BBC Business Daily (Business)

In Business Daily we look at American ambitions for nuclear power. The nuclear industry says it has lower carbon emissions than coal - but is the money there to finance a new generation of nuclear plants? And they call him Helicopter Ben - but has the Fed's chief made mistakes during the credit crisis? Lesley Curwen speaks to Professor Susan Phillips, who was a governor of the Fed.

Business Daily reports from America on clean coal technology. Coal is cheap but it's also dirty - so what's to be done? Why, bury the CO2 from power stations, of course. But can it work? Plus Steve Evans talks to Richard Scarth who set up a property business in Kabul. And the wisdom of taxi drivers, our regular commentator Wycliffe Muga cites his experiences in the United States and back home in Kenya.

Business Daily talks to the head of research at the world's biggest drug company about the long, hard process of developing a new drug. What happens when bad results pop up - do they ever get suppressed? And - Israel's wealthiest businesswoman on why she can see the future.

Business Daily looks at the vast ambitions of tiny Dubai - we talk to a real estate boss about the former feeding frenzy of property speculation that helped to cause the current debt crisis. Can Dubai really change its spots?

Business Daily today presents the sceptical environmentalist. Steve Evans talks to a prominent doubter who argues we're in danger of over-reacting. Who needs oil anyway when you can engineer cleaner substitutes genetically with biotechnology, Feike Sijbesma, chairman of Royal DSM, a Dutch company developing this type of industrial biotechnology, explains. And Lucy Kellaway asks do smiling shop assistants mean unhappy customers?

Business Daily today takes an unsentimental look at Africa and offers some hard-headed solutions. It's not about aid. Nor about fancy schemes. It's about simple ideas that might make a difference. Is the African problem too many African borders?

In Business Daily should world leaders concentrate on fighting the fires of a global recession, or on re-building the worlds financial architecture and stopping beggar my neighbour trade rows? - And we ask, is the fast flow of information of the internet making the whole economic mess worse, does fear spread faster online?

Business Daily has bracing thoughts about the global downturn - one, some companies do emerge stronger from recession - two, parts of the world are still desperate to hire skilled workers - and three, its not the end of the world if you are downsized, retrenched or just plain sacked - it might just be the best thing that ever happened to you.

Here's a thing - is a recession the ideal time to start a business? Business Daily grapples with this counterintuitive idea - and hears from a former boss at Google who reckons you can get ahead - when all around you are panicking!

Business Daily cuts through the controversy over genetically modified crops and reports on how the technology has worked out on the ground. Does it live up to its promise? What about farmers who want to farm in the traditional way? Are fears well-founded?

The credit crisis - on the face of it - has nothing to do with Africa. But will Africa suffer because of it? We hear from the World Bank about fears that some of the worlds poorest will get even poorer.