24/08/2017 World Business Report

Now it's time for World Business Report.

Mountains of questions for the world's central bankers

as they gather in Jackson Hole Wyoming for their annual meeting.

Plus, dying with dignity, but at what financial cost?

We look at the growing bill for end-of-life care.

As part of our week-long series on the business of death.

We start in the US mountain resort of Jackson Hole,

Population around 9,000, and normally known for the quality

But today it's also the focus of global financial markets,

as it hosts an annual meeting of central bankers from more than 40

Top billing, of course goes to the host, US Federal Reserve

chief Janet Yellen - so what will investors be

Well, for a start, any clue on the Fed's next move

It has increased the cost of borrowing three times since

But new figures are raising questions about how strong the US

Not to mention the huge political uncertainty that's bothering

Then there's the small matter of this - the $4.5 trillion mountain

It printed money to buy up all that debt, and so support the financial

system in the wake of the 2008 crisis.

And what impact will that have on the markets?

Investors will also be listening closely to this man -

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.

He's attending for the first time in three years.

Some think he may try to use his speech to talk down the value

of the euro, which has been surging in recent days.

Professor Alan Auerbach from UC Berkeley is one of the speakers

He joins us now. Professor, let's talk about interest rates first. Is

there an inflationary problem? Do they need to put up interest rates

as we thought they probably would do in December? Welcome United States

has been putting up interest rates, which make increases this year and

another projected for December. But our headline inflation rate is

actually slightly below the target 2% rate. So there has been a debate

in the United States about whether or not there should be a slower

increase in interest rates or whether inflation is just around the

corner and we should be trying to pre-empt it. Do you think it would

be dangerous to put up interest rates? Well, we are doing it very

gradually. Federal Reserve has signalled, given a lot of advance

information about its plans, that there is very little surprise about

these increases. They have been gradual so far. The headline

interest rate is still pretty low. But of course there is some danger.

It depends on what one looks out. Looking at inflation, looking at

wage growth, it doesn't seem as though the economy is very strong.

But if you look at our unemployment rate, which is the lowest it has

been in years, and the fact that we have had an expansion now for eight

years, it certainly seems like the economy is going pretty well. But

the odd situation you have is this low inflation, as you say, and all

that cheap money that has been produced over the last few years has

gone into asset which have gone rocketing up and prices, and I am

particularly looking at the stock market, what you do about that. Do

you just let it go? This issue has come up before. It came up during

Alan Greenspan's tenure and the question was, during the bubbles,

was whether they should do anything. The Fed has generally taken the

position that it is not in the business of trying to control asset

market values. It sees its job as inflation and employment, and

allowing the asset markets to take care of themselves. Undoubtedly

people at the fed are thinking about this. As well as interest rates are

very low, and inspected to remain low for a long time, including

long-term interest rates, that contributes to high asset prices,

because the alternative of returns from bonds is so low. What about

elsewhere in the world? Are we not now in an era where monitor policy

is going to be tightening in interest rates are going to be going

up? They are going to be going up in Europe and Asia. Europe is a bit

behind the US in terms of the elements. -- in these developments.

We have talked about tapering the quantitative easing, the large

balance sheet that the Federal Reserve has, and increasing interest

rates. The ECB has not started either of those yet. It probably

will, because the continental European economy has been picking up

recently. That will probably start in Europe as well. Of course, the

United Kingdom has a different set of circumstances. A higher inflation

rate, but also concerns about economic related -- economic growth,

especially related to Brexit. Professor, thank you for joining us.

My pleasure. We are also continuing our week-long

series on the business of death, looking at the financial issues

raised by aging populations Today we are in Singapore,

where like many advanced Asian economies, the number of older

people is on the rise. And so is the demand for end-of-life

care for the terminally ill. Hospices have traditionally relied

on charity, but now Singapore's government is pledging more

funds for palliative care Catching up on his daily news, this

83-year-old still likes to know what is going on, in spite of being

diagnosed with just weeks to live, he is spending the last days of his

life at this hospice, one of the few dedicated palliative care centres in

Singapore, which has room for 50 terminally ill patients like him. It

costs $10 million annually to run the centre, with funds from

charitable donations, the government, and patients themselves.

He says he is grateful to be here. Doctor Lionel Lee is the chairman of

the hospice. He also sings to help lift spirits. He says this

charitable aspect of the centre is crucial. As our population ages and

we have to look at these end of life issues, it is becoming difficult for

families to manage patients on their own, and it has taken a watt of

resources. We have 400 volunteers and these volunteers participate in

the lives of our patients and their families. But volunteers alone

cannot address the demand that a rising elderly population requires.

These patients get round the clock care to manage their pain and their

symptoms. But there is a shortage of such facilities and a waiting list

for this one. A sure sign that demand for hospices is bound to

grow. But it is not for everybody. Some prefer to stay with the

comforts of their own home, and this is where the private sector is

hoping to fill the gap. I do see an opportunity for the private sector

to engage in palliative care. In fact, I can imagine and Uber model

where the private sector creates the platform and allows consumers and

suppliers to interact with each other. The challenges that levity

wants to pay for end of life care. Ultimately, to make these models

sustainable, we are going to need government financing. Death is an

inevitable human experience. But because of the cost of such care,

centres like the Dover Park Hospice count on their volunteers. Because

at the end of life, putting aside the worry of cost and constant pain,

it is the little things that can make one's final days as comforting

as possible. Just a couple of other stories to tell you about.

Taxi app Uber says it took bookings worth $8.7 billion in three months

to the end of June, up 17% on the same period last year.

The total number of bookings was up 150%.

It's still losing money, though - some $645 million in the three-month

period - but that figure is falling each quarter.

The positive financial news comes as Uber battles a string

Investors have valued the company at over $68 billion.

The UK food industry has warned that a post-Brexit labour shortage

could leave a third of its businesses unviable.

The Food and Drink Federation says the sector faces "a rapidly

approaching workforce shortage and skills gap."

Almost half of all businesses it surveyed said EU nationals working

in the UK were considering leaving, and 31% of them have already seen EU

Amazon's $13.7 billion bid to buy the organic grocery chain

The Nikkei is down by 52, not very much. The Hang Seng is looking

strong. Oil is unchanged. That is business. I will be back looking at

the newspapers in a few minutes. Yes, Jamie will be joining me

shortly for the news review. The husband of a women killed

by a cyclist riding an illegal bike has called for new laws to tackle

"irresponsible and reckless"