The 2020s will be transformational for humanity, according to the tech prophet founders of RethinkX,

Tony Seba and James Arbib talk to Justin Rowlatt about their prediction that a confluence of new technologies - in energy, transportation, and food and materials production - could wipe out poverty and solve climate change in the next 10-15 years, and usher in a new "Age of Freedom" for our species.

But while it sounds utopian, they also warn in their new book Rethinking Humanity that it could pose huge civilizational challenges for a planet that still clings to outdated concepts such as democracy, capitalism and the nation state.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Picture: Global communications Planet Earth graphic; Credit: metmorworks/Getty Images)

Mohamed Mansour is a household name in Egypt. The billionaire head of the multinational conglomerate Mansour Group has been involved in business and politics in Egypt and abroad for decades, as the BBC’s Mohamed El Aassar explains. Mansour himself sat down to speak with Manuela Saragosa about globalisation, the long-term impact of coronavirus and donating to the UK conservative party.

(Picture: Mohamed Mansour. Picture credit: Mansour Group.)

On Business Weekly we’ll be asking why the boss is often the least skilled person in the room? Are incompetent people put into middle management to get them out of the way - or are they just more confident than their more proficient peers? We’ll also be looking at the future of meat and asking whether china will turns its back on pork and embrace plant-based alternatives. And we’ll hear from the pilots who have swapped aviation for empathy.

Presented by Lucy Burton, produced by Benjie Guy .

With current World Trade Organization Director-General Roberto Azevêdo due to leave his post later in the year, the race is on for a new DG. Abdel Hamid Mamdouh, a former diplomat and candidate for the top job, tells Manuela Saragosa how he imagines the WTO of the future, while the BBC’s Andrew Walker explains how US opposition under President Trump to a global multilateral trading system is putting the organisation’s future in doubt.

(Picture: A shipping freighter with cargo containers. Picture credit: Getty Images)

Why is it that the boss never seems to know what they’re doing? The famous “Dilbert principle” asserts that companies promote incompetent employees into middle management to get them out of the way. But Professor David Dunning, co-creator of the competing “Dunning–Kruger effect”, says there’s more to it than that, specifically that the more incompetent a person is, the more confident they can be. Meanwhile, Kelly Shue, Professor of Finance at Yale, says an even simpler idea, the “Peter Principle” helps to explain why people get promoted beyond their level of competence. And entrepreneur Heather McGregor explains why the incompetence of a former boss led her to buy her own company (Picture: Getty Images)

One of the long-run impacts of the coronavirus pandemic is dramatically worsened unemployment around the world, with millions of people suddenly unable to support themselves and their families. Aside from the obvious financial implications, Dr Stephen Blumenthal, a clinical psychologist in the UK tells Ed Butler about the tremendous impact this could have on mental health and human life. Meanwhile, some economists are discussing whether societies could, or indeed should, make sure everyone who wants a job can have one. Economist Pavlina Tcherneva lays out “The Case for a Job Guarantee.”

(Picture credit: An unemployment line in Chile. Picture credit: Getty Images.)

Ever since governments first began trying to contain the coronavirus pandemic, economists and pundits around the world have debated the apparent trade-off between protecting public health, and minimising the economic harm that the containment measure would likely cause.

But is the whole idea of health versus wealth wrongheaded? We hear from Jo Michell, associate professor in economics at the Bristol Business School, and from Laurence Boone, chief economist at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Meanwhile, businesses and workers around the UK are holding their breath for the end of lockdown, as the BBC’s Joshua Thorpe has been finding out.

(Picture: Woman reopening her small business after Covid-19; Credit: FatCamera/Getty Images)

In today's programme, Elizabeth Hotson asks how supply chain issues in China’s pork industry could help home grown meat alternatives go mainstream. As pork prices rise and China looks to new forms of protein, we hear from David Yeung from Green Monday, the company behind popular mock-pork product, OmniPork. A rival for the synthetic pork crown, Vince Lu from Zhenmeat, tells us why he has high hopes that his meat free tenderloin will corner the hot pot market and Matilda Ho, founder of Bits x Bites, a food tech VC fund, explains why she's investing in the alternative protein market. We also hear from Bruce Friedrich, co-founder of the Good Food Institute which promotes plant-based alternatives to animal protein. And Shaun Rein, Managing Director of the China Market Research Group asks whether the sales match the hype.

Picture: Soup dumplings with OmniPork filling via OmniPork

On Business Weekly we ask how international businesses based in Hong Kong are reacting to China’s new security laws. It is finally illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ people in the workplace in the United States, so, we hear from the man who took his case all the way to the Supreme Court. As the World Bank predicts that remittances will fall by 20% this year, we look at how that will affect communities in the developing world and speak to expat workers who send their wages home. Two big food companies are re-branding products that adhere to racial stereotypes - we consider the importance of this. Presented by Lucy Burton.

Companies are pledging support and money to the Black Lives Matter movement, and an end to systemic racism. Do they mean it?

Ed Butler asks Pepper Miller, a market researcher who has campaigned for over 20 years for companies to realise the value of African-American consumers.

One business that already has a long history of supporting black equality and other social justice movements is the ice cream brand Ben & Jerry's. But the company is based in Vermont, the second whitest state in America. Ed asks activism manager Chris Miller whether the firm's purported values are also reflected in their own personnel decisions.

It's a pertinent question, according to Scott Galloway, professor of marketing at the NYU Stern School of Business. With the shift in demographics and purchasing power towards young educated liberal urban workers, and the increased scrutiny of company behaviour in the Google era, he says American businesses see commercial opportunity in taking a much more overt position on US politics than we have seen in the past.

(Picture: Ben & Jerry's Justice Remixed ice cream brand ice cream tub; Credit: Ben & Jerry's)

China's plan to impose its new so-called security law in Hong Kong may flout the territories legal independence. Some say it may jeopardise Hong Kong's status as Asia's largest financial hub. Hedge fund manager Edward Chin tells Ed Butler that the new law will mean an end to the principle of "one country, two systems" and may lead to companies leaving the territory. Victor Shih, an expert in Chinese banking and finance based at the University of San Diego, says it could have a much more detrimental effect on China's banking system and the country's access to the world's financial markets. But James Crabtree from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, thinks Beijing has taken a cool headed decision and is willing to sacrifice some business for the sake of political stability.

(Picture: A Hong Kong anti-government protester raises a hand; Credit: Anna Wang/Reuters)

China has been one of the biggest financiers of infrastructure projects in Africa, but many African economies have been hit hard by the Covid 19 pandemic. So will China prove to be a generous and understanding creditor? Can it even afford to be?

In the edition of the programme we hear from Zhengli Huang, a freelance researcher in Nairobi, on what’s likely to happen to Chinese-financed projects in Africa. Deborah Brautigam, director of the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, looks at what sort of debt relief China can realistically offer; and Ben Cavender, managing director of the China Market Research Group in Shanghai, talks about whether China could cope with the economic hit of many countries suddenly defaulting on their debt repayments.

Presented by Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Joshua Thorpe.

(Picture: Woman serving Chinese tea in a traditional tea ceremony; Credit: Creative-Family/Getty Images)