Housing in America has never been this unaffordable. The pandemic set off skyrocketing prices; then the Fed began to rapidly increase interest rates, pushing up borrowing costs. Many predicted this might result in a crash. But after dropping 10% from all-time highs, home prices in America are picking up again. What is going on?On this week’s podcast, hosts Alice Fulwood, Tom Lee-Devlin and Mike Bird ask if anything can take the heat out of the American housing market. Skylar Olsen, chief economist at property app Zillow, tells them that interest rate rises have added $800 a month to the typical American household’s mortgage bill. And Domonic Purviance from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta explains how central bankers are thinking about the impact on the affordability of those loans.We would love to hear from you. Please fill out our listener survey at economist.com/moneytalkssurveySign up for our new weekly newsletter dissecting the big themes in markets, business and the economy at www.economist.com/moneytalks For full access to print, digital and audio editions, subscribe to The Economist at www.economist.com/podcastoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Buying a car used to be about two things: style and performance. But as motorists trade in their petrol or diesel cars for electric vehicles, manufacturers are increasingly focusing on experience by adding features like karaoke machines and mood lighting. Those drivers also have a lot more choices. The ditching of internal combustion engines in favour of battery-power has allowed new car makers to enter the market. But rather than thinking like BMW or Ford, they are looking to firms like Apple for their inspiration.On this week’s podcast, hosts Mike Bird, Alice Fulwood and Tom Lee-Devlin examine the remaking of the auto industry. The Economist’s Simon Wright explains that software, rather than hardware, will define car brands in the future. Henrik Fisker, the founder of one of those new brands, tells them that a history of making petrol-powered cars doesn’t necessarily qualify established car makers to make electric vehicles. And advisor Tu Le explains why Western car makers are worried about competition from China.Sign up for our new weekly newsletter dissecting the big themes in markets, business and the economy at www.economist.com/moneytalks For full access to print, digital and audio editions, subscribe to The Economist at www.economist.com/podcastoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Around a third of Americans now listen to at least one podcast a week. That fact has not escaped the attention of advertisers, who spent nearly $2bn on podcast ads last year. But with more than 4m podcasts for listeners to choose from, the industry is facing a reckoning. On this week’s podcast, hosts Tom Lee-Devlin and Mike Bird ask what the future holds for the business of podcasts. Michael Mignano, who used to manage Spotify’s podcasting arm, tells them that companies have realised they can be much leaner. And Nick Hilton, a podcast production company founder, explains why he thinks 2022 is the year when podcasting died.Sign up for our new weekly newsletter dissecting the big themes in markets, business and the economy at www.economist.com/moneytalks For full access to print, digital and audio editions, subscribe to The Economist at www.economist.com/podcastoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Time may be running short for TikTok. In the US, both Democrats and Republicans view the Chinese-owned app as a national security threat and would like to ban it. It’s practically the only policy issue that the two parties agree on. And yet the politicians in Washington DC have left it very late to act. TikTok has already reached 150 million users in the US, half the country’s population, and every day it adds more.  On this week’s podcast, hosts Alice Fulwood, Tom Lee-Devlin and Mike Bird look at whether the fears about TikTok are well grounded, and what the options are for addressing them. The Economist’s Alexandra Suich Bass explains why alternatives short of an outright ban have gone nowhere. China security analyst Matthew Johnson says his biggest concern is that Beijing could use the app to spread pro-Chinese propaganda. Meanwhile, Nazak Nikakhtar, a former secretary of the US Commerce Department, suggests a way of neutralising the app without upsetting users.Sign up for our new weekly newsletter dissecting the big themes in markets, business and the economy at www.economist.com/moneytalks For full access to print, digital and audio editions, subscribe to The Economist at www.economist.com/podcastoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The professional services firm EY reportedly spent hundreds of millions of dollars preparing to split itself into separate audit and advisory companies. Then earlier this month it abruptly called the divorce off. EY is not unique. All of the "big four" accounting firms - including PwC, KPMG and Deloitte - combine the stodgy traditional business of audit with a fast-growing free-wheeling consultancy wing. On this week’s podcast, hosts Tom Lee-Devlin, Alice Fulwood and Mike Bird ask whether all four firms find themselves stuck in unhappy marriages. Professor Laura Empson of Bayes Business School retells how these one-time frumpy low-margin audit firms were beguiled by the glamour and big fees of corporate advisory work. Meanwhile Tom Rodenhauser, managing partner at Kennedy Research Reports, explains why the consulting units have now outgrown their auditing counterparts, and would do well to ditch them and go it alone.Sign up for our new weekly newsletter dissecting the big themes in markets, business and the economy at www.economist.com/moneytalks For full access to print, digital and audio editions, subscribe to The Economist at www.economist.com/podcastoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.