The Rest Is Money

Why are governments failing to notice how AI is replacing many jobs now? If AI replaces all or most jobs, how can governments replace all the lost taxes? Who will pay for public services and stop us from starving? Robert sits down with Monzo founder Tom Blomfield to hear his revolutionary plan to reform the tax system for an AI world. The Rest is Money is brought to you by Octopus Energy, Britain’...

What’s a ‘finfluencer’ and why are they getting in trouble with the regulators? How much of a problem is dodgy tax advice given on social media? What part does financial literacy play in all of this? And is the law finally catching up? Steph talks to Stella Creasy - MP for Walthamstow and a prominent consumer rights campaigner - about her latest mission to stop the rise of unregulated financial ad...

What difference would wider adoption of AI have in our struggling public services? Is it the answer to the UK productivity problem? Why does the government struggle to "buy British" when it comes to tech? And could a simple software fix save frontline workers 8 hours of admin a week? In this episode, Robert and Steph are joined by Alex Stephany, the CEO of Beam, a British ‘GovTech’ success story u...

A month into the war in the Middle East, what are investors thinking? Are we heading for a global recession? Who is most exposed? What are the options central banks and governments have for getting through it? What does this mean for the UK economy? How can the government help people with bills without upsetting the bond markets and increase borrowing costs? Plus, what should you be thinking about...

What does Lloyd Blankfein - former boss of Goldman Sachs - think is the biggest threat to financial stability? What did he learn from the credit crunch about dealing with risk? Was the investment bank the ‘vampire squid’ it was described as? Plus, why did his cancer diagnosis have to be kept secret? Lloyd talks to Robert and Steph about his journey from a housing project in Brooklyn to CEO of Gold...

What is retail boss Richard Walker telling Kier Starmer to do in his new role as the PM’s Cost of Living Tsar? Why does he want a temporary cap on the profits of energy and oil companies? How does a supermarket like Iceland handle the price pressures that come from war in the Middle East? And how worried is he about rising employment costs? Richard Walker - executive chair of Iceland Foods - talks...

Why is the UK economy the most exposed to the harm from Trump’s Iran war? How should Reeves respond? And with resources so tight, which families should be bailed out from rising energy prices? Steph and Robert explain why Starmer should not waste this crisis, and should take the bold painful decisions to put Britain on a path to higher growth Since the recording of this episode, Donald Trump annou...

The Chancellor claims she is finally focussed on growth, but is it too little too late? Will the EU agree to improve access for British exporters? How much of our taxes will she transfer to metro mayors and what will they spend it on? And why is she still so far behind the curve on AI? Robert and Steph mark the PM’s homework, as she says she at last has a plan to make us richer. The Rest is Money...

How will Keir Starmer protect our living standards from the soaring energy costs caused by Trump’s Iran war? Can the Chancellor afford to subsidise our heating bills? And should the Prime Minister say yes to Trump’s request for British minesweeping drones and ships to be sent to the Straits of Hormuz? Steph and Robert discuss the options available to the government to limit the economic damage fro...

Why are financial markets still failing to price in the true economic costs of "Trump’s war"? How is the UK facing a "double whammy" of both higher interest rates and declining living standards? Why is it considered "ludicrous" to believe the economy could return to normal quickly, even if the war ended tomorrow? Robert and Steph are joined by Mohamed El-Erian for an urgent deep dive into what the...

Trump appears to be chickening out again, but has he stopped the wild market fluctuations? Is there another way to move vital energy and commodities that doesn’t involve going through the Strait of Hormuz? How much damage has already been done to the global economy? And what does it mean for your mortgage? Robert and Steph discuss the latest market turmoil and the wave of companies invoking a “for...

Why is AI changing every job? Why is it insane that schools ban students from using it? How did Marc Warner grow his British tech leader Faculty AI into a £1bn-plus company? Robert and Steph talk exclusively to Marc Warner as he sells Faculty AI to the world’s biggest management consultancy Accenture, hear how he and his data team persuaded Boris Johnson to lock down at the start of Covid, and how...

Why hasn’t there been a dramatic increase in the price of oil since Iran’s retaliation aimed at key oil facilities and waterways? Are investors right not to worry too much yet? What will it take to end this? And following Trump’s fury at Starmer over his reluctance to let them use UK air bases, is the special relationship over? With the continued unrest in the Middle East, Robert and Steph analyse...

What are the consequences for oil and gas prices of Iran’s retaliation? Will the primary impact be higher inflation or lower growth, and what does this mean for interest rates? And are we heading for a stock market crash? Robert and Steph also explain why the war is a nightmare for Rachel Reeves as she prepares tomorrow’s spring statement and for Starmer’s hopes of reducing the cost of living The...

Did Trump’s two hour ‘state of the union’ speech tell us anything we didn’t know? What’s next for trade tariffs? Will anyone get a tariff refund? And where does all this leave Keir Starmer and his 2025 trade deals with the US? With the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump overstepped his authority, Robert and Steph discuss what impact trade tariffs have had so far and whether Trump’s new 15% univers...

What is the secret to scaling a startup into the next Google, Youtube or Airbnb? Why do you need an American on your board to be as successful as them? And what is Trump really motivated by? Plus why being an outsider can be a superpower in business. Sir Michael Moritz ran Sequoia Capital for over 35 years and is one of the world’s most successful venture capitalists - he talks to Steph about the...

What impact does migration have on the UK economy? Are we heading for net-zero migration and does it matter? Is the so called ‘brain drain’ a real thing? And why do politicians love talking about immigration so much? Madeline Sumption MBE - Director of Oxford University’s Migration Observatory - talks to Steph about the complex reality behind the numbers. And as they delve into the stats they also...

Why can’t the UK shake its "confidence rut" despite having a £1 trillion savings buffer? How are global "populist" spending trends forcing the bond market to act as a fiscal referee? And is the UK actually poised to become an AI superpower? In this episode, Robert and Steph welcome back Karen Ward, Chief Market Strategist for EMEA at J.P. Morgan Asset Management and former advisor to the Chancello...

How did friend of the show, tax lawyer Dan Neidle, manage to discover the true extent of Peter Mandelson’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein? What crucial information has Dan pieced together using Blackberry signatures and time zones that reveal what some redacted elements tried to cover up? Has Dan discovered the real reason why Mandelson was prepared to forward sensitive emails almost immediately t...

Why does Peter Kyle think Mandelson was as brilliant as he was flawed? What impact will the new China deals have on UK growth? And does he care what Trump thinks about them? Plus Kyle’s plans to get the UK’s first trillion dollar company. Steph and Robert interview the Business Secretary fresh from his visit to China. Plus find out what happened when the interview was interrupted by an evacuation…...

How far does Jeffrey Epstein’s dark web extend into the global financial system? How much damage might Peter Mandelson have done by sharing confidential market sensitive details with Epstein? And why, despite decades of being dogged by scandals, has Mandelson kept being let back into senior political roles - and where does this leave Keir Starmer? Robert and Steph discuss the latest fallout from t...

How is the mass civil unrest in Iran, and the brutal killing of protestors, linked to the collapse of living standards? Why have Western sanctions been a blunt tool? And how rife is corruption in the Tehran regime? In this episode, Steph and Robert examine whether there is a route back to freedom and prosperity for Iran. Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, Founder and CEO of the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation of...

What links Japan’s new prime minister with Liz Truss and Margaret Thatcher? Can Keir Starmer balance relations with Beijing without jeopardising ties to Washington? And why are Steph and Robert so worried about the future of hairdressing? Steph and Robert assess the $7 trillion upheaval in Japan’s bond market and discuss the risks and rewards of Starmer’s visit to China. They also examine the UK’s...

Why have US productivity and living standards outstripped the UK’s? Why is it good news that more British businesses are failing? And why is the challenge now to make sure younger, more productive businesses get the capital they need? Steph and Robert talk to Ruth Curtice, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, about the report card the Resolution Foundation has written on whether the gover...

What is it that makes Trump back down? Why is Mark Carney, a former governor of the Bank of England, one of the only ones standing up to him? How strong is the EU’s hand in all of this? And why is the UK’s dependency on the US about more than trade? Steph and Robert look at what the latest Trump chaos means for the global economy and why “Britain is America’s lunch” right now. Email: ⁠⁠the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...