Theresa May should use Nobel-winning insights – not anecdote – to guide executive pay reform October 10, 2016 The 2016 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics was awarded yesterday to Harvard’s Oliver Hart and MIT’s Bengt Holmstrom for their ground-breaking work on contract theory. Their work has profound implications for contracts in many fields: financing contracts between investors and firms, business contracts between customers and suppliers, and – most topically – employment contracts between [...]
The Single Market battle is the Remainers’ last stand in the Brexit war October 10, 2016 It has all the hallmarks of a last stand. Having abandoned resistance to the referendum result itself, Remainers are rallying to the cause of staying in the Single Market. Re-using the referendum hymn sheet, the same politicians, businesses and pressure groups who predicted doom and gloom from the decision to vote Brexit are now forecasting postponed doom [...]
Should we be worried that politics is getting nastier? October 10, 2016 Rachel Cunliffe, deputy editor at Reaction, says Yes. There’s a chasm between the policies of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, but you wouldn’t know it. In between Trump calling Clinton the “devil”, accusing her of having “tremendous hate in her heart” and threatening to prosecute her, there was precious little time for analysing policy. That’s politics [...]
Trump follies should make Britain count its Brexit blessings October 10, 2016 Investors can breathe a sigh of relief that the biggest Black Swan is treading water. Thanks to one lewd recording – dating back a decade – Donald J Trump’s race to the White House could be in serious jeopardy. The diminishing chances of a Trump presidency have put Europe back in the market’s crosshairs, as [...]
Ire over immigration: Careless policy debates risk damaging Britain October 10, 2016 Sometimes great damage can be caused by a government policy idea that doesn't end up seeing the light of day. Think back to 2013, when the Tory-LibDem coalition announced plans to introduce a visa bond. The idea would have seen arrivals from countries such as India or Nigeria paying a £3,000 bond as part of the [...]
How decadent elites lost control of politics the world over October 10, 2016 To outsiders, Colombia’s recent referendum on ending its 53-year war with the Stalinist revolutionaries of the Farc seemed the ultimate no-brainer. Putting a merciful halt to a conflict that has killed a horrendous 220,000 souls would seem to require little thought. Yet when earnest President Juan Manuel Santos put his peace deal to a nationwide [...]
Britain has a golden opportunity to leapfrog the EU and secure a free trade deal with the Gulf States October 10, 2016 As Britain’s departure from the European Union draws closer, concern over the country’s economic prosperity is mounting. It shouldn’t. Britain has long-standing allies in the Gulf who will work hard to negotiate a free trade agreement that benefits all. The six Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar are part [...]
Getting the wrong Brexit deal on financial services will hurt more than just London October 10, 2016 Research released last week said the Brexit impact on financial services will “vary dramatically with how much access to the EU is retained”. This excellent report, produced by consultants Oliver Wyman and commissioned by TheCityUK, with input from senior industry practitioners and the major trade associations, comes at a good time. What they have done is [...]
This is Me: Let’s talk about mental health to end the stigma in the City October 10, 2016 Today may be World Mental Health Day, but if you’re an employer, or indeed an employee, mental health should always be top of your agenda. Stress and poor mental health in the workplace are commonplace. Last week, a survey by Business in the Community and YouGov, supported by Mind, revealed that 62 per cent of [...]
After a torrid time for sterling, is the UK economy heading for trouble? October 10, 2016 Andrew Sentance, senior economic adviser to PwC and former member of the Bank of England’s MPC, says Yes. It is not just Brexit which is undermining sterling at present. The UK has a large balance of payments deficit. The government still has a large deficit – and Philip Hammond seems more relaxed than George Osborne about [...]