Provocations is a six-episode podcast from the Finance & Leasing Association that explores major economic questions facing the UK. Broadcaster Nihal Arthanayake talks with voices from finance, business, economics and regulation about lending, work, AI, the energy transition and changing consumer and business needs. The series challenges assumptions and debates difficult questions rather than offering easy answers. It examines how finance and lending can help shape the economy of tomorrow.
Episodes
Who should take the risk of the energy transition?
Every major economic transformation requires somebody to take risk before the outcome is certain. The energy transition is no different. The question is not whether investment is needed, but who is willing and able to take the risk required to make that investment happen. Dr. Maria Carvalho Head of Sustainability Policy, Insight and Research at Natwest and Dhara Vyas Chief Executive at Energy UK d
Are we helping people, or just getting better at labelling them?
The role credit plays when life does not go according to plan. We ask how lenders, regulators and policymakers can balance protection, participation and resilience in a changing economy. The definition of vulnerable in finance does not have to mean on your last pound, you can slip through the net even when in good financial health. Alison Walters, Director of Consumer Finance at the Financial Cond
Has the economy changed faster than the lending system?
Too often traditional lending falls short. We explore the system of lending cash that underpins the real economy. Why does it not always evolve quickly enough to support the way people live and work? Catherine Mann, one of the UK’s leading economists, a member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee is with us, Catherine also works for The Productivity Institute. Also in the
Coming Soon: Provocations... From the FLA
Big questions. Different perspectives. No easy answers. Finance powers the real economy. But is the way we lend keeping pace with the world around us? From the future of work and the rise of AI to the energy transition and the changing needs of businesses and consumers, the UK faces some fundamental economic questions. And finance sits at the heart of them. In Provocations, award-winning broadcast
