Cash is still king: Why hard cash continues to be a vital asset class for investors June 21, 2016 To many, cash represents an opportunity cost, an opportunity lost. These investors believe cash is a temporary holding medium between risk-assets, held unwillingly, often for a lack of better ideas. That is a limiting, myopic view. Cash is a core asset class, not a blank canvas from which to create an investment. Sometimes – even [...]
London needs to up its quality of life to compete internationally June 21, 2016 Londoners interact with different elements of the city, and seemingly different centuries, on a daily basis. On one hand, London is the tech capital of Europe. Since 2010, the number of digital businesses in east London's Tech City alone has soared from 250 to over 3,000 according to Gerard Grech, chief exec of Tech City [...]
Brexit wouldn’t be an endorsement of Nigel Farage but a vote of confidence in Britain June 21, 2016 It has been an obvious tactic. Remain advocates are attempting to shame Britons into voting In. One unsubtle social media meme even implied that a vote for Brexit makes you intolerant, close-minded and unkind. The evidence? Apparently Nigel Farage stood in front of a distasteful poster about migration, and he’s in favour of leaving. So a vote [...]
Financial services have prospered inside the EU: Brexit would only see the City shrink June 21, 2016 How we vote on Thursday will have an impact on the whole country, but on Britain’s financial services industry in particular. There will, of course, be an immediate reaction in the markets. But Thursday’s decision will also help determine the future size and shape of our financial sector. Financial services are important because they are Britain’s single [...]
Sir James Dyson is wrong: Voting Leave offers the illusion of control – but the certainty of vastly reduced influence June 21, 2016 Sir James Dyson recently restated his allegiance to the Leave campaign, calling the many uncertainties associated with Brexit “cobblers”. Outdated terminology aside, a declaration for Leave from an entrepreneur of Sir James’s stature could influence undecided voters. His position is not new. Dyson’s support for Leave goes back to 2014, when he was battling German manufacturing giants [...]
As the populist Five Star Movement takes power in Rome and Turin, is it time to worry about Italy again? June 21, 2016 Dr Edoardo Bressanelli, lecturer in European politics at King’s College London, says Yes. While it’s true that these elections were only mid-term local elections, where parties in government lose support and local factors play an important role (like corruption scandals in Rome), they represented a clear defeat for the centre-left Democrats and leader Prime Minister Matteo [...]
Why Brexit could be the shock that saves the euro June 21, 2016 Threatened by the possibility of a British exit from the European Union, politicians across the continent have rightfully defended the fragile politico-economic bloc from a vote that could open the door for more countries to leave. But could such an upset potentially yield a brighter future for Europe and, more specifically, the countries that share [...]
The UK needs a global, connected capital city, and Brexit would put all of that at risk June 21, 2016 London is a connected, global city – an attractive place to work, do business, and to set up a headquarters. Central to that appeal are its bonds with Europe. We’ve always been a trading city, and there are historic reminders of that at London City Airport. Located in London’s Royal Docks, the steel tracks that [...]
London Tech Week: Much more than bearded coders working in coffee shops June 20, 2016 London Technology Week aims to turn the eyes of the world onto the UK capital’s thriving digital industry, celebrating the diversity of specialisms, expertise and talent in the city. At the first of 400 events, expected to be attended by 43,000 people over the next five days, the formal launch achieved just that. Fashion tech [...]
France’s strikes show why Europe is in a doleful spiral of absolute decline June 20, 2016 “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold/ Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world… The best lack all conviction, while the worst/ Are full of passionate intensity.” – WB Yeats, The Second Coming, 1920 Last week we looked at a counter-intuitive, but just about possible, positive alternate future for Brussels, with EU elites at last [...]