A Long Time In Finance

Carbon offsets seemed a neat idea: pay poor people in the Global South not to cut down trees, and then use that "avoided" carbon to sell credits to polluters in developed countries. Bish bosh, your Delta Airlines flight or VW SUV is carbon neutral. What could possibly go wrong?Neil and Jonathan pick through the rubble of the South Pole scandal with environmental consultant Andrew Garraway to find exactly what did.Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.With Andrew Garraway.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.In association with Briefcase.News Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1987, the emerging private equity industry successfully lobbied the government to slip them a tax break. It allows private equiteers to take huge bonuses from the appreciation of client funds they invest in buyouts (a wedge called "carried interest"), and pay a preferentially low rate of tax on these earnings. Now HMRC may be thinking again. We talk to tax expert Dan Neidle about the origin of this boondoggle and why - as a matter of actual law, let alone fairness - it's never been justified, and why the government should now clarify the position.Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.With Dan Neidle.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.In association with Briefcase.News Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The podcast discusses the troubles facing the UK's gilts market, including surging issuance, persistent inflation, and monetary policy. They explore the impact of rising bond yields and the limit to government debt. The speakers also discuss the effects of rate rises on the housing market, highlighting the multiplier effect and predicting a less pleasant outcome. They delve into the connection between human psychology and spending habits, as well as the relationship between borrowing, economic growth, and debt repayment.

The recently released film, Dumb Money, recounts the tumultuous events of 2021 when a group of internet-enabled sans culottes took on Wall Street's finest in a battle over the future of Gamestop, an obscure electronic games retailer. But was it a financial revolution or an amusing (if tech enabled) throwback to the great stock market corners of the past? Neil and Jonathan talk to financial guru Izabella Kaminska about the Gamestop affair, its cultural and historic roots, and whether "flashmob" investing is here to stay.Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.With Izabella Kaminska.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.In association with Briefcase.News Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Liz Truss is the Lady Jane Grey of British politics, lasting just 49 days as PM before swirling economic chaos swept her from office. But a year on, has Britain dusted itself off and rebuilt - or are we still picking through the ruins? Neil and Jonathan talk to economic historian Duncan Weldon about Truss's economic and political legacy, Sunak's problems and the still unanswered question of how to get more economic growth.Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.With Duncan Weldon.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.In association with Briefcase.News Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The government is embroiled in a row about environmental protection. Should it apply pollution rules inherited from the EU in the way its own environmental advisers interpret them, or should it change the rules to help housebuilders construct more homes? Neil and Jonathan discuss the trade-offs with Robert Colvile, a self confessed housing nut who is director of the Centre for Policy Studies.Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.With Robert Colville.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.In association with Briefcase.News Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the concluding episode of our two part series, Jonathan and Neil look back on the dramatic events of March in the company of Josef Ackermann, who ran the Swiss bank in the 1990s, financial historian Philip Augar and banking analyst Frances Coppola. They consider the macro background to the bank's collapse, and ask whether things could have turned out differently or whether excessive risk taking was just baked into Credit Suisse's DNA. Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.In association with Briefcase.News Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In March 2023 the unthinkable happened: Credit Suisse, that giant of Swiss banking, collapsed. Like the proverbial cat, it had run through its nine lives. From the Chiasso saga to unprecedented corporate fines, via troubled times on Wall Street, Credit Suisse had always lived dangerously. And finally, in 2023, the financial winds caught up with them. In this first part of a two-part special of A Long Time in Finance, Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins are joined by experts Josef Ackermann, former President of Credit Suisse's executive board, financial historian Philip Augar, and banking analyst Frances Coppola, to look at the history of a bank that lived fast and died young.Part two of the story of Credit Suisse will be in your feeds next Friday – so please subscribe now.Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.In association with Briefcase.News Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With net zero targets in mind, countries like the UK have ambitious targets for renewable energy. But do these make any sense? None at all, according to Doomberg, the US energy analyst. In conversation with Neil and Jonathan, he explains why he's deeply bearish about wind power, why renewables make no sense at all in Western Europe, and how there's a direct link between rising wind and solar usage and declining standards of living.Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.With Doomberg.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.In association with Briefcase.News Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The car in front? These days it's likely to be a Tesla - or Chinese. Britain's car industry built just 775,000 motors last year, the lowest figure since 1956. Dwindling investment means we increasingly lack the wherewithal to take part in the unfolding electric revolution. Amid a picture of unremitting gloom, Neil and Jonathan talk to Peter Wells, Director of the Centre for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff University about the scale of the problem and what can be done.Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.With Peter Wells.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.In association with Briefcase.News Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.