BM Talks

BM Talks

Sensible Market Commentary

Episodes

September 29, 2025 42 mins

We are joined in our latest edition of BM Talks by Mark Mcvitie, Director of the Labour Growth Group. With around 100 Labour MPs as members, the group is 'committed to tearing down the barriers to growth'. Mark worked in communications in the financial services sector before moving into political campaigning. 

We asked: 

  • What is the Labour Growth Group's core mission? 
  • How does it work with other Labour factions? 
  • Is...
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We are joined in our latest edition of BM Talks by Dame Harriett Baldwin, MP for West Worcestershire who served as Chair of the Treasury Select Committee and is now Shadow Business and Trade Minister. Prior to joining parliament she was Head of Currency Management at JP Morgan Investment Management.

We asked: 

  • How do you assess the UK's fiscal risks right now?
  • Do the current fiscal rules command credibility in the markets?
  • Do ...
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July 5, 2025 43 mins

We are joined in our latest edition of BM Talks by Alex Patelis, who served as Chief Economic Adviser to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis between 2019-2024. Alex also worked in investment banks including as Managing Director of Global Research at Merrill Lynch and studied under Ben Bernanke for his PhD from Princeton. 

We asked:

  • Ten years ago, Greece voted No in a referendum to a bailout, only for the new Prime Minister A...
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June 17, 2025 50 mins

We are joined in our latest edition of BM Talks by Rachel Ziemba, founder of Ziemba Insights. She is an expert in sanctions and trade policy with a focus on oil markets in the Middle East. Her substack has the ever-more relevant name of "Weaponized Economy".     

We asked: 

  • What happens to the oil price given the Iran/Israel conflict?
  • What will be the response of the GCC countries and China?
  • How will Trump's trade po...
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June 4, 2025 51 mins

We are joined in our latest edition of BM Talks by Dr Nigel Bowles, who taught American politics and history at Oxford and Edinburgh universities, along with authoring many books such as "Government and Politics of the United States".   

We asked: 

  • Does the US Constitution prevent an authoritarian President?
  • Can the US President remove the Federal Reserve Chair? 
  • Are tariffs the exclusive power of the executive branch?
  • Is ...
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May 20, 2025 52 mins

We talk to Meyrick Chapman, Principal and Founder of Hedge Analytics Ltd, about: 

  • How should we look at the US trade balance?
  • What was the "glitch" in The Matrix on Liberation Day?
  • What does the Moody's downgrade mean for US debt?
  • Where could systemic risk emerge?
  • Why does the market respond dramatically to known unknowns?
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May 10, 2025 38 mins

We asked Ben Ashby, CIO of Henderson Rowe:

  • What next for the S&P500?
  • What is the Eurodollars market and why does it matter?
  • Is Trump trying to accelerate a long term rebalancing of the global economy?
  • Where could systemic risk emerge?
  • What countries are vulnerable in a new era for foreign policy?
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Rob Ford, Professor of Politics at Manchester University and co-author of Brexitland, talks to us about:
- What will happen in the 3 by-elections
- What this means for the UK General Election
- The new division between voters
- Why Nigel Farage isn't done yet
- The outlook for UK politics

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This is an episode from our archives. 

We spoke to Kweku Adoboli, the former UBS trader who went to prison for rogue trading that was uncovered in 2011. In the summer of 2018, having served his time, he spoke to us about the mechanics of marketing making and prop trading in ETFs and other Delta One products. He explained how he used proxies for volatility to hedge positions and how this can lead to hidden leverage within t...

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January 18, 2023 42 mins

We asked Hugh: 

  • What assets does he want to own this year ?
  • What does he think about inflation?
  • What was his favourite trading day? 
  • Which policymaker is getting it right? 

He shares how he was once under attack by Robert Mugabe as well as waxing biblical from his Caribbean island. 

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We asked: 

  • Will China invade Taiwan?
  • Can China meet its growth target?
  • What does China think of Liz Truss?
  • What is Xi Jinping's ideology?
  • What are China's demographic challenges?
  • And finally... what is the best programme on Chinese TV?
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We asked: 

  • Will there be a UK recession this year?
  • Will Working From Home solve the Productivity Puzzle?
  • Is Rishi Sunak doing a good job?
  • Who is his favourite UK Chancellor? 
  • How has business journalism changed?
  • And of course... what's his favourite joke?
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We asked: 

  • Is Gold still an inflation hedge?
  • When is Gold a safe haven?
  • How does Gold fit into a portfolio?
  • How does Gold compare to Crypto? 
  • How liquid is the Gold market
  • Have central bank holdings of Gold changed?
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January 27, 2022 41 mins

Former British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Christopher Meyer talks to us about the upcoming US elections, the role of China, the UK under Boris Johnson and the future of the European Union. He explains the greatest challenges he faced in his term as Ambassador, including the 9/11 terror attacks, as well as the greatest leaders he ever met.  

We asked: 

  • Who will win the US mid-term elections?
  • What is Joe Biden re...
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We asked:

  • What happens to inflation?
  • Can central banks hold their nerve?
  • What does the post-pandemic economy look like?
  • Do investors still need bonds in their portfolio?
  • Where are the opportunities in Emerging Markets?
  • What is the future of the EU?


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We asked: 

  • What does the future of asset management look like?
  • Where do ETFs fit in?
  • Can blockchain revolutionise the industry?
  • How has the virtual world worked during the pandemic?
  • In the search for yield, where do the opportunities lie? 
  • What advice can you give someone starting out in the industry?
  • What are the prospects for the Union of the United Kingdom?


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We asked: 

  • What can we learn from the response to the Spanish Flu?
  • Are we going back to the inflation of the 1970s?
  • How does the Technological Revolution compare to the Industrial Revolution?
  • Are central banks and governments pursuing MMT?
  • What happened to the Bond Vigilantes?


Philip Coggan writes the Bartleby column in the Economist. He started a life in journalism when they used typewriters. He has experienced s...

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Helen asked about China, NZ approach to them, how aggressive will China be and can it drive a wedge between NZ and Australia?

 

NZ has always had a good relationship with China, the Five Eyes has morphed into making political statements not intelligence ones. NZ is in ANZUS, ok it’ somewhat on ice as far as NZ goes but when John  was PM he sent their SAS to Afghanistan. We, along with Britain and many others observe a one China polic...

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We asked:

  • How has QE evolved since the financial crisis?
  • What are we to make of increased borrowing by governments?
  • What is the major source of systemic risk today?
  • What is causing wobbles in the bond market?
  • How far can we make a comparison between 2020 and 2008?
  • What will happen to the US Dollar?
  • What is the outlook for stocks, bonds and alternative assets?
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We asked:

  • What is the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol?
  • What happened over Article 16 and why?
  • What are the immediate implications for NI businesses? 
  • How much friction is there between EU vs UK, UK vs ROI etc?
  • Will we see a United Ireland and Independent Scotland in 10 years?
  • Will we return to violence?

Our speakers are from either side of the debate. 

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