In the third programme in the series Winds of Change (Monday, 7.30 p.m., RTE1), Dutch-born business-thinker Aire De Geus tells George Lee how the glut of money in Western economies means that the era of the capitalist is over. Huge savings in developed countries, built up over the past 50 years, mean that people are inheriting more wealth than at any time in history. Banks, he argues, hardly know what to do with these savings and have become money pushers rather than money lenders. Talent not money is now the scarce resource, says De Geus and this poses a major challenge for workers, shareholders and managers.

In Your Money or Your Life (Wednesday, 8 p.m., BBC2), Alvin Hall revisits a family first featured two years ago to find out whether they followed his advice. In 1989 Peter Taylor (42), a computer analyst, and his wife, Sue (38), a part-time receptionist, had two young children, a mortgage of £126,000 sterling (#206,200), two new cars, no savings, no life insurance and no pension. Alvin feared trouble ahead and advised a plan of action. His return reveals the Taylors only swallowed half the bitter pill.

Only one will be left standing in the battle between Britain's two luxury marques. The Comeback Cars - The Phantom Rolls: A Money Programme Special (Thursday, 8 p.m., BBC2) looks at the fight looming between Rolls-Royce, now owned by BMW, and Bentley, owned by German rivals Volkswagen. The programme charts the changing fortunes of these two famous brands once produced by the same company and asks what their futures will bring now that they are owned by two different German firms.

mconway@irish-times.ie