Google tax row: Corporate behaviour and the UK’s tax code need to change – and urgently February 11, 2016 The tax affairs of multinational companies have dominated debate in recent weeks. Interest will likely spike again later today, when the Public Accounts Committee takes evidence from HMRC on the tax deals agreed with well-known global corporates. MPs will doubtless have some sharp questions to ask, reflecting increasing public anger around this complex issue. In an ever-more [...]
Is socialist Bernie Sanders the most dangerous man in the United States? February 11, 2016 Chad Wilcox, chief operating officer at the IEA, says Yes. You’d be forgiven for mistaking the US presidential race for a reality TV contest to find the most absurd candidate able to dupe the masses into electing them. But absurd does not equal dangerous. On the latter metric, look no further than senator Bernie Sanders, uniquely [...]
London house prices: First-time buyers using help to buy to purchase London properties could face trouble if the bubble bursts February 10, 2016 When markets are in turmoil, the natural inclination is to turn to safer assets – and what, in our collective wisdom, is safer than houses? People always need a place to live, the rationale goes, and they always find a way to pay. But rather than taking a big punt on housing, many hedge funds [...]
Bashing landlords won’t bring down sky-high rents in London February 10, 2016 The proportion of households renting privately in London has more than doubled over the last 10 years. And with demand far outstripping supply, fears are mounting that London’s sky-high rents will rise even further. Some believe a simple fix would be for the winner of May’s mayoral election to introduce some form of rent control in [...]
Why Julian Assange shows that only intelligent machines can be truly rational February 10, 2016 Is Julian Assange rational? There are no prizes for guessing the responses of most City A.M. readers to this question. He faces questioning over allegations (which he denies) in Sweden, and he claims that America will try to extradite him and put him in prison for a very long time. Assange has chosen instead to [...]
Executive pay is broken: How to reform the system to reward success and restore public trust February 10, 2016 Once again, battle is about to begin over executive remuneration. As we enter the season when shareholders gear up to vote on this year’s results, the threat of acrimony looms, but also a sense of weariness that all sides are trapped in a system that does not really work. According to regular surveys by the [...]
HSBC: After nearly a year of mulling its domicile, would it matter if the bank moved its headquarters from London? February 10, 2016 Chris Beauchamp, senior market analyst at IG, says Yes. Fundamentally, HSBC’s residency in London makes sense. The bank may have ambitions in emerging markets, and may have ringfenced its UK operations, but to depart for Asia would seem like an odd move. It would separate the bank from its peers, who have realised that the geographical [...]
Bad EU regulations hold the City back: We need more influence over policy February 9, 2016 At the heart of David Cameron’s hard-fought EU renegotiation, there appear to be some misconceptions about how the City views its relationship with Europe. Although many institutions in the Square Mile have voiced support for the UK’s membership of the EU, there is also widespread concern about the City’s strained relationship with Brussels, whose policy-making on [...]
UK exports are struggling – but Britain can set a new course February 9, 2016 At the mouth of the River Orwell in Suffolk stands Landguard Fort, a waterfront defence originally constructed in the seventeenth century to guard the port of Harwich. Visiting with my grandfather as a child, I vividly remember watching container ships from all corners of the world chug up the river to Felixstowe and Harwich. Today, Felixstowe [...]
Is Goldman Sachs right that the risk of recession in developed economies remains low? February 9, 2016 Mike Jakeman, global analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, says Yes. A falling stock market, contracting industrial production and flat consumer confidence make it pretty clear that the US economy has slowed since mid-2015, when it was roaring along at 4 per cent. But one stumble doesn’t make a summer. Around 70 per cent of the [...]