In The Balance

Why are governments and, increasingly, private companies spending billions of dollars on missions to Mars? Is there any money to be made from the red planet, and do these missions benefit anyone back on Earth? We explore the return on investment for taxpayer dollars spent on NASA or European Space Agency missions, and ask if Elon Musk is aiming to colonise the red planet for the good of humankind, or to boost profits for his firm SpaceX. Plus, can a separate plan to turn a Mars mission into reality TV ever get off the ground, and should we ethically even be considering sending people to Mars? Contributors: Dr David Parker, Director of Human and Robotic Exploration at the European Space Agency; Bas Lansdorp, founder and CEO of Mars One; and Dr Ian Stoner, from the department of philosophy at St Paul College, Minnesota. (Picture: ExoMars lifts off on a Proton-M rocket at Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, in March 2016. Credit: Stephane Corvaja, European Space Agency, via Getty Images)

Do you worry about plastic packaging, perfumes tested on animals, or whether child labour was responsible for your jeans? How often do those values actually affect your spending? Surveys suggest a majority of global consumers are concerned about the environment, animal welfare and workers' rights, but what we spend on ethical products is tiny in comparison. So how do we explain this so-called ethical consumption gap and how difficult is it to bridge? Plus, who is at fault for the lack of spending on ethical goods - consumers, or the brands themselves? What response have companies made to growing ethical concerns, and can they be encouraged to do more? Contributors: Marylyn Carrigan, professor of sustainable and ethical marketing at Keele University; William Sankey, founder and director of The Ethical Company Organisation; and Alden Wicker, founder and editor of the website EcoCult. (Picture: A stressed young woman standing in front of a clothes rail. Credit: Getty Images)

Bribery costs individuals, businesses and economies billions of dollars each year, and there are many international laws and conventions against it. But what happens when your firm operates in a part of the world where it's still the norm? In this episode we speak to three business people with first-hand experience of backhanders and ask how they can be avoided. One of them tells us he pays bribes as a matter of course, but if you're not willing to, does that mean you simply can't do business? Contributors: Gary Busch, managing director of political risk analysts Chunguza Associates and also Transport Logistics; Ron Cruse, founder and CEO of freight firm Logenix International and author of 'Lies, Bribes & Peril: Lessons for the Real Challenges of International Business'; and Alexandra Wrage, founder and CEO of anti-bribery consultancy TRACE International. Presenter: Ed Butler Producer: Simon Tulett (Picture: Men passing banknotes under a table. Credit: Getty Images)

Nancy Kacungira presents a special programme on climate change, profiling the people whose trailblazing ideas and innovations are hoping to mitigate against global warming. Deep in the Ecuadorian jungle, one isolated community of Achuar have come up with an ingenious solution to protect their territory from the ever encroaching threat of deforestation. From BBC Mundo, Laura Plitt takes to the waterways aboard the Amazon jungle's first solar powered canoe. The loss of the Aral Sea in Central Asia is an ecological disaster. Toxic chemicals in the exposed sea bed have caused widespread health problems. From BBC Uzbek, Rustam Qobilov investigates whether an ambitious project to plant millions of trees can save the Karakalpak people of Uzbekistan. With the fastest growing population on the planet, India’s energy needs are staggering. From Delhi, women's affairs correspondent Divya Arya travels to the sunny state of Rajasthan to meet one social entrepreneur who’s attempting to provide solar technology to t

Who gets to control your personal data on the internet? Ed Butler and guests discuss the future of data privacy. With the scandals over use of our personal data by big groups like Facebook, Ed asks the experts whether our whole relationship with internet-based services could be breaking down? Could the old grand bargain - the giving of our personal data for free to online firms, in return for free services - be about to end? Ed hears from three people steeped in years of data expertise, to explore the future of online privacy. (Picture:One hundred cardboard cut-outs of Mark Zuckerberg outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, April 10th 2018. Credit: AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) Contributors: Orla Lynskey, Assistant Professor in the Law Department at the London School of Economics. Specialist in data protection and privacy. Justin Antonipillai, Founder and CEO at WireWheel. Former Acting Under Secretary at the US Department of Commerce. StJohn Deakins, Founder and chief executive of Ci

Many people meet their future love partner at work. But with the current high profile cases of sexual harassment, employers are becoming much more concerned about managing relationships between their employees. Ed Butler asks whether office dating between co-workers is a potential hazard, not just for staff, but for the company as a whole. And should more employers bring in so-called "love contracts" to be signed by workers who are in a romantic relationship in the office? (Picture: Businessman with secretary, USA, 1950s. Credit: George Marks/Retrofile/Getty Images) Contributors: Ali Hall, Associate Fellow of Saïd Business School, Oxford University Catriona Watt, Partner at Fox & Partners Bradley Wright, Chief Technology Officer at Verve Moira Weigel, PhD Yale, Harvard Society of Fellows, founder of Logic magazine. Author: Labor of Love Jason Habinsky, Partner, Haynes and Boone Producer: Audrey Tinline

US President Donald Trump is bringing back sanctions on Iran and is threatening to extend the sanctions to European companies that do business there. The Iran announcement came in the same week that the USA announced more sanctions on Venezuela, ahead of controversial elections later this month. Since coming into power, President Trump has used economic sanctions as a weapon of choice. But do sanctions actually work? And how do they affect businesses trading with the countries concerned? Ed Butler is joined by a panel of experts to discuss what to expect as the US grip tightens over the economies of countries it is in conflict with. (Picture: An Iranian woman walks past a mural on the wall of the former US embassy in Tehran on May 8, 2018. Photo credit:ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images) Contributors: Elizabeth Rosenberg from the Center for a New American Security. Former Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of the Treasury where she helped to develop and implement financial and energy sanctions. Nig

How can the world move faster to ramp up renewable power? In the Balance examines the efforts of businesses and governments to manage the shift from fossil fuels - coal, gas and oil - to renewable sources like wind, solar and hydro. It's sometimes a bewilderingly complex world of goals, targets and treaties. But the key thing, according to the International Energy Agency, is that currently the world is not shifting fast enough away from fossil fuels. Ed Butler hears from energy industry insiders and experts on ways to boost renewable technologies and what's holding them back. Contributors: Claudia Kemfert, energy expert DIW, Germany Stephen Bull, Senior Vice President, Statoil, wind and carbon capture and storage Wilfrid Petrie, CEO, Engie UK Producer: Audrey Tinline (Picture: Lightning flashes over windmills near Sieversdorf, eastern Germany, 2017. Credit: AFP PHOTO / Patrick Pleul / Germany)

In the Balance asks whether the 53 countries of the Commonwealth could become a new force in global trade. With rising trade protectionism around the world, and the UK splitting off from the European Union, how important could this grouping of diverse nations be to the future of international trade? Ed Butler talks to business leaders and politicians at the Commonwealth Business forum, organised by the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council. The programme comes from the historic royal palace of Marlborough House in London, headquarters of the Commonwealth movement. Contributors: Amy Jadesimi, CEO of LADOL, Nigeria Christian Cardona, Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business, Malta Rahul Mirchandani, founder of the Commonwealth-Asia Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs Sir Kenneth Olisa, OBE, Founder and Chairman of Restoration Partners Producer: Audrey Tinline (Picture: Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Patricia Scotland and Theresa May at Buckingham Palace in London during T

In the Balance examines the recent sharp falls in the global markets. Ed Butler asks why volatility is back in the financial markets - after years of relative calm. Ed is joined by one of the world's leading experts in algorithmic computerised trading as well as a fund manager with more than 30 years experience of watching the market highs and lows. But is this time different - is computer driven trading at least partly to blame for an increase in volatility? Should we be in fear of the machines? Contributors: Gervais Williams, from Miton Group, who has worked in finance in the City of London for more than 30 years Economics Professor Jeffrey Frankel from Harvard University Andrei Kirilenko, the Director of the Centre for Global Finance and Technology at London's Imperial College Business School (Picture: Traders React to market volatility on floor of the Cboe Global Markets exchange on February 6, 2018 in Chicago. Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Italy's upcoming general election is being seen as the latest test of a populist upsurge in Europe. Manuela Saragosa is in Rome to hear what young people want from the election and the economy. Italy has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Europe and many young people leave the country to find work. So do politicians have any answers for young people searching for their first jobs? Manuela hears from students, an employer, and a grass-roots politician about what's at stake for the economy. Contributors: Andrea Prencipe, Deputy Rector of LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome Stefano Callegari, CEO at Trapizzino Maurizio Coppola, Power to the People Students at Sapienza University, Rome (Picture: A man walks past a board bearing the parties' logos registered at the Italian Interior Ministry on January 20, 2018 for the general elections to be held on March 4, 2018. (Credit:FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images)

Fatalists might argue work has no future, that soon pretty much everything will be automated and that the robots will take over. Others say the rise of artificial intelligence and robotics just means the kinds of jobs we'll all be doing is changing. So what sorts of skills will prepare us - and our children - for the future of work, and for jobs which we might not even have dreamt of yet? Join Manuela Saragosa and guests to discuss what we should be studying now. Contributors: Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE, co-founder of Stemettes Susan Lund, partner with the McKinsey Global Institute Scott Hartley, venture capitalist, author of The Fuzzy and The Techie Lord Karan Bilimoria Chairman and Founder of Cobra Beer and Independent Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords Picture: iPal robots sing for attendees at the AvatarMind booth during CES 2018 at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 10, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Credit: Getty Images)

The world's top business people, politicians and economists have been meeting in the Swiss resort of Davos. In the Balance asks: Can capitalism deliver prosperity for all of us? The International Monetary Fund confirmed a strong picture for global growth this year - but is it the right kind of growth? The IMF report reveals that one fifth of emerging market economies saw per capita incomes fall last year. So, with global growth rising, why isn't everyone getting richer? Join Manuela Saragosa and her guests in Davos, Washington and London, to discuss whether global growth can reach even the world's poorest. Contributors: Minouche Shafik, Director of the London School of Economics Kishore Mahbubani, Senior Advisor and Professor in the Practice of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore Eve Poole, author of Capitalism's Toxic Assumptions, Associate at Ashridge Business School Desmond Lachman, Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute Picture: US President Donald Trump looks

As President Trump completes his first year in office, a Nobel prize-winning economist and two mayors mark the President's economic report card. Has President Trump delivered on his big economic promises to bring back jobs and cut taxes? Ed Butler is joined by the eminent economist Professor Robert Shiller; the Mayor of Gillette, Wyoming, Louise Carter King and Pete Saenz, Mayor of the border town of Laredo, Texas. Ed also hears from Michael Stumo, CEO of the Coalition for a Prosperous America. Image: US President Donald Trump looks on before boarding Airforce One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on January 8, 2018, before departing for Nashville. (Credit: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

Political manipulation and fake news have shaken trust in social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg has vowed to make 2018 the year of big changes on the social media giant. And politicians around the world are threatening to bring in new regulations too. In Germany a new law is now forcing platforms to remove hate speech or face big fines. Join Ed Butler and guests for a discussion on who is to blame for the ills of social media - and how to fix them. Contributors:Samantha Bradshaw from the Computational Propaganda Project at Oxford University. Douglas Rushkoff , Professor of Media Theory and Digital Economics at City University of New York and author of Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus. Andreas Kluth, Editor-in-Chief of Handelsblatt Global, the online English-language edition of the German newspaper. Roger McNamee is an American businessman, investor and venture capitalist who was an early mentor to Mark Zuckerberg. Image: Mark Zuckerberg speaks on stage during the

What are the biggest risks to the global economy in 2018? Ed Butler is joined by some of the world's leading economists and political scientists to ask the key questions that will affect us all in the year ahead. Ed hears from Ian Bremmer, American political scientist and the President and founder of Eurasia Group, a political risk research firm; Megan Greene, Chief Economist at Manulife and John Hancock Asset Management in the USA and Guntram Wolf, Director of Bruegel, a leading European think tank, focussing on economics and politics. Comedian Colm O'Regan chips in from Dublin with his take on how the world is changing as 2018 gets underway. (Picture: US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping attend a business leaders event inside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 9, 2017. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Giving It Away Global philanthropy is on the rise, but can the huge sums donated by wealthy business people risk undermining governments and democracy? Manuela Saragosa is joined by economist Neva Rockefeller Goodwin, a member of the Rockefeller family that owns one of the world's largest fortunes. Neva is also one of 400 wealthy people in the USA who signed a letter organised by the Responsible Wealth project against tax cuts for the rich. And we hear from British businessman John Caudwell who sold his high street mobile phone company for more than 2 billion dollars. He now spends more time on his philanthropic work, including his charity for children with disabilities, Caudwell Children. Manuela is also joined by Barbara Ridpath, Director of the St Paul's Institute in London and Antonia Mitchell, Director of Aurelia Philanthropy. Also in the programme: David Callahan, author of The Givers, which questions the power acquired by philanthropists. (Picture:the 85th Rockefeller Center Christmas Tre

Could starting up a business be the best way into work for more women across South Asia? Shivaani Kohok asks why only one in four women in India have paid jobs and what's holding them back from entering the workplace. She's joined by three women working with entrepreneurs across South Asia. (Picture: A mother and baby treated by the Sehat Kahani healthtech business)

Are there clever solutions to real life challenges across South Asia? In partnership with the BBC Innovators series, Shivaani Kohok hears from some of the people in India who are coming up with new ideas to improve health, education and business in areas where life is tough. Shivaani and guests discuss how "jugaad" can help. It is a Hindi term that translates as "frugal innovation" - how to make the most of limited resources. But does jugaad have the potential to change lives? (Photo: A crowd of Indian residents gather outside the Fair Price Shop in the northern district of Jahangirpuri, New Delhi. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

In the Balance reports this week from Catalonia, Spain's strongest economic region. The Catalan leader has declared that the region has won the right to independence, following a referendum declared illegal by the Spanish state. But what about the economy? Catalonia accounts for nearly 20% of Spain's GDP, but who would stand to lose most if the region breaks away? Manuela Saragosa travels to the Catalan capital Barcelona to hear from business people, economists and workers on whether Catalonia can afford to go it alone. (Picture: Protesters wave Spanish and Catalan flags in Barcelona on October 12, 2017. Credit: JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images)