Business Daily

A huge new leak of financial documents has revealed how the powerful and ultra-wealthy, including the British Queen's private estate, secretly invest vast amounts of cash in offshore tax havens. Donald Trump's commerce secretary is shown to have a stake in a firm dealing with Russians sanctioned by the US. The leak, dubbed the Paradise Papers, contains 13.4m documents, mostly from one leading firm in offshore finance. Manuela Saragosa hears more from the BBC's Dominic O'Connell. Also in the programme we hear from the Premier of Bermuda David Burt and the Secretary General of the OECD OECD - and its secretary general Angel Gurria.

We explore the anxieties of the wealthy, and the mentality of conspicuous consumption, which is about more than being discreet about high-end purchases. Journalist Rachel Sherman tells us her accounts of interviewing some of New York's elite wealthy - who are equally as stealthy about their endeavours and purchases. We hear more about the anxiety associated with wealth, both earned and inherited, including the constant need to seem 'normal', and justify funds. Stephen Lussier, a chief executive from diamond company De Beers, tells us about the changing buying habits of some of the world's richest - including the increasing number of women who prefer to buy their own diamonds for reasons other than romance. Plus, extravagant signs of wealth are at their peak during India;s wedding season. Weddings can go on for days, and include thousands of guests and private chartered planes, and over 70 types of food. The BBC's Rahul Tandon reports that some Indian states are cracking down on what they say are 'excessive' affairs.

(Image: A wealthy man anxiously facing a City landscape. Credit: Coldsnowstorm/ Getty Images)

The path to a profitable business could lie in your ability to be nice. From The Empathy Business, Belinda Parmar OBE tells us that some understanding between leaders and customers, and within teams, has proven to lead to sharp rises in profits.

And some people throw billions in to the business of being compassionate, and can turn huge profits. We speak to the founder of LeapFrog Investments, Andy Kuper, whose business invests in fast-growing companies that bring about serious change to the world and to shareholders. His projects include the world's first insurer to give life cover to HIV positive people across Africa.

(Image: A black and white photo English airline entrepreneur Freddie Laker (1922 - 2006) giving a thumbs up gesture and smiling; plane in background. (Photo by London Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

In times of economic crunch, where should you store your savings? Perhaps you are tempted by the rise in value of bitcoin. But can it last? And what is bitcoin anyway? A currency or an asset?

Garrick Hileman, Research fellow at the Cambridge centre for alternative finance, tells the BBC's Manuela Saragosa what to make of the cryptocurrency.

British business couple Baroness Michelle Mone and Doug Barrowman tell Ed Butler about their property development where units will be sold for bitcoin.

And Martin Arnold, an analyst at London investment firm ETF Securities, weighs it up against other assets, like the safe haven of gold.

(Picture: bars of gold. Credit: Getty.)

Will robots and artificial intelligence help us in our daily lives, or steal our jobs and discriminate against us? Manuela Saragosa talks to Max Tegmark, who has just written a book about what it means to be human in an age of artificial intelligence. In it he recounts how he was left in tears after a recent visit to London's Science Museum.

She also interviews Noel Sharkey, professor of artificial intelligence and robots at the University of Sheffield.

And regular commentator James Srodes has a warning about letting computers make decisions for us.

(Photo: Model robots. Credit: Getty Images)

Texas has undergone an energy revolution, and even has its own power grid to service the vast State’s needs, but while some claim renewables are the future, others are staunch supporters of oil and gas. How do the two sides fit together? Joe Miller speaks to Jim Briggs, deputy City Manager in Georgetown, which despite its Republican politics, has gone 100% renewable. He also hears from author Kate Galbriath, about how wind energy has a long history in Texas and has sat side by side with oil for decades. Joe also hears from ERCOT, the Texas energy grid, about how they manage supply and demand, and from Fred Beach an energy policy expert from the University of Austin about the motivation for the switch to renewables in places like Georgetown.

(Photo: Georgetown Town Square. Credit: City of Georgetown)

India's financial shock therapy continues, this time with an all-new tax system. The BBC's Rahul Tandon reports on its progress.

Presenter Ed Butler speaks about the new plan with businessman Gaurav Daga, founder of plastics supply company Oswal Cable, near New Delhi.

And Simon Ruda, the director of home affairs and international programmes at the Behavioural Insights Team in London, also known as the Nudge Unit, says getting people to pay tax isn't as simple as it might seem.

(Photo: India flag. Credit: Getty Images)

How can refugees improve their lot? There are about 65 million displaced people in the world, according to the UN. And as many flee their places of birth for the long term, they need work to support themselves and for a sense of purpose.

The BBC's Jane Wakefield talks to urban refugee worker Robert Hakiza, who escaped violence in Congo to live in Kampala, Uganda. She also hears about an innovative new system to find out where you are. Chris Sheldrick explains how What 3 Words, his company, can help.

And Dale Gavlak reports on a new scheme to get Syrian refugees into work from Jordan's Zaatari refugee camp.

(Picture: An immigrant worker cutting paving stone on wood. Credit: Getty.)

Are most countries' policies on drugs irrational? From the tolerance of Holland and decriminalisation in Portugal to the Philippines, where President Rodrigo Duterte's crackdown on drug users and dealers has claimed thousands of lives, there is little international consensus.

Presenter Manuela Saragosa speaks to David Nutt, professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, who says some drugs are less harmful than alcohol.

She also speaks to Joao Goulao, one of the architects of Portugal's decriminalisation policy.

And, the BBC's Anna Holligan reports on the rise of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, in Holland.

(Photo: A woman contemplating pills. Credit: Getty Images)

As the world's central bankers meet for their summer retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, what will be on their minds? Perhaps it will be their $18tn balance sheets, and all the extra cash they created as a consequence, argues author and policy analyst Pippa Malmgren.

The BBC's Joe Miller has been finding out how Frankfurt might cope with a sudden influx of bankers, should the world's lenders choose it as their new European home.

Air India has recently decided to offer only vegetarian food to those travelling inside India in economy class. Rahul Tandon does that quite a lot, and he says the airline's move has got him thinking.

(Photo: Coins stacked on each other in different positions. Credit: Getty Images)