Employee exodus: The housing crisis is now a dire threat to the future of London’s businesses October 11, 2015 Tomorrow will see a key intervention in the housing debate. Business leaders from across the capital will launch a major campaign called Fifty Thousand Homes. That’s the number of houses we need to build a year to keep up with London’s growing population. Housing costs are becoming a problem for employers as much as [...]
As the refugee crisis continues, and Cameron’s renegotiation rumbles on, is the balance tipping towards Brexit? October 11, 2015 Brian Monteith, communications director of Global Britain, says Yes. The Prime Minister’s commitment to an EU referendum started as a tactical ploy to kill off Ukip and keep his party united. It has failed. He had already broken his promise to have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty and badly needed to recover credibility with [...]
Migration is now a fact of life… deal with it – The City View October 8, 2015 The world is undergoing a major population shift that will reshape economic development for decades. That’s the view of the World Bank and the IMF, which this week challenged world leaders to adapt their policies to a new reality that combines dramatic demographic trends with a movement of people that’s only just begun. [...]
China must pander to its rising middle class to see off this crisis October 8, 2015 China has emerged as the world’s second largest economy, with its growth breaking every record, even surpassing that seen in Germany and Japan after the end of World War Two. Since 2010, China has represented over 50 per cent of the world’s incremental GDP growth, with its fortunes carrying enormous implications for international investors and [...]
Tax competition and transport investment: Why business rate reform is a big boon for London October 8, 2015 Local government finance is at the best of times unlikely to set the pulse of a City A.M. reader racing. The way in which our councils collect business rates, and how this is dished out by Whitehall, is a convoluted process to say the least, and hardly the most exciting corner of public policy. All [...]
As German exports see their biggest slump in six years, is the Eurozone’s largest economy heading for the rocks? October 8, 2015 Chris Bailey, European strategist at Raymond James, says Yes “There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full” – Henry A Kissinger. His observation may already have been mentioned to Angela Merkel, who is battling with a refugee crisis, festering Eurozone regional challenges, and a growing malaise in German corporate life. Yesterday’s [...]
London’s housing problem doesn’t need another government scheme: It’s time to slaughter sacred green belt cow – The City View October 7, 2015 During his time at 10 Downing Street, David Cameron has presided over a number of deeply complex attempts at helping Generation Rent climb the first rung of the housing ladder. NewBuy came first, guaranteeing 95 per cent mortgages for first-time buyers on new-build properties. That was followed by Help-to-Buys one and two: respectively, equity loans [...]
David Cameron’s speech: Business should get behind the PM’s fight for real opportunity October 7, 2015 Politics has been full of surprises this year. The surprise re-election of the Conservative Party with an outright majority in May was followed by Jeremy Corbyn’s surprisingly decisive victory in the Labour leadership vote. And yesterday the Prime Minister showed that he too retains the capacity for the unexpected. A heavy focus on national [...]
Tory party conference 2015: David Cameron is a slave to defunct economics with his One Nation big state conservatism October 7, 2015 Keynes was famously quoted as saying that “practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist”. Those words could not be more apposite than at present. David Cameron and George Osborne appear to be plotting a pragmatic economic policy, instead of an [...]
Sadiq Khan: London needs a relentlessly pro-growth mayor to keep the capital open for business October 7, 2015 London’s economic success is built on its openness to the world. Our unrivalled connections with the markets of Europe, the Commonwealth and emerging economies allow our businesses to thrive. The mayor of London plays a crucial role in negotiating access to new markets, acting as a salesman for the capital as a safe haven [...]