In the Balance
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
Brexit, trade and Trump
21 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What are the political and economic factors to watch in 2020? Will the trade wars continue, will Brexit get done and who will be the next US president...
Mental health at work
14 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What is best practice for employers dealing with mental health problems at work? The World Health Organisation estimates that depression and anxiety ...
Boardroom quotas for women
07 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Are mandatory quotas desirable or necessary to ensure more diversity in our company boardrooms? The Netherlands has just passed a law obliging listed ...
Regulating political chatter
30 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Can we trust the political adverts in our news feeds? Who is sending them, why are we being targeted and are they even true? This week we're looking a...
Divestment and climate change
23 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Divestment has become a rallying call by environmental campaigners in the fight against climate change. It's when environmentally aware investors put ...
When to retire
16 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
At a time when we’re living longer, healthier lives should we do away with the notion of retirement and just keep on working? Are the skills of old...
Kilkenomics – is Europe broken?
09 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The EU has a new parliament, new leadership, but the same old problems; Brexit, political populism and an economic slowdown. How will it stand up to t...
Outsmarting AI
02 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Some of the world’s top thinkers on artificial intelligence discuss the threats intelligent machines might pose to humans. With Turkey claiming it m...
Starting from scratch
17 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What's the best strategy for starting a business from nothing? What if you have to start over - either in a new country or because of a business fail...
Does the office have a future?
03 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Thanks to technology, these days it’s possible to work almost anywhere. You can log on from your kitchen table, in a trendy café or even on the bea...
How China Curbs Online Gaming
30 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Online gaming and e-sports are huge industries, but there are concerns about over-use and addiction and the way gaming takes up the time of young peop...
Brexit: Planning in Uncertain Times
19 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The UK parliament has rejected the Brexit deal struck between the government and the European Union. As the clock ticks to the deadline for the UK to ...
Money and Me
05 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ask yourself honestly, how closely have you examined your emotional relationship with money? Or is it all a bit too awkward? Financial psychology - a ...
India's Fight Against Sexual Harassment
29 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In 2013, India passed an Act to protect women from sexual harassment in the workplace. Five years on, has it had any meaningful impact and where does ...
The Brexit Waiting Game
15 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It's been another week of turmoil in British Brexit politics, but what is the view from the rest of Europe? Is the EU any better organised than the Br...
The Juggle
29 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How do you juggle the demands of a job and a family? Is there a stress-free and guilt-free way of giving adequate attention to your children and your ...
The Price of Pills
22 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Drug firms are coming under fire from the US, Europe and China over the cost of some of their products. But is it simply the price we have to pay if w...
The Lehman Legacy
15 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this special edition we hear personal stories from the Great Recession and ask who has paid the highest price.From mortgage defaults and job losses...
Planning to Fail
08 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Why are most of us so bad at planning for the future? Whether saving for our retirement, managing workloads and deadlines, or budgeting for a major in...
Prenups
01 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Would you sign a divorce contract before you got married? Should you? They’re often seen as unnecessary, unromantic, and irreligious, but we hear ho...
Money on Mars
25 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Why are governments and, increasingly, private companies spending billions of dollars on missions to Mars? Is there any money to be made from the red ...
Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
18 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Do you worry about plastic packaging, perfumes tested on animals, or whether child labour was responsible for your jeans? How often do those values ac...
How to Avoid a Bribe
11 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Bribery costs individuals, businesses and economies billions of dollars each year, and there are many international laws and conventions against it. B...
Taking the Temperature
02 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Nancy Kacungira presents a special programme on climate change, profiling the people whose trailblazing ideas and innovations are hoping to mitigate a...
The End of the Internet Bargain?
26 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Who gets to control your personal data on the internet? Ed Butler and guests discuss the future of data privacy. With the scandals over use of our per...
Love at Work
19 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Many people meet their future love partner at work. But with the current high profile cases of sexual harassment, employers are becoming much more con...
Do Sanctions Work?
12 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
US President Donald Trump is bringing back sanctions on Iran and is threatening to extend the sanctions to European companies that do business there. ...
Shifting the Dial
28 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How can the world move faster to ramp up renewable power? In the Balance examines the efforts of businesses and governments to manage the shift from f...
The Commonwealth: a New Trade Vision
21 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the Balance asks whether the 53 countries of the Commonwealth could become a new force in global trade. With rising trade protectionism around the...
Markets Feel the Fear
17 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the Balance examines the recent sharp falls in the global markets. Ed Butler asks why volatility is back in the financial markets - after years of ...
Is Italy Failing its Youth?
10 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Italy's upcoming general election is being seen as the latest test of a populist upsurge in Europe. Manuela Saragosa is in Rome to hear what young peo...
Skills for the Future
03 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Fatalists might argue work has no future, that soon pretty much everything will be automated and that the robots will take over. Others say the rise o...
Davos: Spreading the Wealth?
27 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The world's top business people, politicians and economists have been meeting in the Swiss resort of Davos. In the Balance asks: Can capitalism delive...
Trump - The Mayors' Verdict
20 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
As President Trump completes his first year in office, a Nobel prize-winning economist and two mayors mark the President's economic report card. Has ...
Can Social Media be Fixed?
13 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Political manipulation and fake news have shaken trust in social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg has vowed to make 2...
2018: Top Risks
06 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What are the biggest risks to the global economy in 2018? Ed Butler is joined by some of the world's leading economists and political scientists to as...
Giving It Away
30 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Giving It AwayGlobal philanthropy is on the rise, but can the huge sums donated by wealthy business people risk undermining governments and democracy?...
Innovators - Female Entrepreneurs
28 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Could starting up a business be the best way into work for more women across South Asia? Shivaani Kohok asks why only one in four women in India have...
Innovators - The Secrets of Jugaad
21 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Are there clever solutions to real life challenges across South Asia? In partnership with the BBC Innovators series, Shivaani Kohok hears from some of...
Catalan Independence - for Richer or Poorer?
14 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the Balance reports this week from Catalonia, Spain's strongest economic region. The Catalan leader has declared that the region has won the right ...
China's Debt Mountain
07 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
China's economy is still growing at a respectable rate - but how long can that last? Ed Butler reports from China on the problems caused by increasin...
The Five Generation Workplace
30 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Very soon, for the first time in modern history, five generations will be working side by side. Baby boomers, traditionalists, and Generations X, Y an...
Artificial Intelligence - Friend or Foe?
23 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The development of Artificial Intelligence is being seen as one of the biggest threats to jobs this century. Yet it's a technology that can also help ...
Can You Disaster-Proof an Economy?
16 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What lessons should we learn from the damage hurricane Irma has inflicted on Florida and the Caribbean, the flooding hurricane Harvey wreaked on Texas...
Is Inherited Wealth a Curse?
09 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Does passing down large amounts of money within families drive the gap between rich and poor even wider? It seems that some of the world's richest pe...
Pocket Money
08 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
How much pocket money, if any, should you give your children? What does it teach them about the world of finance?Some parents give their children an u...
Hong Kong: In China's Shadow?
01 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Can Hong Kong still call itself the gateway to China, or is it in danger of being dwarfed economically by its mainland neighbour?On the twentieth anni...
India's Cash Gamble: Has it Paid Off?
24 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Has the shock decision to scrap almost all of India's cash been a success or a failure? Last November's withdrawal of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes caused...
Africa: The Commodity Curse Returns
17 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sharp falls in commodity prices have dealt serious blows to the prospects of workers, communities, and businesses in large parts of Africa over the la...
Moving the Goalposts – to China
27 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Is the world of football about to see a powershift? China wants to be a global leader in football and President Xi has a masterplan to have fifty mil...
Trump and the Sunshine State
20 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Florida was split down the middle in the US presidential election. Exactly four months into his first term, Donald Trump is now mired in controversy, ...
Is President Trump Bringing Back Jobs?
18 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
On In the Balance we ask how President Trump's policies are affecting jobs and workers. Ed Butler hears from mayors and economic specialists from acro...
What do Foreign Workers do for the Netherlands?
11 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
As the Netherlands heads to the polls for what has been one of the most contentious elections for years, In the Balance is in the tech city of Eindhov...
The End of Ownership?
04 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Is personal ownership on its way out? Today we own more stuff than ever before, but will the future be one where we hire everything we need? Our good...
Disability Hiring
25 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What can governments and employers do to ensure disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else in the workplace? And how can disabled pe...
Does Economics Still Work?
18 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Have economists become the latest casualties of the so-called "populist wave"?Some of them got their forecasts badly wrong over Brexit, and widespread...
Precarious Future
11 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Technology has shaken up working culture. Large multinationals are rethinking the ways they let their staff work. While for many people outside the st...
Europe's Rocky Road Ahead
04 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Will 2017 be the year that breaks Europe? With geo-political risk at the top of everyone's radar, we focus on one region that's going to be increasing...
The Nation State in a Digital Age
28 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Make America great again! It was President Trump's rallying cry on the campaign trail. And, his win and Brexit's victory at the polls tell us that nat...
Battling the Bosses: The Rise of the Activist Investor
26 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
We take a look at the growing international phenomenon of the activist investor. They hunt down companies they think are under-performing, buy a stake...
Universal Basic Income: Has its Time Come?
19 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It is an idea that has been around for hundreds of years - to give everyone in society a regular chunk of money that is enough to guarantee them a min...
Can Trump Rebuild America?
12 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Can Donald Trump deliver on his promises of more jobs and growth, especially to parts of the Midwest that have been starved of employment and hope for...
Startups: Culture or Cult?
05 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The idea of a small, dynamic company with big ambitions and a mission that all employees believe in, seems to be something that everyone wants a slice...
Brexit: What Next for the City of London?
29 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Could Brexit be about to undermine the dominance of London's banking industry? The British Banker's Association has warned that large banks are gettin...
US Election: Still ‘the Economy, Stupid’?
22 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There has been plenty of fierce fighting during the US election campaign, but much of it has been about the behaviour of the candidates rather than th...
Central Bankers: Failed Heroes?
15 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Should central bankers, once seen as the new rock stars of the finance world, be more aptly described as failed heroes? As the world's finance ministr...
Globalisation Backlash?
09 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The impact of globalisation has been very much in the spotlight with the wave of populist rhetoric of late. We heard it in Britain with the Brexit ref...
Fool's Gold?
06 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The 2016 Olympic Games have almost bankrupted Rio de Janeiro, and other world cities are pulling out as potential future hosts because of spiralling c...
How Low Can Rates Go?
30 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Are central banks running out of options to boost sluggish economic growth?Five of them have introduced negative rates, violating one of the most fund...
Workers' Rights: A Race To The Bottom?
23 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Are the rights of the world's workers being eroded too far in the pursuit of economic growth?France has been plunged into sometimes violent industrial...
Bitcoin: Still The Future of Money?
16 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A bitter ideological battle is being fought for control over the virtual currency's future. Can it survive if it doesn't expand to accommodate more us...
Baby Bust: Are We Running Out of Workers?
09 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
We are having fewer children than we used to. That's not true everywhere, but the global trend is a declining birth rate and in some countries populat...
The Road to Brexit
02 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
As businesses and their employees get to grips with what Brexit might look like for them, Lizzie O Leary presents a special edition of In the Balance...
UK Votes to Leave EU
25 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
What does the UK's decision to leave the European Union mean for the future of the single market? Economists talk of sustained market turbulence, deva...
Who'd be a Banker?
18 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The world's biggest banks were once a by-word for power, authority, and enormous wealth. Nowadays for some of us, in the wake of the financial crisis,...
Could the Next 'Emerging Economy' be the West?
16 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It has been a familiar story of decline in Europe and North America: former industrial areas unable to keep up with global competition, devastated by ...
Equal Pay Vs. Free Market Economics: Lessons from Sport and Hollywood
09 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This week In the Balance takes a look at the gender pay debate through the public arenas of sport and film. Off the stage and field, what lessons can ...
The Conquest of Reality: is Virtual Reality the Future?
02 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In the week that Oculus Rift launched its very first consumer headset, In the Balance returns with a programme exploring the many guises of ‘virtual...
Masters of the Universe Handbook
22 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
How does business stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly competitive global marketplace? While the world's biggest companies - Google and Apple - ...
Perfect Pay: When Do We Deserve More?
17 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A CEO who took a million dollar pay-cut and gave his workers more, tells us why he did it and we ask what's the best wage level for success in a compa...
Taxation: Why Don't They Pay More?
13 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
For as long as there has been taxation, there has been a debate about who should pay and how much? Tax is supposed to make sure that everyone who can,...
Millennium Development Goals: Judgement Day
10 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
To what extent have the Millennium Development Goals helped to eradicate global poverty and improved things for the world's poorest? As the MDGs come ...
The Longest Journey: Europe's Migration Crisis
09 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Nearly two thousand migrants have died in the Mediterranean Sea in 2015, trying to get to the European Union. Many of them are fleeing miserable condi...
Brexit: Will the UK Stay or Go?
09 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This year looks set to be the moment when the UK decides whether or not it will remain as part of the European Union. With a referendum expected, we l...
IMF: Fit for the Future?
08 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Set up in the 1940s to ensure the world never again faced catastrophic economic recession, the International Monetary Fund has become a controversial ...
Rana Plaza: a lesson forgotten?
06 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Two years on from the Rana Plaza disaster in Dhaka, Bangladesh where a factory collapsed killing over 1100 workers, what has changed in the global rag...
When the Drugs Don't Work
05 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
What do we do when the antibiotics we rely on to cure deadly diseases stop working? A growing number of infections like malaria and TB are renewed kil...
Climate Change: The Business End
03 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Business leaders say environmental concern is the big new driver in their forward planning as they strive to be heard ahead of the Paris Climate Summi...
The Danger of Silos
03 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Expertise in any business would seem to be a good thing. But when it leads to barriers to sharing information - so called 'silos' - it can in fact rep...
The Gig Economy and You
03 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
On IN THE BALANCE this week, we look at the so-called gig economy - where employees are matched to short-term work via online platforms - something wh...
Paris: Counting the Cost
03 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Alongside the enormous human tragedy of the Paris terror attacks, what is the economic cost? Just over a month on from the catastrophic events of the ...
Climate Countdown
03 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
As the world gathers in Paris to hammer out measures which all hope will slow the rise in global temperatures, In the Balance is in the city to debate...
You, Your Career and the Future
23 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Whether or not you work for yourself, a small company or a huge organisation, all of us are facing workplaces that are changing with a speed that can ...
Profit and the Planet
26 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Some of the biggest names in global business step up before an invited audience for a special In the Balance debate on the way forward in tackling cli...