EU referendum: Anti-Europeans do UK voters a disservice by obsessing about process not policy September 2, 2015 With the Rugby World Cup due to kick off in just a couple of weeks, fans are already desperate to see their teams and the world’s best players competing on the pitch. What they do not want is for the beginning of the tournament to be dominated by debate over the refereeing and rules [...]
As the Walkie Talkie is awarded the Carbuncle Cup, is it really the UK’s worst new building? September 2, 2015 James Hughes, conservation adviser at The Victorian Society, says Yes The Walkie Talkie’s “victory” in this year’s Carbuncle Cup is a vindication of our director’s argument in City A.M. in January that it is London’s ugliest building. It was the most nominated entry and its crowning demonstrates that it’s not just conservationists who feel that [...]
NHS orthodoxy is dying: Here’s how to put patients at the heart of healthcare September 1, 2015 Surveys often suffer from what is known as “social desirability bias”: when people sense that an opinion they hold, or a habit they engage in, is unfashionable, they are unlikely to be entirely honest about it in a survey. Instead, they may simply tell the interviewer what they think they are socially expected to [...]
Folly of the Corbynistas: There’s nothing mainstream about Labour leadership hopeful Jeremy Corbyn’s economic plans September 1, 2015 A group of economists recently hit the headlines with their claim that Jeremy Corbyn’s policies are supported by mainstream economics. Perhaps the best known of them is David Blanchflower, a Monetary Policy Committee member when Gordon Brown was chancellor. He predicted before the 2010 General Election that, under the Conservatives, unemployment would rise [...]
The collapse of satanic capitalism: Global economic analysis Isil-style September 1, 2015 At the end of a week in which financial markets experienced immense volatility, advice on the underlying, structural issues afflicting the global economy came from an unlikely source. While short-term concerns were soothed by comments from key figures at the US Federal Reserve, it was left to the so-called Islamic State (also known as Isil) [...]
Chinese financial crisis 2015: Is there cause to be upbeat about China at the moment? September 1, 2015 Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics, says Yes The collapse of China’s equity bubble doesn’t matter. One in 30 people in China owns shares, foreign ownership is tiny, and the implosion tells us nothing about economic trends. Focus on the economic data and the picture is not that bad. Property and heavy industry [...]
Ready for Hillary? Don’t be surprised if Clinton’s campaign crashes and burns August 31, 2015 Washington DC – While Donald Trump has shot across the summer political sky like a meteor, the more important story of the season has gone less remarked upon: the surprising difficulties of Hillary Clinton. The odds-on favourite (again) for the presidency has run into a series of problems, culminating in the self-inflicted wound of [...]
Paul Mason’s Postcapitalism: The left’s unwitting conversion to neoliberal economics August 31, 2015 Unlike many other advocates of free markets, I quite like Channel 4 News economics editor Paul Mason. His journalistic approach, informative yet editorialised towards his own opinions, is compulsive viewing. So when he penned a book on his new idea – “Postcapitalism” – I knew it would be controversial yet worthy of review. [...]
George Osborne’s damaging bank tax changes are a blow to competition in the sector August 31, 2015 Who is taxed, and by how much, is one of the best windows into the mind of any chancellor. Who does he want to help, who does he want to hit, and why? How you raise the money matters just as much as how you give it out. With that in mind, consider [...]
As the limit for contactless payments rises to £30, will we soon live in a cashless society? August 31, 2015 Kevin Jenkins, managing director of Visa UK and Ireland, says Yes. Increasingly, people are choosing to use their cards over cash, and the ease and convenience of contactless has been a key factor. With the transaction limit increasing to £30, people can now use contactless for even more of their everyday purchases. With 75 per [...]