The junior doctors’ strike is a symptom of politicians’ failure to embrace real public sector reform April 28, 2016 Tom Bower’s recently published biography of Tony Blair is fascinating. Not because of any sensational revelations, but rather because of the relentless narrative describing the failure of politicians and senior civil servants to understand how to make public services work more efficiently, or indeed how an economy really works at all. They simply didn’t get [...]
As UK growth slows to 0.4 per cent in the first quarter, is George Osborne right to blame it on the EU referendum? April 28, 2016 Scott Corfe, director at the Centre for Economics and Business Research, says Yes. Our business survey research shows that companies have reined in capital spending plans amid all the uncertainty over Brexit. This is particularly the case for large businesses, and we are likely to see some weak investment figures in the first half of this [...]
The OECD’s warning over Brexit is totally twisting the figures April 27, 2016 The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has just given us its considered opinion on the likely costs of Brexit. And as the more canny Scots like to insist about the English, we should perhaps send them home to think again. For what its done in presenting their numbers is one of those near unpardonable statistical sins. [...]
Rivals set to win customers on back of BHS’ demise April 27, 2016 BHS has entered administration, confirming what I have previously written about in this column; its loyal customers have deserted it in recent years. Although BHS will continue to trade while a buyer is sought, the retailer has been in trouble for some time as it failed to modernise its offering. It has been losing market [...]
All aboard! The banking rollercoaster ride is here April 27, 2016 The UK’s banks have been on a rollercoaster ride since the dark days of the credit crunch in 2008, from PPI mis-selling to Libor and the Forex scandal. Recent woes include market volatility, capital buffers and low interest rates depressing margins. As first quarter reporting season kicks off with Barclays today, some good news at [...]
Hidden fees are a stealth tax on all our savings: This is no free market April 27, 2016 Do you know how much your pension costs? How much the folk looking after your money are charging you? No? It’s not easy to find out. I didn’t until I demanded the information. It wasn’t just the management fee they’d advertised but many times that. Small percentages that really added up. I became suspicious when I received [...]
Retirement is popular – but surviving the pensions crisis means encouraging work April 27, 2016 The Queen’s 90th birthday quite rightly dominated the media last week. Her Majesty continues to break all sorts of records, spending longer on the throne than Queen Victoria and being our oldest ever reigning monarch. But longevity should no longer give cause for surprise. The oldest participant in the London Marathon this year was 88, [...]
Why Brexit could spell trouble for Berkeley Group if foreign investors abandon London April 27, 2016 Berkeley Homes produces some of the most desirable goods in the UK. Building high-end houses and apartments chiefly in London, this well-managed company has delivered impressive profit margins and sustained growth. To explain this success, many would point to London’s chronic housing shortage. Annual demand is typically estimated at 50,000 homes by industry commentators. In [...]
Is Sir Philip Green being unfairly criticised over the collapse of BHS – and its £571m pensions black hole? April 27, 2016 Tim Worstall, senior fellow of the Adam Smith Institute, says Yes. It’s not difficult to believe that Sir Philip Green is being unfairly treated over the BHS saga. The unedifying sight of the British establishment sneering at the loudmouth Jew in the clothing trade is an unwelcome return to social habits we rather hoped we had [...]
It’s wrong to dismiss Jersey as a secretive and sinister “tax haven”: We are world leaders in transparency and in combating financial crime April 27, 2016 Since the Panama Papers, the “offshore industry” has been in a media storm which has questioned the relevance, role and morality of international financial centres (IFCs) collectively. Much has been written about how to bring these “secretive” jurisdictions to heel and to flush out the illicit practices that they allegedly shelter. There have also been [...]