Banking’s broken promise: Depositors are failed by the illusion of absolute safety April 21, 2016 We all crave certainty in an inherently uncertain world. But a promise of safety always comes at a price. For example, consider a typical investment portfolio: it could include funds targeting returns of 10 per cent sitting alongside cash deposits paying 0.5 per cent. The reason for the large difference in returns is that the [...]
Don’t sleep-walk into chaos: Why the UK should remain in the EU April 21, 2016 Thank goodness it will all be over by 23 June. Or will it? The chaos may just be beginning. I’m personally very fearful about the outcome of the EU referendum. In my view, leaving would be not much short of disastrous. But I don’t want to dwell on the reasons the UK should not leave. There [...]
Can the rise in unemployment between December and February be blamed on the EU referendum? April 21, 2016 Jeremy Cook, chief economist at World First, says Yes. The referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU is acting as a depressant on almost all UK economic indicators at the moment, and February’s labour market report is simply the latest. That is not to say that every single piece of weakening data is as a [...]
Vulnerable Brits are facing a personal debt crisis April 21, 2016 Back in 2010, reeling from a global financial crisis, Britain entered into a period of austerity. Talk from the government was of tightening belts, sensible spending and paying down debt. But while public expenditure has undoubtedly been tightened since then, levels of consumer credit have been creeping inexorably upwards. Findings from a new report by [...]
Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Bank of America have all seen their stock climb recently – but the big banks are not out of the woods yet April 20, 2016 Shares in Goldman Sachs sprang out of bed in New York yesterday, as traders reacted to first-quarter results that were not quite as miserable as Wall Street had been expecting. Lowering expectations ahead of a dreaded event is a tried and tested method, within and beyond the business world, and it has worked a treat [...]
Trouble percolates for Caffe Nero over living wage after coffee chain bans free lunches for staff April 20, 2016 In recent weeks, several businesses have announced they will fund the living wage by cutting back perks for staff – something which is causing the public to turn against the brands in question. One of the best examples where this has happened is Caffe Nero. The high street coffee chain reacted to the introduction of [...]
George Osborne has no confidence in an independent Britain April 20, 2016 Are George Osborne and David Cameron irresponsible? Judging by their own Treasury report predicting doomsday scenarios from Brexit, surely the mere act of holding, let alone losing, a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU shows undue risk-taking with our economic livelihoods. Of course, the work may be a deliberately partial analysis designed to help [...]
Forget avoidance outrage: The public’s real attitude to tax is revealed by their actions April 20, 2016 Rather like a quantitative version of Hello! magazine, the Panama papers made headlines everywhere. Read all about the vast amount of money a particular celeb has got stashed away. Salivate, be titillated or be outraged, according to your fancy. The story was covered heavily by the Guardian, the in-house newspaper of the metropolitan liberal elite. [...]
I have no love for the EU – but leaving would only undermine the UK’s vibrant startup ecosystem April 20, 2016 They say the convert makes the strongest evangelist. As a naturalised Brit who has called London home for almost his entire working life, I feel a particular passion for the United Kingdom. I think we live in one of the greatest countries the world has ever known, and I am hugely bullish about our future. [...]
As the Queen celebrates her ninetieth birthday tomorrow, is the country a better place than it was 90 years ago? April 20, 2016 Stian Westlake, executive director of research at Nesta, says Yes. If you hopped in a time-machine and went back to 1926, the first thing that you’d notice is how much poorer Britain was. Real GDP is 5.8 times lower than it is today. What’s more, the UK has already lost its industrial edge to upstarts in [...]