Uber’s race to the bottom: The wheels will come off this controversial business July 31, 2015 Uber causes a storm wherever it goes. First, there’s the storm of applause as passengers initially embrace what looks like an exciting, disruptive new technology. Then, there’s the storm of protest as people start to understand what the business model is really all about. Treating taxis as just another tech challenge raises all sorts [...]
Milton Friedman has been proven right about the “gnomes” from Brussels July 30, 2015 The American Nobel laureate Milton Friedman (1912-2006), who would have turned 103 today, was not a big fan of the European project. We can ascertain Friedman’s views on the euro by looking back to the early 1950s. At the time, Germany was battling with a large current account deficit, and Friedman published a memo on [...]
Why the Bank of England should follow the Fed and raise interest rates this year July 30, 2015 GDP figures out earlier this week confirmed that the UK economy is growing well. In five of the past six quarters, UK GDP has risen by 0.7 per cent or more. The annualised growth rate over this period has been 3 per cent. The services sector has been the main engine of growth. Retail, distribution [...]
As Nigel Farage stakes his claim in the EU Out campaign, will he do more harm than good? July 30, 2015 Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos Mori, says Yes Nigel Farage is a very skilled politician. Just witness Ukip’s remarkable rise after 2012. Our data shows the public thinks he has charisma, a clear vision, and he receives particularly enthusiastic ratings from his own supporters – which could be important in any referendum [...]
Don’t rejoice at Labour’s meltdown: One pro-business party is not enough July 29, 2015 On 8 May, a large swathe of the British business community breathed a huge sigh of relief, as it transpired that Ed Miliband’s Labour Party had been decisively defeated in the general election. Since then, things have gone from bad to worse for the opposition. Only last week, a poll suggested that left wing [...]
Britain is a great place for manufacturing – and businesses like mine prove it July 29, 2015 Some say that manufacturing in the UK has become unfashionable. The most recent figures show that the UK continues to operate a substantial trade deficit, standing at £400m in May this year. This was caused by our goods sector, where we operated a startling £8bn deficit. These numbers can be hard to contextualise. What they [...]
Heathrow airport expansion is in the UK’s interests: Get on with it July 29, 2015 It has now been a month since the Airports Commission made a clear recommendation to give the green-light to a new runway at Heathrow, following three years of consulting and examining the evidence. I fully back that recommendation. But after years debating the issue, we now need the government to grasp the moment and address [...]
As the Calais migrant crisis worsens, is Nigel Farage right that the army should now be drafted in? July 29, 2015 Steven Woolfe, Ukip’s migration spokesman, says Yes Of course he is! The answer is found in the narrative of the question. As any Sandhurst student will tell you, “aid in support of civil authorities” is one reason why we have our armed forces. Unfortunately, instead of aiding the civil authorities for things like floods, in [...]
Buy-to-let enthusiasm can drive new supply if we demolish housing barriers July 28, 2015 It was at the time of another landmark Budget – Nigel Lawson’s in 1988 – that the UK’s rental market as we know it first began to emerge. The Housing Act’s deregulation measures of the same year, notably liberalising rents, set the scene for rapid growth in the private rented sector. This was fuelled by [...]
Proposals to put the Fed on autopilot are a rules-based recipe for disaster July 28, 2015 Would you be happy if the cabin crew announced that the plane you were about to take off in had no pilot, and was going to be flown solely on autopilot? My guess is no. Even though flying is a fairly routine and mechanical process, you still need the peace of mind that a human [...]