Share Sounds presented by Juliette Foster

Share Radio teams up with Claer Barrett, personal finance editor of the Financial Times, for Serious Money. On this edition - a FT panel of experts recently sat around the table to review the financial highs and lows of 2016 and look ahead to 2017.

This is The Magazine Review, Share Radio's look at the top political and financial stories of the week under the forensic eye of expert guests. Today's brains are Owain Bennallack, Analyst at The Motley Fool and Robert Colvile, Editor of CapX, author of 'The Great Acceleration' .

Is Switzerland on a collision course with the EU? In a bid to curb immigration, officials have given the green light to laws that prioritise Swiss nationals in the jobs market. Switzerland is now awaiting a response from the European Union. For more analysis of this story, Share Radio's Juliette Foster was joined on the line by Camino Mrtera-Martinez, Research Fellow and Brussels Representative at the Centre for European Reform.

The Prime Minister Theresa May has told EU leaders she wants an early deal on the status of migrants living in Britain as well as Britons living in Europe. Her comments came during a summit of European leaders where she updated them on the UK's plans for leaving the EU. European Union leaders have promised to stick together to ensure that Britain doesn't cherry pick a deal that might encourage other Eurosceptic states to leave the bloc. For more analysis, Share Radio's Juliette Foster was joined on the phone by John Ashmore, Chief Reporter for Politics Home.

The drug maker Actavis has been accused of overcharging the NHS after it increased the cost of a life-saving treatment by 12,000%. The Competition & Markets Authority said that in 2008 Actavis raised the price of a pack of Hydrocortisone tablets from 70 pence to £88. Hydrocortisone is used to treat Addisons Disease. Angus Macculloch, is a Senior Lecturer of EU & UK Competition Law at Lancaster University and he joined Share Radio's Juliette Foster on the line.

A senior German government official says it's unlikely that a trade deal between Britain and Europe could be agreed in two years, alongside Brexit negotiations. Stephen Meyer's remarks came as the Prime Minister Theresa May was in Brussels attending a meeting of EU leaders. During the summit Mrs May said she wanted an early deal on the status of Britons living in Europe and EU citizens in the UK. In the meantime Chancellor Philip Hammond waded in by downplaying claims from Britain's EU ambassador that it could take up to ten years to reach a trade deal. So who's right? And what's the City's take on a Brexit saga that's about as clear as a bout of smog? Share Radio's Juliette Foster was joined on the line by Michael Hewson, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets.

Fast food executive Andrew Pudzer has been nominated as Labor Secretary by President elect Donald Trump, a move that has drawn widespread condemnation from labour unions. But why? That's the question Share Radio's Alexi Phillips put to Geraint Johnes, Professor of Economics at Lancaster University.

It's almost six months since Britain's EU referendum and the exit road from Europe is still paved with uncertainty. Apart from ongoing talk about a hard or soft Brexit, little else is known, unless you count Theresa's May's description of a red, white and blue Brexit as helpful. One person who seems to know what he wants is the Chancellor Phillip Hammond, who has openly talked about a transitional period in the Brexit negotiations. How that played out is anyone's guess, although for now Brexit is not the only game in town. This evening the US Federal Reserve will unveil its latest interest rate decision. The smart money says that Governor Janet Yellen will announce a rise, and anyone interested in how President Elect Donald Trump might react to that should check out his Twitter feed. Let's get the thoughts of Ben Kumar, Investment Manger at 7 Investment Management. For more analysis on these topics and more, Share Radio's Juliette Foster was joined on the line by Ben Kumar, Investment Manger at 7 Investment Management.

Have the good times gone for good? Economists are increasingly concerned about the so-called productivity puzzle - the mysterious drop-off in output per head witnessed across the globe. Casting an eye back to rates immediately after World War Two, it's hard not to be envious: economies boomed in the postwar reconstruction, pulling living standards in their wake. Now, growth is anaemic, wages stagnant, and the resulting discontent is using populism as an outlet. So, what went wrong? And can we turn things around? Share Radio's Juliette Foster was joined in the studio by Marc Levinson, former finance and economics editor at The Economist, to talk about his book 'An Extraordinary Time'.

It's been almost three weeks since the death of the Cuban leader Fidel Castro, and with official mourning now at an end it's business as usual for the government. Cuban officials have signed a deal with the technology giant Google to install servers on the island, while an agreement covering trade, human rights and migration has been brokered with the EU. These are further steps aimed at bringing the Caribbean nation back in from the diplomatic cold after Castro's 1959 Socialist revolution sealed Cuba's position as a pariah state. Can the revolution survive without him, and what do Cubans themselves want? Joining Share Radio's Juliette Foster and our economics correspondent Professor John Weeks is Professor Elizabeth Dore of Southampton University.