As HS2 is lambasted by a Lords report, is there “no convincing case” for the project? March 25, 2015 John O’Connell, director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, says Yes HS2 should be scrapped. It is based on a bad business case that unravelled as soon as it was presented, and the Lords report should be the final nail in its coffin. The initial business case assumed average passenger income of around £70,000. Were that to [...]
Asset bubbles may be forming but rapid rate hikes would only jeopardise growth March 24, 2015 Everybody seems to agree on the need for full employment and price stability. But these objectives leave central bankers with a perennial dilemma when managing an economy: act too soon in normalising monetary policy and they’ll prevent the attainment of full employment; act too late and they’ll damage price stability. It is less a matter [...]
How London can get the infrastructure it needs – but without the bureaucracy March 24, 2015 Infrastructure looms large in the life of every Londoner. Even though it’s probably not at the forefront of our minds as we check our emails and fill up the kettle each morning, we depend on quality, reliable infrastructure day in, day out. And it’s just as important for the capital’s businesses. They need it to [...]
Our bulging tax code is holding Britain back: Politicians must fix this March 24, 2015 The Ten Commandments were captured in fewer than 200 words. The American Declaration of Independence stretched to nearly 1,300. Magna Carta, meanwhile, ran to a tight 4,000. Today’s legislators could learn a lot from the lawmakers of history. The UK tax code now stretches to around 10m words on nearly 21,000 pages. It takes more [...]
As the number of women on boards nearly doubles from 2011, are quotas unnecessary? March 24, 2015 Liz Bingham, managing partner for talent, UK & Ireland, at EY, says Yes Yes – but we must remain vigilant. I would be the first to advocate quotas if progress either stalls, or we start going backwards. However, it is important to remember that diversity isn’t just a boardroom issue, so can’t be solved by [...]
Two lessons the UK can learn from economic powerhouse Singapore March 24, 2015 I admit: the idea of the UK learning lessons from a dictatorship feels uncomfortable. But starting a business in Singapore has convinced me that despite massive differences in the size of our two countries and our political regimes, there is a lot Singapore has to teach when it comes to building a strong economy [...]
Is economic growth stimulated by tech platforms? Amazon’s UK boss believes so March 24, 2015 Thirty years after the first dot com website was registered, one of the most exciting developments in the internet revolution is the way technology platforms are enabling entrepreneurs of every type and size. Technology platforms are all around us. Retail platforms like Amazon Marketplace, eBay and Not on the High Street enable brands and sellers [...]
We’re all entrepreneurs now – but our politicians have yet to realise it March 23, 2015 History is littered with human traits that were for centuries seen as the preserve of an elite but which ultimately became indispensable features of everybody’s lives. Literacy, once a privilege of priests and nobles, is now a basic skill. Regular travel was reserved for the wealthy before cheap transport created the package holiday. The same [...]
Beware the headline costs of Brexit: We’ll thrive if we’re open to the world March 23, 2015 You have to be careful with headlines. They are so often highly selective about the message they want to convey. Take an example from yesterday: The Guardian’s story on a report analysing the costs or benefits to the economy of the UK leaving the EU was headlined “Thinktank tells Ukip departing from EU would cost [...]
Turn failing council estates into city villages to provide the homes Londoners need March 23, 2015 There is no single solution to London’s housing crisis. But a key element is the systematic regeneration of the huge tracts of land owned by the capital’s 32 local authorities, much of it occupied by council estates in desperate need of renewal. Hundreds of new “city villages” should be created, improving the lot of existing [...]