Business Matters

President Trump has said he will use emergency powers to build a border wall with Mexico, saying "walls work". Building the wall was a key pledge of Mr. Trump's campaign but Democrats have described the move as a "gross abuse of power". Stanford economist Melanie Morton explains the economic effects of such a wall. Also in the programme, Spain's minority Socialist-led government lost the support of Catalan MPs over the budget. Our reporter in Madrid assesses whether deepening political divisions ahead of a new general election could affect the country's recovering economy. Across the UK, students have walked out of school, calling on the government to declare a climate emergency and take immediate steps to tackle it. The BBC's Frankie McCamley was at the Manchester protest. Ahead of London fashion week, Tara La Rue of the Linden Staub agency tells us why some of the models will walk away from the catwalks in debt. We travel to RAF Cranwell in Britain to find out about a new test facility to help fighter pilots cope with the negative effects of G-Force acceleration. Plus, we look back at the rest of the week's big business stories with Jessica Dye of the Financial Times and Simon Long of The Economist. And Chris Low of FTN Financial in New York gives his regular view on the US markets. Throughout the show we'll be joined by the ABC's Peter Ryan from Sydney. (Picture: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks on border security during a Rose Garden event at the White House February 15, 2019 in Washington, DC. Picture credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

President Trump will sign up to the deal to keep the US government running, but he will also declare a state of emergency in order to get the money to build his wall. Also Britain's prime minister loses another vote on Brexit. How long can she and her latest Brexit plan survive? Plus, why an artificial intelligence project is not releasing their research over fear of fake news. Jack Clark from OpenAI explains how the technology works and why they're keeping it under wraps. The internet giant Amazon had been planning to build a second headquarters and locate it in New York City - but not any more. It abandoned the plans because of opposition from local politicians. Plus, on Valentine's Day, our reporter asks whether when it comes to finding a life partner, you should let your heart rule your head, or the other way around. All this and more discussed with two guests throughout the show: political journalist Erin Delmore, in New York and Sushma Ramachandran, former chief business correspondent at The Hindu, in Delhi. (Picture: A section of the reinforced US-Mexico border fence. Credit: AFP)

Trump has three days to sign legislation which would prevent a second government shutdown, a deal between the Republicans and Democrats in Congress which doesn't include funding for a border wall with Mexico. A new report from the UN's International Labour Organisation shows that the quantity and quality of jobs around the world has declined in the past decade. We discuss it with Virginia Doellgast of Cornell University. And the story of how a penniless youth became one of China's most prominent financiers; we speak to Weijan Shan about his new book. Roger Hearing is joined throughout the programme by Paddy Hirsch, the editor of NPR's daily business and economics podcast, The Indicator from Planet Money, who's in Los Angeles, and Nisid Hajari, the Asia Editor for Bloomberg's editorial board from Bangkok. (Photo: President Trump holds a cabinet meeting. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Supporters of opposition leader Juan Guaidó fill the streets of the capital, Caracas, and are calling for President Maduro to go. Three weeks after Guaidó declared himself interim president, we ask what has changed and how businesses are coping with the ongoing shortages. We speak to Francisco Ibarra who advises companies looking to invest in Venezuela. We hear from Catalonia where 12 separatists have gone on trial this week accused of sedition and rebellion. Plus, the Global Positioning System - or GPS - has won an engineering prize, and we hear from one of its inventors, Hugo Fruehauf. Vishala Sri-Pathma is joined throughout the programme by Andrew Peaple of the Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong and academic and author Cathy O'Neil in New York. (Photo: A protester in Caracas, Venezuela. Credit: Edilzon Gamez/Getty Images)

Democrats and Republicans are meeting in Washington to try to reach a deal on border security and avoid another government shutdown. Congress has until Friday to pass legislation before the current federal funding agreement runs out. Michelle Mark, politics reporter at Business Insider, tells us that President Trump would probably like to avoid another shutdown. Forty years since the Iranian revolution, we assess the health of Iran's economy. Dr Sanam Vakil is a Middle East expert at the research group Chatham House, and tells us how much of an impact sanctions are having on the country. Plus, our reporter heads to Cologne, Germany, to the ISM Sweets and Snacks Fair, to find out why sales are still booming in spite of advice to cut back on sugar. All this and more discussed with our two guests throughout the show: Ralph Silva of Silva Research Network in Toronto, Canada and Madhavan Narayan, freelance writer and former senior editor at Hindustan Times, in Delhi. (Photo: a protestor holding a sign saying 'no shutdown'. Credit: BBC.)