logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2021
28m 42s

Scotland cases, flood risk and taxing th...

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

The UK’s Covid cases are still rising and Scotland is being hit particularly hard - so are we speeding up our vaccination programme in response?

Will many of the UK’s coastal towns, not to mention central London, be underwater in the next few years?

Do the country’s poorest households really pay more than half their income in tax?

What are the top five places with the best vaccination rates in the world? The answers may surprise you.

We speak to Tom Chivers, a science journalist who has written a book called “How to Read numbers” with his cousin the economist David Chivers.

Up next
Aug 23
Do women feel the cold more than men?
Are office temperatures set too low in the summer for women to be comfortable? This idea has featured in news headlines and comedy videos which describe the summer as a “women’s winter”.But is there evidence behind the claims of a gender bias in air conditioning? To find out, we ... Show More
8m 57s
Aug 16
How weird was the Med Sea heatwave?
In early July, the Mediterranean Sea experienced a marine heatwave. The surface of the water reached temperatures of 30 degrees in some places. A social media post at the time claimed that some of these sea temperatures were so different to the normal sea temperature at this time ... Show More
8m 58s
Aug 9
Why it matters that Trump fired data chief
On Friday 1st August the US Bureau of Labor Statistics put out their job report data for August. It included revisions to their estimates for the jobs created in May and June which stated there were 258,000 fewer jobs than they had previously estimated. This news was not received ... Show More
8m 58s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2022
Can the UK ever be a low tax economy again?
As tax rises hit pay packets next month is this an end to traditional Conservative low tax policy? The UK government has so far defied calls from across the political spectrum to shelve the planned 1.25 per cent increase in National Insurance, despite millions of households grapp ... Show More
28m 9s
Nov 2022
Can tax rises and spending cuts help the UK economy?
Inflation in the UK is at its highest level in more than 40 years. Millions of people are suffering in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. The government has announced tax increases and spending cuts to calm the economy. But will it be enough? Join host Hashem Ahelbarra.  Guest ... Show More
21m 30s
Oct 2021
Business Weekly
Millions of people in Afghanistan are living in extreme poverty as prices rise and salaries go unpaid. There are warnings that hunger will follow the devastating drought, just as the cold weather sets in. How will the world respond to calls for help? Business Weekly hears from de ... Show More
50m 33s
Sep 2023
Money Box: Surviving or Thriving? Households
Rising costs are having an impact on almost everyone, but that impact is very different for different social groups. Is anyone managing to make a difference to their own budget, however small? Whether they be high earners or low income households, how are people taking control of ... Show More
28m 21s
Jan 2017
Public contracts: tax dodger free zones
In the January 2017 Taxcast we look at tax justice and public procurement - the efforts to hit tax dodging companies where it really hurts on a local level – trying to stop them bidding for public money for public contracts. Also: how massive amounts of money are flowing into Tax ... Show More
31m 8s
May 2024
57. How to fix UK growth, why economists fail, and restructuring our economic institutions - Andy Haldane
What’s caused the UK’s growth problem and how can we fix it? Does the UK need more domestic investment? Should our economists be able to predict crises? As interest rates are left unchanged at a 16-year high of 5.25%, join Robert as he interviews Andy Haldane, former Chief Econom ... Show More
49m 17s
Jan 2021
Enforcing lockdown as vaccines ramp up
The UK's battle against the new strain of Covid-19 has had mixed results this week – deaths continued to be high while infections started to fall. Are enough people following the rules? And is the vaccine rollout going to plan? Plus, we discuss the government's plans to move 22,0 ... Show More
30m 57s
Mar 2020
Making Sense of the Economic Impact of the Coronavirus
Youngme Moon , Felix Oberholzer-Gee , and Mihir Desai discuss the impact of the coronavirus on the economy. How alarmed should people be about swings in the stock market? Should the Federal Reserve cut interest rates further? What should be the government’s fiscal policy response ... Show More
33m 47s