Analysis

Personal Identity is a topic that’s long intrigued philosophers. What makes you you? What makes you the same person today that you were as a child? The puzzle addressed in The Philosopher’s Arms, with some assistance from the pop group, The Drifters

Should Britain stay in the European Union? With the crisis continuing in the eurozone, recent polls suggest that the vast majority of the British electorate would be in favour of a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union. Evan Davis chairs a debate at the London School of Economics, and is joined by Sir Stephen Wall. The former diplomat and EU adviser to Tony Blair argues his position for Britain to remain in the EU against a panel which wants Britain out.

As China changes leadership, Mukul Devichand probes Beijing's hidden battle of ideas. Unlike the messy democracy of elections in the US or Europe, the Communist Party's "changing of the guard" this autumn is set to be a sombre, orderly and very Chinese affair. But the dramatic sacking of a top Party boss over the alleged murder of an Englishman earlier this year was about more than just a personal power struggle. These events provide a window into a deeper, more ideological battle for the future of the world's new superpower.

This week, Mukul Devichand travels to the People's Republic of China for a unique look at the social and ideological faultlines in the country. Radio 4's Analysis programme has a 40-year history of looking at the deeper ideas and trends shaping politics -- and this week's programme takes that approach on the road to a rising superpower whose policy debates are largely misunderstood in the West, despite the profound implications of China's future direction for our own.

Recent years have seen large-scale social experiments in China and the emergence of a "New Left" school of thought to rival the pro-market "New Right" in Chinese intellectual life. Mukul Devichand looks at what these scholars and officials are reading, and the ideas that shape their vision of the world. He looks at how these schools of ideas have created their own showcase provinces and cities -- Chongqing vs Guangdong -- and looks at recent events for clues about where China will go next.

Contributors:

Mark Leonard

John Garnaut

Zhang Jian

Daniel Bell

Pan Wei

Producer: Lucy Proctor.

As banks collapse and governments run out of money, the popular solution is to print more and more and expand bank balance sheets. But is there another way of fixing our economy? Would the financial system be more stable if each pound in our pocket was backed by gold? The Today programme's business presenter Simon Jack meets the so-called 'gold bugs' who predict the collapse of the paper system as well as those who argue that a return to the gold standard would be a huge mistake. Which makes more sense - placing your faith in a yellow metal or in money created at the push of a button?

Interviewees include ...

John Butler: Chief investment officer at Amphora (an independent investment and advisory firm in London) and author of The Golden Revolution: How to prepare for the coming global gold standard

Lord Skidelsky: Cross-bench peer, Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick and biographer of the economist John Maynard Keynes

Dani Rodrik: Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and author of The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the future of the World Economy

Barry Eichengreen: Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley and author of Exorbitant Privilege - The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System

Dr DeAnne Julius: chairman of Chatham House and former member of the Bank of England's monetary committee

Lord Lawson: Conservative former Chancellor of the Exchequer

Producer: Helen Grady.

As the crisis in the Eurozone continues, Chris Bowlby examines what might eventually emerge and what that could mean for us.

When Analysis looked at the possibility of a Greek exit from the Euro back in February, the topic was regarded as "thinking the unthinkable". Not so now.

In this programme Chris Bowlby looks forward and asks if the Eurozone is headed for disintegration or, conversely, even closer political and economic union. What do either of those scenarios mean in practice and can the Eurozone survive? What are the implications for borders, cash movements and who controls the levers of power?

Interviewees include: Lord Peter Mandelson, David Marsh, Ulrike Guerot, Dani Rodrik, Paul Donovan, Brian Lucey and Aristotle Kallis.

Producer: John Murphy.

What's so great about Sweden? The British left has long been obsessed with Sweden. Now the Conservatives are too. Little wonder: the country always tops the global charts for happiness and social cohesion; its economy is dynamic and its deficit is low.

In this week's Analysis, Jo Fidgen investigates the "Swedish model" and the British obsession with it. She finds the country is more conservative than people think, with its centre-right government's generous welfare state depending on very traditional notions of trust and social cohesion. At the root of Swedish conservativism is what the experts call a "Swedish theory of love" - in which the state is seen as the defender of the individual. Could this idea ever work for Britain? Sweden has provided a blue-print for David Cameron's Conservatives and their "Big Society" reforms, but many in Sweden argue that they are being misunderstood by Britain's Tories. Jo also looks at how, as Sweden struggles to become more multicultural, the "Swedish model" itself may in fact be unravelling.

Interviewees include:

Producer: Mukul Devichand.

Many young school leavers have struggled to find work for years. Now the economic crisis has made things worse. Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies investigates the roots of the problem. He discusses the challenge faced by those - particularly boys - who dislike classroom learning, and the often chaotic transition from school to the world beyond. And he hears about the key importance of work experience at the earliest stage to enable young people to acquire the skills and attitudes employers want. But how much can be changed as employers hold onto their older workers during the downturn, leaving youngsters even further behind?

Interviewees include the youth unemployment and vocational education specialists Alison Wolf and Paul Gregg, employers and specialist trainers in Wiltshire, and the new Scottish minister for youth employment.

Producer: Chris Bowlby.

Newsnight Economics Editor Paul Mason interviews the controversial economist Steve Keen before an audience at the London School of Economics.

Prof Keen was one of a small number of economists who predicted there would be a major financial crisis before the 2008 crash.

He argues that if we keep the "parasitic banking sector" alive then the economy will die, and says that conventional economics provides an unwitting cover for "the greatest ponzi schemes in history".

Producer: Kavita Puri.

Edward Stourton explores the prospects for post-revolution government, following the Arab Spring. Elections are being held, but can voters be sure autocratic rule is in the past?

Contributors, in order of appearance:

Aref Ali Nayed, Islamic theologian and Libyan ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.

Khaled Fahmy, professor of history at the American University in Cairo.

Marina Ottaway, senior associate of the Middle East programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Fawaz Gerges, Professor of Middle Eastern Politics and International Relations at the London School of Economics.

Timur Kuran, Gorter Family Professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University.

Eugene Rogan, lecturer in the modern history of the Middle East and fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford.

The Right Hon. Sir Paddy Ashdown, former UN High Representative to Bosnia.

Khalifa Shakreen, lecturer in the Economics and Political Science department at Tripoli University.

(Producer: Ruth Alexander).

We dream about it, argue about it, worry about it, celebrate it, spend it, save it, we transfer it from one emotion to another. But what exactly is money? And why do we trust it? Frances Stonor Saunders takes a journey through some of the fundamentals of money.