Merryn Talks Money

Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Ruffer fund manager Alexander Chartres about investing in a world marked by receding US dominance and a more inflation-prone, shock-driven global economy. Chartres argues Donald Trump is just an accelerant to changes that have been developing since the end of the Cold War. Traditional market assumptions like reliable hedges and stable globalization are breaking down, requiring more active, diversified investment strategies. Chartres highlights opportunities in commodities, energy, China technology and repurposed industrial capacity, while warning that political volatility and structural change will define markets for years to come.
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Markets have continued to hit new highs despite escalating geopolitical tensions and a major energy shock, raising questions about whether investors are underestimating long-term risks such as inflation and rising interest rates. The hosts argue that while markets often look through geopolitical events, today’s slow-burning crisis—combined with weak real income growth and fiscal pressures in countries like the UK—may be more consequential than current optimism suggests.
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It might surprise some listeners, but UK-wide house prices have delivered only negligible returns after inflation over the past decade, note Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek, and London prices have actually fallen sharply in real terms. Rising interest rates, taxes, and political uncertainty continue to weigh heavily on the market. Yet guest Daniel Austin, chief executive of ASK Partners, suggests that while high transaction costs and policy risks remain a hurdle, prime central London may still look attractive at current levels to global investors with an eye for a bargain.
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Merryn Somerset Webb sits down with Janusz Marecki, CEO & Founder of Fractal Brain and AI Partner at Ahren Innovation Capital, for an insider perspective on AI hype vs. reality—and what may come next. The focus is on large language models (LLMs)—and whether they are hitting fundamental limits. Marecki discusses the data ceiling (we’ve used most high-quality internet data), diminishing returns from scaling compute and persistent issues like hallucinations and probabilistic errors.
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On this week’s markets wrap, Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Helen Thomas of Blonde Money about how Middle East tensions are creating lasting energy disruptions despite ceasefire uncertainty. They warn this could drive persistent inflation and leave the UK particularly exposed.
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