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Image copyright Getty Images On 9 January 2007, one of the most influential entrepreneurs on the planet announced something new – a product that was to become the most profitable in history. It was, of course, the iPhone. There are many ways in which the iPhone has defined the modern economy. There is the sheer profitability of the thing, of course: there are only two or three companies in the world that make as much money as Apple does from the iPhone alone. There is the fact that it created […]

Image copyright Shutterstock Rudolf Diesel died in mysterious circumstances before he was able to capitalise on his ingenious invention. It was 22:00. Rudolf Diesel had retired to his cabin aboard the SS Dresden, travelling from Belgium across the English Channel. His nightclothes were laid out on his bed, but Diesel did not change into them. The inventor of the engine that bears his name was thinking about his heavy debts and the interest payments that he couldn’t afford. In his diary, that date – 29 September 1913 – was marked […]

Image caption Yilin tells the BBC’s Rob Young she has no idea how long it will be before she can afford a flat In an international restaurant in the centre of Beijing, diners are tucking into the self-service buffet of fish, noodles and dim sum. One of the waitresses, 24-year-old Yilin, is working a late shift. She moved to the capital from the nearby province of Hebei three years ago. Yilin tells me she is in Beijing, like the other seven million migrant workers here, to earn money and improve […]

Image copyright Getty Images America’s central bank has raised its benchmark interest rate for only the second time in 10 years. The Federal Reserve increased rates on Wednesday by 0.25% to a range of 0.5% to 0.75%, citing a stronger US economy. When the Fed changes policy on rates, it ripples across the globe. So, how does it affect people in the UK? If you’ve got a mortgage… The short answer is not a lot. There might have been a time when a rate rise in the US could have […]

Image copyright AFP The referendum result makes life even more challenging for Italy’s banks, after the country voted against Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s proposed constitutional reforms. Several banks are trying to raise new money from investors to reinforce their financial foundations. Attention is focused especially on Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Italy’s third largest bank and the world’s oldest. It came out of a recent European Central Bank assessment worse than any other major lender. Italy’s banks are currently one of the main trouble spots for the eurozone. They […]

Image copyright Getty Images You’ve seen all the signs and adverts, had your inbox flooded with emails offering “massive discounts” and “unmissable deals”. There’s no escaping Black Friday. Falling on 25 November this year, Black Friday originated in the United States. The day follows the US Thanksgiving holiday (the fourth Thursday in November) and is seen as the start of the holiday season with shoppers hoping to snap up bargains and save on their Christmas shopping. But how does the discount day compare with other retail bonanzas? Black Friday & […]

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Governments and large corporations may have hammered out agreements to craft a TPP that suits them – but some see no gain for workers US President Donald Trump made abandoning the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal a key part of his election campaign and on his first day in office, he has proved as good as his word. But what was the TPP designed to do? And does it have any future without the US? TPP in a nutshell Twelve countries that border the […]

Image copyright Reuters Philip Hammond has a difficult trick to pull off this week. On the one hand – come clean: the government’s not keeping its promises on the public finances. On the other hand – convince us: the government is serious about the public finances. The government was elected with three promises at the heart of its economic plans. Cap welfare spending. Reduce public sector debt as a proportion of the economy, starting last year. And get into surplus, so its income exceeded its spending, by 2019/20 – staying […]

Image copyright PA Image caption A tricky situation for Robert Chote, head of the Office for Budget Responsibility You have to feel the Office for Budget Responsibility’s pain. By next Tuesday, the OBR has to come up with forecasts of what will happen to the UK economy and the government finances over the next five years. The Act of Parliament that created the OBR said that its forecasts had to be based on government policies and “may not consider what the effect of any alternative policies would be”. And here […]

Image copyright EPA The prime minister seemed pleased with the outcome of her trade visit to India. Theresa May said the 33-strong delegation had sealed deals worth £1bn, laying the groundwork for more than 1,300 jobs in the UK. Mrs May even donned a sari on a visit to a Hindu temple in the southern city of Bangalore, mixing the traditional with the modern. Bangalore has now become an important IT base for many other countries. Yet in India, they’re not so sure. Her reception was polite, with Prime Minister […]