Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

In February, Donald Trump lambasted Republican primary opponent Ted Cruz for being a pawn for the Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs. "They have total control over him, just like they have total control over Hillary Clinton," he said.

Towards the end of the general election campaign, Mr Trump ran a television advert featuring a photo of Goldman head Lloyd Blankfein with a voice-over that condemned "a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations".

Now Mr Trump is tapping a former Goldman partner - a man who later chaired a company that aggressively foreclosed on delinquent mortgage-holders - as his Treasury secretary.

Steven Mnuchin was an early supporter of Mr Trump - serving as his head fund-raiser - and this loyalty is being rewarded.

If the president-elect is serious about enacting the sweeping tax reforms he unveiled during his campaign, the corporate insider with political connections is the man for the job.

His selection, however, is another bit of evidence that Mr Trump's sweeping anti-establishment condemnations may be a disappearing rhetorical relic of his presidential campaign.

Image source, Parliamentlive

Economists have had a bad rap in recent weeks. Critics have described their forecasts as little better than astrology or soothsaying.

Robert Chote, the head of the Office for Budget Responsibility, which produces independent forecasts for government, was asked by the MPs on the Treasury Select Committee if economists were guilty of "groupthink".

He played down that idea, saying it's "often striking quite how wide the range" is of forecasts. "Economists are disputatious people."

Select Committee
Parliament

SNP MP George Kerevan asks if there is any real stimulus in the Autumn Statement, that might encourage investment.

Robert Chote says there is some stimulus but it is too small, and not coming through quickly enough to influence private investment. He says all governments historically have struggled to make capital investments quickly.

Mr Chote agrees that the Autumn Statement represents a continuation of austerity.

Air-conditioning company Carrier Corp to keep 1,000 jobs in Indiana after reaching deal with Trump.

Image source, Getty Images

The FTSE 100 has closed ahead at 6,783.79, a rise of 11.79 points or 0.17%.

The three top gainers were the Royal Dutch Shell 'A' and Royal Dutch Shell 'B' shares, up by 4.28% and 3,95%, respectively and BP, up by 3.82%.

Energy stocks have been boosted by the release of the details of a cut in oil output outlined in Vienna. 

The Dow Jones and and the S&P 500 have hit intraday records on Wednesday, but the Nasdaq is trading down because of falls in the technology sector. 

Following Opec's announcement that it would cut production to 32.5 million barrels per day, the S&P 500 energy sector rose 3.9%, boosted by gains in Exxon and Chevron. 

Eighteen of the top 20 gainers in percentage terms on the S&P 500 index were energy stocks. 

"I suspect this move in oil is probably temporary and may not last very long, but it is giving a boost to the market," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab. 

The price of Brent crude is now up by more than 8% following the conference announcing details of the Opec and non-Opec members' output cuts. 

Opec has agreed to cut oil output by 1.2 million barrels a day, to a ceiling of 32.5 million barrels a day, subject to cuts by key non-Opec members of 600,000 barrels a day. 

Non-Opec member Russia has agreed to make half that cut, so will be reducing its output by 300,000 barrels a day. 

The changes will take effect from 1 January, 2017.

Image source, Netflix

Netflix is allowing some of its shows and films to be downloaded and watched offline, the company has announced.

It had previously said , externalletting people download shows added too much "complexity" to its experience.

Other video apps such as BBC iPlayer, All 4 and Amazon Prime Video already let viewers watch content when offline.

Netflix said some of its original programmes were already available to download and more would be made available in the future. Read more here

Select Committee
Parliament

Conservative Stephen Hammond asks about the UK's productivity levels, which lag behind the United States and many European countries.

Mr Chote agrees that it's hard to compare productivity between different countries, which are based on so many local factors.

He says productivity growth has continued to be weak in the UK since the financial crisis in 2008; and he says it's not possible to say that Brexit uncertainty is entirely to blame for the "productivity puzzle".

Sir Stephen says productivity in different countries tends to be reflected in the value of real wages - what people can buy with their money - and this correlates to productivity levels. 

He says that the average worker in Germany can buy more with their money than a British worker.

Select Committee
Parliament

Ms Reeves asks Sir Stephen if he can see any positive scenarios as a result of Brexit.

Sir Stephen says a return to a form of agricultural support that compensated farmers for lowering prices could end up costing less than the existing system of subsidies.

Robert Chote says a much more liberal trade regime could result in greater GDP.

Ms Reeves says it sounds like they're suggesting a set of arrangements very similar to continued membership of the EU.

Select Committee
Parliament

Labour's Rachel Reeves moves on to ask about the predicted cost of Brexit to the economy, which the OBR predicts to be 0.5% of GDP, or £12bn per year.

Mr Chote says although it can't be known how much sterling or trade might have fallen anyway, following the referendum vote in June, their best assumption is that Brexit will cost £12bn per year.

He says they've reached this figure by looking at reduced business investment, inflation rates affecting consumers and reductions in productivity.

Select Committee
Parliament

Jacob Rees-Mogg asks if there is a risk of "group think" over assumptions in the banking and forecasting community.

Robert Chote says economists are not good at spotting "turning points", citing the example of the 2008 financial crisis which was only predicted by a handful of economists.

He goes on to remind the committee that the OBR is required to make predictions based on government policy, not looking at other hypothetical scenarios.

Judging what will happen in a negotiation involving multiple parties, as the Brexit negotiations will do, makes for a long period of uncertainty in predictions, he says. 

Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg asks about the OBR's attitude to uncertainty in the economic forecasts.

Robert Chote says uncertainty over Brexit can be seen to be having an impact now, as the level of investment is lower this quarter than in previous ones, although this kind of data is the most "heavily volatile".

The OBR has predicted that Brexit would wipe 2.4% off growth over the next five years while adding £60bn to government borrowing.  

Image source, AP

Mr Tyrie moves on to ask about the OBR's attempts to get clarification from the government on what assurances were given to the car manufacturer Nissan prior to its announcement that it would continue car production in Sunderland.

Mr Chote says following the announcement, the OBR wrote to the government requesting more detail on what assurances were given, but they did not get a satisfactory response.

There were allegations that the government made financial commitments to Nissan. This would impact the OBR's forecasts for the economy post-Brexit.

Business Secretary Greg Clark has said Nissan was assured the government would be pursuing tariff-free access to the single market following Brexit, but no financial promises were made.

Committee Chair Andrew Tyrie began the Treasury Committee session by asking Robert Chote to confirm that the OBR had not come under any "undue pressure" to alter their forecasts.

Robert Chote confirmed the forecasts were produced entirely independently.

Andrew Tyrie said the committee had "concerns" over the actions of Treasury officials in trying to influence the work of the OBR and they were continuing to look into this.

The Treasury Committee is continuing its inquiry into the Autumn Statement. 

It's been hearing from Robert Chote, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, which prepares the economic forecasts used by the Chancellor in making his budget announcements.

The OBR's forecasts were criticised by some MPs for being overly gloomy about the prospects for the British economy.

Let's get a bit more detail on those oil stocks in the US which have been pushed up by the jump in the oil price.

A short while ago Chevron was up by 2.05%, Exxon Mobil was 1.78% higher and Schlumberger had gained 3.87%. 

We'll keep you posted - especially when we get an official announcement from Opec members meeting in Vienna. 

Image source, Getty Images

The three key US stock indexes have all opened higher, driven higher by energy stocks which were benefiting from the sharp rise in the oil price. 

Oil is 6.6% higher at $5046 a barrel amid speculation that Opec members have a agreed a bigger than expected cut in output. 

The Dow Jones is up by 0.50% or 95.26 points at 19,216.86.

The Nasdaq is at 5,380.71, a rise of 0.79 points or 0.01%.

And the S&P 500 has gained 7.74 points or 0.35% to stand at 2,212.40.