This year is off to a sobering start as bankers keep tabs on who is losing their job. Goldman Sachs is terminating about 3,200 people, one of its biggest rounds of cuts ever. This week on In the City, hosts David Merritt and Francine Lacqua explore the question of whether this is just the beginning of a broader retrenchment across the financial industry. They’re joined by Bloomberg Opinion columnist Paul J. Davies, who covers banking and finance, and senior editor Tom Metcalf. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Things will get worse before they get better, according to Kevin Ellis, chair and senior partner at PwC UK. He says a UK recession is definitely coming and that some businesses will go under. But he also says that investment may rescue the "good bits of business early enough." Ellis tells David Merritt and Francine Lacqua on this week's episode of In the City that he sees signs the UK economy will come out of a downturn "quite quickly." They also discuss the merits of being in the office at least 3 days a week and why a lot of talent is looking to work outside of London.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a conversation earlier this month, senior reporter John Stepek made a prediction: House prices in the UK will continue to fall—and fall. On this week’s episode of In the City, he joins David Merritt to give his reasoning. Stepek explains that rising interest rates and stubbornly high inflation are combining to push home prices ever downward. But that’s not the worst of it. When it comes to the most critical factor underlying the health of the UK economy, there’s a bigger threat than falling house prices, said senior reporter Philip Aldrick. It’s unemployment. The reporters also discuss their expectations for consumer spending, real wages, and the Tory government’s chance of dodging a general election in 2023. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's the end of the year, so we figured it's the right time to look forward to the next. This week, a conversation with reporter Katie Linsell and columnist Andrea Felsted on the outlook for UK spending in 2023. They weigh the resilience of shoppers and retailers going into the new year as bills pile up and savings dwindle. Felsted says that while she's optimistic for Christmas, she's already pessimistic for the next one. And we start the show with reporters from across the London newsroom sharing their predictions for 2023.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brexit was never going to be easy -- we just haven’t really tried yet. That’s the view of prominent UK economist Gerard Lyons, who tells Francine Lacqua and David Merritt that he remains bullish on Brexit in the long run. Lyons is chief economic strategist at Netwealth and a former adviser to House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt. On this episode of In the City, he argues the City is still “pretty-well placed” after Brexit. Political crises since 2016, however, have prevented opportunities from being seized, he says. Plus, senior reporter Harry Wilson explains whether the investment insights of a newsletter promoted by Nigel Farage could pay off. The answer? Not so much. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brexit has consequences. According to the boss of Europe’s largest exchange group, one of them is that London is no longer the region's dominant financial center. But that's not the worst of it. Euronext Chief Executive Stephane Boujnah tells David Merritt and Francine Lacqua that restrictions on the movement of people, and how that's changing the fabric of finance both in the City and across Europe, will do more damage.Also on this episode of In the City, editor Tom Metcalf discusses the darkening mood within many banks and what that means for finance jobs and bonuses. He also says City Minister Andrew Griffith's coming announcement regarding the government's package of post-Brexit reforms is likely to be a muted affair. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new development this week in the UK government's efforts to deregulate the City of London may be relaxing the ring-fencing around banks, according to a person familiar with Treasury plans. Editor Katherine Griffiths joins this week and asks whether the move is "a small whimper that they're packaging as a big bang." Plus, a conversation with the new Lord Mayor of London, Nicholas Lyons. He shares his vision for the City and says it's time to work together to take advantage of regulatory freedom and capture what he considers the positive aspects of Brexit. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Unequal pay in finance is no surprise to many who work in the City, but women might have a new tool for fighting it thanks to Stacey Macken, a former broker at BNP Paribas in London. Macken fought the French lender in court for more than eight years for equal pay, and now her victory may encourage a wave of other women to come forward. In addition to being awarded 2 million pounds after the tribunal ruled Macken had been a victim of “spiteful and vindictive” bosses, the tribunal also ordered BNP to conduct an extensive audit of its London staff to consider whether men were being paid more than women for the same job.In this week's In the City podcast, Bloomberg legal reporter Jonathan Browning unpacks the details of the case and ruling, and we hear from Stacey Macken and her barrister Sheila Aly as they share their experiences of the "David and Goliath" battle. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's the story of the week. London is no longer home to Europe's biggest stock market. That prize has been taken by Paris. This week on the podcast, David Merritt speaks to reporter Joe Easton. He unpacks the numbers and reflects on the causes. We also cross the channel and speak to reporter Albertina Torsoli on how Paris made itself more attractive to foreign investors, and how that heightened interest is changing the Paris landscape.  Read the story here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's In the City in the desert. Francine Lacqua is in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, covering the COP27 climate talks. She sits down with Allegra Stratton, contributing editor and author of The Readout, as well as Akshat Rathi, senior reporter and host of the podcast Zero. They address the increasing skepticism surrounding the UK's commitment to its net-zero targets and the "show me the money" theme of this year's conference.Sign up for The Readout with Allegra Stratton here:https://www.bloomberg.com/account/newsletters/readout See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.