StratCast

In the first 2021 edition of his monthly economic update, Dr Andrew Hilton, director and joint founder of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, delivers his regular tour of the world’s major economic developments and outlook. This month, Dr Hilton takes a look at early 2021 forecasts and how the year could unfold, including what to expect from China and President-elect Joe Biden, before taking a closer look at the absence of provisions for financial services in the UK-EU FTA. 

In the December edition of his monthly economic update, Dr Andrew Hilton, director and joint founder of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, delivers his regular tour of the world’s major economic developments and outlook. This month, Dr Hilton review the US Presidential Election and discusses the significance of Georgia’s imminent senate election. He then takes a look as the composition of President-elect Biden’s team and what this can tell us about the likely policies of the new administration, before stepping back and reviewing the global markets and the contents of UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s spending review. 

In the November edition of his monthly economic update, Dr Andrew Hilton, director and joint founder of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, delivers his regular tour of the world’s major economic developments and outlook. This month, Dr Hilton looks ahead to the impending US Presidential Election, the most polarised of its kind in recent history. We explore the significance of Vice-Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris, the likely actions of a Democrat-controlled Senate and House of Representatives, and what a Biden win could mean for a UK-US Trade Deal. We then go across the Atlantic for a view of the economic impact of the latest wave of lockdowns across Western Europe, and why this could mean an extension to Brexit negotiations. 

In the October edition of his monthly economic update, Dr Andrew Hilton, director and joint founder of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, delivers his regular tour of the world’s major economic developments and outlook. This month, Dr Hilton takes a look at some the geopolitical vicissitudes causing instability across global markets, from sabre-rattling in Beijing to President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis and explosive tax return leaks. In the UK, with business investment and consumer spending falling, and unemployment rising, plainly a second wave of lockdowns would be crippling for the economy.  

In the September edition of his monthly economic update, Dr Andrew Hilton, director and joint founder of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, delivers his regular tour of the world’s major economic developments and outlook. This month, we take a look at the progress of the global economic recovery as what had been accelerated improvement gives way to a more cautious and possibly stalling rate, as well as a look ahead at what could be 'the nastiest election since Humphrey-Nixon', with Donald Trump appearing to assume a platform of law and order. 

In the August edition of his monthly economic update, Dr Andrew Hilton, director and joint founder of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, delivers his regular tour of the UK and the world’s major economic developments and outlook. This month he questions the logic of a second lockdown before looking at the faltering global economic recovery and the prospect of a Biden Presidency for the US, the Democratic Presidential Candidate being more committed to protectionism, and more beholden to Trade Unions.   

Welcome to the twentieth episode of StratCast, and the last before a break for August, with Peter O’Kane, Seumas Kerr CBE, Sophia Gaston and Tom Cargill. Two key highlights. The interview with Sir Ciarán Devane, CEO of the British Council, at 10:17 on the role of soft power within ‘Global Britain', and a summary, at 35:00, of the really important, hot-off-the-press, joint BFPG/Oxford University paper on resetting UK/China relations. For direct access to the full 70 page report use this link. 

Welcome to the nineteenth episode of StratCast. In this, the penultimate StratCast before an August break, Peter O’Kane interviews Guardian Universities Editor Rachel Hall about the current strong headwinds facing higher education in the UK, either side of which Sophia Gaston, Tom Cargill and Seumas Kerr CBE look at important developments and some briefings over the last seven days. These include multiple UK ambassadors generously joining British Expertise members to update them on key markets around the globe, reflections from BFPG on the report on Russian influence in the UK and D Group’s continuing focus on key requirements as to how the UK’s infrastructure is designed and procured; plus Tata UK’s chief, Tim Jones, addressing the prospects for digital currencies.

Welcome to the eighteenth episode of StratCast. This week, with Sophia Gaston away finalising an important BFPG paper on China, Tom Cargill,  Seumas Kerr CBE and Peter O’Kane follow the normal format. They review some of the week’s developments that stood out, ranging from heatwaves in Siberia to machinations in Westminster. There is then an interview with Philippa Foster-Back, who led the Institute of Business Ethics for 20 years around the always important but recently dramatically more dynamic subject of businesses being held to account for their practises, current and historical. They finish up by looking at what’s been going on in the briefing programmes of the last week, with a particular focus on BEI’s  extensive ongoing series of webinars featuring on-the-spot market briefings from over thirty UK ambassadors and their representatives around the World, bringing to life key themes and opportunities for UK business.

Welcome to the seventeenth episode of StratCast. In what is a hugely important week for the UK economy, Sophia Gaston, Seumas Kerr CBE and Tom Cargill begin by discussing the Chancellor's Summer budget, with a particular focus on the importance and feasibility of the retrofitting programme, before taking a look at the candidates for WTO Director-General, in what is a somewhat febrile atmosphere for the organisation. Sophia Gaston then interviews Joseph Sternberg of the Wall Street Journal on US foreign policy, particularly its relations with China, and the potential ramifications of a Biden presidency, before they wrap up with a look ahead at the programmes of The D Group, The British Foreign Policy Group, and British Expertise International.