Business Daily

Hasty borrowing by Chinese consumers and corporates may leave the country's economy with a debt hangover.

That's the contention of independent China economist Andy Xie. Business Daily's Ed Butler asks him whether ordinary Chinese are carelessly running up huge debts without appreciating the consequences, and whether the rest of the world should be concerned.

And it's not just China. Most East Asian countries have seen a rapid rise in household debts in recent years. Among them is Vietnam, where journalist Lien Hoang of Bloomberg BNA explains that it is in large part a bi-product of the government's policy to introduce its citizens to the wonders of online banking.

(Picture: Chinese woman holding phone and credit card; Credit: RyanKing999/Getty Images)

Payday loans, auto loans and student loans are overwhelming a sector of American society - what can be done to help them dig their way out of their debts?

Ed Butler speaks to Dean, a military veteran who says his debts wrecked his health and forced him into personal bankruptcy. Plus student Melissa says her inability to keep up with the interest on her student loans, despite working a well remunerated middle class job, is typical of her Millennial generation.

Such stories are becoming commonplace among the young and the poor in the US. In search of solutions to their plights, Ed speaks to Mary Jackson of the Online Lenders' Alliance, Harvard economist Ken Rogoff, and Martha Wunderli of the AAA Fair Credit Foundation in Utah.

(Picture: Senior man receiving bank debt documents; Credit: THEPALMER/Getty Images)

From Pride-inspired cappuccinos to LGBT supermarket sandwiches, you can’t walk down the street in some cities without seeing the multi-coloured marketing which symbolises the modern Pride movement.

But is the promotion of the rainbow logo a step forward for diversity or a cynical corporate take-over? Elizabeth Hotson hears from flag-bearers at Pride in London and the event's director of marketing, Tom Stevens.

Marketing strategist Sonia Thompson explains why authenticity is key to getting the message across. Plus Mark Sandys, global head of beer, Baileys and Smirnoff at Diageo, and Adam Rowse, managing director of branch banking at Barclays, explain how and why they get involved in LGBT campaigns. Producer: Elizabeth Hotson

(Picture: Giant rainbow flag at Pride in London; Credit: Elizabeth Hotson for BBC)

With the Cricket World Cup reaching its final stages we look at the current state of the sport in India.

In this episode presented by Rahul Tandon, we hear from former Indian cricketer, Deep Dasgupta, Ramjit Ray who runs advertising firm Matrix Communications, head of Uber South Asia, Pradeep Parameswaran, IT firm owner Sabyasachi Mitra and cricket writer Sharda Ugra.

Rahul also speaks to cricket writer Neeru Bhatia and Nissan's Global Head of Marketing and Brand Strategy, Roel De Vries. Plus Rumella Dasgupta looks at the state of play for women's cricket.

(Photo: India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni; Credit: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images)

The aviation industry is one of the world's biggest contributors to climate change - but does a social movement begun in Sweden now threaten to stigmatise air travel?

It's called "flygskam", and Manuela Saragosa speaks to one of its originators, Susanna Elfors, whose tagsemester Facebook page helped convert her fellow Swedes to the environmental virtues of train travel. Meanwhile John Broderick, professor of energy and climate change at Manchester University explains just how big a carbon footprint an individual long-haul flight can have.

The movement is already having an impact on Scandinavian travel habits, and threatens to go worldwide. So what does the industry make of it? We ask Michael Gill of the International Air Transport Association, as well as Boet Kreiken of Dutch airline KLM, which is already calling on its customers to "fly responsibly".

Plus Manuela asks Tony Wheeler, founder of the Lonely Planet guidebooks that first popularised travel to exotic corners of the globe, whether he feels guilty about having enabled the casual flying culture.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Picture: Aeroplane vapour trails; Credit: yellowpaul/Getty Images)

After a controversial extradition law sparked mass protests, is Hong Kong's position as a global financial centre under threat? Vivienne Nunis speaks to business owners in Hong Kong about the recent protests, hedge fund manager Edward Chin on the impact the crisis is already having on Hong Kong's financial reputation, and former investment banker and governance campaigner David Webb about the history of Hong Kong and China and whether the 'one country, two systems' policy is being dismantled.

(Photo: Protestors take to the streets in Hong Kong in June, Credit: Getty Images)

Should you let websites track your online movements? Vivienne Nunis speaks to Frederike Kaltheuner from Privacy International and investigates the split-second auction process where firms bid to put targeted ads in front of your eyes. We hear from DuckDuckGo, the search engine that promises to protect your privacy, and controversial Israeli firm The Spinner, which uses cookies to subliminally change people’s behaviour.

(Photo: Chocolate chip cookies, Credit: Getty Images)

The hunger for quick short-lived clothes is bringing garment sweatshops back to the UK and harming the environment. Katie Prescott travels to Leicester, the British city whose garment factories claimed to "clothe the world" a century ago, where unregulated factories are making a comeback, paying immigrant workers less than the minimum wage to turn around clothing designs as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile Manuela Saragosa speaks to author and journalist Lucy Siegle about how the trend towards the ever faster turnover in consumers' wardrobes is leading to shoddier synthetic fibres that only last a handful of wears.

(Photo: Woman sitting on a throne of discarded clothes. Credit: Ryan McVay/Getty Images)

New sanctions from the Trump administration are forcing European and Asian firms to choose between their US and Iranian business interests.

The EU has created a special purpose vehicle called Instex to circumvent the US sanctions, but sanctions lawyer Nigel Kushner of W Legal says that the Iranians are right to feel unhappy with the effectiveness of this workaround.

Manuela Saragosa speaks to one British businessman who has already given up on trading with Iran, or indeed recovering the proceeds from his past transactions that remain trapped in an Iranian bank account. She also asks BBC Persian correspondent Jiyar Gor how the latest round of American sanctions are affecting the lives of ordinary Iranian citizens.

(Picture: A woman walks past a mural painting on the wall of the former US embassy in Tehran; Credit: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images)

The financial literacy gap. Manuela Saragosa talks to US podcaster and writer Gaby Dunn about why millennials like her are so bad with money. Regan Morris hears the stories of young coffee shop workers in Los Angeles, and psychologist Martina Raue explains why having role models can help when it comes to saving money.

(Photo: A smashed piggy bank, Credit: Getty Images)