The thinning line between public services and private firms: TaxPayers’s Alliance wants Freedom of Information laws to affect private companies February 8, 2016 Private companies have been providing goods and services to (and on behalf of) the state for as long as the state has existed. After all, the NHS doesn't make its own MRI machines any more than the Home Office manufactures its own police cars. True, there have been times in the not too distant past [...]
It’s Hillary v Rubio: The race for the White House has finally become clear February 8, 2016 Iowa, as ever, was full of surprises. On the surface, the most amazing thing about the state’s 2016 caucus was how easily conservative senator Ted Cruz beat his fellow Republicans, and what a nail-biter Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders engaged in. But beyond these surface atmospherics, Iowa did its traditional job: it winnowed out [...]
Year of the Monkey: We must be innovative and adaptable to strengthen China ties February 8, 2016 The Year of the Monkey starts today as we celebrate Chinese New Year. With London hosting the biggest celebrations outside of Asia, the zodiac animal has two particular attributes that I also think help define our modern City: our adaptability and innovativeness. The importance of China to both the City and the wider UK is a [...]
Farewell Tech City: Why the capital’s thriving technology sector is so fearful of Brexit February 8, 2016 London's tech sector has been one of the country’s biggest success stories since the financial crisis. It works really well in London, aided by a range of world-leading creative industries, from film-making to news, which are themselves increasingly like tech firms. And let’s face it, there’s a cultural vibrancy that makes the capital a brilliant [...]
As a poll shows a nine-point lead for Brexit, is the Leave camp heading for victory? February 8, 2016 Martin Durkin, a television director and producer who s currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter to make “Brexit: The Movie, says Yes. Our lazy, unprincipled politico-bureaucratic elite is about to get a bloody nose. British people will not be governed by people who they don’t know, haven’t elected and can’t remove from power. Nor can we stomach obeying laws [...]
London loses out following former Prudential boss Tidjane Thiam’s pivot east as head of Credit Suisse February 5, 2016 When Tidjane Thiam announced last year that he was leaving Prudential, the market reaction was unambiguous: £1bn was wiped off the value of the company. Thiam had presided over share price growth of 175 per cent during his five-and-a-half years at the top. His loss was never going to go unnoticed. Prudential chairman Paul Manduca [...]
How Uber, Airbnb and other sharing economy platforms can win over hostile regulators and reach their full potential February 5, 2016 New research by Europe Economics has put the potential of the Sharing Economy at up to £572bn a year in savings across the EU thanks to increases in the utilisation of assets like cars, homes and consumer goods. Right now those assets often spend most of the time gathering dust, costing their owners money. They [...]
Rand Paul: Farewell to the most interesting man in US politics – but not to his libertarian ideals February 5, 2016 The first round of Americans cast their votes in the 2016 US presidential primaries in Iowa on Monday evening, and the results shocked everyone. The polls were wrong: senator Ted Cruz took 28 per cent of the vote and was declared the winner, despite trailing Donald Trump for weeks. Trump secured 24 per cent, earning [...]
Britain needs a free market energy revolution to keep the lights on February 5, 2016 Over the past decade and a half, Britain’s energy bills have soared. When wages stagnated and demand fell, electricity prices kept going up. Even the recent oil price collapse has barely cut household bills. Why? Politicians like to point the finger at the big six energy providers. They accuse the suppliers of acting like a [...]
As annual house price growth rises to 9.7 per cent, should the Bank of England hike rates to rein in housing costs? February 5, 2016 Andrew Sentance, senior economic adviser to PwC and a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, says Yes. High house price inflation is one sign of the financial imbalances which are building up in the UK economy on the back of very low interest rates, which also risk fuelling a new wave of [...]