Brexit and Covid-19 are still the topics on everyone's lips, like it or not. But taking a longer view, where does this leave UK politics - and what does sustained political volatility mean for investors?

Stephanie Kelly's guests this week are James McBride, from Hanbury Strategies, and Luke Bartholomew, a regular Macro Matters guest and a senior economist at the ASI Research Institute.  Join them as they discuss how Covid and Brexit play with the Westminster world, what the outlook is for UK politics, and what protracted political uncertainty means for markets and investors.   

We're talking to Senior Monetary Economist, Luke Bartholomew, on whether furlough worked and discussing the outlook for the UK and broader European labour market, as some of the support schemes start to roll off.  

Then it's a chat with Research Economist, Abigail Watt, on the rise of big data, which economists are using to track the economy in real time during this crisis. 

In the wake of a spectacularly ill-tempered U.S. Presidential election TV debate, who is leading the race, and what does this mean for our economic forecasting?

We welcome our guest, American political strategist, Robby Mook.  Robby has run multiple major election campaigns for the Democratic Party and most notably was the campaign manager for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

Stephanie Kelly interviews Robby, kicking off with an easy question - who's going to win the race for the White House?   Then the tables are turned and Paul Diggle asks Steph to review the insights from Robby and to consider the outlook for markets and investors.   

We recorded this episode the day after the first U.S. Presidential debate, and before the announcement about President Trump's positive Covid-19 test.  

This week, we grade Abenomics and look ahead to the next era of Japanese politics, and we assess the impact of the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the US Presidential race.

Paul Diggle  is joined by three socially-distanced guests to discuss the fallout from the resignation of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan.   Together they grade the three arrows of Abenomics (spoiler: nobody gets an "A") and discuss the challenges facing the new Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, and how all this affects investors.   

Our lead topic is the cheery prospect of a cold, Covid winter - are further lockdowns on the horizon, and how much more can the economy can take? We leaven this with a lively discussion on inflation, and ask whether the crisis will have inflationary or disinflationary consequences. Clue: we think worries about inflation rising out of control are overblown - but you'll have to listen in to hear the rest.

This week’s lead topic is the Federal Reserve’s new mandate.  Our guests are James McCann, Senior Economist, based in Boston, Massachusetts, and Luke Bartholomew, Senior Monetary Economist.  Then we’ll be picking up where we all left off on Brexit, and assessing the latest dramatic moves from the UK Government and the EU.