Could Scottish philosopher and economist Adam Smith make sense of the economic world that exists today?

In this episode of Merryn Talks Money, Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Alec Cutler, portfolio manager of the Orbis Global Balanced and Cautious funds, Tom Slater, manager of Scottish Mortgage and Bloomberg senior reporter John Stepek about how portions of Smith’s bestsellers The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations relate to today’s issues in global trade, technology, renewable energy and investment strategies. 

Could Scottish philosopher and economist Adam Smith make sense of the economic world that exists today?
In this episode of&nbsp;Merryn Talks Money, Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Alec Cutler, portfolio manager of the Orbis Global Balanced and Cautious funds, Tom Slater, manager of Scottish Mortgage and Bloomberg senior reporter John Stepek about how portions of Smith&rsquo;s bestsellers The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations relate&nbsp;to today&rsquo;s issues in global trade, technology, renewable energy&nbsp;and investment strategies.&nbsp;

Merryn Talks Money with Bloomberg senior columnist Merryn Somerset Webb is your key to understanding how markets work – and how you can make them work for you. Every episode features a relaxed but in-depth conversation with a fund manager, a strategist, a Bloomberg expert or just someone Merryn finds particularly interesting in any given week. Listen in for the kind of insights and explanations everyone can use to help them make better saving and investing choices.

Merryn Talks Money with Bloomberg senior columnist Merryn Somerset Webb is your key to understanding how markets work – and how you can make them work for you. Every episode features a relaxed but in-depth conversation with a fund manager, a strategist, a Bloomberg expert or just someone Merryn finds particularly interesting in any given week. Listen in for the kind of insights and explanations everyone can use to help them make better saving and investing choices.

Merryn Talks Money

Live from Fringe: What Would Adam Smith Think About Trump’s Tariffs? 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/3ea3ed3f-31fa-4d01-9cad-b34800acf39c/transcript

Marker 01

Many of the graduates whose university costs were funded with Plan 2 student loans are now in their 30s, wondering why they have no money at the end of the month, and why they still owe more student debt than they left uni with. The critical mass of graduates feeling the pinch might just have been reached - and now they're feeling angry and ripped off. On this week’s personal finance edition of Merryn Talks Money, Editor at Large for Bloomberg UK Wealth, Merryn Somerset Webb and author of the Money Distilled newsletter, John Stepek unpick how Plan 2 and the new - perhaps even worse - Plan 5 loans work, how and why graduate marginal tax rates can easily exceed 50% and what tweaks could be made to ease the burden.


They also ask the overarching question: is the problem the system? Or is it the fact that the UK seems to be incapable of creating enough high paying jobs?

Many of the graduates whose university costs were funded with Plan 2 student loans are now in their 30s, wondering why they have no money at the end of the month, and why they still owe more student debt than they left uni with. The critical mass of graduates feeling the pinch might just have been reached - and now they're feeling angry and ripped off. On this week&rsquo;s personal finance edition of Merryn Talks Money, Editor at Large for Bloomberg UK Wealth, Merryn Somerset Webb and author of the Money Distilled newsletter, John Stepek unpick how Plan 2 and the new - perhaps even worse - Plan 5 loans work, how and why graduate marginal tax rates can easily exceed 50% and what tweaks could be made to ease the burden.
 They also ask the overarching question: is the problem the system? Or is it the fact that the UK seems to be incapable of creating enough high paying jobs?

The 51% Graduate Tax

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/69c67fbd-33e7-4be8-9fc9-b3fc00b7be8f/transcript

Fiona Yang, portfolio manager on the Invesco Asia Dragon Trust, joins Merryn Somerset Webb to discuss why global capital rotated from US equities into emerging Asia in 2025—and what she sees happening in 2026. She explains her valuation-driven, long-term, contrarian approach to stock selection across diverse Asian markets, and shares how she weighs risks like geopolitics, demographics, currency moves, and frothy AI-linked valuations.

Sign up to the subscriber event here: 
https://www.bloombergevents.com/ZZ3kna?utm_source=Podcast&utm_campaign=Podcast&utm_medium=Podcast&RefId=sub

Fiona Yang, portfolio manager on the Invesco Asia Dragon Trust, joins Merryn Somerset Webb to discuss why global capital rotated from US equities into emerging Asia in 2025&mdash;and what she sees happening in 2026. She explains her valuation-driven, long-term, contrarian approach to stock selection across diverse Asian markets, and shares how she weighs risks like geopolitics, demographics, currency moves, and frothy AI-linked valuations.
Sign up to the subscriber event here:&nbsp; <a href="https://www.bloombergevents.com/ZZ3kna?utm_source=Podcast&amp;utm_campaign=Podcast&amp;utm_medium=Podcast&amp;RefId=sub" data-destination="rte:bind">https://www.bloombergevents.com/ZZ3kna?utm_source=Podcast&amp;utm_campaign=Podcast&amp;utm_medium=Podcast&amp;RefId=sub</a>

Diversification Play: Why It's Not Too Late to Buy Asia

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/9b9a4b67-9ee7-41b8-93da-b3f9014473dc/transcript

On this week's markets wrap, John Stepek speaks with Bloomberg Opinion columnist Marcus Ashworth and Morwenna Coniam from the Markets Today team about this week’s fall in the headline rate of consumer price inflation and slowing wage growth. They also discuss rising youth unemployment and the potential economic impact of government labor policies, while weighing a cautiously optimistic outlook for UK growth. Marcus also comments on Nuveen’s takeover of Schroders as part of a broader trend of US asset managers seeking international diversification amid dollar weakness.

Sign up to the subscriber event here: 
https://www.bloombergevents.com/ZZ3kna?utm_source=Podcast&utm_campaign=Podcast&utm_medium=Podcast&RefId=sub

On this week's markets wrap, John Stepek speaks with Bloomberg Opinion columnist Marcus Ashworth and Morwenna Coniam from the Markets Today team about this week&rsquo;s fall in the headline rate of consumer price inflation and slowing wage growth. They also discuss rising youth unemployment and the potential economic impact of government labor policies, while weighing a cautiously optimistic outlook for UK growth. Marcus also comments on Nuveen&rsquo;s takeover of Schroders as part of a broader trend of US asset managers seeking international diversification amid dollar weakness.
Sign up to the subscriber event here:&nbsp; <a href="https://www.bloombergevents.com/ZZ3kna?utm_source=Podcast&amp;utm_campaign=Podcast&amp;utm_medium=Podcast&amp;RefId=sub" data-destination="rte:bind">https://www.bloombergevents.com/ZZ3kna?utm_source=Podcast&amp;utm_campaign=Podcast&amp;utm_medium=Podcast&amp;RefId=sub</a>

Markets Weekly: Inflation Falls, Wage Growth Cools, and Bets on BOE Cuts

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/65ed458e-04e3-4247-bfd9-b3f6014e50f0/transcript

Live from Fringe: What Would Adam Smith Think About Trump’s Tariffs?

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