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To what extent is fear real, and to what extent is it an illusion? Childhood is often conditioned with constant reminders of what could go wrong, with fear being used as a primary way of controlling behaviour. However this can lead into continual anxiety about potential negative consequences as an adult, handicapping our ability to live life to the full. Imagination often amplifies fear: Adam Cox helps to put it into perspective in this episode. Image: Wikimedia

Adam Cox is joined by Lucy Ketley from ATG Access to address the escalating car theft crisis in the UK, where incidents of stolen vehicles have reached unprecedented levels. They explore simple preventive measures the public can take to deter thieves and discuss more comprehensive solutions for enhanced car protection. Lucy also clarifies whether the risk of theft primarily affects expensive cars or if lower-value vehicles are also vulnerable to such incidents. https://atgaccess.com/

James Cameron-Wilson on the UK cinema scene, still dominated by Bob Marley: One Love at #1 with a total of £11.3m in 2 weeks. He was disappointed by Wicked Little Letters at #2. Set in a 20s village, it sees the like of Olivia Colman and Timothy Spall overacting and overswearing in a piece of annoying whimsy. At #6 is the NT Live production of Vanya, with Andrew Scott playing multiple characters. Without boning up beforehand, James found it somewhat baffling. He loved the beautifully-restored home video disc of Stanley Kubrick's 1957 anti-war film Paths of Glory, starring Kirk Douglas. As powerful as ever, it comes with some fantastic bonus material.

Steve Caplin delves into the world of tech. The once officially-secret BT Tower has been sold to a hotel group. The Odysseus lunar lander fell over because somebody forgot to turn a switch back on. A new ride will give you longer in space for less money. Google has had to pause AI images of people again because of bias. Helicopters could soon be much simpler to fly. A Brazilian company has found a way to sterilise mosquitoes en masse. A robot bed vacuum will get rid of your dust mites. An armchair can expand into a 2- or 3-seater sofa. And Tesla is shamed online into paying for the thousands of pies it ordered then cancelled.

Russ Mould of A J Bell looks ahead to the full year results of the UK's insurance companies. While a valid short cut could be to think of the life companies in particular as bond proxies, he explains more sophisticated ways of assessing them as investment prospects. He points out that the life companies have some very high yields, but investors must consider if these compensate for the risks and complexities. He also goes through the considerations to mull for the less high-yielding non-life companies.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University turns his eyes skyward to marvel at the boom in private space enterprise, with the space industry now worth around $400bn. He finds it a source of optimism, feeling that it will be transformative in the future with great benefit for mankind. He is shocked by research showing that the true NHS waiting list figure is not 7m, which measures people waiting for their first treatment, but something approaching 20m. This, despite the fact that 40% of all government spending goes on the NHS. Lastly, he looks at the financial stresses of the Eurozone, with the Bundesbank losing money and its reserves collapsing. While the Euro may look a success, he says, there are serious fissures and fractures in the system.

The birth rate is falling swiftly, leaving wealthy old folk with their ever greater reserves looking for a home. Meanwhile Professor Eric French and his colleagues ask, 'Why Do Retired Households Draw Down Their Wealth So Slowly?', showing how in the United States 80% of bequests are left to an ever-decreasing number of descendants, and just 2% to charity. It's time for a re-think whose purpose is inter-generational rebalancing. Background music: 'Young And Old Know Love' by Puddle of Infinity

With next week's Budget (Wednesday 6th March) tipped to be the Chancellor’s last roll of the dice before a General Election, expectations over tax cuts are growing. But what taxes could Jeremy Hunt choose to cut and why – and is there hope that he will sort out the tax mess that Britain has got stuck in. The higher income child benefit charge creates marginal tax rates above 50%, meanwhile the removal of the personal allowance bakes in a 60% income tax rate between £100,000 and £125,140. Should these tax traps and painfully high stamp duty be removed? Simon Lambert argues that Mr Hunt needs to have a clear out, chuck a load of stuff in the stupid tax box and bin it. Simon, Georgie Frost and Lee Boyce look ahead to what could be in the Budget and what it would mean for you. Also, energy bills are due to fall as the price cap is cut: but how much will this save you? It’s not just tax catching people out, student loans are also proving difficult to shift as interest mounts up due to high inflation. Does the student finance system need a sort out too? And what is Simon’s triple lock for student loans plan? And finally, don’t get spear-phished or tap-jacked, Lee talks us through the new scams you need to know about.

Earnings season rolls on plus some acquisitions made the news this week. Emily Flippen and Andy Cross discuss earnings reports for Nvidia, Etsy, Wayfair, Walmart, Palo Alto Networks, and MercadoLibre, and an acquisition roundup: Capital One is acquiring Discovery Financial and Walmart is acquiring Vizio. Then, 19 minutes in, Bloomberg reporter, Kurt Wagner talks about Twitter and his new book “The Battle for the Bird”. Finally, 34 minutes in, Emily and Andy break down two stocks on their radar: Grab Holdings and HubSpot. Stocks discussed: NVDA, ETSY, W, WMT, PANW, MELI, COF, DFS, GRAB, HUBS. Host - Ron Gross; Guests- Emily Flippen, Andy Cross, Kurt Wagner

Why would Eli Lilly put on a failure party? Deidre Woollard talked about the art of failing with Amy Edmondson, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, and author of “Right Kind of Wrong”. They discuss: the complex failure at Boeing, what to do after something goes wrong, and the problem with “move fast and break things”. Companies discussed: BA, LLY. Host - Deidre Woollard; Guest - Amy Edmondson