This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.
It's American-made, stored on-site, and always ready.
Powering homes and businesses with cleaner, reliable energy that doesn't depend on the grid or the weather.
Learn more at propane.com.
Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile.
Now I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for 15 a month is back.
So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills.
But it turns out...
That's very illegal.
So there goes my big idea for the commercial.
Give it a try at mintmobile.com.
Hello, and welcome to World Business Report from the BBC World Service.
I'm Hannah Mullane.
Coming up on today's programme…
Elon Musk could be in for a mega payday, as the board at Tesla offer him a new pay packet with the potential to be worth 1 trillion.
Jaguar Land Rover are keeping production lines closed across the UK into next week as they continue to manage the cyber attack.
We take a look at the global impact.
And when was the last time you went to the cinema?
Cinema ticket sales are down 23 this summer in France and it's raising questions about the quality and quantity of French filmmaking.
Yes, there are too many films, but that variety is a good sign.
There are a lot of movie theatres.
If movie theatres start to shut down, then there's no going back.
First, though, to Afghanistan.
The United Nations Development Programme has told World Business Report that Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world, has the makings of an economic storm after being hit by a major earthquake this week.
The eastern region was hit by a quake with a magnitude of six, and the rural communities affected were already suffering from extreme poverty.
Deadly aftershocks have continued all week and just before coming on air, I spoke to Yama Bariz, a reporter in Kabul.
Even now, the aftershocks are really surprising.
In the past 13 to 14 hours, Afghanistan experienced one major earthquake with a magnitude of 56 and then five aftershocks.
Still those areas which were previously blocked.
Most of those areas are still out of reach, although Taliban, they say they have managed to get to some parts of the previously blocked areas.
But the people close to the epicenter of the Sunday night earthquake and Mazar Dera area, they told me there are still areas which are completely out of reach and the rescue teams and the aid delivery has not been able to get to those areas.
The Taliban spokesperson at the moment said that the toll of the debt is standing on 2205, but the UN agencies estimate the number of the debt to 1360.
The latest disaster is another major hurdle for Afghanistan's economy.
Stephen Rodriguez is the United Nations Development Programme's resident representative in the country.
Well, it's grave.
And maybe we start by just putting this in the context of Afghanistan, which is one of the poorest countries in the world.
Afghanistan's per capita income is close to the bottom globally.
And we should also remember that when the previous government collapsed in 2021 and the Taliban took over, the economy also collapsed.
There was a staggering 27% decline in GDP.
Now when Hannah, you're putting that together with millions of Afghans being forcefully returned from Pakistan and Iran, when you have the country's most severe drought in about 30 years, affecting 19 of the 34 provinces.
When you have floods, you have the making of the perfect economic storm hitting Afghanistan currently.
And so the economy simply doesn't have the carrying capacity to handle the impact of an earthquake of this magnitude.
And so, at the individual level, prior to this earthquake, our numbers in UNDP were that three out of every four Afghans were living at a basic subsistence level, meaning they're barely able to meet their daily requirements.
So these are rural communities, rural households living on subsistence agriculture.
Most of those crops have been destroyed.
These families are left with pretty much nothing at this point in time.
So, while the immediate effort is, of course, on search and rescue and providing emergency health care and food and water, That bigger question of how to help these families rebuild, gain a livelihood, build stronger houses that will be more resistant to earthquakes in the future and be more resilient.
That is the question that we also have to address.
Yeah.
And it's a pretty big question, isn't it?
In a very desperate situation.
How do you even begin to think about that?
It is a tough one.
One of the things we will be doing in UNDP and I'm sure other UN agencies will also be doing the same is using cash for work programs.
So employing the members of the community, the community laborers, to rebuild the infrastructure, to clear the debris, to remove waste, to rebuild the water canals, to rebuild the schools and the health facilities so that they have cash in their hands.
But we'll also be providing them with seeds for their farms and replacing their livestock.
So there'll be a lot of economic livelihood programs.
But the broader strategy for Afghanistan has to be to move beyond this kind of subsistence living.
And this is where the UN is moving and encouraging the international community to move which is the economic revitalization of Afghanistan, helping that economy to grow again so that it can create decent jobs for people.
Because without decent jobs, people are always going to be in this position of dependency.
So we're trying to urge not just this constant humanitarian response but investments in economic recovery, economic stabilization, but also the human capital of the country, in health, in education, in skills.
And then, of course, in the basic services that people need access to, like energy, like water.
That has to be the longer term approach.
Resilience building, recovery and growth.
It must be quite difficult trying to persuade people to invest in Afghanistan whilst the Taliban are still in power there.
You've hit the nail right on the head.
It's been a very difficult case to make.
Some partners, some member states understand that logic and they're leaning forward, as we say.
They're coming to the table and providing assistance.
But there are others who... are hesitant to make those kinds of investments.
People tell me they haven't seen government or development agency in 40 years.
And you see a young girl or a young boy five six, seven years old who doesn't have access to a proper school anywhere nearby, doesn't have access to health facilities anywhere nearby in.
It's really difficult to say that until the political issues and the human rights issues in Afghanistan are resolved, there should be no future for you.
That's a very, very difficult case for me to make as a development practitioner.
So we understand the logic of the political issues.
But we do believe that, while these engagements take place within those Doha processes which the UN has created the platform for engaging the international community with the Taliban, we can still provide critical assistance to the people of Afghanistan who need it.
Stephen Rodriguez there, the United Nations Development Programme's resident representative in Afghanistan.
Now the board of Tesla have today proposed an unprecedented 1 trillion pay package for its CEO, Elon Musk.
Randeep Somal is fund manager at M&G Investments.
Randeep, $1 trillion still feels crazy whenever I read it out.
How have the share prices responded today?
Hi, Hannah.
Yes, it certainly does.
It's a big number.
And certainly we've never seen one like this before.
I mean, it's worth adding that Mr. Musk won't be receiving a salary nor a bonus.
So his participation in Tesla is purely on the share options.
And it would mean that the share price would have to rise or the market cap sorry, of Tesla would have to rise from one trillion, where it is today, to eight and a half trillion today, in 10 years' time, in order for that one trillion payout to be triggered.
So they have set some very high hurdles.
Some big targets there.
We'll have to see if he can meet them and indeed whether that pay packet proposal will be accepted.
We'll see.
And there's a weak jobs report coming out of the US in the last few hours.
What does this tell us about the US economy?
It does.
While we've still seen some job growth, it's still very tepid at 22000 given the size of the US economy.
That's in August.
Unemployment now has risen to 4.3%.
And there are actually some very important sectors, like information technology and manufacturing, that that simply saw outright declines.
So we've gone from a period where the US employment market had been frozen and it now is starting to show some cracks.
But this does mean that we are more likely to see a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in September.
So the markets are relatively relaxed at this stage because I think they can see there's still some firepower that the US economy can put forward by reducing interest rates in order to provide some support.
Some economists saying that the labour market has headed off a cliff edge.
Quite a dramatic comment there.
What are your thoughts?
It is.
I mean, we're certainly not seeing that yet.
The tariffs came into place.
They were announced in April.
They've started to come into place.
So we started to see some impact from that.
It's probably not been as harsh as we had expected, but things have dramatically slowed down.
Randeep Somal, thank you for that.
We'll be back with you later.
Thank you.
The U.S. electric grid is approaching a breaking point.
As demand soars from data centers and home energy use, our aging infrastructure can't keep up.
And the Department of Energy warns that without action, blackouts could surge 100-fold by 2030.
The good news?
One solution is already here.
Propane.
It's American-made, stored on site, and always ready.
Powering homes and businesses with cleaner, reliable energy that doesn't depend on the grid or the weather.
Learn more at propane.com.
We all know that feeling.
You finally manage to get away on vacation and the worrying starts.
Will that bogus beware of dogs sign keep your home safe?
What about that fake camera you set up?
And will someone finally find your old hide and key rock?
That's where ADT comes in.
All that stuff, it's safe-ish.
It seems fine when you don't really think about it, but you know it truly doesn't work.
Instead, ADT provides security solutions that keep you actually safe, giving you real peace of mind.
Because vacation is supposed to be, you know, relaxing.
Don't settle for safe-ish.
Visit ADT.com today to learn more.
You're with World Business Report from the BBC World Service.
Now the carmaker Jaguar Land Rover has told workers that it's at its main sites in Britain to stay at home until at least Tuesday.
The company, which is owned by India's Tata Motors, took its systems offline to limit damage, which affected car sales as well as production.
The BBC's international business correspondent Theo Leggett has been following the story.
Well, this has been going on for the best part of a week now.
Last weekend, Jaguar Land Rover experienced a cyber attack.
It realised its computer systems were under attack from an outside agent, and so it felt it had no choice but to shut down its main computer networks in order to protect them from damage and data theft and that kind of thing.
But the problem is, these days, computer systems are integrated into every aspect of producing cars.
So the way that the production lines actually run, the way in which parts are ordered, the way parts have to arrive at the right place at the right time, because you've got lots of different vehicles on the production line at the same time.
So everything has to be very coordinated.
And the long shot of that is because the computers were turned off, JLR had to send its workforce in its main factories home.
It wasn't able to produce cars and it's unlikely to be able to do that until next week, Tuesday at the earliest.
Now, I spoke to Andy Palmer, who's a man with a long history in the auto industry.
He's been a chief operating officer at Nissan.
He's run Aston Martin.
He knows this stuff.
And I said to him, you know, when the computers go down, everything goes down.
How much of a problem is that for Jaguar Land Rover?
The mantra of any car company is you have to keep the track running.
If the track stops, it's an emergency and normally it's all hands to the deck to get it going again.
So losing production for multiple days is a real big problem.
So this is having an impact around the world too, isn't it?
It is indeed.
I mean Jaguar Land Rover's main production centres are two plants in the United Kingdom at Solihull in the West Midlands and in Merseyside, a bit further north at Hailwood.
It also has an engine manufacturing plant here, but it makes a lot of its cars, for example in slovakia, at nitra, and has operations in brazil.
It has operations in india and of course it sources parts not just in the uk but from around the world.
And here again this integration thing is what's been the problem.
The computer systems are all integrated and when they're turned off, nothing can communicate with anything else, and that leaves everybody in a bit of limbo.
So take, for example, Alan Howard.
He's based in Tasmania in Australia and he supplies parts to Jaguar Land Rover.
He says he's never seen anything like this before.
In the past, everybody had paper parts catalogues, but that's all gone now.
And so everything's online, even though I'm an independent.
Here all the way down in Tasmania, I use exactly the same software as a Land Rover dealership in London.
So Monday morning we come in and the system's down.
But this went on and then eventually we found out about the cyber attack.
It's been off all this week and sometimes we just can't quote on stuff or availability because we just can't get access to the parts programme.
And have we got any idea of when this is going to be fixed?
No.
It really isn't clear.
Jaguar Land Rover say that the plants will remain shut down until at least the end of trade on Monday.
But it could go on for longer than that.
They're not giving regular updates.
They're still trying to bring their computer systems back on stream.
And I'm told this is extremely complicated.
Things have to be brought back in stages.
And obviously you can imagine they're checking each system for any possible damage data theft as they go along.
They're investigating what's happened.
Now we are told that so far there is no evidence that any customer data has been stolen, but that doesn't mean that other data hasn't been taken away.
And in the meantime, a hacking group who were responsible for causing a lot of damage at the British retailer Marks & Spencer, they've claimed responsibility for the hack at Jaguar Land Rover as well.
So we don't know where it's going to go from here, how long it'll take to get things up and running.
Jaguar Land Rover is working on workarounds, as it calls them, so that it can actually sell cars, because its dealership chain has been unable to sell cars for several days.
That situation is being resolved now.
So bit by bit, things are likely to come back.
But there's no obvious end to this right now.
And the repercussions are likely to go on for some time to come.
Theo Leggett reporting there.
Now to China, where the pension system is having a bit of a shake up.
Companies now legally have to start paying into employee pension plans as of this week, putting pressure on businesses to pick up the bill for an ageing population.
Many workers have long agreed to let employers off the hook for what should be mandatory pension contributions in exchange for more cash in their pockets every month.
But that's having to change as Beijing insists pension contributions are made.
Han Lin is the China Managing Director at the Asia Group and he's been talking me through the changes.
So as of September 1st, all employers in China must pay into their employees' social security accounts.
And these contributions will cover pensions, medical care, maternity leave, work injuries and unemployment insurance.
Now the challenge is that previously, many employers, especially the small firms, didn't consistently make these payments, and now they have to.
So how have businesses responded to this change?
Well, when we think about the businesses that have to respond to this change, especially for the small ones, they have a big worry that these higher labour costs will squeeze their already thin margins, and even more so, they may not be able to hire or keep employed as many people as in the past.
And will there be some businesses that just really can't cope with this change and we see them close.
It is quite possible we could see some closures of businesses or at least a reduction of employment.
And that's a problem for the government as well, because one of the key areas the government's trying to boost is consumption.
And consumption depends on cost. confidence in the future and employment.
And in fact, you've got a cascade of workers losing their jobs.
That's going to defeat the purpose of trying to boost the economy through more spending.
Yeah, I was going to ask you about the wider impact on the economy, because China is looking to boost growth and this policy is potentially going to impact that, isn't it?
It is.
It puts out a risk that these stricter mandates could push more workers into the informal or gig economy.
And that kind of undermines the protections the policy was meant to expand in the first place.
And are there ways that businesses can get around this policy?
I've heard that potentially employing people on a part-time basis or some companies even rehiring pensioners to get around it.
Is that possible?
There are no doubt going to be a shortage of different attempts to do so.
The classical way businesses tried to get around it was actually having a legal agreement with their workers to say that the payments will not be made.
But the government essentially has said those are no longer legally valid.
Now, the interesting challenge is this.
It turns out some people actually don't want these payments to be made either.
They would rather actually be paid their full salaries.
And there's a concern that businesses will actually do this.
They may actually pay those payments into the pensions by cutting into the current salaries of the existing workers.
And a lot of people don't like that because if, given a choice between having their pension money in the future versus having their salary now, they'd rather have their money now.
Yeah, absolutely.
I can see why many workers would feel that way, especially if that's what they're used to experiencing.
In general, how are the workers in China feeling about this change?
I think for the most part, if you're working for a large state-owned enterprise or a large, let's say multinational, you actually may not be as worried as much, because they tend to be very good at making sure those payment into the pensions happen.
It's really the small enterprises that are concerned.
But this is also an issue as well, because small enterprises tend to employ 80 percent of China's urban workforce.
So you do know this law, this new tightening of regulations is going to expand far and wide.
Hanlin, China Managing Director at the Asia Group there.
Randeep Somer, Fund Manager at M&G Investments is still with us.
Randeep, we've been seeing some political instability in France, with the French Prime Minister facing that no confidence vote on Monday.
How are the markets responding?
We are.
I mean, potentially we may see a fifth French prime minister on Monday in as little as two years.
Not well in terms of the French markets, especially if we look at the bond yields.
The 30-year yield has now risen above 4.5%.
That's the highest it's been since the Euro debt crisis in 2011.
The current French government realises that it needs to get its debt level down, but unfortunately its parliament won't allow that.
So the existing prime minister, Francois Bayrou, has called a vote of no confidence, which it looks like he will be unsuccessful in.
So the market's already pricing in the fact that he'll be unsuccessful.
Will we see more instability come Monday if that does happen?
Or is that already factored in?
I mean, it looks as if it's factored in.
The two largest party, both National Rally and the Socialist Party, have said they're not going to vote with him.
And if they don't, effectively, his prime ministership will come to an end.
It doesn't guarantee another vote occurring.
Simply President Macron could appoint a new prime minister.
But it's difficult to see here how any new prime minister will fare any better.
Absolutely.
And lots of uncertainty for businesses there as well.
We will be keeping across that on World Business Report and across the World Service next week.
Thanks, Randeep.
That's Randeep Somer, fund manager at M&G Investments.
Are you ready?
You were born on March 12, 1989.
That's a snippet from The Piano Accident, France's best performing film this summer.
Now, France has long had a global reputation for homegrown cinema.
But this year, ticket sales fell by 23% over July and August.
And the country has a unique way of subsidising French film too, helping to support the industry.
But those subsidies are being questioned after this slump in sales.
I caught up with Charlotte Garson, the deputy editor of French film magazine Cahiers du Cinema, and I started by asking her to explain how the subsidies work.
French film producers have a variety of subsidies that they could ask for.
The main one is called the automatic support, meaning it's generated by a tax that's taken on all cinema tickets, whether it's a French film or not, and then reintroduced into French production on the basis of the number of tickets that the producer has sold for his previous films.
So then that's money that's, if you want, automatically generated for his next production.
In other words, the French state doesn't have to themselves take that on their own money.
And then there's another type of subsidies that's more selective.
And that's based on commissions, people from the whole industry of cinema who look at the project and decide.
So it's more and more of an art house cinema that's being allotted these subsidies.
And then you have local sources like regional or local funds.
Why do you think cinema is struggling so much at the moment?
Part of it is the fact that American blockbusters are not doing so well in cinemas.
And I guess that would be a worldwide problem, mostly because of the fact that people are staying home and watching films at home in all countries.
That's one thing.
But to be more specific about France...
It could also be that some of the big French films are working almost like American blockbusters, spending a lot of money.
That would be disproportionate.
But we consider that the current system is actually still working because for us the main indicator is the number of movie theaters.
That is still very high in France.
Now, lately, over the summer, there's been a drop.
When you don't have two or three big American blockbusters or two or three big French comedies, then the figures change.
You say it's working, but of the 27 French films released this July, only one of them made the top 10 box office success list.
Would you still consider that to be a success if they're not making that top 10?
Well, if you only look at figures, money and also the number of tickets sold, you may say that.
But if you're actually looking closer at the economy of every single film, like you have a lot of rather small budget films that do rather well within their own budget scale.
So it's important to look at the scale of movies.
So the problem is more like expensive French films.
And when we're talking about an expensive French film like Luc Besson's Dracula.
It's about 45 million euros, which still isn't much compared to an American blockbuster, but it's an enormous amount compared to, let's say, a film that would cost about 2 3, 4 million euros.
And those films could do as well as 35000 people who saw them.
It's not many people, but within their own scale it's actually good.
So you have to look at that and take that into account.
And it does allow France to make lots of films over 300 films made in the last year, not far off double the number made in the UK.
So it certainly protects the industry, doesn't it, having these subsidies?
There are discussions about whether France makes too many films, because even the critics have a hard time following the And being able to watch everything and tell their readers whether they should see it or not.
But we've noticed it's important to have a variety of films in order to get the top ones.
And also the small ones that to us are masterpieces.
And it does happen every year that the top of our list are films that are not necessarily blockbusters.
So we consider that yes, there are too many films in terms of one single person being able to watch them all, but that variety is a good sign.
And it's also the sign that there are a lot of movie theaters.
That's an important thing.
If movie theaters start to shut down, like in the UK, then there's no going back, I guess.
Charlotte Garson there talking us through how French films are subsidised and how crucial those subsidies are to the French filmmaking industry.
That brings this edition of World Business Report with me, Hannah Mullane, to a close.
Thanks to all of our guests who joined us on the show today.
The producers were Neil Morrow and Luke Jarman.
And my colleague, Roger Hearing, will be back with the late edition.
Thanks for listening.
