Can the threat of war save the European car industry. A few thoughts here on the military industrial complex for BBC indepth. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6vg…

Not many people become billionaires as employees of someone else - Sheryl Sandberg is an exception - new episode of Good Bad Billionaire out now.

Was very happy to be involved with the Royal Foundation yesterday for World Suicide Prevention day. Moving accounts fro m Dames Laura Kenny and Kelli Holmes on their private struggles with depression while being publicly seen as world beaters. FA, Team GB, Premier League, British Cycling committed to building suicide prevention toolkit into their structures.

Two things to note as borrowing costs in advanced economies stay firmly in focus: The UK government paid a 5.82% yield on its £4.25 billion bond issuance today, the highest ever recorded by the Debt Management Office. Amazon is launching its debt sterling bond offering, illustrating how US tech giants are increasingly diversifying into international bond markets. #economy #markets #bonds #uk @amazon

Sir Alan..I'm sorry, Lord Sugar is our latest billionaire story - have a listen here - dozens of others to listen to including Taylor Swift, Elon Musk, Beyonce, Sam Altman etc bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct9b…

Jackdaw green light could come as soon as mid-September. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9x…

A very good explainer on why bond yields are rising and what it means for households - from my colleagues in personal finance bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyx…

Andy Burnham has described the water industry as "a leaking monument" to decades of wrong turns starting under the Thatcher government in the 1980s. He promised he would give customers "more ownership and control" of the industry. Using the word "ownership" is a subtle change from his promises to date which have promised "greater public control" - but stopped short of promising public ownership. There have been proposals floated to turn water companies into so called mutuals - owned by their customers - which have been studied by the government but dismissed by some as shutting off access to new equity capital. The private consortium attempting to take control of Thames Water will be hoping that doesn't mean their proposed £10 billion rescue plan will be rejected in favour of mutualisation or nationalisation - whether temporary or permanent.

Quite a comment from ex ceo of Goldman.

The Standard of Living, a new drama about economist superstar John Maynard Keynes, opens at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on 21 September. @BBCSimonJack speaks to award-winning actor Rory Kinnear about taking on the role and Keynes’ lasting legacy.

FYI: My thoughts on the recent surge in yields, yesterday’s Treasury buyback announcement, and what’s next. nytimes.com/2026/08/20/opini… #economy #markets #bonds #yields @nytimes

In case you missed it. You can listen here to my extended interview with Chris Weston the CEO of arguably the UK's most troubled and unpopular company. Thames Water. Would be interested in what you think of his thoughts on privatisation, nationalisation, climate change and executive pay. bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0p1qxv…

Great discussion with @elerianm on Newsnight tonight on multi decade highs on long term Govt bond yields… he really pins this on the competition in financing markets from giant AI investments

Why are government borrowing costs near multi-year or multi-decade highs? A short thread. The co-ordinated global rise in long term government borrowing rates is down to a few factors. There's the usual suspect - concern about inflation being higher for longer due to elevated geopolitical tensions and energy prices - but energy prices have been higher than this recently without pushing 30 year borrowing costs this high. In the UK, one of the biggest buyers of long dated government debt was defined benefit pension schemes whose number and life span is dwindling. The other suspect is the avalanche of AI related bonds being issued into the market meaning traditional long term government bonds have to compete for pension savings and investments with a massive new entrant to the market. This is not just the hyperscalers, Amazon, Google etc, but the entire AI eco-system - data centre builders, energy providers and others borrowing hundreds of billions every year from investors all over the world. It's also AI which is making it difficult to envisage what the world will look like in 30 years time. If AI does hoover up lots of white collar, high tax paying jobs in the future as many predict - where will governments get the money to pay the interest on their massive existing debt piles let alone the public services that money was borrowed to pay for. That's a hard risk to calculate from here - and is one reason why investors want higher returns to take it on.

Will Andy Burnham allow North Sea oil and gas drilling to go ahead? After public consultations on the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields close, business editor @BBCSimonJack says he expects the decisions to come 'in a number of weeks'.

Check the bit when their own lawyers helped send them to jail. A fascinating story.

Tao Huabi went from childhood poverty in China to building a chilli oil empire. 🎧 From celebs and CEOs to sport stars and tech titans @BBCSimonJack @misszing find out how the world's billionaires made their money bbc.in/4bOOYs7

My supremely talented colleagues in BBC Salford @BBCSport getting worldwide acclaim for this, quite rightly… this is BBC DNA passed down the decades… exported with appreciation for Britain across the globe… 👏🏾 proper link ⬇️

The consortium hoping to take over Thames Water have submitted new proposals to offering more control to local authorities and powers of veto for the government. The revised offer follows specualtion that the Burnham government would take control of the UK's largest water company. Andy Burnham made it very clear in his first speech that he wants to see greater public control of what he called life's essentials That includes water and the investors who are trying to take over Thames have made what feels like a last ditch attempt to mould their deal to his thinking. They are offering a greater role across the companies wide operating area for local authorities - modelled on United Utilities cooperation with the Manchester combined authority where local leaders help rpioritise investments. There is also a golden share for government giving them a say in big decisions. Sources close to the deal say they have sweetened it with hundreds of millions in new money on top of the existing £10 billion offer. The government has been conatcted for comment.