The Forum
ECONOMIC pundits are rapidly dividing into two tribes: the Pessimists, and the Nostalgics. The Pessimists are the easiest to spot. For them, the paradigms have shifted, and the UK is on the wrong side.
IN A globalised world, it is increasingly a truism that no single financial centre can operate in isolation.
MANY dream about the day they can stop working. And the rise of retirement since the Second World War is clearly a defining feature of how developed societies have changed over the period.
IT IS now possible to imagine Britain leaving the EU after a referendum only a small minority of the public really wanted, and through a stark in/out choice the majority of government rejects.
THE Obama administration trembled beneath the weight of scandal this week. Three shocking revelations saw a President who once promised hope and change compared instead to the disgraced Richard Nixon.
THE Public Accounts Committee offered about as much to the debate on tax avoidance yesterday as a hot air balloon offers transport. No clear direction, not a lot of movement, but a lot of hot air.
Private sector pain
[Re: Private sector workers’ pay frozen – but not public sector, yesterday]
THE Bermuda Triangle has long captured the imagination of millions, not least my own. But now the global economy appears to have developed its own black hole, and this time it’s not just a legend.
THE end is in sight for the era of too-big-to-fail.
THERE is one thing that can be guaranteed whenever the Bank of England releases its quarterly Inflation Report – in two years’ time, its central projection for consumer price index inflation is at or very close to the 2 per cent target.
EU referendum
[Re: Cameron needs to lead on the EU to open Labour splits, yesterday]
BRITAIN has reached a crossroads. In the midst of global transformation and economic meltdown, we must decide how to survive this brave new world. We have to make the call; are we in or are we out?
ACCORDING to the Scottish National Party (SNP), Scotland will be a land of milk and honey after its independence referendum next year. The highest per capita levels of public expenditure in the UK can easily be sustained.
SO THE Conservatives have drafted a bill, which would require a referendum on the question “Do you think that the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union?” by 31 December 2017.
Europe debate
[Re: Cameron’s last ditch gamble to buy some time on Europe, yesterday]
WITH all the hype around Google Glass, the computer headset currently under development, you’d be forgiven for thinking the geeks were not just changing the world but our wardrobes too.
I RECENTLY took part in a debate at the Cambridge Union, arguing in favour of the motion that “this House believes the modern welfare state is unsustainable”.
THE debate about the EU is often portrayed as political. Who’s in? Who’s out? Who’s switched?
Microbusiness
[Re: Why micro-businesses could be Britain’s economic future, yesterday]
THE last 25 years saw a historic shift from a divided world to a global one. Communism collapsed, and states representing nearly half the world’s population turned to free market principles.
EUROPE once again returned to the top of the political agenda last week following the intervention of several senior Conservative figures.
AFTER years of dithering from politicians of all parties, Friday’s report from the Transport Select Committee was a breath of fresh air.
IT MAY sound incredible given the current political debate, but the UK government now spends more as a percentage of GDP on childcare than all European countries except Denmark. Yet the direct costs to parents continue to rise inexorably.
THERE’S nothing scary about having your takeaway delivered by a flying robot. No one lies awake at night because ordinary people are buying ceramic figurines based on their children’s drawings.
AFTER 27 years in charge of Manchester United and unprecedented silverware to show for it, Sir Alex Ferguson has cemented his reputation as the most successful football manager of all time.
Raise interest rates
[Re: Hike interest rates and return real working capitalism to Britain, yesterday]
AFTER the First World War, US industry took out far too much credit. The country experienced a nasty credit bubble and prices, including share prices, soared. Does this remind you of economic conditions anywhere else?
THINGS have gone from bad to worse at Bumi and ENRC. On 22 April, Bumi’s shares were suspended after it failed to meet a deadline for publishing its 2012 results.
THE health secretary Jeremy Hunt said yesterday: “The pull factors are very important if we are to deter people from coming here in the first place.” It is deeply depressing that, with UK GDP well below its 2008 level and no growth last year, the
Help to Buy
[Re: Fears of new housing bubble as government helps buyers, Tuesday]
THERE’s a tendency to be negative about Britain’s economic performance. Rather than “flatlining”, however, our economy has been regaining momentum since late 2011.
SPOTTING and identifying new species is always exciting. And the last couple of years has seen the emergence of a new type of economic commentator, the recovery denier.
Cost of migration
[Re: Business chiefs: UK gains from migrants, yesterday]
BRITAIN’s planning regulations are a lawyers’ banquet.
DAVID Starkey is never short of something controversial to say. His appearance on BBC Question Time last week was no different, with a bizarre rant about the awful collapse of Bangladeshi factory, which killed over 500 in tragic circumstances.
THERE is a saying that “elections are determined by the people who show up.” And every year the people showing up are getting older. In the 2010 general election, 77 per cent of eligible people aged 65 and older voted;.
THE government has announced a consultation into what it considers to be the exploitative relationship between pub companies (pubcos) and their tenants.
IT’S over. Masterchef, my guilty joy after a long day at the editorial coalface, is gone for another year.
THE European Central Bank’s (ECB) decision to cut interest rates at its meeting in Slovakia yesterday should come as no surprise to those who have followed recent economic data.
Economic bulls
[Re: Why the British economy is doing far better than we often imagine, yesterday]
DO LAST week’s GDP figures create a case for optimism about the economy? At face value, no. The first quarter rise in GDP was just 0.3 per cent – an annual rate of growth of 1.2 per cent. Over the past year, the UK has grown by just 0.6 per cent.
HAVE you ever changed your bank? Probably not because, as is often said, you are more likely to get divorced than change your account.
COVERAGE of the 2013 local election campaign, which reaches its culmination today, has been dominated by a party with only a handful of council seats, and no previous record at all in local government.
Posh beer
[Re: Peroni’s snub of Wetherspoon is a classy decision, yesterday]
TODAY is International Workers’ Day, and many millions across continental Europe will celebrate by engaging in any sort of activity except work.
MANCHESTER United has walked away with the Premier League title yet again. In the last seven seasons, the club has won no fewer than five times. Over the past 22 years it has never finished outside the top three.
BUSINESS minister Michael Fallon has given the green light to Royal Mail’s privatisation. He’s a brave man. Royal Mail was second (after BT) on Margaret Thatcher’s privatisation list.
