Merryn Talks Money

Bloomberg

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.

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Friday · 26 min
Markets Wrap: Bond Market Turmoil, Inheritance Tax and AI risks
Are European bond markets signaling disaster? This week, John Stepek and Bloomberg's David Goodman explore how the rising gap between bond yields in France and Germany mirrors the eurozone debt crisis, why governments are struggling to deal with the return to more "normal" interest rates, and why Conservative proposals for inheritance tax might clog up the housing market even further. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Wednesday · 31 min
What to Do If Your Mortgage Rate Jumps
John Stepek, senior reporter and author of the Money Distilled newsletter, is joined by Anthony Emmerson, director at London-based mortgage broker Trinity Financial to discuss rising mortgage rates and borrowers facing a jump in repayments, they explain what homeowners can do to soften the blow — from locking in a new deal early to extending their mortgage term or considering a tracker. They also look at opportunities for first-time buyers, falling flat prices and what the government’s proposed Help to Buy scheme could mean for the housing market. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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October 5 · 38 min
How to Outsmart Your Investing Instincts
Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Alex Edmans, author of The Madness of Markets: Why Smart Investors Make Crazy Decisions – And How to Exploit Them, about why even sophisticated investors struggle to overcome the psychological biases that shape their decisions. Markets are driven by humans, and humans are emotional. Edmans explains how understanding the influence of emotion, herd behavior and over-confidence can help investors make better decisions — and potentially achieve better returns. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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October 2 · 18 min
Markets Wrap: The Triple Lock, Bond Yields and Housing
Fresh off the party conference, the Labour government is promising pension reform, a new approach to social care and yet another scheme to help first-time buyers. Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek ask whether the sums add up, what the bond market is making of it all — and why the latest Help to Buy plan could leave some buyers worse off. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 30 · 11 min
Physical Gold, Stocks and Retirement: Your Questions Answered
Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek answer some of your questions. They explore the differences between holding physical gold and investing through an ETF, whether or not buying shares actually benefits the company you've invested in, and how best to adjust your retirement investment strategy as you draw closer to the big day. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 28 · 36 min
The Stocks That Could Survive an AI Bust
Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Blue Whale Growth Fund Chief Investment Officer Stephen Yiu about what could derail the artificial intelligence boom — and where investors might look if it does. They discuss whether today’s enthusiasm is masking an earnings bubble, how investors can diversify beyond AI and which emerging technologies and geopolitical risks could reshape the market next. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 25 · 18 min
Is the Stock Market Sending a Warning?
Merryn and John discuss worrying signals from the stock market, the physical constraints facing the AI boom, China’s growing appetite for gold and an unexpected consequence of the data-center buildout. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 23 · 18 min
Is Buy-to-Let Still a Good Investment?
As the UK's buy-to-let marks its 30th anniversary, we still find ourselves asking: is it worth it? This week, Merryn Somerset Webb and Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, discuss how it went from accessible investment strategy to heavily taxed and regulated. They explore multiple factors that changed the market and what it now takes to make buy-to-let worthwhile. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 21 · 30 min
What Career Should You Choose in the AI Age?
Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Daniel Susskind, senior research associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford and a member of the UK government’s expert panel on AI and the future of work. AI is expected to transform the job market, potentially upending many of the traditional educational pathways that have long led students into established professions. As those routes begin to look increasingly uncertain, how should young people prepare for the world of work that awaits them? In his book, What Should My Children Do?, Susskind seeks to answer that question, offering a framework for how children — and adults — can best prepare for an evolving labor market with AI at its center. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 18 · 11 min
Can Governments Afford These Interest Rates?
It’s interest-rate week, with central banks around the world making key decisions. Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek discuss what rising rates mean for markets, government debt and your money — and why financial repression and currency devaluation could be coming back into focus. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 16 · 19 min
How to Turn Income Into an Inheritance Tax Break
Merryn Somerset Webb sits down with Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at AJ Bell, to discuss how gifting surplus income can help reduce your inheritance tax bill ahead of changes to the IHT treatment of pensions in April 2027. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 14 · 35 min
Ed Conway on the Hidden Supply Chains That Run the World
Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Ed Conway, economics and data editor at Sky News and author of Trade World, about the vast and often invisible supply chains behind the things we buy. They discuss whether decades of globalisation have made economies more resilient or dangerously dependent, China’s manufacturing advantage and whether the UK and Europe can rebuild their industrial base without giving up the cheap goods consumers have come to expect. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 11 · 27 min
Markets Wrap: Bessent's Big Bet, Bond Yields and the AI Bubble
Britain’s bond yields are the highest in the G7, as renewed inflation pressures collide with rising defense costs and a government reluctant to make politically painful spending choices. This week, John Stepek is joined by Bloomberg macro strategist Simon White to discuss whether markets will ultimately force Britain’s hand, what Scott Bessent’s interventions mean for US Treasuries and the yen, and whether the AI boom is getting closer to a correction. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 8 · 47 min
Live From Fringe: What Adam Smith Can Teach Us About Debt and Power
In this episode of Merryn Talks Money, host Merryn Somerset Webb is joined live at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe by Bloomberg Opinion columnist Adrian Wooldridge, former British ambassador Nick Hopton and Orbis Investment Management Chairman Alec Cutler to ask what Adam Smith can teach us about today's rapidly changing economic order. The panel considers rising government debt, the growing relationship between states and powerful companies, and whether the AI investment boom could follow the same pattern as previous market bubbles. They also discuss what it all means for investors, from the impact on gold and government bonds to the implications for energy stocks and, specifically for the UK, the future of the North Sea. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 4 · 52 min
Live From Fringe: What Adam Smith Would Say of Bond Market Turmoil
Host Merryn Somerset Webb is joined by Interactive Investor CEO Richard Wilson, Anna MacDonald, investment strategy director at Hargreaves Lansdown, and Russell Napier, financial historian and Keeper of the the Library of Mistakes for the second installment of panel discussions at Panmure House during the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The panel discussed the state of global bond markets, how policymakers seem incapable of thinking about second-order consequences and the fiscal constraints facing the UK government. Original Music Composed by Mint Sherbets See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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September 2 · 38 min
Live from Fringe: What Adam Smith Can Teach Investors About AI and Investing
In this episode of Merryn Talks Money, host Merryn Somerset Webb is joined by Bloomberg senior reporter John Stepek, Schroders Head of Strategic Research Duncan Lamont and Nelsons Chairman and Creative Scotland Chair Robert Wilson for a special roundtable recorded at Panmure House during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Marking 250 years since the publication of The Wealth of Nations, they ask what Adam Smith can teach the world about artificial intelligence, government intervention and investing. The panel discusses whether policymakers interfere too much in markets, why holding too much cash can be a risk in itself and whether investors should worry about buying stocks at record highs. They also explore what the rise of AI could mean for jobs, trust and the relationships that hold societies together. Original Music Composed by Mint Sherbets See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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August 28 · 10 min
Markets Wrap: Predictions Meet AI Skepticism
Hosts Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek discuss the latest Nvidia news in which the company predicted its sales could rise by around 70% in the next fiscal year, beating analysts' expectations. Despite the positive outlook, Nvidia's share-price bump was relatively muted, suggesting investors are becoming more skeptical about artificial intelligence valuations and the financing of the technology boom. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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August 24 · 38 min
What Happens When Quantum Computing Actually Works?
Merryn Somerset Webb talks to Daniel Doll-Steinberg, Co-Founder & Partner at EdenBase, an investment firm that invests in quantum computing, about why the next great technological leap may arrive sooner than investors expect. They explore how quantum could transform drug discovery, finance and encryption. They also look at how investors can get meaningful exposure to the quantum boom, what “Q-Day” really means for Bitcoin, and why understanding philosophy goes hand-in-hand with understanding quantum. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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August 21 · 23 min
Markets Wrap: Higher Yields, Higher Gold
Hosts Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek are both back from their holidays and this week unpack the surge in global bond yields and how governments might respond. They also look at a study which suggested that Small Language Models (SLM) could make today’s vast AI data-centre buildout unnecessary, posing a substantial risk to hyperscalers and investors. https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.07885 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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August 17 · 31 min
What it Takes to Build a Stagflation-proof Portfolio
Joining Merryn Somerset Webb for this week's episode is Duncan Lamont, Head of Strategic Research at Schroders. Lamont explains how investors can protect their portfolios against stagflation, and how to avoid being too exposed to the AI trade. He also explains why all-time highs might not actually be a sell signal for investors - and how AI-driven job losses might affect US stocks. https://www.schroders.com/en-us/us/institutional/insights/adapting-asset-allocation-to-the-risk-of-stagflation/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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