This episode of the CONVERSATION is on the heels of the latest US unemployment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In August, U.S. employers hired more workers than expected by economists. The unemployment rate edged up to 3.7 percent as record numbers, some 800,000, entered the workforce. The survey of establishments showed nonfarm payrolls rose by 315,000 jobs last month, after soaring by 526,000 in July.  Employment is now 240,000 jobs above its pre-pandemic level. DICK BOVE, chief financial strategist at ODEON CAPITAL GROUP, examining a host of indicators, including the Household Survey, sees signs of mounting layoffs on the back of declining productivity. "What I see in the [unemployment] numbers is very concerning," BOVE says. 

Across the Atlantic, the British pound hit its lowest level against the US dollar since 1985 as the UK's new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, officially took office, laying out a plan to rein in household energy bills for consumers at a staggering cost to the British treasury. BOVE says the plan will be massively inflationary for the UK economy. MAT VAN ALSTYNE, ODEON co-founder and managing partner, argues that the the best approach to slashing the cost of energy across Europe this winter, is the elimination of red tape and bureaucracy, and with an increase in the natural supply of domestic energy supplies. Joining the weekly CONVERSATION is journalist, JOHN AIDAN BYRNE.

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