Business Daily

Jeffrey Sachs, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Mohamed El-Erian discuss the big economic and political trends and risks to watch out for in the year ahead.Economics Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University explains his pointed views on the US-China spat over Chinese tech firm Huawei, for which he recently received a barrage of criticism on social media. Former Nigerian finance minister and World Bank managing director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala relays how Africans have been left astonished and consternated by Brexit. And bond investor supremo Mohamed El-Erian of Allianz and Pimco says the global economy and financial markets are likely to get tougher over the next 12 months, although nowhere near as bad as 2008.The discussion is hosted by Manuela Saragosa. The producer is Laurence Knight.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: A man jump between 2018 and 2019 years; Credit: oafawa/Getty Images)

Will we all abandon our cars in favour of self-driving taxi apps by the year 2030, or is this pure fantasy?Justin Rowlatt takes on the many sceptical responses he received from readers to an article on the BBC website in which he sought to explain "Why you have (probably) bought your last car". In it, Justin laid out the thesis of tech futurist Tony Seba that the convergence of three new technologies - the electric vehicle, autonomous driving, and the ride-hailing app - together spelled the imminent death of the traditional family-owned petrol car.But can AI really handle the complexities of driving? Is there enough lithium in the world for all those car batteries? And what if this new service becomes dominated by an overpriced monopolist? Just some of the questions that Justin pitches to a field of experts, including psychology professor Gary Marcus, management professor Michael Cusumano, renewable energy consultant Michael Liebreich, and Uber's head of transport policy Andrew Salzberg.Credit: Laurence Knigh

Had a late night? Well here's a programme about insomnia and the businesses trying to solve it.Elizabeth Hotson takes part in what is possibly the world’s laziest gym class, and speaks to bed manufacturers, sleep app engineers and the inventor of a sleep robot.But does any of these solutions actually work? Elizabeth asks Dr Michael Farquhar, sleep consultant at Evelina London Children’s Hospital. Plus Dr Michael Grandner, director of the sleep and health research programme at the University of Arizona, suggests a cost effective way of curing insomnia. Producer: Elizabeth Hotson(Picture: Man suffering from insomnia; Credit: chameleonseye/Getty Images)

How did whisky become the world's favourite tipple? Elizabeth Hotson discovers the secrets behind the water of life.Rachel McCormack, author of Chasing the Dram, tells us how the giants of scotch attained their legendary status, and we delve into the archives of one of the world's most famous whisky brands with Christine McCafferty of drinks leviathan Diageo. Elizabeth also talks to distillers from across the globe, including Whistlepig from the US state of Vermont, Japan’s Chichibu distillery, Spirit of Hven in Sweden and Rampur from India. She also unlocks the secrets of Scotland's silent distilleries during a visit to Edradour, and samples the most popular whisky cocktail at one of the world's best bars. Lucky Elizabeth!(Picture: Glenlivet barrels; Credit: BBC)

What role can businesses play in filling Africa's cartographical gaps? And can better maps help fight diseases like cholera?In her third and final programme about the progress being made in properly charting the continent, Katie Prescott asks what companies can do in locations where satellite images cannot penetrate dense rainforest and cloud cover, or in slums whose streets are not navigable by Google streetview cars.She speaks to John Kedar of Ordnance Survey, Zanzibar planning minister Muhammad Juma, Tom Tom vice president Arnout Desmet.(Picture: Satellite images of rural Tanzania; Credit: Google maps)

The property market in some US cities has still not recovered from the 2008 meltdown, while others may be seeing the return of risky subprime lending.Vishala Sri-Pathma travels to Slavic Village in Cleveland, Ohio, which became a by-word for the mass repossessions that followed the bursting of the housing bubble a decade ago. In the nearby Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, where property prices remain 70% below their peak and many houses are still boarded up, Anita Gardner has set up a community group to help residents with housing problems.Meanwhile on the other side of the nation, Austin in Texas is the fastest growing city in the US, thanks to an oil and tech boom. But Edward Pinto of the American Enterprise Institute explains why there are fears that the loosely regulated federal housing loans that are fuelling this boom could be the next subprime crisis in the making.(Picture: A resident walks past a boarded up building in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood in Cleveland, Ohio; Credit: Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty

Five years ago, Cyprus was in crisis. An international bail-out worth over ten billion dollars saved the economy from meltdown, but also cemented the Mediterranean country’s ties to wealthy Russians. Many of them received a slice of Cypriot banks for cash seized from their accounts to help fund the rescue plan. A controversial and lucrative investment-for-passport scheme has also attracted Russian money - as well as new EU scrutiny.While many banks have ditched their Russian clients and authorities have implemented a new system of stringent checks, Ivana Davidovic travels to the port of Limassol to investigate whether Cyprus has really cleaned up its act.(Picture: Yachts line the marina in Limassol, Cyprus; Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

The history of the spice trade, and the human misery behind it, is explored by Katie Prescott.Katie travels to the spice island of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean, where cloves, turmeric, nutmeg and vanilla are still grown to this day. But it also supported a trade in African slaves who worked the spice plantations, as Katie discovers at what was once the local slave market.Food historian Monica Askay recounts the cultural importance that these spices gained in Europe and the other markets where they ended up, while Rahul Tandon how they came to define Indian cuisine.(Picture: Spices; Credit: Whitestorm/Getty Images)

Will legal cannabis and smart scooters help transform the atmosphere that Angelenos breathe? Jane Wakefield reports from the Los Angeles on two hi-tech industries hoping citizens will breathe deeply. Smart scooters have been taken up with alacrity in a city notorious for its traffic jams and smog, and public official Mike Gatto is a big fan. But not everyone is happy with users' lack of respect for the rules of the road.Across town, at the clean-cut offices of marijuana app Eaze, Sheena Shiravi explains how getting high is becoming increasingly hi-tech.(Picture: Airplane landing at Los Angeles Airport above a billboard advertising marijuana delivery service Eaze; Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Are dating apps like Tinder speeding up the decline of the arranged marriage in India? Manuela Saragosa speaks to the brains behind three apps competing in what is a gigantic market for hundreds of millions of lonely hearts. Mandy Ginsberg, chief executive of Match Group, talks about the generational shift they are seeing in Indian attitudes to dating, having just launched the Tinder app there. Priti Joshi, director of strategy at Bumble describes her surprise that Indian millennials seem unconcerned about dating across social castes. And Gourav Rakshit, who runs the more traditional marriage-focused app Shaadi.com, explains why he thinks the scope for Western-style casual dating is still quite limited in his country.(Picture: Young Indian woman using mobile phone; Credit: triloks/Getty Images)

Is the telecoms equipment provider a front for Chinese espionage or just the victim of the escalating US-China dispute? Why don't Western governments trust the company to handle its citizens' data?Following the controversial arrest in Canada of Huawei's finance head Meng Wanzhou, the BBC's Vishala Sri-Pathma asks whether the move is just the latest step in a tech cold war between the US and China. She speaks to Rand Corporation defence analyst Timothy Heath, tech journalist Charles Arthur, and China tech podcaster Elliott Zaagman.(Picture: Security guard keeps watch at the entrance to the Huawei global headquarters in Shenzhen, China; Credit: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images)

Presidential elections in the DRC this weekend come after 17 years of conflict-ridden rule under controversial president Joseph Kabila. Leading businessman and mine-owner Emmanuel Weyi explains why he has pulled out of the presidential race. But the country's mineral wealth also means the elections are being closely watched by international industries. Indigo Ellis from the risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft gives her assessment, and Jack Lifton, a business operations consultant in metals and an expert on cobalt, explains why one mineral produced in the DRC is so important to the emerging electric car industry.(Photo: Women walk past a campaign poster of the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila's chosen successor Emmanual Ramazani Shadary in Kinshasa, Credit: Getty Images)

How technology can help look after an ageing population. Ed Butler visits a care home in Japan where robots are used to help dementia patients, and hears from Adam Gazzaley, a California-based professor of neurology and psychiatry who has developed a video game aimed at keeping older people alert. Computer science academic Alessandro di Nuevo gives an overview of how technology is increasingly employed in elderly care.(Photo: 'Paro', the therapeutic seal robot with an elderly woman in Japan, Credit: BBC)

The people vying for success in India's tech startup scene. Rahul Tandon explores how Bangalore has turned into a hub for Indian tech startups, and meets the young Indians who have shunned the security of a salaried job in the tech sector to strike out on their own.(Photo: Interns working at one tech startup in Bangalore, Credit: Getty Images)

Racism persists in the workplace - how do we stop it blighting another generation of talent?Vishala Sri-Pathma visits Deji Adeoshun, leader of the Moving On Up programme, which seeks to improve employment opportunities for young black men in London, to find out how simply having the wrong name and sounding too street can harm your job prospects.Business psychologist Binna Kandola explains how racism in the office has mutated into a more subtle form that many white people fail to recognise exists. Plus Michael Caines - one of only two black Michelin-star chefs in the UK - tells of the grit and doggedness he needed to rise to the top of his profession, despite his skin colour.(Picture: Michael Caines; Credit: Michael Caines)

These are uncertain times. The British Prime Minister Theresa May has survived a vote of confidence in her leadership, but the future of her Brexit deal remains unknown. In the US, Donald Trump faces a hostile Congress and multiple legal threats to his presidency. Meanwhile the IPCC says the entire planet must urgently address the existential challenge of climate change, yet the path forward remains littered with obstacles.What is the best way to weather all this uncertainty? In a programme first aired in 2016, Manuela Saragosa gets advice from David Tuckett, professor and director of the Centre for the Study of Decision-Making Uncertainty at University College London. Plus, David Spiegelhalter, Winton professor for the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory, at the University of Cambridge, explains the difference between risk and uncertainty. Lt Col Steven Gventer of the US Army tells us how soldiers are trained to deal with uncertainty in war. And, Will Borrell, founder and owner of Vest

Businesses are getting exasperated by the uncertainty over whether and how the UK will leave the EU in three-and-a-half months' time. Britain faces three options - either Prime Minister Theresa May's painstakingly negotiated withdrawal deal, or a traumatic "no deal" Brexit, or the humiliation of cancelling Brexit altogether. None of the three options commands clear majority support either in the UK parliament or among the British public. And as the clock ticks down to 29 March 2019, businesses are hurriedly preparing for all possible scenarios.Manuela Saragosa speaks to Dutch MP Pieter Omtzigt; Dr Gemma Tetlow, chief economist at think tank the Institute for Government; and Jacob Thundil, founder of British coconut products exporter Cocofina.(Picture: A container ship at the port of Felixstowe, UK; Credit: Getty Images)

European glass eels are worth a fortune in East Asia, where they're regarded as a delicacy in restaurants in China and Japan. But the lucrative smuggling trade from Europe to Asia is contributing to their status as an endangered species. Ed Butler tries some eel in a restaurant in Japan while UN researcher Florian Stein describes the scale of the smuggling. Andrew Kerr, chairman and founder of Sustainable Eel Group, explains the risks to the species in Europe. (Photo: A fisherman holds glass eels fished in France, Credit: Getty Images)

Donald Trump has threatened to pull the US out of the global postal system, after receiving a letter from the inventor of the "Mighty Mug".Jayme Smaldone tells Manuela Saragosa how he was prompted to write the letter by the inexplicably low prices that Chinese knock-offs of his product were able to charge on online retail platforms in the US. It all boiled down to the arcane system of international postal charges set by the Universal Postal Union way back in the 1800s, as Washington DC-based lawyer Jim Campbell explains. And according to Gary Huang of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, some Chinese businesses are profiting enormously.(Picture: Mighty Mugs; Credit: Mighty Mug)

It's easy for anyone, from criminals to stalkers, to dig up your personal information online. So is it even possible to disappear in our digital world?Manuela Saragosa is somewhat shocked by Tony McChrystal of data security firm ReputationDefender, when he reveals the personal details he discovered about her from a cursory search on his mobile phone shortly before she interviewed him.Silkie Carlo of pro-privacy lobby group Big Brother Watch explains why she thinks the big social media companies and online retailers need to end the implicit deal whereby they offer us free services in return for the ability to track and monetise our data. Plus Frank Ahearn explains how his job used to be trying to trace individuals who want to disappear, such as those who have skipped bail. Today he helps clients disappear online, to escape stalkers or dangerous former business associates. He says it's not that hard to throw people off your digital trail.(Picture: Computer hacker working on laptop late at night in office; Credi