Oxfam’s 355 economists are completely wrong: Tax havens do serve a useful purpose May 10, 2016 Yesterday, 355 economists signed a letter co-ordinated by Oxfam arguing that tax havens have “no useful purpose”. There are some luminaries among the signatories. Angus Deaton, winner of last year’s Nobel Prize for economics, is perhaps the most notable. However, rather oddly, over half the signatories come from Italy or Spain, with well over one-third [...]
As it dominates discussion at the Eurogroup, will Greece’s crisis go on indefinitely without debt relief? May 10, 2016 Vicky Pryce, a director at the Centre for Economic and Business Reform and author of Greekonomics, says Yes. Greece’s deficit has shot up to over 7 per cent of GDP and debt to more than 180 per cent of GDP as a result of the latest bailout – with the money mostly used to repay debt [...]
The case for buying emerging markets on dips May 10, 2016 The beautiful magnolia trees are blossoming, and we all know what that means. Bluer skies over London, happy dogs in the parks, and speculation picking up about whether we’ll see a repeat of the “sell in May” strategy. Last week ended with a thud after a much weaker-than-expected US April jobs report. As soon as [...]
This is what Leicester City’s win can teach businesses about incentivisation and the power of bonus schemes May 9, 2016 Leicester City’s Premier League win has been the sporting story of the year, if not the decade. In twelve months, the team has gone from narrowly missing relegation to flying high as champions, and players like Jamie Vardy have been elevated from near obscurity to household names. The club has given hope to sports teams [...]
Now that he is mayor, Sadiq Khan must ignore the Nimbys and look to the Greenbelt to solve our housing crisis May 9, 2016 London needs to build more homes, but from reading the press coverage of the mayoral election over the past few months you may have forgotten that. Instead, you could be forgiven for thinking that this election was all about deciding if we wanted a Corbyn-supporting son of a bus driver or a posh boy Etonian [...]
Sadiq Khan’s successful pro-business campaign is heartening for us all – but the work is just beginning May 9, 2016 It is fair to say that relations between the Labour Party and business are in a slightly odd place at the minute. The nervousness is perhaps understandable, considering that both the leader and shadow chancellor of the party continue to describe themselves as socialists. In these interesting times – and to be fair to those [...]
Can you blame employers for cutting benefits and perks because of the National Living Wage? May 9, 2016 Since the introduction on 1 April 2016 of the National Living Wage (NLW) there’ve been plenty of employers in the news for making cuts to staff perks. Le Pain Quotidian, Zizzi, Caffe Nero, Eat, Tesco, the John Lewis Partnership and B&Q have all cut back on certain benefits. Most of these businesses have denied that the changes are being introduced because of the NLW, but either [...]
He’s won the popularity contest – now London’s new mayor Sadiq Khan must make some unpopular decisions May 9, 2016 Let's be honest, the world of politics has witnessed better campaigns than the scrap between Zac Goldsmith and Sadiq Khan that culminated in the latter storming into City Hall with over 300,000 more votes than his nearest rival. Goldsmith has been roundly condemned for his team’s negative focus, while the broader contest was strangely subdued, [...]
Donald Trump will lose and Trumpism will die with him May 9, 2016 Following his decisive victory over senator Ted Cruz in the Indiana primary, Donald Trump is king of all he surveys, now the undisputed Republican nominee for President. A new conventional wisdom has already settled on this stunning turn of events, noting that, while Trump has no chance of victory – like the Barry Goldwater conservative [...]
Sadiq Khan’s legacy as mayor will hinge on how he responds to these key challenges May 9, 2016 Now that the London mayoral election race is over, the real work begins for Sadiq Khan. First, though, I want to offer my congratulations to him and convey the message that the City of London looks forward to working closely with him and his team in the coming years. London is a truly unique and [...]