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Comment for w/c 8th September 2026:

Bond markets — how did we get in this mess?

'I used to think that, if there was re-incarnation, I wanted to come back as the President or the Pope … but now I would want to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody.'

James Carville (political adviser to Bill Clinton)

It’s just over one year since we last led with this quote from James Carville; financial markets definitely have a seasonal rhythm, and early autumn is a particularly challenging time for the bond markets. Other market features which particularly stand out are for equities — ‘sell in May and go away’ — and the run-up to Christmas and the new year, as a large number of investment funds move cash balances into equities to keep their investor audiences content.

There is, however, a very menacing convergence of public bond markets in autumn 2026 for a wide variety of reasons, and this is affecting many of the leading ‘free world’ economies, including Japan, the United States and the UK. Much has to do with the shortcomings of democracy, on which we commented last week, but geopolitical tensions, demographics and Trump’s failure to dominate the economies of both the U.S. and the world have a lot to answer for.

But reliance on public debt as the last resort all started several decades ago; in particular, the abolition of single capacity in financial markets has a lot to answer for. This defined the separation of the roles of principal and agent: for the former, your sole interest is in your own trading, whereas for the latter, your whole focus is in the interests of your client or customer. The combination has proved difficult, to say the least.

Andy Burnham tracks the UK’s economic problems back to the same era (the mid-1980s), but his reference is to the privatisation of utility companies. There have indeed been local difficulties from these, particularly in the water industry, but the introduction of dual capacity had much more to answer for in terms of the explosion in public debt over the past forty years.

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We've published over 465 of these weekly commentaries covering a wide range of issues, and you can find links here to the full list over the past nine years.

This Is Money focuses specifically on the UK’s bond market problem, and what it means for people in Britain. Motley Fool Money considers the substantial outcome of Meta’s social media channels being brought to justice in the U.S., and how Tesla’s robotaxi event became a damp squib. Also, there’s a new episode of The Hypnotist showing how a mix of zero-alcohol drinks can significantly reduce alcohol consumption. Plus, there are our reviews of the latest movies and gadgets. Please note that for quick links to Gadgets & Gizmos podcasts via Spotify, Apple, and Amazon, just click here:

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It's great to see Simon Rose, presenter of The Bigger Picture, The Financial Outlook, Gadgets & Gizmos and The Business of Film recognised in the Radio Times!

Also — please consider joining the Classic Movie Club where James Cameron-Wilson, Simon's sparring partner in The Business of Film, is executive editor.

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If we are to establish a more equitable society — supporting the individual human achievement so vital for democratic capitalism, but at the same time based on egalitarian principles — it is also vital to provide the necessary academic rigour to support the proposition of achieving this participation for all.

King’s College, Cambridge, in partnership with the University's Faculty of Economics, has established the SHARE research project (Supporting Human Achievement through Research based on Egalitarian Principles) with a four-year post-doctoral research fellowship. Areas of research include inter-generational wealth transfer; human capital (improving inequality and productivity through education and training); disintermediation; and mass share ownership.

Share Alliance is the registered charity which supports and provide oversight for this research project.

On Thursday 14th and Friday 15th May 2026, our second two-day conference will be held at the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London with a focus on inter-generational rebalancing. The first day will be academic in character and the second, policy-based. There's no charge for in-person attendance, and please see the schedule and webpage for booking here if you would like to attend.

On Friday 14th April '23 Share Alliance's first half-day conference took place, concentrating on two leading propositions: inter-generational rebalancing and 'Stock for Data'. It was also an opportunity to hear about underlying principles and its planning for the future, and there was a panel session for general discussion.

Video recordings of all five sessions for that conference are available via the Share Alliance website. Presentation slides are also available here.

When you just need some relaxing background music for reading, writing or entertaining, Share Music complements our speech programmes with a flow of instrumental folk music. However these speech programmes are always at hand via Share Sounds, where there's also an online slide display to highlight some of the best.

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In partnership with publishers Harriman House, Share Radio has produced the audiobook 'Superinvestors', written by Matthew Partridge and read by some of Share Radio's best known presenters: Simon Rose, Fenella Fudge, Glen Thompsett, Ed Bowsher and accomplished actor David Ricardo Pearce, whose ancestor is featured in the book.

Order your audiobook download of Superinvestors

Welcome to Gavin Oldham's full presentation describing his vision for egalitarian capitalism.

The main set of proposals are as follows:

Egalitarian Capitalism is an alternative to socialism which, while fostering and encouraging enterprise for all, acts to involve and empower people right across society and especially the young.

Six key steps of egalitarian capitalism

A proper programme of financial education to help people from all walks of life to build a personal store of freely disposable assets.
Setting the conditions for disinter-mediation, in particular reducing the extent of parasitic inter-mediation which separates people from a sense of ownership and control.
Direct share ownership: drawing together employee, consumer and share-owner, providing much improved corporate governance so that individual share-owners can participate fully in the companies in which they have chosen to invest.
Calls for risk to be properly recognised when setting taxation on reward. This means encouraging innovation and continuing to recognise the risks taken by self-employed people.
Addresses inter-generational equity, introducing a programme of incentivised financial learning for the disadvantaged young, fuelled from inheritance tax receipts, to enable them to achieve their full potential in adult life.
Tackles one of the most difficult issues for democratic capitalism: universal benefits. It proposes a new voluntary approach for higher taxpayers to make discretionary payments for using universal, state-run services.

Thought for the Week: Preparing for a first Budget

With the summer holidays drawing to a close in the next few days, the new team at HM Treasury will be busy looking at fresh ideas for the Budget on 28th October. The challenging economic situation calls for a fresh look at some of the underlying strategies which have driven debt so high over the past half-century. The really big problem is the extent to which 'universal, free-at-the-point-use' health care has caused deep generational unfairness; that, combined with the triple lock and unfunded state pensions, place real burdens on young generations. It's time for a major change in the underlying logic. Background music: 'People Watching' by Sir Cubworth

98 MPs, led by Alex Sobel, are calling for a national commission to prepare proposals for electoral reform; their talk is about some form of proportional representation. But democracy is faced with much bigger challenges, including short-termism, generational unfairness, and a serious lack of any global integration. Winston Churchill was right about democracy being the least worst system of government, but there are initiatives that we should take to resolve these three major challenges. Let's hope the national commission will listen.

The young owners of over two-thirds of all Child Trust Funds reach adulthood at the end of March 2026, but very large numbers of HMRC-allocated accounts remain unknown and unclaimed, including almost three-quarters of the £1 billion belonging to low-income young adults: the position is particularly acute in the north of England and devolved nations. These are accounts for which HM Treasury/HMRC are the 'settlor', and therefore have a duty to deliver these young adults' birthrights. Background music: 'Waiting' by Andrew Langdon

Is it crunch time on the bond markets or is this just another episode in a long-running soap opera that always leaves us on a cliff hanger?Turmoil on global bond markets has sent yields soaring on major countries' debt but the UK is suffering more than its rivals.So, what’s going on with the bond blow-out? How bad is it? Why does the UK pay more to borrow than similar countries? And why is it bad news for the Budget and our finances? Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert discuss the bond market, explain what's going on and why it matters to you. Stoozing is back. Do you stooze, would you stooze — what on earth is stoozing, and is it wise? Plus, could you get duped by the British boutiques that are actually shoddy Chinese shops? And finally, a property report last week claimed the death of the dining room… but is it time to be contrarian and revive them? Revealing his true identity as a fully paid-up member of the property-owning bourgeoisie, Simon puts up a defence for the dining room — but do Helen and Georgie agree? Timings: 00:57 Why are UK government borrowing costs surging — and why should we care? 06:36 Is the world’s debt problem getting out of control? 10:46 What could the bond market turmoil mean for the Budget? 17:35 What does it mean for mortgages, savings and your money? 19:11 Stoozing is back: could you really make £750 from a 0% credit card? 29:46 Fake British boutiques: are you really buying cheap clothes from China? 38:03 Death of the dining room: do we still need one? 45:37 Simon’s stat of the week: more than one million pensioners paying higher-rate tax.

While ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘The Odyssey’ battle it out for top spot, James Cameron-Wilson reviews #5 ‘The Dog Stars’. Made with Ridley Scott's usual visual aplomb, this dystopian thriller starring Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin has some great action sequences, but James felt emotionally under-nourished and found the film a real downer. He was captivated, however, by #9, ‘One Night Only’. In this romcom set in a world where pre-marital sex can only happen on one night in the year, leads Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro are engaging and have plenty of chemistry. The film is romantic, funny, original and charming and James didn't want it to end. He and Simon strongly also recommend a box set of eight British Peter Sellers films from StudioCanal, with James highlighting ‘The Smallest Show on Earth’ and Simon ‘Only Two Can Play’.

Steve Caplin explains how difficult it will be to flag down the new self-driving taxis on London streets. However, you can now get a mobile TV that you can summon. Which? managed to get a fake listing for 10, Downing Street on booking.com. Scientists have worked out how to use WiFi to identify people without cameras. A new robot designed for household tasks is incredibly slow. A crowd-funded solar bike has the panels inside both wheels. Nasa has developed 3D-printed biscuits made of plastic, but the scientists who've developed them aren't allowed to taste them. And the Science Museum is about to host an attempt by Star Trek fans for the largest simultaneous Vulcan salute.

Too much alcohol can lead to health problems, weight problems, and sometimes doing or saying things you might regret. This episode is about significantly reducing, but not eliminating, alcohol consumption by the effective use of alcohol-free drinks — perhaps interwoven with some alcoholic ones. Doing things differently in this way can lead to a clearer head and more focus: definitely worth giving it a try.

Motley Fool Money: Tesla’s robotaxi non-event, & GPT-6 Is Here! (4/9)

Tesla held a robotaxi event this week but didn’t invite media or investors. Even Elon Musk sat the event out. What does that say about the future of autonomous vehicles? Plus, we discuss GPT-6, Adobe’s new CEO, and the health of consumer spending. Travis Hoium, Lou Whiteman, and Jon Quast discuss Tesla’s 'Event', GPT-6, Adobe’s new CEO, 10-year predictions, retail’s health, and radar stocks. Companies discussed: Reddit (RDDT), CECO (CECO), Tesla (TSLA), Alphabet (GOOG), NVIDIA (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Shopify (SHOP), Walmart (WMT), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META), Adobe (ADBE), Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), On Holding (ONON), Lululemon (LULU). Host — Travis Hoium; Guests — Lou Whiteman, Jon Quast.

Amazon and Meta Platforms are facing increased scrutiny from regulators and states and that’s not only affecting their stock price, it could affect their business long-term. We discuss whether FTC probes and settlements are a big deal long-term. We end by laying out what John Ternus needs to do to get off on the right foot at Apple. Travis Hoium, Lou Whiteman, and Matt Frankel discuss Amazon vs. FTC, the future of Amazon retail, Meta’s settlement, is Meta becoming bit tobacco?, John Ternus’ First Day and how Apple can succeed. Companies discussed: Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Meta (META). Host — Travis Hoium; Guests — Lou Whiteman, Matt Frankel.

Adam Cox joins Greg Bornstein on an episode of Greg's 'Open Loops' podcast series, with Adam discussing how his methodology for hypnotherapy has developed through learning psychology, styles of therapy and different uses of metaphors. It's a bit different from our normal episodes, as Adam Cox is the guest here. Please search for 'Open Loops with Greg Bornstein: Conversations That Bend' to find out more.

New research suggests Brits are choosing to live in the moment in 2026, rather than save for the future. The data from Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines shows guest numbers are up, and more and more people are exploring the idea of solo travel. Joining Rory McGowan to discuss this is the Guest Experience Director at Fred. Olsen, Doug Glenwright.

Modern Mindset: The Royal Mint – attitudes to precious metals

New research by The Royal Mint suggests that many of us are feeling anxious about our finances, with concerns about global instability and the cost of living leading a third of us to reflect on the money we could have made from precious metals like gold and silver. Despite gold’s value rising by around 128% in the last five years, most people still keep their savings in a bank account rather than precious metals. Joining Rory McGowan to discuss the findings is Stuart O’Reilly from The Royal Mint.

Thought for the Week: Stand by for desalination

Months of drought are gradually waking us up to the fact that climate change really is a serious concern: if we're not going to stop it, then we have to take mitigation action seriously. Fresh water is our most critical natural resource: the only alternative to rainfall is desalination. Once again, democracy's great Achilles Heel of short-termism is letting us down. Politicians must accept that the era of treating fresh water as an unlimited resource is over, and new strategies must be developed to tackle the challenges ahead. Background music: 'Trickle of Water' by Underbelly & Ty Mayer.

Modern Mindset: Money and Pensions Service – national financial awareness

National Financial Awareness Day was celebrated last week — and new research from the Money and Pensions Service suggests that millions of people across the UK are still struggling to keep up with their bills. The findings come from MoneyView, MaPS’ flagship annual survey of the nation’s finances, which shows wide variation across different parts of the UK. Joining Rory McGowan to discuss the findings, and where people can turn for help, is Victoria Copeland from the Money and Pensions Service.

The Bigger Picture: Reviewing the past 12 years, looking at the good, the bad and the ugly

For the final Bigger Picture with Simon Rose, Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University looks back over the past twelve years of the programme. Into the good category, he places the advances in technology in areas like medicine, the digital world and the AI revolution. This will give a huge uplift to developing countries. As to the bad, that would include the polarisation of political life as the state hollows itself out from the inside. with taxes at an all-time high and services getting ever worse. Tim highlights the number of people under 40 abandoning the NHS, who believe they won't get a state pension for them and who see their future not in Britain but abroad. The ugly is the ever increasing indebtedness of the world's most advanced democracies and the rising authoritarianism which threatens the underpinning of our open society.

The Bigger Picture: Understanding Donald Trump, the Archbishop of Canterbury & will Net Zero be the new Brexit?

Professor Tim Evans says that to understand Donald Trump, you need to know that, in the late 80s and early 90s, he was a close friend of Richard Nixon, who told him that he used the persona of an irrational madman to unsettle others. Indeed, Nixon and his wife urged Trump to enter politics. In terms of policy, Trump is also a devotee of Reagan and William McKinley, an advocate of tariffs in America's interests. The Archbishop of Canterbury is one of the most important constitutional positions in Britain. In an increasingly secular age, the new Archbishop will have a challenging task ahead, but Tim feels that she is the right person for the job. The issue of Net Zero has come to the fore in the midst of an energy crisis like the 1970s. Tim ponders the politics of it, wondering if it could become as divisive as Brexit.

Pensions and inheritance are at the forefront of many people's minds ahead of the Budget. In her last Budget, Rachel Reeves announced she will pull pension pots into the inheritance tax net from April 2027. Meanwhile, there are concerns that pension tax-free lump sums and inheritance tax allowances could fall victim to another raid as the Chancellor tries to balance the books again. In this special episode of the This is Money podcast, Simon Lambert is joined by Lisa Caplan, director of Charles Stanley Direct Advice and Guidance. Lisa spends her days helping customers understand how to protect their wealth, make their pension last in retirement and, importantly, enjoy their hard-earned money. She discusses with Simon the questions people are asking right now about pensions and inheritance tax and her answers.

The world is facing a myriad of Gordian Knots at present — problems so intricate and complex that they need new and very different approaches to solve them. In Greek mythology, it was Alexander the Great who chopped the knot rather than struggling to untie it. If you're facing a raft of complex problems, this episode could help you find novel and creative ways to solve them. So, think of the most challenging things in your life and listen in for inspiration. Maybe Donald Trump should seek Adam Cox's guidance for resolving conflicts across the world, or the UN for dealing with climate change — or Governments across western democracies seeking an answer for intractable debt problems? Image: Wikipedia

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Gadgets and Gizmos: The 500th edition – the good, the bad and the truly weird from 10 years of the show

For the 500th show, Steve Caplin takes a look back at some of the highlights of ten years of Gadgets & Gizmos. He covers sprayable sleep, cows imitating zebras to ward off mosquitoes, crows collecting cigarette butts, NFTs, self-parking slippers, KFC chicken-tasting nail polish, the first human head transplant, the Skunklock noxious bike lock, Refrigerdating, the robot dog flamethrower, ant populated gin and how to make pain relief pills 10 times more effective.

James Cameron-Wilson reports on box office -13% but still up on 2024, with ‘Wicked’ becoming last year's most successful film with £59.6m. The musical biopic of Bob Dylan, ‘A Complete Unknown’, with Timothy Chalomet and Edward Norton is the new #1. The tedious and unbelievable ‘Wolf Man’ limps in at #7. James found Netflix's spy thriller ‘Back in Action’, the return from retirement of Cameron Diaz, all very silly and over the top, despite some good stunts. The Oscar nominations were coming out during recording, so James gives his first thoughts on who's in and who's out.

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Motley Fool Money: Many Thanks, Mr. Buffett (27/11)

Warren Buffett sends us into the season to be thankful with his philanthropic acts and his poignant words, and gives us all a place to start the conversation with family about money. Asit Sharma and Dylan Lewis discuss NBC’s negotiations to extend their rights to broadcast rights to the Macy’s Day Parade, and why holiday live events are turning into an arms race, the expectations for Black Friday through Cyber Monday, and two predictions on the direction of consumer spend and who will be driving it in future years, and Warren Buffett’s plans for passing his wealth on to his family and philanthropic efforts, and the words of wisdom we should all have in mind as we get together with loved ones this week. Companies discussed: CMCSA, M, NFLX, AMZN, BRK.A, BRK.B. Host - Dylan Lewis; Guests - Asit Sharma

The debate on 19th March 2024 was hosted by Sir Jeremy Quin MP to call for the need to simplify family access to Child Trust Funds for disabled young people, and a number of MPs contributed to the debate, including Danny Kruger and Ed Davy. The audio record is provided by Parliament Live, and is an unabridged recording of proceedings, without additional comment. Listeners may notice an adjournment for voting in the House of Commons.

Welcome to a special episode of The Financial Outlook: the investment section of the Managing My Money course. What's the difference between saving and investment? It's all in the risk. We talk about shares, bonds and funds, and which perform best over the long term. The Managing My Money course has 16 sections in total, and is presented by Glen Goodman and Annie Weston. You can enjoy the whole course, produced in association with the Open University via Share Radio's home page. Here's the link to the slides for this episode: https://www.shareradio.co.uk/help-guides/managing-my-money/supporting-slides/mmm-week-5-episode-10-supporting-slides/

“The [Child Trust Fund] scheme has been closed to new entrants for over 12 years. In this time HMRC has been focusing resources on evaluating and improving existing schemes. We will continue to keep the need to evaluate old schemes under review.” So said Andrew Griffith MP, Economic Secretary to HM Treasury in reply to a parliamentary question from John Ashworth MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. But this is not an 'old scheme' — there is currently over £1.7 billion sitting in mature accounts belonging to over 900,000 mainly low-income young adults throughout the UK who don't know anything about their good fortune! Their Child Trust Fund harvest is seeing too little action at present: but it's not too late to get it sorted, and the current focus from the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee will certainly help.
Background music: 'Hopeful Freedom' by Asher Fulero

It’s the last episode of Answers (but don’t worry, we’re just moving to Motley Fool Money every Tuesday). We’ll reminisce on our biggest lessons learned over the last seven years and answer your questions, some financial, some festive.

Lord John Lee has become a champion for people investing in the stock market over recent years: he's written three books on investing, he's a patron of ShareSoc, the society for individual shareholders in the United Kingdom, and he's now challenging Government, broadcasters and regulators to encourage a much higher profile for investing in shares on TV and radio. Gavin Oldham meets with John to discuss the background to his initiative and his proposals for change; and they go on to consider how customer share ownership can be expanded, how to encourage more active participation in shareholder voting, and how to improve financial education.

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Share Drama: A Christmas Carol - the beloved classic, retold!

Scrooge has made the deal of his life with Chinese investors and must now quickly return to London on Christmas Eve to close the deal. On the flight back, during a fitful sleep, Scrooge confronts his past and present and learns the future consequences of his miserly life to find the true meaning of Christmas. Proscenium Online Theatre is super excited to be bringing you a whole new season of audio dramas in 2022. Starting off with 'The Girl in the Yellow Dress', a dark romance by South African playwright Craig Higginson, and 'Plunder', an original Hong Kong based thriller by American playwright Alan Olejniczak. In the meantime - sit back, close your eyes and enjoy the Proscenium Online Theatre’s production of 'A Christmas Carol'.

https://www.prosceniumonlinetheatre.com

Imagine a world in which everyone has a stake in the great tech firms that serve them each day, and where dividends are gradually replacing wages to provide regular income for everyone, as work becomes scarcer as a result of automation? Imagine a world where every young person not only has a small inheritance with which to start their adult life, but also the opportunity to build its value by learning life skills? Simon Rose is taking a well-earned break this week, so we’re taking the opportunity to bring you a talk given Gavin Oldham in August to the leading City of London think-tank Z/Yen.

Click link for slides for presentation

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VIDEO: Tracking down £1bn of missing Child Trust Fund cash

Every child in the UK born between 1 Sept 2002 and 2 Jan 2011 has a Child Trust Fund (CTF). But one child in six has lost contact with the money. Gavin Oldham, Chairman of The Share Foundation – which runs the Junior ISA & Child Trust Fund schemes for children in care for the Department for Education - is trying to re-connect them. He talks through the CTF, how to track an account down, and what a child can and can’t do with the money.

In a new partnership with publishers Harriman House, Share Radio has produced its first audiobook 'Superinvestors', written by Matthew Partridge and read by some of Share Radio's best known presenters. 'Superinvestors' lays bare the investing secrets of legendary investors - from early 20th-century figures such as Benjamin Graham and John Maynard Keynes, through to more modern names such as Anthony Bolton and Warren Buffett.

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The Share Foundation

How you can help young people in care prepare for adult life by supporting The Share Foundation’s ‘Stepladder of Achievement’ programme.

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