The Rest Is Money

279. Why SMEs want more than verbal enthusiasm from politicians

17 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Is the government doing enough to prioritise British SMEs in its defence spending plans? Should price always come first or should more expensive Briti...

278. Can any Starmer rival rescue the economy?

12 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Has Labour got what it takes to deliver growth? Is a change in leadership going to help? How might Rayner, Burnham or Streeting fair against the bond ...

277. How to make green energy a vote winner

10 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Why is the UK’s energy pricing system so broken? Why must the transition to green energy be accelerated? And how can we make clean, renewable power ...

276. Will bond market vigilantes see off Starmer’s rivals?

06 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Could the government’s creditors protect Starmer and Reeves, even if Labour is humiliated in the elections? How high are UK interest rates going to ...

275. The Debt Paradox: Britain’s Hidden Credit Crisis

03 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

If household debt as a percentage of GDP is at its lowest since 2002, why are debt charities seeing record levels of demand? Is this a temporary probl...

274. Would rejoining the EU be the best growth strategy?

29 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How much did Brexit cost the UK? Would rejoining make us much richer? And if US managers are PSG players, are British ones more like Aston Villa’s? ...

273. How angry are business leaders with the government?

26 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How long will Starmer cling on for? Will politicians sucking up to Northerners make any difference to the North South divide? What’s the latest with...

272. Is Anthropic holding businesses to ransom?

22 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Is it fair that only some businesses have access to Anthropic’s super-powerful Mythos AI, given its ability to pierce cyber defences? Will OpenAI go...

271. Youth unemployment - a national emergency?

19 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Why are one million young people not in education, employment or training? Is the benefits system part of the problem? Are schools out of date? What’...

270. AI minister: How we build a trillion dollar AI company

15 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What’s the point of the government’s new £500m sovereign AI fund? How is the government planning to avert AI Armageddon? Isn’t it time for AI t...

269. Monzo founder: AI will kill income tax

12 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Why are government’s failing to notice how AI is replacing many jobs now? If AI replaces all or most jobs, how can government’s replace all the lo...

268. The price of financial hype

08 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What’s a ‘finfluencer’ and why are they getting in trouble with the regulators? How much of a problem is dodgy tax advice given on social media?...

267. Can AI save the public sector?

05 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What difference would wider adoption of AI have in our struggling public services? Is it the answer to the UK productivity problem? Why does the gover...

266. Trump Turmoil: An investor's perspective

01 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A month into the war in the Middle East, what are investors thinking? Are we heading for a global recession? Who is most exposed? What are the options...

265. Are we due another financial crisis?

29 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What does Lloyd Blankfein - former boss of Goldman Sachs - think is the biggest threat to financial stability? What did he learn from the credit crunc...

264. Why the chair of Iceland Foods is not worried about their energy bills

26 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What is retail boss Richard Walker telling Kier Starmer to do in his new role as the PM’s Cost of Living Tsar? Why does he want a temporary cap on t...

263. Iran War: protecting the UK economy from the energy crisis

23 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Why is the UK economy the most exposed to the harm from Trump’s Iran war? How should Reeves respond? And with resources so tight, which families s...

262. Does the Chancellor have a growth plan at last?

19 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Chancellor claims she is finally focussed on growth, but is it too little too late? Will the EU agree to improve access for British exporters? Ho...

261. Dire straits: Should the Royal Navy end the Iran oil blockade?

16 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How will Keir Starmer protect our living standards from the soaring energy costs caused by Trump’s Iran war? Can the Chancellor afford to subsidise ...

260. Iran War: why the poor will suffer

12 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Why are financial markets still failing to price in the true economic costs of "Trump’s war"? How is the UK facing a "double whammy" of both higher ...

259. BONUS: Trump's War - why it's making us poorer

10 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Trump appears to be chickening out again, but has he stopped the wild market fluctuations? Is there another way to move vital energy and commodities t...

258. How AI changes everything we should teach kids

09 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Why is AI changing every job? Why is it insane that schools ban students from using it? How did Marc Warner grow his British tech leader Faculty AI ...

257. Iran War: Are investors getting it wrong?

05 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Why hasn’t there been a dramatic increase in the price of oil since Iran’s retaliation aimed at key oil facilities and waterways? Are investors ri...

256. Will Trump’s war on Iran sink markets and the global economy?

02 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What are the consequences for oil and gas prices of Iran’s retaliation? Will the primary impact be higher inflation or lower growth, and what does t...

255. Trump trade tariffs - who is calling the shots?

26 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Did Trump’s two hour ‘state of the union’ speech tell us anything we didn’t know? What’s next for trade tariffs? Will anyone get a tariff re...

254. The outsider’s edge: How Sir Michael Moritz built a billion-dollar empire

23 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What is the secret to scaling a startup into the next Google, Youtube or Airbnb? Why do you need an American on your board to be as successful as them...

253. The truth about immigration - who is coming and who is leaving?

19 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What impact does migration have on the UK economy? Are we heading for net-zero migration and does it matter? Is the so called ‘brain drain’ a real...

252. The £1 trillion war chest: why the UK is stronger than you think

16 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Why can’t the UK shake its "confidence rut" despite having a £1 trillion savings buffer? How are global "populist" spending trends forcing the bond...

251. The man who rumbled Mandelson: Dan Neidle's Epstein files investigation

12 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How did friend of the show, tax lawyer Dan Neidle, manage to discover the true extent of Peter Mandelson’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein? What cruc...

Business Secretary Peter Kyle: being let down by Mandelson & the UK-China relationship

09 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Why does Peter Kyle think Mandelson was as brilliant as he was flawed? What impact will the new China deals have on UK growth? And does he care what T...

249. ⁠Epstein, Mandelson & the system that failed survivors

05 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How far does Jeffrey Epstein’s dark web extend into the global financial system? How much damage might Peter Mandelson have done by sharing confiden...

248. How Iran’s uprising has been driven by economic failure

02 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How is the mass civil unrest in Iran, and the brutal killing of protestors, linked to the collapse of living standards? Why have Western sanctions be...

247. Sir Keir in China & will there be aftershocks from Japan’s bond quake?

29 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What links Japan’s new prime minister with Liz Truss and Margaret Thatcher? Can Keir Starmer balance relations with Beijing without jeopardising tie...

246. Why we need more businesses to go bust

26 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Why have US productivity and living standards outstripped the UK’s? Why is it good news that more British businesses are failing? And why is the cha...

245. The TACO president - Why Trump Always Chickens Out

22 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What is it that makes Trump back down? Why is Mark Carney, a former governor of the Bank of England, one of the only ones standing up to him? How stro...

244. Why Lord Frost wants a Thatcher revival

19 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Does the negotiator of Britain’s exit from the EU accept Brexit has failed? What in Liz Truss’s disastrous mini budget does he still endorse? W...

243. Identity crisis: why the government can't make up its mind about Digital IDs

15 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Are the u-turns on ID cards and business rates bad for the economy? Can the Northern Powerhouse Rail deliver what it’s promising? And why is Donald ...

242. Ignore the doomsayers - the UK is innovating

12 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Why is Britain’s innovation economy is the strongest in Europe? What can the government do to strengthen it further? And can the UK outperform eve...

241. Greenland’s magnetic attraction: why Trump wants it all for himself

08 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Why is the Trump land grab is as much about the economic war with China as it is about defence? How is his obsession with Greenland linked to magnets ...

240. Levelling Up 2.0: What Actually Works for Regional Growth?

05 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Why is Slough twice as productive as Mansfield? What’s the secret to reviving the economy in the North? Can we save the high street in 2026? Step...

239. 2026 Predictions: a bubble bursts, Starmer’s only hope & Trump’s vulnerability

01 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Will Starmer survive? Who will win the economic war between China and America? Is 2026 when hope returns to Britain? Robert and Steph weigh up 2025...

238. How to prepare the UK workforce when 3 million jobs are at risk

29 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How much should school education be about workplace skills and how much about knowledge? Should businesses be more involved in education? Is the asses...

237. The extraordinary story of Britain’s first tech titan

25 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who was Mike Lynch and how did his tech companies make him a billionaire? How did he avoid prison in an American fraud trial when he’d only given hi...

236. What M&S can teach Starmer (Part 2)

22 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How Chairman Archie Norman and CEO Stuart Machin are turning round one of the UK’s oldest and most iconic businesses, and how the government should ...

235. How M&S saw off the cyber criminals and its plan for the next 100 Years (Part 1)

18 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is there any worse trauma for a business than a cyber attack? What should you do if it happens? Plus how do M&S decide when to close a store and, if i...

234. Is GB Energy Starmer’s missing growth plan?

15 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How is GB Energy building a third of Britain's daily energy requirements? Can it hit the government’s clean energy target? And how is it creating h...

233. The Trump Doctrine: Why Europe Is Failing & Who Wins the Warner Bros Bid?

11 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What are the economic and business consequences for Europe of Trump’s National Security Strategy? How is the US president shaping Hollywood’s f...

232. How British AI is inventing new materials

08 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How is AI being used to transform how we create new materials? Why did the young British AI company doing it raise most money outside the UK? How migh...

231. Can The NHS Afford The UK-US Pharma Deal?

04 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why is the NHS paying more for new medicines? Will the government at last buy from British tech companies? How can the UK life sciences be more entrep...

230. Dan Neidle on how Reeves’ tax reforms will work

01 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why wasn’t the chancellor more radical? How will the new mileage tax for electric vehicles be collected? Is the new mansion tax fair? Robert and...

229. BUDGET BONUS: Did the Treasury Lie?

29 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why did the Chancellor and Treasury suggest the public finances are a disaster when they weren’t? Why did the Office for Budget Responsibility call ...

228. Where's The Growth?

27 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do Reeves’s budget sums add up? Who will be hurt by her tax rises? And has she put saving her job above reviving the economy? Steph and Robert d...

227. How Economics Can Stop Us Making Stupid Choices

24 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How can governments and businesses nudge us to change our behaviour? Are we too easily manipulated by the private sector? How do we design economic po...

226. Will Labour’s Mansion Tax Backfire?

20 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Will growth and savings be hurt by pension tax changes in the budget? Will the property market be whacked by plans to tax high value properties? How w...

225. How Damaged Is Reeves By Budget Chaos?

17 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why have investors turned against Reeves and Starmer? Was the u-turn on the income tax rise bad economics and bad politics? How will the budget raise...

224. Would Ousting Starmer Risk Economic Meltdown?

13 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How much will a political coup against the Prime Minister affect the confidence of UK investors? Are Reform capitalising on Rachel Reeves’ negativit...

223. Is The AI Boom Like 1929 Or The Dot Com Bubble?

10 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What does the 1929 crash teach us about now? Is the AI boom as dangerous as the Great Crash? If it goes pop, what will we be left with? Robert spe...

222. The Four Budget Priorities For Rachel Reeves

06 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Did the Chancellor’s pre-budget speech work? Why should she increase the basic rate of income tax? Is it time to abolish the pensioner’s triple lo...

221. Why Reeves Should Put Up Income Tax

03 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Can the truce between Trump and Xi hold? What should Starmer do now to prepare for the coming AI shock? And how can Reeves’s budget combine tax rise...

220. How Do We Make Big Business Behave?

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How can investors compel companies to pay the “real” living wage and stop selling foods that make us obese? Can anyone with a pension put pressure...

219. When Do Tax Cuts Pay For Themselves?

27 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What role can tax play in reviving the UK? Is Trump a protectionist or free trader at heart? What does the economist who inspired Truss make of her no...

218. How Do We Get Off The Escalator Of Ever Rising Taxes?

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Should the budget stop the avoidance of employers’ national insurance by the UK’s highest paid professions? How does the government restore the co...

217. Is Reeves To Blame For The Budget Hole?

19 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How can Rachel Reeves deliver a budget that means she won’t have to raise taxes again next year? What would rational tax reform look like? Should t...

216. What Are The Jobs Of The Future?

15 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why have graduate job vacancies collapsed? How is AI changing how we work? How can companies become forces for good? Robert Peston chats with Jame...

215. How Near Is An AI Crash?

12 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How big is the AI bubble? When it bursts, who will be hurt? What impact on jobs and wages in artificial intelligence having now? Robert discusses w...

214. Are Tory Cuts Credible?

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What is Badenoch’s new fiscal Golden Rule? How many vulnerable people would be hurt by their planned welfare cuts? Why would the Tories slash overse...

213. The Decline And Fall Of The London Stock Exchange

05 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why don't companies want to list in London anymore? Why is this damaging for all of us? How much will it cost the Treasury in lost tax if companies fo...

212. Has Reeves Been Unlucky Or Unwise?

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Will any of the schemes and policies announced at Labour’s conference actually much us richer? Will the Chancellor be bailed out in her budget by in...

211. How Should Reeves Fill The £30bn Hole?

28 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What are the tax solutions to Reeves’s budget crisis? What tax changes would encourage growth? Can she afford to scrap the two-child benefit cap? ...

210. Can The Government Save The UK Car Industry From The Cyber Attack On JLR?

24 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who is to blame for the £30bn of taxes Reeves needs to raise in the budget? Is Starmer’s big dream to turn the north east into an AI powerhouse pie...

209. Why We Can’t Abandon The World’s Poor

21 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How do we cut poor countries’ debts without rewarding corrupt dictators? After Trump’s abandonment of aid to developing countries, will poverty an...

208. Have We Just Surrendered Our Economic Independence To The US?

17 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Should we worry that all our AI infrastructure will be owned by US firms? How can we turn schools and colleges into the drivers of economic recovery? ...

207. What Can We Learn About Farage’s Finances From His Accounts?

14 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What are the Reform leader’s tax arrangements? Do the party leaders really publish their tax returns? Has there ever been a financially dodgier Prim...

206. Will Starmer Sack Mandelson Over Epstein?

10 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why do politicians hang out with billionaires? Are they a problem for democracy? What happens when a wealthy venture capitalist starts lobbying Britis...

205. Are Reform Looking For An Argentine Tango?

07 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who is Nigel Farage inspired by when it comes to Reform’s plans for the economy? What does Starmer’s reshuffle mean for business, skills and emplo...

204. Will The Late Late Budget Heal Or Harm?

03 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How much is Reeves to blame for surging government borrowing costs? Has she made another error by maximising uncertainty with the long wait to the bud...

203. How To Beat Farage And The Populists

31 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is economic policy or economic messaging more important? What single “mission” should energise the whole government? How does Trump cut taxes for ...

202. What's The Cost Of Trump Controlling The Fed?

27 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is there a political case for Trump’s attempt to control America’s central bank? How close are the UK and France to debt crises? How is Starmer tr...

201. Which Taxes Will Rachel Reeves Raise This Autumn?

24 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Would an annual charge on properties valued over £500,000 be fairer than stamp duty? Will the Chancellor eventually have to scrap the manifesto promi...

200. Should Asylum Seekers Be Given Jobs?

20 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is immigration good or bad for economic growth? Why are we spending so much money on things like migrant hotels? Can we support our ageing population ...

199. When George Osborne Went After The Bankers, I Went To Prison

17 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who were the traders who took the hit when the public turned on the City after the financial crisis? How did Tom Hayes lose his marriage, all his savi...

198. The Trader Who Paid For The Financial Crisis

13 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why did the authorities jail LIBOR trader Tom Hayes when so many reckless bankers went unpunished? How was Libor so central to the multi trillion doll...

197. How Close Is The UK To A Lethal Debt Spiral?

10 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is the government already in a debt trap, where the economy can’t grow fast enough to cover its rising interest bill? Can the government spur econom...

196. Will Low Income Voters Ever Turn On Trump?

06 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How much harm to the collective solidarity of nations has been done by America’s resurgent nationalism? Can the global economy absorb the costs of T...

195. Why The EU Accepted A Raw Deal With Trump

03 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What are the repercussions of global trade deals being put together with little to no detail in the actual agreements? How has the US President convin...

194. How A £600bn 'Ghost Market’ Is Being Neglected

30 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why is the fastest growing demographic of shoppers not being properly catered for? What can retailers do to change that and make more money? And why i...

193. How Labour Could Have Avoided Tax Rises

27 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Should Starmer and Reeves worry less about breaching the manifesto to restore growth? How could they have negotiated a better trade deal with the EU t...

192. Can We Cope With Trump’s 15% Permanent Global Tariff?

23 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why is Hewlett Packard still going after Mike Lynch’s money? Trump wants the US central bank boss out, but will it give him more control over intere...

191. Is The Government’s British Business Bank Bold Enough?

20 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is the British Business Bank taking enough risk to close the funding gap that holds back UK enterprises? How do we stop the unicorns relocating to the...

190. Why The UK Lost Its Appetite For Risk

16 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Will ads promoting investing make more people take the risk? Is removing the ring fencing of retail and investment banking a good thing? How did the c...

189. What Would The Outgoing Boss Of The IFS Do If He Was Chancellor?

13 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why is the UK lagging behind other countries when it comes to our debt and budget deficit? Did austerity help or hurt — and was there a better way? ...

188. How Politics is Bankrupting Britain

09 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why is the OBR warning that the UK is heading towards fiscal catastrophe? Will Rachel Reeves put up all the wrong taxes in the autumn budget? Are the ...

187. Is It Time To Impose Capital Taxes On Our Homes?

06 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is it healthy that 70% of the rise in British people’s wealth over the past 30 years has come from our homes? How do we direct more of our savings i...

186. Was Reeves To Blame For The Welfare Debacle?

02 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why has welfare reform got so many MPs crying? How much of a problem are the fiscal rules? Can the Labour Party stick with their election winning mani...

185. Why Future Generations Face Disaster in Retirement

29 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why do governments lie about how we will be bankrupted by pension and health costs in 30 years? How can we persuade young people to start saving now t...

184. Does The UK Need Rich Foreigners?

25 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How does the tax system work for non-doms? Does Reform’s idea for a ‘Britannia Card’ have any merit? Is Dan Neidle really a "far left political ...

183. Will Trump’s Bombing Lead To Oil Price Surge?

23 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is this the calm before the storm for market reaction? How will China influence Iran’s response? Will the bombing undermine Starmer’s friendship w...

182. Are Iran and Israel About To Trigger A Global Economic Crisis?

18 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have the leaders of the G7 ever been more divided? Why have markets been relatively calm about the Israel-Iran conflict so far? What are the scenarios...

181. What Are Kemi Badenoch’s Economics?

15 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What is the Tory Leader's position on the future of the NHS? Is she for or against green energy and net zero? And what is her plan to woo young people...

180. What Are The Numbers Rachel Reeves Hid?

12 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What difference will the healthcare and defence budget increases make?Where does it leave other departments? Will we ever catch up on infrastructure a...