The Compass

International economist Jim O’Neill asks economists and historians if President Biden’s ambitions to ‘build back better’ - with a new focus on investing in human capital and addressing racial and financial inequalities - could result in fundamental changes to the characteristics of America’s economic system. Has the resilience that is critical to the DNA of America's economic system - its capacity to weather recurring financial storms and bounce back - survived Covid?

(Photo: US President Joe Biden speaks as Vice President Kamala Harris (L) looks on at an event marking the day that families will get their first monthly Child Tax Credit relief payments through the American Rescue Plan. Credit: Alex Edelman/ EPA)

International economist Jim O’Neill explores the implications for the dollar of America’s response to the Covid-driven economic crisis. With help from economists and historians, he asks if China can challenge the dollar's dominant place in the global economy - or whether digital currencies, such as bitoin, could prove more disruptive in the long term?

(Photo: Representations of the Ripple, Bitcoin, Etherum and Litecoin virtual currencies on a PC motherboard. Credit: Reuters)

Prior to Covid, the US economy had been declining compared with other countries, and the pandemic itself highlighted existing weaknesses. Now America’s economy is surging, powered by President Joe Biden’s massive financial stimulus plan. International economist Jim O’Neill hears from economists who argue that new fiscal policies could support a transformational moment for America’s economy - and from others who warn that dangerous inflationary pressures are being stoked.

(Photo: President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the state of his American Rescue Plan from the State Dining Room at the White House, Washington, D.C. Credit: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Jewellery designer, Rajvi Vora discovers more about precious gold as she looks ahead to the future of gold. With cryptocurrency snapping at its heels, can it remain a financial powerhouse? Ravi unearths what goldmines are doing to our planet and to the people who work at them, including the Indonesian families being poisoned by the goldmines on their back doorsteps. But there is a good side to gold too. She hears from the scientists beginning to tap into the potential of using nanogold to treat cancer.

Jewellery designer Rajvi Vora discovers more about the precious metal that has had such an impact on her life, and the world. Rajvi is learning about gold’s current role across the globe and hoping to understand the many faces of it. From where it starts life in the goldmines of Colombia - hidden in lush forests that serve their communities, to Ghana where illegal goldmines are killing crops and livelihoods. She also speaks to celebrity jewellers making extravagant creations for the rich and famous in LA, and dip down into Dubai’s gold vaults where gold is stashed away as a safe haven investment.

(Photo: 818 Vault, Dubai. Credit: Vikram Jethwani)

Throughout time our definition of what is valuable and what is rare changes. Yet as economies boom and bust and fashions come and go, one thing seems to remain both financially valuable and personally precious - gold.

Across three episodes for The Compass, we will explore gold's past, present and future and humanity’s obsession with it - from being worshipped in the ancient world, to changing immigration forever during the Gold Rush, and the part it plays in our jewellery, coinage, finance and medicine.

Presenting this programme is jewellery designer Rajvi Vora. As a third generation Kenyan of Indian origin, she understands the cultural importance of gold first hand, and takes us on a journey to discover more about this precious metal that continues to shape the world.

Speaking with a variety of experts and working Americans, Daniel Susskind considers how we might negotiate a world without work. He hears the story of Youngstown, Ohio, where the collapse of the steel industry in the 1970s led to severe job losses and created a perfect storm of societal problems that a fresh wave of rapid automation could replicate on a mass scale. If we’re to avoid such a future, we’re going to have to rethink our attitudes towards taxation, wealth distribution, and even the nature of work itself.

Economist Daniel Susskind asks what the new wave of high-tech automation means for jobs. He hears from a company leading the way in the development of driverless trucks, and a long-haul truck driver who’s deeply worried about it. If jobs like trucking disappear, many of America’s millions of drivers may be forced into sectors like the service industry, but, as we hear on our visit to the world’s first automated restaurant, that isn’t immune to automation either. With technology already encroaching on traditionally white collar jobs as well, there’s only so much education and retraining can do.

Technology has complemented our work since the invention of the wheel, but we may finally be approaching a point where automation stands to replace some human jobs entirely. Economist Dr Daniel Susskind explores how automation is affecting work in the United States, from fully automated restaurants to driverless trucks, and hears from the people whose livelihoods are being affected. A world without work could be a utopia, but without the correct policy to ensure people still have incomes and a sense of purpose, it could look more like a nightmare.

Daniel discovers just how advanced the field of robotic is becoming with a visit to the Oxford Robotics Institute, before heading to the US to hear how automation is already everywhere you look.

He delves into the surprising history of automation in supermarkets, from the first forays of the 1930s to the fully automated shops we are starting to see today, and hear how the advancement of artificial intelligence has brought us to this point.

Finally, we visit the Tyson Manufacturing Research Centre to hear how in America’s enormous meatpacking industry robots are increasingly doing work that until very recently could only be done by humans.

Producer: Ned Carter Miles

Native American Tribes have flipped their fortunes by building casinos on their land, but that is under threat from the new players in the market - the online sports betting companies. Dr Heather Wardle meets Greg Sarris, Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria in Northern California, who shows her why his tribe’s casino is a lifeline to the local community, and how online betting on smartphones is the new threat to his tribe’s survival.

(Photo: USA Graton Casino, owned by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria)