The pound is notoriously difficult to trade. It’s a “graveyard for G-10 traders,” says Mark Cudmore, senior macro strategist for Bloomberg’s Markets Live blog. When it comes to making calls on the British currency, he says, “people only ever lose money.” Cudmore joins reporter Sofia Horta e Costa on this week’s In the City to try and make sense of why markets are again turning on sterling, just one year after ex-Prime Minister Liz Truss’s spending plans drove the pound to a record low.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They say time heals all wounds. But it seems the damage done to the UK economy by Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget last year has yet to be forgiven by investors. According to a new Bloomberg survey, about two-thirds of UK finance professionals said an outright win for Keir Starmer’s Labour Party or a Labour-led coalition would be the “most market-friendly outcome.”Senior reporters Phil Aldrick and John Stepek join to discuss the survey and what its findings tell us about the City’s thinking heading into the next general election.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A decline in growth in China may take some heat out of the global economy, helping bring down inflation. But a full stop would trigger deep recessions. Bloomberg Economics Chief Economist Tom Orlik joins this week for a conversation on what China's slowdown means for the rest of the world, and in particular the UK.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Capitalism as we know it isn’t really working, according to economist and author Mariana Mazzucato. Take the current concrete crisis across UK schools. For Mazzucato, that’s a case of too little being spent on the school buildings themselves. But there’s another problem: lax regulation. If we continue to weaken the rules in the name of a stronger economy, she says, we risk tragedy.  Mazzucato, a professor in the economics of innovation and public value at University College London, joins this week’s episode of In the City to discuss the re-release of her book, The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths. The book has been credited with provoking widespread debate about the role of government in innovation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Karen Ward, EMEA chief market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management and a key adviser to Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, joins hosts Francine Lacqua and David Merritt to unpack key points by central bankers who attended the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, and what it all means for the BOE and the UK. For the latter, the answer is recession.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Britain’s eligible pension savers need to return to work, earn for longer and save more—otherwise they might find retirement less than stress free. That’s the warning from Andy Briggs, chief executive of Phoenix Group, in conversation with Francine Lacqua on this week’s episode of In the City. They discuss the plight of retired people over the age of 50 and how the UK pension system compares with those of other countries.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do rising incomes and interest rates mean for residential and commercial markets across Britain? Senior reporters John Stepek and Jack Sidders, as well as Sue Munden, a senior property analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, join with answers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Francine Lacqua speaks to a panel of Bloomberg experts including Bloomberg Opinion columnist Marcus Ashworth, reporter Tom Rees, and Ana Andrade of Bloomberg Economics. They discuss the central bank’s strategy and what moves the monetary policy committee might make next.  “We’re at a real crunch point,” Rees says. The choice between quick or slow action is a tough one, given the tight labor market, mortgage and rent strains and higher living costs. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Julian Metcalfe helped launch the sandwich and coffee-chain Pret A Manger in 1986, interest rates were in the double digits and staffing was difficult, in part because full freedom of movement within the European Union was still a few years away. These days, the UK is out of the EU, the interest rate is 5%—though the Bank of England is expected to raise it. “Everyone’s complaining about 5% and it’s the end of the world,” Metcalfe says. “Back then I remember we paid 14%.”In this week’s In the City, Metcalfe tells hosts David Merritt and Francine Lacqua that the restaurant business is “incredibly difficult,” but that when you’re determined, you can make it happen. He says his current mission is to make Itsu, a fast-food chain he founded in 1997, a destination for speedy, healthy meals at low prices. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NatWest Chief Executive Officer Alison Rose is stepping down after a fight over the way the bank closed accounts held by politician-turned-pundit Nigel Farage. Pressure for her to quit had been rising. Both UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt indicated her position was untenable after she admitted talking to a BBC journalist about the account closures. In this week’s episode of In the City, host David Merritt discusses the mistakes made by NatWest and Farage’s call for more resignations at the bank. Joining Merritt are reporters Harry Wilson and Joe Mayes as well as Bloomberg Opinion columnist Paul Davies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.