In this episode of Policy Matters, host Matt Dickson talks to Laura van der Erve from the Institute for Fiscal Studies about the merits of doing a university degree, and what recent evidence suggests are the relative labour market returns to degrees in different subjects at different institutions. With almost 50% of young people in England going on to Higher Education, and with tuition fees of £9,250 for most courses, it has never been more important to understand the impact on earnings of studying different subjects and at different HE institutions. Laura describes recent research from the IFS looking at graduate outcomes and explains some of the difficulties in pinning down the impact of a particular course on later earnings and employment. They then discuss social gradients in attending university and the extent to which inequalities have been impacted by changes in tuition fees. Finally, talk turns to thinking about the sorts of things students need to know in advance in order to make an informed decision about where to apply and what to study, how the government can help with this, and the limits of information provision as a policy.
Guests: Laura van der Erve
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Original Broadcast: This is Money
Ever heard of money flipping? It’s a new scheme doing the rounds on Facebook and social media that promises to turn your £50 into potentially thousands. So how do you do that? Simple really, you pay others to get onto the bottom rung of a pyramid and then recruit more people to move you up a level and get paid yourself. What makes it so dumb is that it doesn’t even try to have the legitimate veneer of famous pyramid schemes of the past. It’s a Ponzi scheme, plain and simple, but what is one of those and who was Charles Ponzi, the man the scams are named after. On this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost step back to America in 1920 to find out how Ponzi soared and then crashed – and look at the new money flipping scheme that has brought a trick as old as time to today’s digital age.
Guests: Simon Lambert,Lee Boyce
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In the latest Money Makers podcast Jonathan Davis talks to fund manager Charlie Morris, Chief Investment Officer at Netscape Capital, about the phenomenon that is bitcoin. Charlie has been actively researching bitcoin and other “digital assets” for at least five years. He explains why the mainstream investment community needs to take off its nose-peg and try to understand what is driving the price and usage higher – a must-listen for anyone trying to make sense of this recent dramatic financial market phenomenon.
Guests: Charlie Morris
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Adam chats with Gavin Ucko, the founder and managing director of The Happy Puzzle Company, about how learning through games and puzzles can out-perform classroom-style education. What is it about learning through play that makes it so effective, and how do you tap into the potential of people with different types of intelligence?
Guests: Gavin Ucko
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Original Broadcast: This is Money
Could you train your brain to get richer? Behavioural economics tells us that we regularly behave irrationally – and nudge theory has been used by governments and organisations around the world to try to make us better people. But could you take matters into your own hands, tackle your own temptations and make yourself wealthier, or just happier? On this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost look at some tricks you can deploy – and whether you can actually turn that old chestnut about not spending money on coffee into hard cash in your bank account, pension or ISA. Also on this week’s show, we discuss why Britain is bottom of the world pension league and whether that is actually as bad as it seems.
Guests: Simon Lambert,Lee Boyc
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In this episode, Adam investigates the psychology and emotions of mortgages. The original meaning of mortgage is burden ‘till death so why do people choose to pay too much by staying on SVR. The guest is Ishaan Malhi, CEO of online mortgage broker Trussle.
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Welcome to the This is Money show on Share Radio. From major supermarkets to micro-entrepreneurs we’ll be focusing on businesses big and small. Growing competition, inflation and a weak pound are all spelling problems for the retail sector whilst plans to scrap tax breaks threaten small businesses with bigger bills. Running through the various other issues from 4G to the strength of the high street Georgie Frost is joined by Editor Simon Lambert and Consumer Affairs Editor Lee Boyce. Plus how the new, forgery proof pound coin might not prove as secure as hoped.
Guests: Simon Lambert,Lee Boyce
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Georgie Frost is joined by financial heavy weights Lindsay Cook and Andy Webb. This week they take on the malfunctioning smart meters charging people as much as seven times their normal bill. Plus why insurance companies are getting the sucker punch this week and is it really a good idea to pay off your student debt?
Guests: Lindsay Cook,Andy Webb
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Welcome to the This is Money Show on Share Radio. The UK parties are now getting into full election mode and already we’ve seen a range of policy suggestions, debates and u-turns appearing. From energy price caps to scrapping death duty hikes we’ll but looking at what all these could mean for the finances of voters. Also weighing in on the French election and GDP Georgie Frost is joined by Editor Simon Lambert and Personal Finance Editor Rachel Rickard Straus. Plus it’s your final week to spend the old paper five pound note.
Guests: Simon Lambert,Rachel Rickard-Straus
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Original Broadcast: Share Radio Morning
Every week we meet some of the people behind the twitter handles from the UK money blogger community. This time Share Radio's Sara Macham spoke to Andy Webb; a blogger, journalist and trainer on all things money and consumer. His site is becleverwithyourcash.com and he tweets @AndyCleverCash.
Guests: Andy Webb,Sara Macham
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