Day: September 8, 2026

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Trump as national security risk

Are AI, Debt and Big Tech Creating a New Economic Order?

In this episode of Merryn Talks Money, host Merryn Somerset Webb is joined live at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe by Bloomberg Opinion columnist Adrian Wooldridge, former British ambassador Nick Hopton and Orbis Investment Management Chairman Alec Cutler to ask what Adam Smith can teach us about today’s rapidly changing economic order.

The panel considers rising government debt, the growing relationship between states and powerful companies, and whether the AI investment boom could follow previous market bubbles. They also discuss what it all means for investors, from gold and government bonds to energy stocks and the future of the North Sea.

00:00 Welcome and introduction
02:39 Debasement, debt and financial repression
10:02 Adam Smith and the return of monster companies
18:15 Big tech and shareholder democracy
24:51 Adam Smith on the geopolitics of today

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