:00:00. > :00:16.Now it's time for World Business Report.
:00:17. > :00:21.Mountains of questions for the world's central bankers
:00:22. > :00:23.as they gather in Jackson Hole Wyoming for their annual meeting.
:00:24. > :00:26.Plus, dying with dignity, but at what financial cost?
:00:27. > :00:29.We look at the growing bill for end-of-life care.
:00:30. > :00:40.As part of our week-long series on the business of death.
:00:41. > :00:51.We start in the US mountain resort of Jackson Hole,
:00:52. > :00:59.Population around 9,000, and normally known for the quality
:01:00. > :01:06.But today it's also the focus of global financial markets,
:01:07. > :01:10.as it hosts an annual meeting of central bankers from more than 40
:01:11. > :01:14.Top billing, of course goes to the host, US Federal Reserve
:01:15. > :01:16.chief Janet Yellen - so what will investors be
:01:17. > :01:20.Well, for a start, any clue on the Fed's next move
:01:21. > :01:23.It has increased the cost of borrowing three times since
:01:24. > :01:34.But new figures are raising questions about how strong the US
:01:35. > :01:39.Not to mention the huge political uncertainty that's bothering
:01:40. > :01:43.Then there's the small matter of this - the $4.5 trillion mountain
:01:44. > :01:49.It printed money to buy up all that debt, and so support the financial
:01:50. > :01:51.system in the wake of the 2008 crisis.
:01:52. > :01:57.And what impact will that have on the markets?
:01:58. > :02:03.Investors will also be listening closely to this man -
:02:04. > :02:05.European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
:02:06. > :02:08.He's attending for the first time in three years.
:02:09. > :02:12.Some think he may try to use his speech to talk down the value
:02:13. > :02:14.of the euro, which has been surging in recent days.
:02:15. > :02:17.Professor Alan Auerbach from UC Berkeley is one of the speakers
:02:18. > :02:38.He joins us now. Professor, let's talk about interest rates first. Is
:02:39. > :02:42.there an inflationary problem? Do they need to put up interest rates
:02:43. > :02:49.as we thought they probably would do in December? Welcome United States
:02:50. > :02:53.has been putting up interest rates, which make increases this year and
:02:54. > :02:55.another projected for December. But our headline inflation rate is
:02:56. > :03:00.actually slightly below the target 2% rate. So there has been a debate
:03:01. > :03:04.in the United States about whether or not there should be a slower
:03:05. > :03:08.increase in interest rates or whether inflation is just around the
:03:09. > :03:11.corner and we should be trying to pre-empt it. Do you think it would
:03:12. > :03:17.be dangerous to put up interest rates? Well, we are doing it very
:03:18. > :03:22.gradually. Federal Reserve has signalled, given a lot of advance
:03:23. > :03:26.information about its plans, that there is very little surprise about
:03:27. > :03:31.these increases. They have been gradual so far. The headline
:03:32. > :03:35.interest rate is still pretty low. But of course there is some danger.
:03:36. > :03:40.It depends on what one looks out. Looking at inflation, looking at
:03:41. > :03:45.wage growth, it doesn't seem as though the economy is very strong.
:03:46. > :03:49.But if you look at our unemployment rate, which is the lowest it has
:03:50. > :03:54.been in years, and the fact that we have had an expansion now for eight
:03:55. > :03:59.years, it certainly seems like the economy is going pretty well. But
:04:00. > :04:04.the odd situation you have is this low inflation, as you say, and all
:04:05. > :04:07.that cheap money that has been produced over the last few years has
:04:08. > :04:12.gone into asset which have gone rocketing up and prices, and I am
:04:13. > :04:17.particularly looking at the stock market, what you do about that. Do
:04:18. > :04:22.you just let it go? This issue has come up before. It came up during
:04:23. > :04:28.Alan Greenspan's tenure and the question was, during the bubbles,
:04:29. > :04:31.was whether they should do anything. The Fed has generally taken the
:04:32. > :04:36.position that it is not in the business of trying to control asset
:04:37. > :04:38.market values. It sees its job as inflation and employment, and
:04:39. > :04:42.allowing the asset markets to take care of themselves. Undoubtedly
:04:43. > :04:45.people at the fed are thinking about this. As well as interest rates are
:04:46. > :04:48.very low, and inspected to remain low for a long time, including
:04:49. > :04:52.long-term interest rates, that contributes to high asset prices,
:04:53. > :04:57.because the alternative of returns from bonds is so low. What about
:04:58. > :05:01.elsewhere in the world? Are we not now in an era where monitor policy
:05:02. > :05:05.is going to be tightening in interest rates are going to be going
:05:06. > :05:09.up? They are going to be going up in Europe and Asia. Europe is a bit
:05:10. > :05:16.behind the US in terms of the elements. -- in these developments.
:05:17. > :05:19.We have talked about tapering the quantitative easing, the large
:05:20. > :05:22.balance sheet that the Federal Reserve has, and increasing interest
:05:23. > :05:28.rates. The ECB has not started either of those yet. It probably
:05:29. > :05:33.will, because the continental European economy has been picking up
:05:34. > :05:37.recently. That will probably start in Europe as well. Of course, the
:05:38. > :05:41.United Kingdom has a different set of circumstances. A higher inflation
:05:42. > :05:45.rate, but also concerns about economic related -- economic growth,
:05:46. > :05:46.especially related to Brexit. Professor, thank you for joining us.
:05:47. > :05:48.My pleasure. We are also continuing our week-long
:05:49. > :05:51.series on the business of death, looking at the financial issues
:05:52. > :05:54.raised by aging populations Today we are in Singapore,
:05:55. > :05:57.where like many advanced Asian economies, the number of older
:05:58. > :06:00.people is on the rise. And so is the demand for end-of-life
:06:01. > :06:03.care for the terminally ill. Hospices have traditionally relied
:06:04. > :06:06.on charity, but now Singapore's government is pledging more
:06:07. > :06:25.funds for palliative care Catching up on his daily news, this
:06:26. > :06:30.83-year-old still likes to know what is going on, in spite of being
:06:31. > :06:34.diagnosed with just weeks to live, he is spending the last days of his
:06:35. > :06:39.life at this hospice, one of the few dedicated palliative care centres in
:06:40. > :06:44.Singapore, which has room for 50 terminally ill patients like him. It
:06:45. > :06:47.costs $10 million annually to run the centre, with funds from
:06:48. > :06:57.charitable donations, the government, and patients themselves.
:06:58. > :07:03.He says he is grateful to be here. Doctor Lionel Lee is the chairman of
:07:04. > :07:07.the hospice. He also sings to help lift spirits. He says this
:07:08. > :07:15.charitable aspect of the centre is crucial. As our population ages and
:07:16. > :07:21.we have to look at these end of life issues, it is becoming difficult for
:07:22. > :07:25.families to manage patients on their own, and it has taken a watt of
:07:26. > :07:31.resources. We have 400 volunteers and these volunteers participate in
:07:32. > :07:36.the lives of our patients and their families. But volunteers alone
:07:37. > :07:40.cannot address the demand that a rising elderly population requires.
:07:41. > :07:47.These patients get round the clock care to manage their pain and their
:07:48. > :07:51.symptoms. But there is a shortage of such facilities and a waiting list
:07:52. > :07:57.for this one. A sure sign that demand for hospices is bound to
:07:58. > :08:01.grow. But it is not for everybody. Some prefer to stay with the
:08:02. > :08:05.comforts of their own home, and this is where the private sector is
:08:06. > :08:09.hoping to fill the gap. I do see an opportunity for the private sector
:08:10. > :08:13.to engage in palliative care. In fact, I can imagine and Uber model
:08:14. > :08:16.where the private sector creates the platform and allows consumers and
:08:17. > :08:23.suppliers to interact with each other. The challenges that levity
:08:24. > :08:26.wants to pay for end of life care. Ultimately, to make these models
:08:27. > :08:32.sustainable, we are going to need government financing. Death is an
:08:33. > :08:37.inevitable human experience. But because of the cost of such care,
:08:38. > :08:42.centres like the Dover Park Hospice count on their volunteers. Because
:08:43. > :08:46.at the end of life, putting aside the worry of cost and constant pain,
:08:47. > :08:54.it is the little things that can make one's final days as comforting
:08:55. > :08:56.as possible. Just a couple of other stories to tell you about.
:08:57. > :09:00.Taxi app Uber says it took bookings worth $8.7 billion in three months
:09:01. > :09:03.to the end of June, up 17% on the same period last year.
:09:04. > :09:05.The total number of bookings was up 150%.
:09:06. > :09:09.It's still losing money, though - some $645 million in the three-month
:09:10. > :09:11.period - but that figure is falling each quarter.
:09:12. > :09:14.The positive financial news comes as Uber battles a string
:09:15. > :09:25.Investors have valued the company at over $68 billion.
:09:26. > :09:30.The UK food industry has warned that a post-Brexit labour shortage
:09:31. > :09:35.could leave a third of its businesses unviable.
:09:36. > :09:39.The Food and Drink Federation says the sector faces "a rapidly
:09:40. > :09:41.approaching workforce shortage and skills gap."
:09:42. > :09:44.Almost half of all businesses it surveyed said EU nationals working
:09:45. > :09:48.in the UK were considering leaving, and 31% of them have already seen EU
:09:49. > :09:59.Amazon's $13.7 billion bid to buy the organic grocery chain
:10:00. > :10:06.The Nikkei is down by 52, not very much. The Hang Seng is looking
:10:07. > :10:09.strong. Oil is unchanged. That is business. I will be back looking at
:10:10. > :10:22.the newspapers in a few minutes. Yes, Jamie will be joining me
:10:23. > :10:25.shortly for the news review. The husband of a women killed
:10:26. > :10:28.by a cyclist riding an illegal bike has called for new laws to tackle
:10:29. > :10:32."irresponsible and reckless"