Economics in business podcast series
Welcome to our podcast series where we'll be exploring the outlook for the UK and global economy. Throughout the year, our economists will be sharing their insights and perspectives on key economic events and the implications for business, in short episodes lasting between 5-10 minutes.
New episodes will be regularly added on a range of topics from identifying pockets of opportunity in the global economy, to the benefits of female economic empowerment and the potential impact of technology on jobs. Sign up to listen to the podcasts on your desktop or mobile device, using one of the options below.
Latest episode
Episode 29: UK Economic Outlook
November 2023
Are we out of the woods yet? In this podcast, Ellie Golden hosts our UK Chief Economist Barret Kupelian, along with Jake Finney, a manager in our Economics team, to discuss their views on the macroeconomic outlook and the report's special article, which offers a holistic evaluation on undergraduate degrees. The speakers outline their views on GDP growth, the outlook on headline inflation and what recent geopolitical developments could mean for domestic prices in the UK.
Read the full UK Economic Outlook.
Previous episodes
Episode 28: The future of free school meals
June 2023
Free school meals can have a great impact on both children and wider society. Join us as we discuss the potential expansion of free school meals in England, looking at who currently receives them, what the potential benefits to children and society are from expanding this policy, and what we expect to happen next.
Read the full report: A cost benefit analysis of free school meal provision expansion and explore the Impact on Urban Health free school meals analysis.
Episode 27 - Using behavioural economics to help your employees adopt new workplace technologies
04/05/23
Over the last few years, we've seen a rise in the number of businesses investing in employee-facing technology. Firms are making these investments to improve planning, performance, employee wellbeing, but benefits don't just come from buying the technology itself.
Overall success is heavily dependent on effective employee adoption, and without this, businesses struggle to see the true benefits of their time and financial investments. So, what insights can behavioural economics provide to help navigate change and get good habits to stick? And how did we apply these insights in practice to drive an 81% increase in employee adoption of technology within 2 months?
Host Vayana Skabrin is joined by Suresh Natarajan, head of our PwC's Behavioural Economics practice in the UK and Europe, and Alice Gimblett, Behavioural Economics lead for Government and Health clients, to discuss.
If you wish to hear more about the basics of behavioural economics, we recommend listening to episodes 8 and 25 of the podcast series.
Episode 26 - Women in work: making the transition to Net Zero fair for all
01/12/22
Action on Net Zero is a central tenet of governments, businesses and policy makers around the world, but what are the implications for women in the workplace? What lessons have we learned from COVID-19 that we can carry forward to make sure all women, especially those from ethnic minorities, are better placed for the transition to Net Zero?
In this episode, host Vayana Skabrin is joined by Priyanka Kanani and Divya Sridhar, Economists at PwC, to dive deeper into some of the more social and environmental angles of the 10th Women in Work Index.
Episode 25 - Actions speak louder than words: Why Behavioural Segmentation is powerful at driving customer value
07/12/21
Are you value-sensitive or time-sensitive? Active or dormant? Proactive or a procrastinator? These questions are at the heart of Behavioural Segmentation, an approach to segmentation that makes nudges significantly more effective at influencing behaviour. The integration of behavioural science into customer insight is proving to be a powerful accelerator for businesses to understand their customers and, more importantly, use that insight to drive value for them and their customers alike.
To discuss how putting these approaches helped Sage increase customer satisfaction and reduce churn, host Freddie Martin is joined in the studio by Suresh Natarajan, who leads the PwC Behavioural Economics practice, and Brian Wall, Director of retention at Sage.
- Listen to our previous Behavioural Economics episode
- Learn more about how PwC can help you harness the power of Behavioural Economics.
Episode 24 -The global green skills agenda: How to make the green transition work for all
21/06/21
Building back greener is now an urgent imperative, but how can policymakers ensure that the green transition works for all countries and all people? In this episode, Hannah Audino talks to Zlatina Loudjeva and Jack Steenson from PwC's International Development team about the benefits and challenges of the green skills agenda and what policymakers can do to prevent widening global inequalities.
For more information, visit PwC's Future of Work campaign and our Upskilling for Shared Prosperity report with the World Economic Forum.
Bonus episode 1 - Economics in Business Asks: Is inflation going to make a comeback?
11/03/21
After a year of low inflation across the UK, US and the eurozone, economists are now turning to the question of whether inflation might make a comeback this year, as economies recover from the pandemic. In this bonus episode, Hannah Audino and Barret Kupelian, economists at PwC, explore the outlook for inflation this year, focusing on the US and considering the implications for the UK.
Episode 23 - Good Growth for Cities: Economic wellbeing in a post-COVID world
08/03/21
In this episode, Freddie Martin discusses the results of PwC's latest Good Growth for Cities index with George Mason, an economist at PwC, and James Bowman, a South-East and London PwC Consulting partner specialising in local government transformation. Ten years after its launch, and as we recover from another global crisis, we reflect on what economic wellbeing really means, and how policymakers can support levelling up for the recovery across the UK's regions.
For the full results of the report visit our dedicated site.
You can listen to the Business in Focus podcast on Good Growth for Cities and local recovery strategies on the PwC site, iTunes or Spotify.
Episode 22 - From the Great Lockdown to the Great Round: Our global economic predictions for 2021
19/01/21
Projecting what the future holds is an important exercise for businesses and governments looking to plan ahead. In this podcast, Hannah Audino speaks to Barret Kupelian and Rob Clarry from PwC's Economics team to discuss the key trends we expect to come to the fore in the global economy in the year to come. You can read more in our latest Global Economy Watch.
Episode 21 -Time for Trust: How blockchain will transform business and the economy
10/12/20
In this episode our co-host Freddie Martin is joined by Steve Davies, PwC's Global Blockchain leader, and Jonathan Gillham, who leads PwC UK's Economics team, to discuss blockchain, the technology that is revolutionising how we share and store data, with the potential to add an estimated $1.76 trillion to the global economy by 2030.
To find out more, please visit PwC's blockchain page, where you can download a copy of our 'Time for Trust' report and explore the results of the analysis mentioned in this episode.
Episode 20 - Seeing is Believing: Understanding the economic potential of VR and AR
06/08/20
Virtual and Augmented reality were once seen as the domain of the entertainment industry, used mainly in gaming and social media. However, as these technologies have developed and the number of use cases have grown, an increasing number of sectors, from health services to product development, are beginning to harness the potential of VR and AR. Jeremy Dalton, a VR and AR specialist, and Ryan Hamilton, a PwC economist, join Freddie Martin in the studio to discuss the impact that VR and AR will have on the UK economy and give advice for businesses looking to adopt these technologies.
To find out more, please visit PwC's virtual reality page, where you can download a copy of our 'Seeing is Believing' report and explore the results of the analysis mentioned in this episode.
If you’d like more information on the solutions VR and AR are providing throughout the COVID-19 crisis, you can listen to ‘PwC’s Business in Focus podcast’ episode with Jeremy.
Episode 19 - Reflections on the UK economy with John Hawksworth
19/05/20
In this episode, we talk to our outgoing Chief Economist John Hawksworth, to mark his retirement after 34 years with the firm. John reflects on the development of the UK economy over the past four decades - the key trends, challenges and lessons learnt. We discuss the opportunities facing the UK economy and also touch upon the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Episode 18 - The importance of capturing wider wellbeing benefits in public sector investment decisions
24/02/20
Governments and other public sector bodies are under increasing scrutiny from taxpayers to demonstrate that investment of government resources represents good value for money for society. This means that it is no longer enough to look at the traditionally monetised economic benefits but it is also important to capture wider impacts on society. In this podcast, Hannah Audino talks to Ioanna Sikiaridi and Alisha Kapoor, strategy consultants at PwC, to understand how they use economics and strategy to help public sector organisations integrate wider impacts - economic, environmental, social - when developing their strategy and making investment decisions. Find out more
Episode 17: How can impact-driven strategies help companies be sustainable?
29/01/20
Values in society are being reassessed, external stakeholders are gaining more influence and Government policy and regulation are changing. We are now seeing customers and employees wanting to engage with companies that share their values and are increasingly demanding companies to demonstrate their positive contribution to society. In this podcast, Hannah Audino talks to Ioanna Sikiaridi and Priya Ravidran, strategy consultants at PwC, to understand how they use economics and strategy to help companies understand their impact on consumers and wider society, communicate to their stakeholders and integrate impact within their strategy to sustain long-term growth. Find out more
Episode 16: The Impact of Drones on the UK Economy
18/12/19
In this podcast, we discuss the potential impact of drones on the UK economy, drawing on findings from PwC's "Skies without limits" report. We discuss the benefits and the risks of increasing drone uptake across industries, and how governments and businesses can best utilise drones to increase productivity and realise net cost savings of a potential £16bn to the UK by 2030.
Episode 15: How AI can enable a sustainable future
21/10/19
In April of this year PwC published a groundbreaking report, "How AI can enable a sustainable future", commissioned by Microsoft, which estimated the potential economic and environmental benefits of using AI technology to address climate change and promote sustainability. The report found that using AI applications across four sectors (agriculture, water, energy and transport) could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 4% in 2030 and contribute up to $5.2 trillion to the global economy. In this episode we are joined by two of the economists behind this analysis, Saloni Goel and Edmond Lee, to discuss these results in more detail and the implications they have for businesses and policymakers globally.
Episode 14: How can the UK harness the full potential of its labour force?
23/09/19
UK employment levels are at record highs, but is there more that we can do to encourage further participation in the workforce and what are the potential gains to be made? In this episode we talk to John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC, about the UK's current labour market performance and what lessons we can learn from other OECD countries about harnessing the potential of three key demographic groups - women, under 25s and over 55s. For more information, please see our July 2019 UK Economic Outlook Report.
Episode 13: What is the impact of Euroclearability?
24/07/19
We discuss the benefits for emerging capital markets becoming "Euroclearable" and the resulting economic impacts. If you'd like to read more see our full report.
Episode 12: The global economy: predictions for 2019
31/01/19
Our economists discuss the key themes emerging for the year ahead and their impact on the global economy - including a slowdown in global economic growth, workers and wages, and trade conflicts.
Episode 11: The UK economy - the long-term view
17/12/18
What's ahead for the future of the UK economy? Looking in particular at GDP and debt, we consider historical and current trends to take a long-term view on the outlook for the UK economy.
Listen on: iTunes
Episode 10: How have banks responded to post-crisis regulation?
10/09/18
After the financial crisis, banks were subjected to a global overhaul of the entire regulatory system. 10 years down the line, Nick Forrest, head of our Financial Economics team explains how this has actually affected banks, and the banking sector as a whole. Read more in our report with AFME
Listen on: iTunes
Episode 9: Why is wage growth sluggish?
03/08/18
Labour markets in most advanced economies have (almost) never been better - but wages haven't really picked up. Our Senior Economist, Barret Kupelian, explains what's driving this disparity and what it could mean for businesses.
Listen on: iTunes
Episode 8: How can companies benefit from Behavioural Economics?
11/04/18
Organisations are increasingly using Behavioural Economics (BE) to improve the way they interact with customers by better understanding their behaviour. Suresh Natarajan, who leads our BE practice, shares his experiences of using BE to help clients, and his views on where the field may be headed.
Listen on: iTunes
Episode 7: Helping companies conquer country risk
09/03/18
In an era of geopolitical transformation, what do financial markets tell us about country risk premia? Economist Rob Vaughan shares the latest trends from our country risk premium model, and how this insight can help companies manage country risk.
Listen on: iTunes
Episode 6: What's the economic cost of natural disasters?
05/01/18
Economist James Loughridge, joins our host, Laura Gatz, to discuss what our latest research can tell us about the frequency and cost of natural disasters, and how this impacts an economy.
Listen on: iTunes
Episode 5: Devising a future vision for Financial Services with economics
14/11/17
Nick Forrest, our Head of Financial Services in Economic Consulting, explains how he and his team used economic principles and methods to help The CityUK develop a strategy for the Financial Services Sector.
Listen on: iTunes
Episode 4: How will automation impact jobs?
07/08/17
We explore which industries and types of workers are likely to be most affected by automation, but also consider the potential job and productivity gains resulting from technological progress.
Listen on: iTunes
Episode 3: What's next for UK interest rates?
10/07/17
With inflation rapidly on the rise and the US Federal Reserve continuing to raise rates, could we see an increase in UK interest rates this year?
Listen on: iTunes
Episode 2: Closing the gender pay gap: the potential $2 trillion prize
17/05/17
We explore which OECD countries have made the greatest progress in closing their gender pay gaps and discuss what government and business can do to speed up this progress.
Listen on: iTunes
Episode 1: Beyond the BRICs, where do the pockets of opportunity lie?
28/04/17
Barret Kupelian, senior economist, shares his views on which mid-sized economies businesses should be looking at to expand their international footprint.
Listen on: iTunes
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