This Is Money Show

The phenomenal successes of British athletes at the Rio Olympics were quickly forgotten in 2016 as a confusing, unpredictable mix of politics and economics took over. The peculiarities began before Brazil, however, when Leicester City won the Premiership title at odds of 5,000 to 1. Then the British public were granted a vote on the country’s role in the European Union, which few appeared to understand. Markets crashed and recovered, the pound tanked and people got rather angry – but mostly about attempts to increase the price of the popular yeast spread, Marmite. Finally, a reality TV star with the language of a child and behaviour of a child became leader of the free world. Join Simon Lambert and Lee Boyce of This is Money and Share Radio luminary Georgie Frost for a look behind the sound bites and the hubris as they try to work out happened and why.

It might be the only time in history that four five-course supermarket Christmas dinners are taste-tested on live radio over a discussion about the state of the economy. There’s really not much more one can say. Other than will it be Lidl, Waitrose, Tesco or ‘the wildcard’ that proves more popular this year in the turkey, cheese, Prosecco, sprouts and cranberry sauce league? The result, as a clickbaiter might say, may surprise you. The journey might amuse you. Inflation hit 1.2% and the US Federal Reserve raised its main interest rate. Merry Christmas. From this week’s crew: Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce, Rich Browning and Tom the producer.

It’s amazing isn’t it? We’re a service economy with a heavy reliance on financial services but when it comes to customer services and financial services, we’re useless. Our email inbox is permanently full of complaints about companies that refuse to help their customers – as is our old-fashioned post bag. For the ninth year running the Wooden Spoon awards are upon us, where we highlight the most complained about companies and organisations of the year and ask readers, listeners and viewers to vote for the absolute worst. Last year the BT chief executive collected the award. This year, the execrable Southern Rail makes the shortlist as it enters the festive period without a timetable and none of the bosses in jail. Who gets your vote? Join Rachel Rickard Straus (British Gas), Lee Boyce (Banks – all of them) and Georgie Frost (Southern Rail) for a fabulously entertaining look at some of things we hate with a passion. Also on the show… - We look at how mortgage lending works. Did you know they have l

An energy firm collapsed this week, but even if you were one of GB Energy's customers you might not have even realised. If you've ever wondered where all those strangely named energy firms have come from, listen to this week's This is Money Podcast to find out. Simon Lambert and Lee Boyce, of This is Money, join Georgie Frost in the Share Radio studios to discuss why our energy firms are feeling stressed. They also look at why our banks are being stress tested, with the majority state-owned RBS setting an example by failing. But how do you get from that to Guns N' Roses and OPEC? Listen to this week's podcast to find out.

The new Chancellor delivered his first Autumn Statement this week with the aim of distancing himself from his predecessor - but what will it mean for you? Philip Hammond grabbed the headlines with a ban on fees for tenants, a 2.2% savings bond, a minor splurge on infrastructure and an awful lot of debt. Will tenants bear the brunt of landlords hiking rents after being hit by crafty letting agents? Is a three-year bond paying 2.2% the answer to the savings crisis? What’s the key to productivity other than spending less time on Facebook? Are we really poorer than seven years ago and counting? How on earth will we ever pay off £2trillion of debt? Simon Lambert and Rebecca Rutt, of This is Money, join Georgie Frost, of Share Radio, in the studio for the This is Money Show podcast to try and answer all these questions and more. And if you’re all Autumn Statemented-out, there’s also some existential questions about Black Friday, a look at whether airport parking spaces really make good investments, and a F

After the Brexit vote rolled in, a tax giveaway and spending splurge was considered a nailed on certainty. Five months down the line, Britain's economy has surprised many with its resilience and it's not so clear cut. So what will Philip Hammond do in the Autumn Statement. Will the public get infrastructure bonds to invest in, will stamp duty see a cut to get people moving, and will anyone ever commit to properly fixing Britain's roads. Next Wednesday's Autumn Statement holds the key and Simon Lambert and Rachel Rickard Straus, of This is Money, discuss the outlook with Georgie Frost, of Share Radio, on this week's This is Money Show podcast. Also under the microscope is Trumpflation. What on earth is it, why are investors chasing this trade and will a big infrastructure spend and tax cut in the US help its economy? Simon has read Donald Trump's economic plan and takes us through what the President-Elect says he will do (unless of course he changes his mind). Also up for discussion is the white Ferrari 458 Sp

The Simpsons predicted it but did you? Donald Trump will be the next president of the US after his election win this week - something many thought was impossible. But just how much of a part did economic dissatisfaction among those who feel left behind by a wealthy elite play in this? Did that wealthy elite spend too long ignoring ordinary hard-working families concerns and telling them they knew what was best? Why didn't the other side realise and do something that would have stopped the White House keys going to the most controversial president-elect ever? And what on earth does President Trump mean for the US economy and for the finances of us Britons on the other side of the Atlantic? Simon Lambert and Sarah Davidson, of This is Money, join Georgie Frost in the Share Radio studio for the weekly This is Money podcast to answer these questions and more. And it's not all Trump. We also get an update on Simon's will-writing adventure - where he promised to finally sort one out and explain what you ne

The Bank of England updated us on post-Brexit vote Britain this week and managed to admit it was wrong while telling us it was right. Simon Lambert, Adrian Lowery and Georgie Frost rake through the inflation report and outlook for interest rates and the economy on the This is Money podcast with Share Radio. They also look at what that High Court victory means for Brexit, business and our money. While this rumbles on, savers are being stung by terrible rates and inflation rising. So what should you do with your spare cash and what even counts as spare? We look at whether you should switch banks, invest it, buy premium bonds, or perhaps just go on holiday (be warned this is now more expensive). Watch out though if you do go away, you might find a robot has nabbed your job by the time you get back. We also take a look at what the rise of the robots means – and the jobs we’d rather they had taken of us.

Cleared for take-off? Heathrow is given the green light for a third runway, but what does it mean for the economy, residents, house prices and the future of air travel from Britain? Some under 30s ARE saving enough for retirement while we explain why turning back the clocks this weekend makes our roads more dangerous. Has buy-to-let gone cold? Or should landlords look north to student towns such as Leeds for better yields? Buy-to-let and LS6 postcode expert Simon Lambert runs the rule. And PPI. It has been plague to banks for years – but one, NatWest, has been pulling sneaky tricks on some who were due fair redress…

Enough already! Can’t everything just be simpler? ‘Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’, said Leonardo da Vinci, whose basic thinking gave us art and helicopters to chat about and wonder over for centuries. It hardly goes without saying that top of the week’s meddles is from Ryanair, the low-cost airline MOST famous for concocting increasingly bizarre, arbitrary ways of charging people more. Now it’s levying a fee for checking yourself in at home on your computer and printing the boarding cards – but only if you do so four days before you fly. Stop it! George Osborne, remember him? Also known as Gideon U-turn, the Chancellor who used to think up stuff in bed then announce it as Government policy the next day without the slightest idea of whether it would work. Pasty tax was one meddle you may recall. This week, plans to create a secondhand market for annuities was scrapped – because no one wants to buy duff annuities from people who don’t want them for very that reason. Stop it.

The country appeared to take leave of its senses this week. As the pound continues to take a steady route south through the Channel tunnel down to the capital of Armageddon, the effects are being felt by businesses across Britain. And bit-by-bit consumers are starting to notice. They’re not happy. News of the famous savoury black paste, Marmite, being taken off the shelves at Tesco spread across the internet like a yeast infection. People became hysterical - and not in a funny way. You don’t mess with people’s brands as Unilever found out when it stopped supplying the supermarket many of its famous-name products because of the rising cost of foreign-sourced ingredients. Join Simon Lambert, Georgie Frost and Lee ‘Bovril’ Boyce for an entertaining look at what it all means for the pound in your pocket. Also in the podcast: Former Bank of England governor Mervyn King believes the weak pound is a good thing for Britain. Don’t wait until to get to the airport to change your money – you’ll be in fo

It’s the best money show on the radio. Of that we are in no doubt. What is in doubt, though, is what’s behind our ‘economic recovery’ and the small matter of the future of Britain. Georgie and Simon are joined by ace This is Money investment and business reporter Ellie Lawrie to pore over the week’s strange events. To the soundtrack of the Prime Minister’s pro-Brexit speech at the Conservative Party conference, the FTSE 100 was hitting near record highs. Behind the headlines, the story was somewhat different. The FTSE 100 index of leading shares is mostly made up of foreign companies so when their earnings are converted into pounds, they’re suddenly worth a lot more. That’s why the market is rising. But some clever maths shows that in real-terms the market is in fact down. Confused? Listen now. Also in the show A flash crash smashed sterling, Are we being controlled by algorithms and should we be worried? Among the platitudes aimed at loyal voters, PM Theresa May’s speec

Here’s our latest joyous look at the week’s events. Join Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and Lee Boyce for money mirth with a few nervous laughs on top. We’re possibly staring global financial Armageddon in the face again as Germany’s biggest bank owes more money in fines than it’s worth while it sits on TRILLIONS of pounds of complex debt that no one appears to understand. UK banks were bailed out to the tune of around £500bn after the 2008 crisis, paid for by cutting Government spending and disability allowances and the like. But Germany is refusing to consider any such aid and austerity. The second biggest bank in Germany is also now in deep trouble as it announced 10,000 job cuts. The knock on effects are starting to resonate around the world. What happens next is worth a ringside seat. Also on the show: Help to buy is to die – it was a policy dreamt up by our already forgotten former PM David Cameron and sidekick George Osborne to increase house prices Aldi takes on Wait

It’s a really fun show this week and a fantastic antidote to the Bake Off and Brangelina hysteria. For the initiated, two well-known Hollywood actors announced their divorce this week and the makers of televised cake-making competition revealed they were moving it to Channel 4 from the BBC. And we don’t care. Not that making cakes doesn’t get a look in. It does but with the usual financial twist. How to save money baking is one of the more popular stories of the week. Have you any idea just how cheap it is to make a scone? Rachel Rickard Straus, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost also find time to be utterly horrified about the cost of a wedding. Tip: Get married abroad, says Lee. Also discussed are: Retweaked economic forecasts from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) The idiocy of the lifetime Isa – another ill-conceived, complicated tax change from the previous Chancellor House prices Fluffy surveys from banks Shrinking products – that get smaller and smaller to

Now that cash machines hardly ever distribute five pound notes, the Bank of England decided it was time to issue a new, modern plastic one - to great fanfare. But the question on everyone's lips is why was it Winston Churchill and not Keith Richards on the note. This is just one of the conundrums in this week's round-up of the best of the week's money news. Also on the show... Banks under investigation for using interest rate cuts to punish customers Pensions are just too confusing aren't they? Why do we spend so much extra while on holiday? All that data you've handed over may come back to haunt you in a big way And more...

This week the team from This is Money join Share Radio’s Georgie Frost for an entertaining look back at the week’s big stories from the disgusting tricks hidden in cancer insurance small print to the birth of a new money superhero, Scam Man. Also on the show: Why banks are refusing to grant overdrafts to youngsters. Are they overeducated and misunderstood or just living in the wrong part of town? Did baby boomers really steal all the money and run away? Did Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney cut interest rates too soon? Or was he misled by bankers who promised to pass on the cut to saving AND mortgage customers but didn’t. Editor Simon Lambert explains his new investing technique: Doing Nothing. Consumer Affairs Editor Lee Boyce lifts the mask to reveal himself as the face of a new Beat the scammers campaign. Everyone needs to know these terrifying tricks of the tricksters. Do you have too many legs to claim on your critical illness insurance? Banks insult their customers y

We take a look back at some of the recent major financial events that have affected us all. It's been a bumpy ride and it's time to take stock. The team from This is Money with Georgie Frost of Share Radio explain the fallout of the EU referendum, the collapsing pound and interest rates, Santander 123, complicated Bank of England decisions, inheritance tax and loads more. As ever, they explain what it all means and what it means for the pounds, the euros and dollars in our pockets.

This week, as the country was feeling good about its record medal haul in the Rio Olympics, suddenly consumer confidence appeared to be looking healthy too. But behind the rose-tinted sunglasses, a bubble of household debt was competing in a new kind of race with rival, the house price bubble, to see which will burst first. It’s neck and neck. Household debt is at terrifying levels. If consumer spending is on the rise, it’s likely that credit cards are a driving force. More than one in 10 households (1.6m) are in extreme debt, where 25% of monthly spending is servicing cards, loans and other debts - not including mortgages. Wages are stagnant yet house prices appear to keep on rising. That cannot last. We’re here to help. But the conclusion from This is Money’s consumer affairs gurus Rachel Rickard Straus and Lee Boyce is there’s not a lot individuals can do. Best thing, at the very least, is to try to avoid the increasingly clever scams and rip-offs. There’s some horrific tricks and

This week This is Money editor Simon Lambert and consumer affairs editor Lee Boyce explain the peculiarities of inheritance tax - and then ask why on earth it has to be so complicated. The team also discuss the watering down of the once quite fantastic 123 account from Santander - and whether it's still a good deal. Lee has a moan about train fares and they ask whether Essex really is the happiest place to live in the UK.

Yes, it's just what we've all been waiting for - another report on the banks. This week, the CMA delivered its recommendations to shake up the current account market. Were they any good? And should we even bother trying? After all, the banks themselves already offer us free money, savings account-smashing interest rates and lots of other goodies. Simon Lambert and Rachel Rickard Straus, join Georgie Frost in the Share radio studio for the This is Money Show to talk banks and much more. Also on today's show, we ask if now is the time to buy a bargain property as Brexit worries deliver price cuts, whether Help to Buy needs to be axed and if a fixed rate mortgage still beats a tracker. Simon also has an idea for a new Office of Budget Simplicity designed to cut through daft ideas like the family home inheritance tax break. Listen to the show, leave us a comment or rate it and subscribe to the podcast. Thanks This is Money