Donald Trump can still be stopped – if Republican elites remember they’re conservatives March 18, 2016 Marco Rubio is gone; another campaign “suspended” after facing the full force of the Trump phenomenon. The senator must have known it wasn’t looking good in his home state of Florida. Appearing tired and dejected on camera just a few days before the primary this Tuesday, he then experienced a crushing, double-digit defeat (which not [...]
Why London’s technology sector is united against Brexit March 18, 2016 The upcoming EU referendum could redefine what it means to do business in Britain, and the City has emerged as a powerful campaigning voice in the debate. The chief executives of Numis Securities and CMC Markets have called for the UK to leave, opposing the views of the City of London Corporation and 36 FTSE [...]
As the UK is said to be the twenty-third happiest nation on earth, is happiness economics a waste of time? March 18, 2016 Tim Worstall, senior fellow of the Adam Smith Institute, says Yes. All too many of its practitioners chafe at the restriction that economics is a positive subject (describing what is) rather than a normative one (what ought to be). This is the explanation for the World Happiness report, where two distinguished, elderly and shockingly right-on economists, [...]
Why equity crowdfunding is about more than just money March 17, 2016 The UK’s “alternative finance” market has doubled in the last 12 months and hundreds of British entrepreneurs have embraced crowdfunding to launch and grow their businesses. While the US has only just got round to legalising equity crowdfunding, the UK is leading the world. And from next month, hundreds of thousands of investors are expected to jump [...]
It’s not them, it’s you: It’s easier than you think to stop feeling like you are managing a bunch of kids March 17, 2016 “Why does everything end up on my desk?” “Nobody shows any initiative – it’s like managing a bunch of children.” Are these familiar thoughts? Do you find people don’t understand you? Are you frustrated that they don’t do what you want and what your business needs? What causes your organisation either to be a great one, [...]
Budget 2016 might have done no favours for house buyers – now it’s time to look again at property funds March 17, 2016 The British have a long-standing love affair with residential property. This extends beyond owning their own homes to a faith in bricks and mortar as a solid investment. However, while investing in residential has meant owning one or more buy-to-let properties, the impending crackdown on buy to let by the chancellor means they should consider an alternative [...]
Budget 2016: George Osborne has become antagonistic towards the housing market March 17, 2016 George Osborne has presented a thoroughly disappointing Budget for the housing market with scant reference to initiatives to assist the supply of new build properties. In previous speeches, the chancellor has waxed lyrical about purchase initiatives such as help to buy (1 and 2) and help to buy Isas etc however, in yesterday's big reveal, nothing was laid [...]
Budget 2016: Chancellor George Osborne’s plans are now hanging by a thread March 17, 2016 Budget day is full of tradition. Details will leak in the days leading up to it, the chancellor will pose with his red box, Sky News will launch a helicopter to film his short drive from the Treasury to Parliament and the devil will always be found in the detail. There’s another Budget tradition that [...]
Osborne’s ludicrous sugar tax didn’t sweeten a bland Budget March 16, 2016 George Osborne is edging towards his fiscal targets in a tortoise-like fashion. Depending on your perspective, this is either a methodical, steady approach to stabilising our public finances or – alternatively – it is just painfully, agonisingly and infuriatingly slow to watch. Yesterday’s Budget underscored something we already know – the chancellor may be a [...]
Productivity growth: The alarming trend that could kill all hope of a budget surplus (and Osborne becoming Prime Minister) March 16, 2016 For me, the most interesting aspect of the Budget yesterday wasn’t the headline-grabbing sin tax on sugary drinks, but the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) “highly uncertain judgement call” (in the words of the chancellor) regarding future productivity growth (output per hour worked). The OBR now projects that UK productivity growth, in the calculation of [...]