AirBnB’s growth in London shows that slashing dated red tape can help the capital flourish February 16, 2016 Do you remember when, in May of last year, the Deregulation Act 2015 consigned to history a law contained in the 1973 Greater London (General Powers) Act? The moment may have passed you by, but that should not diminish its significance. The Deregulation Act simplified or scrapped hundreds of rules on everything from the sale [...]
David Cameron’s EU deal is – in legal terms – not worth the paper it’s printed on February 16, 2016 Much has been written about the substance of the Prime Minister’s renegotiation of the UK’s membership of the European Union. Will the “emergency brake” on welfare have any impact on migration? Does the promised new “red card” system restore any significant powers to the British Parliament? As we debate these matters, however, we should not [...]
George Osborne’s National Living Wage is a tax on employers hiring low-skilled workers February 16, 2016 A tip for the chancellor: if you want to save some easy money, slash your own propaganda budget. In London, we seem to be inundated with bus station ads championing what many consider to be misguided housing policies and by others highlighting the introduction of the new “National Living Wage” of £7.20 from April. It [...]
Japan’s economy: Will negative interest rates make the situation worse? February 16, 2016 Darius McDermott, managing director at Chelsea Financial Services, says Yes. Abenomics has, in my view, been the best attempt at reflating the Japanese economy for many years, and I’ve tipped Japanese equities for a couple of years now, on the back of the belief that the policies would work. It was never going to be easy, [...]
As China’s markets react to their first day back since the Lunar New Year, the country’s central bank can learn from the fire monkey February 15, 2016 By the time you read this, you’ll know how China’s markets have reacted to their first day back since the Chinese New Year (and you can get all the latest developments on cityam.com). Having taken last week off, Chinese traders will excuse themselves from any blame for the jaw-dropping volatility seen throughout the rest of [...]
The EU’s refugee crisis failures are a mark of its absolute decline February 15, 2016 Once lost, respect in the international affairs arena is almost impossible to regain. This past week, an extraordinary exchange was reported which starkly highlights the EU’s absolute decline, and the contempt with which it is increasingly held. At the G20 summit, held in November 2015 in the lovely Turkish resort city of Antalya, an exasperated [...]
Fraud damages our competitiveness: There must be no darkened corners in the City February 15, 2016 "Fraud shames our financial system” said the home secretary Theresa May last week, as she launched the Joint Fraud Taskforce, which aims to clamp down on the volume of fraud we face. I was very glad to host the launch at Mansion House, because our government, regulators and law enforcers should know that they have [...]
Axe the tobacco tax escalator: Punitive taxation of smoking is just fuelling the black market February 15, 2016 When tobacco duty goes up, as it invariably does every year, anti-smoking groups either celebrate or moan that it hasn’t gone up enough. Determined to force people to quit smoking, they ignore the impact increasing prices have on the UK’s 8m smokers, many of whom are from poorer backgrounds. The lack of empathy for adults [...]
After a torrid start to 2016 for markets, should we expect the rest of the year to be just as bad? February 15, 2016 Paul Markham, global equities portfolio manager at Newton, says Yes. Given uncertainty in the global outlook, the disconnect between the performance of markets and underlying economies since 2009 and distortions in financial systems engendered by increasingly unorthodox monetary policies, 2016 may be a year investors choose to forget. While market volatility will persist and rallies could be [...]
As Addison Lee announces price cuts, the taxi battle between Uber and London’s black cabs shows perfect market competition is a long way off February 12, 2016 The idea of perfect market competition has exercised the minds of economists for centuries. In theory it would feature the presence of multiple small sellers; a homogenous product; an inability for any one firm to influence the price and; complete information. On this set of criteria, how does the London taxi and private hire market [...]