187 episodes

Global business news, with live guests and contributions from Asia and the USA.

Business Matters BBC World Service

    • Business
    • 4.4 • 41 Ratings

Global business news, with live guests and contributions from Asia and the USA.

    Millions of US workers set to be affected by ban on so-called ‘non-compete’ agreements

    Millions of US workers set to be affected by ban on so-called ‘non-compete’ agreements

    The Federal Trade Commission has voted to ban so-called ‘non-compete’ agreements in a move which could affect millions of workers Under the moves, U.S. companies would no longer be able to bar employees from taking jobs with . But it’s likely to be challenged in court. One woman tells us how her family’s life was turned upside down by a non-compete agreement with a large tech company.
    Also on the programme Tesla sees its profits more than halve this year. The company has seen its profits more than halve this year, and says it will bring forward the launch of new models and cut thousands more jobs to try to reverse its fortunes.
    And research by German academics has found that we are increasingly pushing back the age at which we consider ourselves to be old. Nimal Ram, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University tells us more

    • 52 min
    India elections: how has the economy changed under Prime Minister Modi?

    India elections: how has the economy changed under Prime Minister Modi?

    We hear from the BBC's Nikhil Inamdar in the financial hub of Mumbai. Plus, in the tech hub of Bengaluru, first-time voters say it's really hard trying to get a job.
    Women are still very much a minority in workplaces. We ask female voters why?
    And writer Swati Narayan tells us why she thinks India is so unequal.

    • 52 min
    Will TikTok be banned in the US?

    Will TikTok be banned in the US?

    US lawmakers could vote on a bill that corners the app's owner ByteDance with a stark choice: to sell or be banned.

    Also in the programme, the French government addresses shrinkflation concerns with a new rule that will require stores to tell customers when a product becomes smaller but its price stays the same or increases.

    And we look into why sales of wine have dropped in China.
    Rahul Tandon discusses these and more business stories with two guests on opposite sides of the world: Lori Ann LaRocco, senior editor of Guests at CNBC Business News, and Colin Peacock, presenter of Mediawatch on Radio New Zealand.
    (Picture: A view shows the office of TikTok in the US. Picture credit: REUTERS.)

    • 55 min
    Ecuador faces severe energy crisis

    Ecuador faces severe energy crisis

    Businesses in the South American nation have been told to shut down for two days due to power cuts caused by drought. We find out more.
    The Scottish government is to scrap its flagship target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2030. We hear why.
    And Google terminates 28 staff who protested against a contract signed with the government of Israel.
    Rahul Tandon discusses these and more business stories with two guests on opposite sides of the world: Tony Nash, CEO of Complete Intelligence in Texas, and Jessica Khine, head of Asia for Astris Advisory Japan in Malaysia.
    (Picture: A saleswoman waits for customers at her restaurant in Ecuador. Picture credit: REUTERS/Karen Toro.)

    • 49 min
    Biden calls for tripling tariffs on China steel

    Biden calls for tripling tariffs on China steel

    President Jo Biden is set to call for a tripling of US tariffs on steel and aluminium. His demand for tariff hikes comes as he tackles fraught relations with China.
    A Boeing engineer has told US lawmakers that he was harassed and threatened after he raised concerns about the safety of the company's planes. We hear from engineers and their claims.
    The Michigan consumer sentiment survey suggests that despite the US economy doing well people are not very positive. We find out why from local Americans.
    [REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz]

    • 49 min
    Flash floods hit the Gulf State

    Flash floods hit the Gulf State

    Flash floods have bought Dubai to a standstill. Devina Gupta speaks to a tourist from India who is one of thousands stuck at a mall The Mall of Emirates throughout the night after roads became gridlocked and the metro system stopped working.
    Also, the International Monetary Fund - is renewing its confidence in the American economy. The IMF report shows the US economy is set grow but what does growth mean for business owners? We speak to a restaurant owner in California about what this means for ordinary people trying to make a living.
    Plus, UK's smoking ban policy - what is it and its impacts on the tax revenues?

    • 49 min

Customer Reviews

4.4 out of 5
41 Ratings

41 Ratings

SAARKÉSH ,

Informative, effective & fun summarization of daily business

Relentless pursuit of connecting all the geo-political, environmental & social dots impacting the present & future of economy, globally with entertaining expert observation & analysis.

Perhaps at times it could improve by giving a more in-depth analysis of the economical impact by key technological trends such as Generative Automated Intelligence (GAI).

In covering the entertaining show of Musk being interviewed by the UK PM for example, the decoding of ‘In the future, people won’t need to work due to AI’ should be heard as: In the near future, where GDP growth is solely driven by systems & machines to process, plan, produce & profit, billionaires and corporations will NOT have a need for human employees to exponentially grow their wealth!

What would be the new definitions for productivity and labor that could leads us through the necessary evolution/revolution of the present economical models & metrics???

avm1406 ,

Please reconsider Devina Gupta

I applaud BBC World Service’s attempt to diversify their broadcasting staff but Devina is just not up to the task. Her accent and extremely error prone English are unintelligible most of the time. It’s painful to hear her struggle to keep the conversation across interviewees and the two guest contributors interesting and on track. She would do better in a news reading segment which requires much less impromptu/ extemporaneous commentary and hosting. I don’t listen to the episodes hosted by her.

vlaada77 ,

Another great BBC Show

Glad to find another gem to keep me up to the minute on global issues. I could have done without the micro-aggression of the journalist covering the November 21 COVAX facility story. This is regarding his ending quip about what Tedros meant about multilateralizing the vaccine. He clearly meant the collective effort of access and distribution. Quips like that make me wonder if this is the underlying uneasiness of having an African in a position of authority. Just report the facts. This was my intro episode and could have been turned off but BBC has a great reputation and so will let it pass.

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