Business Daily

It's been two months since the collapse of the key bridge in Baltimore, and the deadline to unblock the port's shipping channel is imminent. The US government has given a loose promise to make it happen by the end of May - but there are doubts that deadline will be met, causing more disruption to the local and global economy. How will businesses on sea and land find a way through more uncertainty?

Izzy Greenfield speaks to small businesses who are feeling the impact; from fewer customers to disruption to supply chains.

Baltimore used to rank first among US ports for autos and light trucks, handling a record 850,000 vehicles last year. Importantly, the port is where vehicles are processed and labelled to be sold domestically. We hear how the industry is seeing an immediate impact. And we learn about the struggles that transportation workers continue to face.

(Image: Baltimore bridge after it collapsed in March 2024. Credit: Getty Images)

Presented and produced by Izzy Greenfield

Most of us have noticed the prices of our weekly food shopping going up over the last few years, but some items have risen by astronomical amounts.

Extra virgin olive oil - a premium, unprocessed oil from the olive, has seen many customers' prices rise by 50% in the past year alone.

We explain why, as we hear from oil sommeliers and the people who buy and sell the product.

(Image: Olive oil being poured into a bowl. Credit: Getty Images)

Presented and produced by Rick Kelsey

Female-only co-working spaces started to grow during the #metoo movement. But some have struggled.

We speak to entrepreneurs who are running these spaces - and the women working in them.

Are they a viable alternative to going to the office?

(Picture: Oi Leng Lui, who founded the co-working space, The Hearth, in north London.)

Presented and produced by Dougal Shaw

Laura Chinchilla was the first woman to serve as president of Costa Rica and one of the first in Latin America.

We talk to her about what that journey to the top job in her country was like, and the challenges facing Latin America - from corruption to crime, the drugs trade, migration, the brain drain, poor governance and low economic productivity.

And we consider some of the potential solutions to those problems - solutions that could help Latin America bring prosperity to its people.

(Picture: Laura Chinchilla Miranda, former President of Costa Rica, speaking at a conference. Credit: Getty Images)

Presented and produced by Gideon Long

Across the region, there are examples of economic success stories: countries, companies and people that are getting things right, transforming their local economies and bringing prosperity to the region.

We go to Peru, where fruit producers are enjoying a blueberry boom.

We hear from Uruguay, which generates almost all its electricity from renewable energy, and we visit a factory Mexico that’s benefiting from “nearshoring” and the country’s proximity to the United States.

We talk to two female entrepreneurs – one from Chile and one from Colombia – on how the ecosystem for start-ups has evolved in their countries and the exciting possibilities the region has to offer.

Produced and presented by Gideon Long

(Image: Close-up on a worker loading baskets of blueberries on a truck at a plantation. Credit: Getty Images)

From soybean production to coffee exports to sugar cane, grains and tropical fruit - agriculture is powering the Brazilian economy.

We travel to a farm outside the capital Brasilia, and look at how the country could play a major role in providing the world with food security in the years ahead.

And we consider a major threat to agriculture – climate change, which is forcing Brazilian farmers to adapt to survive.

We talk to the Brazilian head of the International Coffee Organisation – on what her home country can do to deal with extreme weather events.

And away from agriculture, we consider Brazil’s heavy industry, and ask why it hasn’t made more of its rich musical heritage.

Produced and presented by Gideon Long.

(Image: Cultivation of sugarcane in the interior of the State of São Paulo. Huge areas are cultivated and after harvesting will come sugar, alcohol, drink and ethanol. Credit: Getty Images)

Go back 50 years and Latin America was generally wealthier than East Asia. But that has been reversed.

While the economies of East and South East Asia have taken off, enjoying a so-called "economic miracle", Latin America’s have experienced only tepid growth, despite the region’s enormous potential. Gideon Long asks why.

We go to Singapore, one of the most open and business friendly nations on earth, to visit a factory making credit cards using the latest computer chips. And we ask economists what Latin America can learn from the 'Asian Tigers'.

(Image: A photograph of a tourist boat in Singapore next to a drone view shot showing buildings in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Credit: Reuters/EPA)

Presented and produced by Gideon Long

It's a region blessed with incredible natural resources, from copper to lithium to rich agricultural lands. It’s home to vibrant cultures, amazing music and creative and talented people.

And yet it has never fulfilled its enormous economic potential.

All too often it’s lurched from boom to bust, from hyperinflation to debt crises.

We ask why that is.

We consider corruption, crime, inequality, excessive bureaucracy and weak governance.

We look at Argentina’s long decline and Venezuela’s economic implosion, and ask what Latin America can do to bring greater prosperity to its people.

Produced and presented by Gideon Long

(Image: A man waves an Argentine flag during the demonstration. Members of the Argentine Workers' General Confederation and social organizations protested against new Argentine President Javier Milei's economic reforms, outside the Justice Palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Credit: Getty Images)

We head to the robot workshop home of Marty the robotical.

Sandy Enoch founded the Scottish tech firm Robotical which creates educational robots.

Produced and presented by Dougal Shaw.

(Image: Marty the robot)

Where next for the sometimes tricky relationship between football and crypto companies?

We look at how some of the biggest clubs, and players, have embraced crypto products, and what that means for supporters.

From fan engagement tokens to NFTs, advertised by the world’s biggest stars, to deals with Premier League clubs which turned out to be fraudulent. Is it putting fans in a potentially difficult financial position?

Or just giving them another way to support the team they love?

Produced and presented by Imran Rahman-Jones

(Referee Arda Kardeşler performs the pregame toss with a coin bearing the Bitcoin logo for a match between Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe on May 8, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey. Credit: Getty Images)