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Episode details

World Service,11 Apr 2016,17 mins

Should States Protect Industries?

Business Daily

Available for over a year

We look at the latest debate over state-supported industries. In Britain, the biggest steel-maker says it's selling up, risking tens of thousands of jobs. The government says it may step in to protect workers. But is it ever a good idea to nationalise a failing industry? Particularly if, as some claim, manufacturing worldwide is in terminal decline? We debate the issues with two economists, Charles Kenny, senior fellow at the Centre for Global Development, and Diego Zuluaga, International Research Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs. Plus we look at the latest research around the state of manufacturing with Susan Lund of the McKinsey Global Institute. And finally, Lucy Kellaway joins us to reflect on the trend (or is it a curse?) of relatively humble companies pledging to change the world for the better. (Picture: Steelworkers calling for a government rescue at Tata Steel's steel plant in Port Talbot, UK; Credit: Ben Birchall/AFP/Getty Images)

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