We'll be back next week with more Merryn Talks Money interviews, but for now we bring you an interesting conversation from the Odd Lots team. 

These days, everyone is talking about high interest rates across the rich, developed world, while warning of eventual fiscal disaster. But we may have gotten an early glimpse of this anxiety in October 2022, when then-UK Prime Minister Liz Truss unveiled her mini-budget that spooked the gilt market. Well today, rates at the long end of the British yield curve are even higher. So what's going on? Why all this angst now about UK fiscal sustainability and the economy itself? In this episode, we speak with Liz Truss about what she learned during her brief time as the PM. She talks about the political reality of fiscal consolidation, and how difficult it is on both the tax and spending side. And we also discuss what her economic vision was really all about, had she not been forced from the position so quickly. In addition, we talk about the general state of politics, the media, and free speech in the UK.

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In this news round up episode of Merryn Talks Money, host Merryn Somerset Webb has returned from her holiday and is joined by Bloomberg Opinion columnist Marcus Ashworth. The pair discuss why the IMF won't be bailing out the UK anytime soon, gold's stellar performance, soaring high gilt market yields and the whether the stamp duty regime is all that complicated. 

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On the final panel at this year's Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, host Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Richard Wilson, chief executive of one of the UK’s largest investment platforms, Interactive Investor, Anna MacDonald, investment manager at Aubrey Capital, and journalist and author Alex Massie. The episode is taped in front of an audience at Adam Smith’s final remaining home, Panmure House.

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In this episode of Merryn Talks Money, host Merryn Somerset Webb is joined by Bloomberg senior reporter John Stepek, author Dominic Frisby and Interactive Investor Chief Executive Officer Richard Wilson for a roundtable discussion at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The conversation takes place at Panmure House, the last home of economist and philosopher Adam Smith. 

The panel share their favorite Adam Smith quotes and their relevance to our current economic and financial climate. They question how relevant the ideas of Adam Smith are today and the lessons we can learn from his writings. 

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Could Scottish philosopher and economist Adam Smith make sense of the economic world that exists today?

In this episode of Merryn Talks Money, Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Alec Cutler, portfolio manager of the Orbis Global Balanced and Cautious funds, Tom Slater, manager of Scottish Mortgage and Bloomberg senior reporter John Stepek about how portions of Smith’s bestsellers The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations relate to today’s issues in global trade, technology, renewable energy and investment strategies. 

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Daniel Rasmussen, founder of Verdad Advisers and author of The Humble Investor: How to Find a Winning Edge in a Surprising World, joins Merryn. 

They discuss his book, why all forecasts are wrong (and why we need them anyway), the case for selling US tech and buying small caps, whether we’re in an artificial intelligence bubble, and Japanese equities.

This is a replay of a conversation taped in January this year. 

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John Stepek, Bloomberg senior reporter and author of the Money Distilled newsletter is joined by Opinion columnist Marcus Ashworth to discuss the unexpected good news about the UK economy, why we’re currently in a buyers market when it comes to housing and why the Bank of England needs to continue to hold its nerve. 

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There’s no tradeoff between net zero and growth in the UK. That’s the conventional wisdom and the position of the current government. But what if it’s the decline in available electricity that’s causing productivity, GDP and living standards to stagnate? 

Research from Kallum Pickering, chief economist at Peel Hunt, suggests there may indeed be a connection. He joins Merryn Somerset Webb and senior reporter John Stepek on Merryn Talks Money to explain that the rise of power-hungry artificial intelligence and the UK’s renewed focus on defense may mean the government should reexamine its energy policies.

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Whilst usual host Merryn Somerset Webb is still out on holiday, John Stepek is joined by Bloomberg Opinion columnist Marcus Ashworth to discuss America's tariff war vs Switzerland, the latest UK fiscal blackhole estimates and Rachel Reeves' job security. 

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In this week’s Merryn Talks Money, host Merryn Somerset Webb sits down with Euronext CEO, Stéphane Boujnah to explore the reasoning behind the sense that investors are starting to look away from the US and towards Europe for opportunties. They discuss a range of topics from evolving market conditions, investor sentiment and the growing uncertainty surrounding US economic stability. They also discuss the impact of Europe’s institutional framework on its investment appeal and the role of European market integration in attracting capital. 

“Europe today is perceived as a large Switzerland. It’s not like everyone is getting fascinated by the growth prospects of European economies,” says Boujnah. “It’s just the feeling is that the institutional framework is stable and predictable.”

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