Business Daily

Hackers are making millions from ransomware attacks. What can be done to stop them? Ed Butler speaks to professional ransomware negotiator Kurtis Minder, about the increasing professionalisation of the ransomware business. Kimberly Grauer, head of research at Chainalysis explains why following the bitcoin trail may be the best way of bringing ransomware gangs to justice and Vishaal Hariprasad, boss of cyber insurance company Resilience, tells us why the ransomware threat means there needs to be a stepchange in how companies view cyber security.(Photo: Illustration of ransomware attack, Credit: Getty Images)

The Nobel prize-winning economist and professor of psychology Daniel Kahneman focuses his latest research on the high cost of inconsistent decision making. In Noise, co-authored with Oliver Sibony and Cass R Sunstein, he looks at why humans can be so unreliable, and what can be done about it. He tells Andrew Marr that people working in the same job often make wildly different judgements, influenced by factors like their current mood, when they last ate, even the weather. He argues that ‘noise’ is distinct from bias and has been neglected by organisations and businesses.Gillian Tett is editor-at-large for the Financial Times and is also focused on transforming the world of business. But whereas Kahneman uses the methods of psychology, Tett argues for anthropology. For over a century anthropologists have immersed themselves in unfamiliar cultures, studying the hidden rituals at play. In her book Anthro-Vision, Tett uses similar techniques to reveal the underlying structures and human behaviour in our modern wor

The Chinese government is pleading for young people to have more babies. On Business Weekly we ask whether this new “three-child” policy will help reverse the ageing population. You can’t send babies out to work, so does the nation face a demographic time bomb? Plus, the growing industry of forensic genealogy is cracking decades old murder cases. Our reporter asks how much privacy do we have to surrender - and is it worth it? And as the US marks 100 years since the Tulsa Race Massacre, we head to a more recent place of protest and trauma: Minneapolis. The president of the Federal Reserve of Minneapolis tells us he wants to do more to fight racism and inequality, but a black businesswoman from the city says she’s not seen many signs of equality. And is the boozy power lunch back? Business Weekly is produced by Matthew Davies and presented by Lucy Burton.

Mei Xu is a Chinese American entrepreneur who made it big in the US by setting up a global candle business. She grew up in Chairman Mao's communist China, but was educated at an elite school, where she learnt English with the aim of becoming a diplomat. That was until the pro-democracy, student protests of Tiananmen Square in 1989. After that she managed to get a passport out of China and went to the USA, where she set up her multi-million dollar business. What does her story tell us about the state of the American economy and the growth of China as an economic superpower?

The World Bank has declared Lebanon's to be "enduring a severe and prolonged economic depression" and said it is one of the worst economic crises since the mid-19th century. As fuel and food supplies dry up, and cash reserves dwindle, Lebanese economic columnist and former bank executive Dan Azzi warns "Armageddon" could be just around the corner for the country. Meanwhile Diana Menhem, economist and managing director of advocacy group Kulluna Irada, explains how the country's economic got into such a state. And we'll also hear from Joumana Saddi Chaya, of the lighting design and manufacturing company PSLab and Aline Kamakian, owner of the restaurant Mayrig in Beirut, on trying to run different businesses amid the increasing chaos.Producer: Frey Lindsay(Picture: People queue with their cars to buy fuel in Beirut, Lebanon on June 01, 2021. Picture credit: Wassim Samih Seifeddine/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The rise of electric vehicles could see traditional service stations closing across the planet over the next two decades, and replacing pumps with fast chargers is unlikely to save them. Justin Rowlatt speaks to one entrepreneur hoping to profit from the rollout of EV chargers in every home and parking space, Erik Fairbairn of Pod Point. Meanwhile Isabelle Haigh, head of national control at the UK's National Grid, explains why she is confident they can meet the electricity demand from all these new vehicles.Across the Atlantic, another entrepreneur - Sanjiv Patel of National Petroleum - says the writing is clearly on the wall for his chain of 25 gas stations in California - but maybe not for a while yet. But could he turn them into restaurants or use them to hold séances? That's the fate of one petrol station in Leeds that is now an arts centre. We hear from its owner, Jack Simpson.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Abandoned gas station along old Route 66 in the California desert; Credit: Lynne Rostochil/Get

In the US - but increasingly in other countries too - cold case murder, sexual assaults, and unidentified person cases once thought unsolvable are being cracked thanks to the proliferation of public genetic databases. But with this success come deep worries for our DNA data. Ivana Davidovic talks to Brett Williams, the CEO of Verogen - the owner of GEDMatch consumer DNA database - about their business decision to cooperate with the police, privacy concerns and new opportunities opening up in countries like Mexico and Vietnam. We also hear from Tina Franke, whose daughter Christine Franke was murdered in Florida in 2001. She speaks of her relief at the unexpected progress in the investigation after almost two decades. Professor Andrew MacLeod tells us about his project - in conjunction with King's College London - to harness forensic genealogy to identify perpetrators of sexual violence in the aid industry. And law professor Natalie Ram explains the pioneering legislation being brought in the US state of Ma

In Africa, malaria is far more widespread than Covid-19 - so what would it mean to African economies if it was eliminated? We speak to the man whose team in Oxford devloped an effective vaccine for the disease. Mice have overrun parts of Australia ruining crops and testing sanity. We learn about the effect this plague of rodents is having on the rural economy. We hear why Amazon has bought the iconic MGM Studios - and what it means for both Amazon customers and cinema lovers. Plus, our reporter heads to San Francisco to hear how the city’s Chinatown has coped with both Covid-19 and an increase in anti-Chinese race hate crime. As shops are boarded up and tourists stay away, what plans are there to rejuvenate this historic area? Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Matthew Davies.

Not everyone can be special, so should we embrace our mediocrity?In a programme first broadcast in August 2016, Manuela Saragosa investigates the appeal of being average. She talks to mediocrity advocates and bloggers Krista O'Reilly-Davi-Digui from Alberta in Canada, and Mark Manson in the US. But what happens when whole societies embrace mediocrity at the expense of excellence? Italian philosopher Gloria Origgi explains the concept of "kakonomics'" - the economics of being bad.(Picture of men holding balloons via Getty Images)

Will the craze for the cryptocurrency started as a joke end in tears? We delve into the world of Dogecoin and ask why people are investing and what the consequences might be. We hear why amateur investors, Vicki Richards from Philadelphia and Erik van der Zanden in the Netherlands, decided to buy Dogecoin. Plus, Kevin Roose, a tech columnist with the New York Times explains why the last year of financial trials and tribulations have made cryptocurrencies attractive to some seeking to make a fortune. And David Gerard, a cryptocurrency sceptic and author of Attack of the 50ft Blockchain, tells us why he thinks the crypto boom will turn to a bust. (Photo of visual representations of digital cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin and Bitcoin. Photo by Yuriko Nakao for Getty Images).

Does it pay for vicitms to complain? Ed Butler speaks to Emi Nietfeld about her experiences at Google who says she suffered this for years and claims it eventually forced her to quit her job. (Picture credit: Getty Images)

San Francisco is home to the oldest and largest Chinatown in North America. But with boarded up businesses and an upsurge in anti-Chinese attacks, the past 14 months have been some of the toughest this community has faced. Will this historic and bustling quarter of San Francisco recover?Vivienne Nunis meets Yiying Lu, a graphic designer from Shanghai who recently made the city her home. She's working with many local businesses to bring visitors back. We also hear from celebrity TV chef Martin Yan on the unifying power of food, and from local business-owners combating racist stereotypes perpetrated by the former US president.Producer: Sarah Treanor(Picture: San Francisco police officers patrol Grant Avenue in Chinatown; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The International Energy Agency has added its voice to those calling for the end of fossil fuels. The dramatic intervention from the body which helps keep global oil supplies moving is music to the ears of many scientists and environmentalists. Shareholder activists too are pushing from within companies for an energy transition so we ask what the future looks like for the oil and gas sector. Why are some companies resisting the call to go green faster and harder? We’ll look at what happened to the autonomous driving revolution we were all promised. Are driverless cars ever going to be more than an experiment? The hospitality sector may be opening up across the world once more, but who is going to be waiting the tables and cooking the meals? Many staff who were laid off in the first wave of the pandemic have since found new jobs or even moved countries creating a huge staff shortage. And all work, no play? Our workplace commentator extols the virtues of a little play at work. Business Weekly is presented by Lu

A new vaccine could help eliminate the disease. What would that mean for African economies?Manuela Saragosa speaks to the man who led the team behind the new vaccine, which has demonstrated a startling 77% effectiveness in recent drug trials. Adrian Hill of Oxford University's Jenner Institute says it is the culmination of 20 years' work - but how was it all funded?Research suggests malaria has been one of the biggest factors that historically held back African economies, according to Obinna Onwujekwe, professor of health economics at the University of Nigeria. But the big pharmaceutical companies have had no commercial interest in developing a vaccine, says Els Torreele of University College London.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Mosquito; Credit: Getty Images)

Faster price rises are coming as countries recover from the pandemic. But how painful will it be for consumers and the global economy? Mohamed El-Erian, economic adviser and president of Queens' College, Cambridge, thinks central banks are already behind the curve when it comes to keeping inflation in check. Others believe the pandemic's impact on prices is largely temporary. Dana Peterson of the US Conference Board explains why. We also hear from restaurant owner Luke Garnsworthy. Now that England's third lockdown has mostly lifted, customers are itching to spend and he can't find enough staff for his kitchens. But, he says raising prices and wages isn't an option for him.Picture: stock photo of a sad piggy bank and stack of coins (Credit: Getty)

How ten years of conflict have destroyed the country's economy. As Syria prepares for largely symbolic elections to re-elect its President Bashar Al-Assad next week, we look at how ten years of conflict have destroyed the country's economy. Ed Butler looks at the growing evidence that Syria's government is now building its income around a multi-billion dollar trade in narcotics. He speaks to Syrian economist Jihad Yazigi, editor in chief of the online publication The Syria Report, Martin Chulov, The Guardian newspapers' Middle East editor and to Elizabeth Tsurkov, a fellow at the New Lines institute in Washington specialising in the Levant. (Picture credit: A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) walks through the debris in the old city centre on the eastern frontline of Raqa on September 25, 2017)

When it comes to pandemic preparedness the United States was once one of the world’s best prepared countries. Today it has one of the world’s worst Covid mortality rates. So what went wrong? The financial journalist and writer Michael Lewis of The Big Short fame, has investigated and has published a book called The Premonition. It’s a real life, deep-dive account of how American public health officials warned about the impending Covid pandemic but were ignored by US authorities. (Picture credit: Getty Images)

Why hasn't the autonomous car revolution happened yet? A few years ago industry figures were predicting driverless cars would take over our roads by the end of the 2010s, but so far there's no sign of them. Justin Rowlatt speaks to Oliver Cameron from Cruise - a company testing driverless cars on the streets of San Francisco, and to industry analyst Sam Abuelsamid from Guidehouse Insights about the technological and regulatory challenges that still exist. UK transport minister Rachel Maclean explains why governments are enthusiastic about the technology, but need to put safety first.(Photo: An autonous Cruise car on the streets of San Francisco. Credit: Getty Images)

As the vital Colonial Pipeline in the US comes under cyberattack, Business Weekly hears how vulnerable infrastructure and companies are to being hacked. We take a look at the dirty business of car battery recycling - it’s an increasing health hazard in developing countries, as the lead acid seeps into people, plants and animals. We also hear from religious leaders who explain how the pandemic has affected the spiritual and religious life of their churches. And as the European Super League saga continues, we take a look at the finances driving the clubs’ desire to form a new league. Plus, should bamboo be used to make cricket bats? Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Matthew Davies.

Calls are rising for a waiver of patent protections on Covid-19 vaccines - but would it do anything to accelerate their rollout in the developing world?Manuela Saragosa speaks to an advocate of the "People's Vaccine" campaign, which aims to end the control of the major pharmaceutical companies. Els Torreele of University College London says much of the research and development of these vaccines was publicly funded anyway, and the need to negotiate patent agreements prevents other companies from rapidly scaling up vaccine production.The need to speed up the rollout is testified to by the South African professor of vaccinology Shabir Madhi, who points out that his own country has yet to begin immunising the general public. But Thomas Cueni of the global pharmaceutical industry body, the IFPMA, says they are already on course to vaccinate the world within a year.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: A man is vaccinated at a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya; Credit: Robert Bonet/NurPhoto via Getty Images)