It’s the fastest growing app in the world, filled with dance trends, cats misbehaving, and questionable financial advice. Teenagers love it; Western politicians are less convinced. Could TikTok’s popularity be its downfall?

This week, hosts Mike Bird, Alice Fulwood and Soumaya Keynes investigate just who is afraid of TikTok’s growing influence. First, our media editor Tom Wainwright unpacks the relationship between TikTok, its parent company ByteDance, and its Chinese twin, Douyin. Then, AB Bernstein’s Robin Zhu outlines just how big a threat the app poses to the likes of Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube. Plus, Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr outlines his concerns about TikTok’s ability to harvest user data. And we ask: how long before this ticking geopolitical time-bomb blows up? 

Correction: An earlier version of this podcast said that the Chinese Communist Party recently took a 1% ownership stake in ByteDance. It was Chinese state-owned enterprises who recently took a 1% stake in a Chinese subsidiary of ByteDance. Apologies. 

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In much of the northern hemisphere, it is summer. But in the world of crypto, winter has arrived. The price of bitcoin, which has been hovering around $20,000, is 70% below its peak of last year. In fact, the entire market capitalisation of the cryptoverse has shrunk by more than two-thirds since November 2021. Is this, as the crypto bulls say, a much needed correction? Or is this the beginning of a domino effect that could see the entire decentralised finance system unravel?

This week, hosts Alice Fulwood, Mike Bird and Soumaya Keynes first look at why this crash is different from the many that have come before in the short life-span of cryptocurrencies. Then, they ask what weaknesses have been exposed in this downturn. Will this downturn finally see the end of the crypto hype and bust cycle?

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House prices across the rich world have dramatically increased since 2020. But that rapid rise could soon be coming to a sputtering halt, as central banks raise interest rates in an effort to rein in prices. Is another housing crash on the way?

This week, hosts Alice Fulwood, Mike Bird and Soumaya Keynes investigate the potential fallout of rapidly rising mortgage rates. First, they speak with Dallas Federal Reserve senior research economist Enrique Martinez-Garcia, who argues that America is currently in a housing bubble. Then, our senior producer JohnJo Devlin takes a tour of one of the most exposed property markets in the world: Norway’s. Finally, our global property correspondent Vinjeru Mkandawire explains which other countries’ housing markets are most vulnerable to rising rates – and offers her opinion of the best place in the world to buy a house.

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More than two years after the pandemic, supply chains are still snarled. Shipping times remain at record highs. Baby food, tampons, and semiconductors are all scarce. Companies are still struggling to answer a basic question: just when will all of this end? But one thing seems clear: after years of anxious speculation, the structure of the world’s supply chains have fundamentally changed.

On this week’s Money Talks, hosts Soumaya Keynes, Mike Bird and Alice Fulwood go on a journey to find out what’s still leading to delays and investigate the big shifts that will continue long after shelves are finally full. They’re joined by Audrey Ross, import and export compliance manager at Orchard Custom Beauty and Chris Rogers, principal supply chain economist at Flexport, who talk about the factors that are still gumming up delivery of goods. Then, Michael Wax, co-founder of Forto, explains why digitising the industry could help speed up shipping times. Finally, our US business editor Charlotte Howard unpacks what all of this will mean for supply chains in the future and why the old system might be finished.

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For decades, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore have been the three heavyweight cities in Asian business and finance, with Hong Kong the undisputed champion. But as the city-state’s draconian security law and zero covid policy begin to bite, its rivals are going for the title.

In this week’s Money Talks, hosts Mike Bird and Soumaya Keynes investigate whether Singapore or Shanghai could take the lead as Asia’s main financial centre. First, they ask Michael Mainelli of think-tank Z/Yen what makes a financial centre. Then, our China business and finance editor Don Weinland makes the case for Shanghai, James Crabtree of the International Institute for Strategic Studies gives the view from Singapore and our China correspondent Sue-Lin Wong argues we shouldn’t count out Hong Kong just yet.

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A hundred years ago, Sadie Alexander became the first African American to receive a PhD in economics and then spent a career fighting racial discrimination. This spring, the American Economic Association made her a distinguished fellow, their first ever posthumous award. We’ve decided to update this episode we first ran in December 2020 looking at her forgotten contributions to the field. Soumaya Keynes hosts.

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Since 1900, the global economy has fallen into a recession about once a decade on average. In 2020, the world experienced the deepest downturn since the second world war. Just two years on, is another recession on the way? 

This week, hosts Soumaya Keynes and Mike Bird focus on the economic slowdown in the world’s two biggest economies - in America and in China – and ask what could be done to prevent a full blown recession. They’re joined by our US economics editor Simon Rabinovitch in Washington, D.C., who asks former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Saint Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullard to weigh up the likelihood of a recession in America this year. Plus, London School of Economics associate professor Keyu Jin gives us the view from Beijing.

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The beginning of 2022 has been particularly brutal for stock markets. The S&P 500 had its worst April since 1970, the past seven weeks have marked the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s longest losing streak since 1980, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq has fallen 20% from its peak, putting it officially in bear market territory. 

This week, hosts Mike Bird, Alice Fulwood and Soumaya Keyes start small then zoom out. First, they look at what’s behind the crypto crash and hear from one unlucky investor who lost it all. Then, they speak with Rebecca Patterson, hedge fund Bridgewater’s chief investment strategist, who connects the dots between the crypto carnage and the rising power of retail investors. And finally, legendary bear market investor Jeremy Grantham explains why he thinks the stock market bubble hasn’t fully burst yet.

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Russia’s trade surplus has continued to grow, even in the wake of Western sanctions. It’s now forecast to be double what it was last year. That’s prompted an acknowledgement among Western countries that more needs to be done to squeeze the country economically. Recently, the G7 announced plans to completely wean itself off of Russian oil; the European Union is trying to follow suit. But that still leaves a gigantic loophole: natural gas.

In this week’s episode, host Mike Bird goes back to a key point in the 1970s to find out how Germany, Europe’s largest economy, became so reliant on Russian gas. Our European economics editor Christian Odendahl and our Berlin bureau chief Vendeline Von Bredow examine the geopolitical fallout from Germany’s misguided energy policy. And Georg Zachmann of the Bruegel Institute explains why liquified natural gas could potentially be part of the short-term solution.

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A record number of company shareholders have put forward resolutions at annual meetings this year, pressuring companies on everything from their environmental practices to political donations. Host Alice Fulwood asks our US business editor Charlotte Howard why the new frontline in corporate purpose has shifted to proxy battles. Plus, our US audio correspondent Stevie Hertz heads to Nebraska to find out more about a contentious resolution to unseat Warren Buffett from Berkshire Hathaway. And Thomas DiNapoli, the head of one of America’s largest pension funds, explains why the fund is supporting resolutions on everything from worker’s rights at Starbucks to racial equity at Amazon this year and weighs in on the spat between Disney and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

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