London’s Bournvilles: What the future of housing looks like in a supply-squeezed capital April 1, 2016 As everyone who studied the Victorians knows, one of the lasting legacies of these periods are the worker villages of Bournville and Saltaire. Planned and executed by the Cadbury and Salt families respectively to provide good quality housing for their employees, and thereby promoting staff loyalty and better living standards, these villages still thrive today. What [...]
Brazil: Between the rule of law and the rule of politics March 31, 2016 President Dilma Rousseff's hope of surviving a looming impeachment are becoming dimmer each day. On Monday, the Brazilian Bar association filed a new process to remove her from power on the grounds of accounting fraud. Yesterday, her party, PT, lost their largest ally in the Brazilian Congress as centrist party PMDB, presided by vice-president Michel Temer, withdrew their support [...]
Three reasons why Apple’s iPhone SE will be a smartphone hit March 31, 2016 Apple’s latest handset, the iPhone SE, will be unleashed this week upon a weary consumer. Why weary? Gartner figures show that global smartphone sales in Q4 2015 saw their slowest growth since 2008. Industry behemoth Apple hasn’t been immune with sales of its iPhone range starting to flat-line, currently growing at the slowest rate since the [...]
Five surprising facts about London’s shoppers March 31, 2016 As the spring sun slowly crawls up the Thames and warms up London’s cold streets, people are emerging from their winter cocoons to embark on some springtime shopping. The longer, brighter and warmer days all make for happier and more comfortable trips to Oxford Street, Brick Lane and Westfield. But who is really making their flexible friend work [...]
Join City A.M. for a live mayoral debate clash March 31, 2016 There's no doubt about it, London’s mayoral election campaign is getting dirty. The two leading candidates, Labour’s Sadiq Khan and Tory Zac Goldsmith are trading blows on everything from funding pledges to character attacks. When it comes to policy, one of the central debates can be found on the age-old battleground of London politics: transport fares. [...]
Nanny State Index: The UK is one of the most nannying states in Europe – but there’s little evidence to suggest sin taxes on sugar and alcohol are helping March 31, 2016 George Osborne’s decision to put a sin tax on fizzy drinks confirmed that there is no escape from the nanny state in Britain, but if the increasingly meddlesome tendencies of our politicians makes you want to emigrate, where should you go? Today’s publication of the first ever Nanny State Index suggests that Luxembourg, Germany or the Czech Republic [...]
Memo to the City: Why tackling mental health issues makes good business sense March 31, 2016 One in four of us will suffer mental illness during our lifetime. It’s a shocking statistic that demonstrates the seriousness of this public health crisis. Treatment can be very effective, but sufferers need to be sure they will get the support and help they need. For this to happen, we need better coordination and engagement from government, [...]
Secular stagnation: Economists have drawn their battle lines – this is just the start of the low growth debate March 31, 2016 Over recent weeks the debate over secular stagnation has been reignited (or perhaps the better analogy is that more fuel has been poured on the fire) in both the US and the UK. In the US, the Foreign Affairs journal has devoted a special issue to Surviving Slow Growth, with articles by former US Treasury Secretary [...]
Leverage is all the rage: The crucial future task for central banks March 31, 2016 People who believe that banks just move other people’s money around, and those who draw comfort from high savings levels, will tell you that bank lending is not critical to economic growth. And they’ll argue the issue is demand, not supply. This is a very old argument. You’ll find it in the remarkable Report of [...]
As Port Talbot’s future hangs in the balance, is propping up the UK steel industry in the national interest? March 31, 2016 Adam Marshall, acting director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, says Yes. Assuring domestic production of steel is vitally important to the UK’s future growth prospects, and to our aspirations for the manufacturing and construction sectors, which are having a hard enough time in an uncertain global market as it is. While there is [...]