Episodes

  • Inequality
    Jul 27 2021

    In our season finale we discuss the thorny issue of inequality. If capitalism is a race to succeed then surely somebody must lose. We discuss how incentives are used to drive innovation, and how these advantages can be used to create monopolies and further broaden the wealth divide. We talk about possible strategies to combat inequality and how those in power are already trying to resist them.

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    32 mins
  • The Stock Market
    Jul 12 2021

    With rise of easy to use trading platforms, more and more people are starting to invest in stocks and shares. This week we look at how businesses can use the stock market to generate finance, how people can abuse the stock market, and even how bubbles are formed.

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    24 mins
  • Money
    Jun 22 2021

    This week Will asks the deceptively simple question, what exactly is money? It turns out the answer is very complex and even more surprising. Tim also makes his feelings about Bitcoin abundantly clear.

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    30 mins
  • Interest Rates
    Jun 15 2021

    Ever wondered if you could open a bank account with The Bank of England? This week we discover what The Bank of England really does, why it's independent from the government, and how it can use interest rates to control the economy.

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    29 mins
  • Inflation
    Jun 8 2021

    Inflation in the west has seldom been so stable for so long, so is it a problem of the past? This week we try and understand how inflation happens, what happens when it does, and why economists are debating if we're likely to see it again sooner than later.

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    28 mins
  • The Yardstick
    Jun 1 2021

    So often politicians talk about how important the economy is, this issue is so huge it often eclipses other issues that emerge in society. Even when things like coronavirus happen, everyone asks “how do we pay for this?”. It always seems like Money is the biggest concern. Money and wealth has become the default measure for success, it’s the one thing nobody wants to spoil. How did wealth become our measure of success? 

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    27 mins
  • Regulation
    May 25 2021

    We've previously discussed how climate change is an example of a market failure, where the free market doesn't deliver the best outcomes. This week we learn how governments use regulation to intervene in these situations to try and improve things.

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    33 mins
  • Climate Change
    May 18 2021

    Doesn’t the growing climate emergency show that capitalism doesn’t work for the benefit of mankind? Yes and no..! In this episode we show that climate change is brought about by capitalism being too good at its job, and also utterly failing to be sustainable. It is the ultimate market failure – the kind of problem that capitalism, and democracy, is just not good at tackling.

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    36 mins