In the first 2021 edition of his monthly economic update, Dr Andrew Hilton, director and joint founder of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, delivers his regular tour of the world’s major economic developments and outlook. This month, Dr Hilton takes a look at early 2021 forecasts and how the year could unfold, including what to expect from China and President-elect Joe Biden, before taking a closer look at the absence of provisions for financial services in the UK-EU FTA. 

StratCast

Andrew Hilton Economic Update: January

In the December edition of his monthly economic update, Dr Andrew Hilton, director and joint founder of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, delivers his regular tour of the world’s major economic developments and outlook. This month, Dr Hilton review the US Presidential Election and discusses the significance of Georgia’s imminent senate election. He then takes a look as the composition of President-elect Biden’s team and what this can tell us about the likely policies of the new administration, before stepping back and reviewing the global markets and the contents of UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s spending review. 

Andrew Hilton Economic Update: December

In the November edition of his monthly economic update, Dr Andrew Hilton, director and joint founder of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, delivers his regular tour of the world’s major economic developments and outlook. This month, Dr Hilton looks ahead to the impending US Presidential Election, the most polarised of its kind in recent history. We explore the significance of Vice-Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris, the likely actions of a Democrat-controlled Senate and House of Representatives, and what a Biden win could mean for a UK-US Trade Deal. We then go across the Atlantic for a view of the economic impact of the latest wave of lockdowns across Western Europe, and why this could mean an extension to Brexit negotiations. 

Andrew Hilton Economic Update: November

In the October edition of his monthly economic update, Dr Andrew Hilton, director and joint founder of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, delivers his regular tour of the world’s major economic developments and outlook. This month, Dr Hilton takes a look at some the geopolitical vicissitudes causing instability across global markets, from sabre-rattling in Beijing to President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis and explosive tax return leaks. In the UK, with business investment and consumer spending falling, and unemployment rising, plainly a second wave of lockdowns would be crippling for the economy.  

Andrew Hilton Economic Update: October

In the September edition of his monthly economic update, Dr Andrew Hilton, director and joint founder of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, delivers his regular tour of the world’s major economic developments and outlook. This month, we take a look at the progress of the global economic recovery as what had been accelerated improvement gives way to a more cautious and possibly stalling rate, as well as a look ahead at what could be 'the nastiest election since Humphrey-Nixon', with Donald Trump appearing to assume a platform of law and order. 

Andrew Hilton Economic Update: September

In the August edition of his monthly economic update, Dr Andrew Hilton, director and joint founder of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, delivers his regular tour of the UK and the world’s major economic developments and outlook. This month he questions the logic of a second lockdown before looking at the faltering global economic recovery and the prospect of a Biden Presidency for the US, the Democratic Presidential Candidate being more committed to protectionism, and more beholden to Trade Unions.   

Andrew Hilton Economic Update: August

Welcome to the twentieth episode of StratCast, and the last before a break for August, with Peter O’Kane, Seumas Kerr CBE, Sophia Gaston and Tom Cargill. Two key highlights. The interview with Sir Ciarán Devane, CEO of the British Council, at 10:17 on the role of soft power within ‘Global Britain', and a summary, at 35:00, of the really important, hot-off-the-press, joint BFPG/Oxford University paper on resetting UK/China relations. For direct access to the full 70 page report use this link. 

24: StratCast: Episode XX

Welcome to the nineteenth episode of StratCast. In this, the penultimate StratCast before an August break, Peter O’Kane interviews Guardian Universities Editor Rachel Hall about the current strong headwinds facing higher education in the UK, either side of which Sophia Gaston, Tom Cargill and Seumas Kerr CBE look at important developments and some briefings over the last seven days. These include multiple UK ambassadors generously joining British Expertise members to update them on key markets around the globe, reflections from BFPG on the report on Russian influence in the UK and D Group’s continuing focus on key requirements as to how the UK’s infrastructure is designed and procured; plus Tata UK’s chief, Tim Jones, addressing the prospects for digital currencies.

23: StratCast XIX

Welcome to the eighteenth episode of StratCast. This week, with Sophia Gaston away finalising an important BFPG paper on China, Tom Cargill,  Seumas Kerr CBE and Peter O’Kane follow the normal format. They review some of the week’s developments that stood out, ranging from heatwaves in Siberia to machinations in Westminster. There is then an interview with Philippa Foster-Back, who led the Institute of Business Ethics for 20 years around the always important but recently dramatically more dynamic subject of businesses being held to account for their practises, current and historical. They finish up by looking at what’s been going on in the briefing programmes of the last week, with a particular focus on BEI’s  extensive ongoing series of webinars featuring on-the-spot market briefings from over thirty UK ambassadors and their representatives around the World, bringing to life key themes and opportunities for UK business.

22: StratCast XVIII

Welcome to the seventeenth episode of StratCast. In what is a hugely important week for the UK economy, Sophia Gaston, Seumas Kerr CBE and Tom Cargill begin by discussing the Chancellor's Summer budget, with a particular focus on the importance and feasibility of the retrofitting programme, before taking a look at the candidates for WTO Director-General, in what is a somewhat febrile atmosphere for the organisation. Sophia Gaston then interviews Joseph Sternberg of the Wall Street Journal on US foreign policy, particularly its relations with China, and the potential ramifications of a Biden presidency, before they wrap up with a look ahead at the programmes of The D Group, The British Foreign Policy Group, and British Expertise International. 

21: StratCast XVII

In the July edition of his monthly economic update, Dr Andrew Hilton, director and joint founder of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation,  delivers his regular tour of the UK and the world’s major economic developments and outlook. This month there is a deep dive into the dramatic change in US political dynamics as the pandemic heightens awareness of the precariousness of financial situations across the globe.  Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.

Global Economic Report: July

Welcome to the sixteenth episode of StratCast, this week led by the youth wing of Strategy International in the form of Laurie Woodiwiss of The D Group, Matt Gillow and Matthew Gibbons of British Expertise International, and Katarina Kosmala-Dahlbeck and Evie Aspinall of The British Foreign Policy Group, the idea being that they might – in a small way - help our listeners, as leaders and captains of industry, to see issues from the perspective of their younger colleagues, in what is a very challenging environment. They follow the normal StratCast format of a quick chat amongst themselves about some of the more recent developments affecting young people, before moving on to an in-depth interview from Matt Gillow with the very well-informed James Price, ex Special Adviser to the House of Lords and until recently one of the only sub-30 year olds operating at the heart of government, first through the soap opera of Brexit’s legislative journey through Parliament and more recently the drafting of the measures to confront the Covid-19 pandemic. They then conclude with some reflections on the themes drawn out in that conversation and a look at the week ahead for The D Group, BEI and BFPG. Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.

19: StratCast XVI

Welcome to the fifteenth episode of StratCast with Seumas Kerr CBE, Tom Cargill and Sophia Gaston. This week covers a characteristically wide range of global and domestic issues, including renewed conflict between India & China, President Trump’s recent apparent criticism of Covid testing, Tanzania’s increasingly dictatorial government, and the future of free trade. It also feature a fascinating interview with BBC Today Programme presenter, journalist Justin Webb, reflecting on coverage of the pandemic to date and posing the question of whether it may lead to journalists trying to understand and address scientific issues in a more informed manner.  Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.

18: StratCast XV

Welcome to the fourteenth episode of StratCast with Peter O’Kane, Seumas Kerr CBE, Tom Cargill and Sophia Gaston. A longer than usual podcast but a week full of relevant developments for Strategy International’s membership, notably around the accelerated merger of DfID and the FCO, which they mull over at some length. That discussion is preceded by Sophia, Tom and Seumas’s thoughts on newsworthy items over the last seven days and also by the main interview at 09:05. This is with William Wright, the Founder and MD of New Financial, the UK’s leading think tank on capital markets. It focuses on the critical importance of the role The City is playing during the pandemic to keep the wheels of commerce turning and, looking forward, which it will have to play to help the nation pull itself out of what is bound to be a period of intense financial stress. Some fascinating stats, plus a couple of minutes of some very relevant observations on the progress the financial sector is making around embracing diversity. Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.

17: StratCast XIV

Welcome to the thirteenth episode of StratCast with Peter O’Kane, Seumas Kerr CBE, Tom Cargill and Sophia Gaston, where they continue their tour around the World to gauge the impact of the last few months. This week it’s the Rubik’s Cube of the Middle-East and in Jane Corbin, one of the leading broadcast media experts on the region, they have an outstanding guide. They are reminded of major challenges to regional stability and global security that have not gone away. They also dwell on some key highlights and news stories of the last week before Tom and Seumas discuss the huge opportunities and challenges for the UK and international markets in mobilising that classic, post-recession pump-primer, major spend on infrastructure. Sophia then reflects on the movements in the UK against racial injustice, and how the Global Britain project could serve as the basis of a cathartic national reckoning about our history. Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.

16: StratCast XIII

StratCast is a weekly international affairs podcast from Strategy International. It brings together insights from all three of our component parts; The D Group, British Expertise International and The British Foreign Policy Group.

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