The Why? Curve

Where have they all gone? The UK’s economically active workforce has shrunk. More of us are staying at home - some from ill-health, some retired early, some have given up looking for employment. At the same time, businesses are complaining they can’t fill posts, and unemployment is at a record low. So wages have to rise to attract the few who might actually apply. What’s happening to the workers?...

China is dealing with deflation and stagnation - the world’s second biggest economy has failed to bounce back out of Covid, and that will affect us all. So why is this happening, just as most other major economies are beginning to emerge from post-Covid inflation? Is it the iron control of the Communist Party on a capitalist system? Is it Chinese consumers failing to consume? And what happens when...

Are there any Conservative MPs confident of keeping their seats in next year’s election? The awful poll numbers keep rolling in, along with gloomy economic headlines and a sense of a government in office, but not in power. Can the Tories pull out of their nosedive? Or is Europe’s most successful vote-winning political force doomed to a defeat as spectacular as the one they handed Labour back in 20...

Should a business be able to choose its customers? If a bank doesn’t support your politics, should they be able to de-bank you? Nigel Farage’s closed account has seen the resignations of the heads of NatWest and Coutts, but will it also see a change in the rules to prevent discrimination on grounds of political opinion? Dr Aine Clancy of Liverpool University tells Phil and Roger what the law...

Holiday islands burning, global temperature records smashed - are we fast reaching a point-of-no-return in the consequences of climate change? Is it still realistic to try to keep the world’s temperature increase to 1.5C? Or, as public opinion in some places shifts against curbing emissions from old cars, is the political will fading to make hard choices? Tim Lenton, founder of the Global Sys...

Why is the UK trailing the rest of the developed economies when it comes to growth and the post-Covid recovery? Why is our inflation higher, our investment lower, and our prospects gloomier? Is it poor leadership, or just the nature of an economy too slow to adapt to the modern world? Or is it just Brexit? Simon French, managing editor, chief economist and head of research at Panmure Gordon, tells...

The coup that wasn't. The mutiny that failed. What happened when the leader of the Wagner mercenary group attempted to march on Moscow? And what happens now? Is Vladimir Putin fatally weakened? Is the Ukraine war closer to its end? Vera Tolz-Zilintekevic, Professor of Russian Studies at Manchester University, takes Phil and Roger through some pretty alarming scenarios for the year ahead. Brou...

Is our revenue system too taxing? Are the thousands of pages of rules and regulations just an invitation to fraud and expensive accountants - with low earners left to fall into the traps set by HMRC? Or do we need to be able to take into account all the subtle nuances of modern life with allowances and exemptions to ensure a fair and equitable system? Judith Freedman is the Pinsent Mason Professor...

Is there any honour in the honours system? Boris Johnson's resignation list has again shone an embarrassing light into how and who we reward for public service. Should relatives of the prime minister and useful political allies become sirs or dames? And worse - should they get seats in the House of Lords, giving them real legislative power? When they're people whose sole claim is that they put mon...

Fast internet access is the key to progress, so why has the UK still got that annoying blue circle? Why have up to a million Britons logged off from their broadband over the pass year? Is there a migration to 4G on your mobile? Or is the whole system lagging badly, with outdated systems and cables? Roger and Phil are joined by Professor Peter Cochran, a technologist and futurist and formerly BT’s...

As more and more people are diagnosed with conditions like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or Asperger’s, are we seeing an epidemic of mental ill-health? Is modern life toxic for our minds? Or are we just recognising conditions that were always there? And is it good to put medical labels on what are just aspects of being human - eccentricity or sadness? Jane Caro of the Mental Healt...

Despite doom-laden predictions that the UK will be a foreign-investment vacuum post- Brexit, money is still flowing into the country. The question is, is it doing any good? The last quarter saw a rise in investment in the UK’s finance sector, which might create more jobs in the city but is it going much for the real economy, or the lives of people outside London? This week Phil and Roger talk to M...

Liars, cheats and charlatans - we don’t have a generally rosy view of our politicians. So how much should we expect from the people we choose to govern us? Should government ministers have to come up to higher standards than we expect of ourselves? Is the Ministerial Code of Conduct - drawn up and run by the prime minister - the best way to make sure of ethics and honesty at the heart of governmen...

Somewhere to call home - do you rent, own, or live with your parents? The choices are diminishing for the under 30s, and older people who own their houses are suddenly facing a massive uptick in mortgage rates. The UK has a housing crisis and it’s going to test whether a property-owning democracy is still the best model to follow. Is it a question of using tax and regulation to push house-builders...

Do we have the right to protest? What are we allowed to do, to show we don’t approve? And is it right to disrupt other people’s lives and businesses to make our point? The arrests during the coronation showed the new powers police have to deal with demonstrators, but are they too draconian, or just a reasonable response to the new disruptive ways protesters have found to draw our attention to thei...

Singalonga Europe - a festival of colour and music that unites a continent and spreads colour and joy to a dull and damp May? Or an orgy of naff tunes, high camp and absurd self-regard that shows up all the bitterest national rivalries Europe has nurtured? Does it even matter? It does, says Dr Dean Vuletic, author of “Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest,” and he tells Phil and...

What are the prospects for the man about to be crowned? As Charles formally receives the insignia of the monarch and the blessing of the church, how long can a thousand year-old principle of hereditary succession be sustained? Is Britain still not ready to elect the man or woman who is head of state? Or is continuity itself a measure of national maturity? And would we really prefer to have a cerem...

What’s the problem with our water? Untreated sewage is pouring into our rivers and onto our beaches. Despite the wettest March for 40 years, a hosepipe ban has been imposed in Devon. Something is going badly wrong with the companies that run our privatised water system. Is it just a lack of investment? Dr Kevin Grecksch lectures in Water Science Policy and Management at Oxford University - he give...

Bitcoin, dogecoin, etherium - cryptocurrencies are part of our world, and they seem to be a store of value, but are they actually WORTH anything? The price fluctuates wildly and there are plenty of stories of theft, fraud and criminality in crypto exchanges. They coins are largely unregulated and have no backing from states or central banks, so is their notional value a kind of mirage? Is it all a...

How should Britain deal with migrants crossing the Channel in small boats? The government’s ideas include expulsion to Rwanda, and housing asylum seekers in barges moored off the Dorset coast. They have been accused both of failing to live up to promises to cut the numbers arriving on our shores, and also being cruel and vindictive towards those who are seeking safety or a better life. So is there...

It's a quarter of a century since the Good Friday Accord was signed, but is Northern Ireland now at its most perilous moment since then? With the main unionist party refusing to go back to Stormont, there seems little chance of devolved government resuming, and tensions are building in a way that hasn't been seen in 25 years - the threat level level has been raised to "severe" and a senior po...

What is the Metaverse? Why are tech firms and big finance houses buying into it with billions of dollars? Will we all have to learn to live and play and bank in virtual worlds? Or is it all hype? And with the current concern about artificial intelligence, is it all just too dangerous? Phil and Roger try to get the answers to all this from Steve Benford - he’s the Dunford Professor of Computer Scie...

How much interest you pay on your home loan is determined largely by the unelected representatives in the world’s central banks. This week the Bank of England took its turn in announcing rate hikes in their bid to keep prices under control. They also have a mandate to ensure stability in the banking sector. The way things are right now, you might question whether they’re up to either task. Phil an...

The chancellor has told us how he’s going to slice the national cake this year, but there are those who say he has done nothing to push back against the growing gap in British society - that those who have are getting more, and those who don’t are getting less. The wealth gap, one of the worst in Europe, has increased over the last 20 years, and many see the consequent divide in attitude, social v...

In the 1930’s John Maynard Keynes predicted that, with automation and new ways of working, we’d all be working a 15 hour week. Many of us grew up being told that there would be more time for leisure. Yet, here we are, working as hard as ever. Except those who saw the pandemic as an opportunity to leave the workforce altogether. For many, we might be working harder, but spending more time working f...