.President Duterte debt is now -- is on a charm offensive seeking support
:09:13. > :09:18.and trade on China by setting aside the thorny territorial disputes. He
:09:19. > :09:22.was greeted earlier today by President Xi with full military
:09:23. > :09:28.honours. At the seed of legislature in Beijing. They are there to
:09:29. > :09:32.oversee of a raft of agreements between their governments following
:09:33. > :09:35.discussions with them China has hailed the visit as a step towards
:09:36. > :09:42.ending years of tensions which really reached a height after the
:09:43. > :09:48.Philippines won a major arbitration dispute against territorial claims
:09:49. > :09:54.in the South China Sea. But did not stop the bank of China agreeing to
:09:55. > :10:02.loans of 3 billion dollars for infrastructure projects in the
:10:03. > :10:07.Philippines. And more significant is the quote from Mr Duterte that it is
:10:08. > :10:12.time to say goodbye to the US as he realigned his country 's interests.
:10:13. > :10:13.That is all. Stay with us and we will discuss in more detail the
:10:14. > :10:30.debate in a couple of minutes. Australia has said it wants to be
:10:31. > :10:33.the first in line to sign a new trade deal with
:10:34. > :10:37.the UK after Brexit.