Further tax hikes are neither necessary nor desirable – whichever way you cut it November 10, 2014 IMPORTANT voices are softening up the public for significant tax rises after next year’s election. Last week, the Institute for Fiscal Studies’s Paul Johnson wrote an article entitled “Whichever way you cut it, taxes need to rise”. This view is often echoed by left-leaning political parties and economists, who talk about the need for a “balanced [...]
Creativity and optimism will help Britain cope with the robot onslaught November 10, 2014 THE ROBOTS are coming, and they’re after your job. New research from Oxford University and Deloitte will be sure to send a shiver down the spine of British workers. It showed that up to 35 per cent of jobs in the UK could be destroyed by automation and computerisation. Deloitte argued that this would cause [...]
With new global rules for banks unveiled, are we nearing the end of too big to fail? November 10, 2014 Dr Thomas Huertas, a partner at EY and head of its global regulatory network, says Yes. Tougher regulation reduces the likelihood that banks will fail – but it can still happen. In that event, yesterday’s rules assure that the bank will have enough funding from investors to absorb even extreme losses. So investors, not taxpayers, [...]
Ed Miliband: Leaving the EU would be catastrophic for business November 10, 2014 Writing exclusively for City AM, Labour leader Ed Miliband argues that leaving the EU would be a "historic moment of economic self-harm". We live at a crucial time in Britain’s relationship with the European Union, one which will determine the future of our country for decades to come. In the past year Nigel [...]
Fall of the Berlin Wall: The weary West has forgotten how it won the Cold War November 9, 2014 “Right Here, Right Now, There is no other place that I want to be, Right Here, Right Now, Watching the world wake up from history” – Jesus Jones, Right Here, Right Now Experiencing the fall of the Berlin Wall – whose twenty-fifth anniversary just passed this weekend – is one of those historical events (a [...]
City Matters: Business must stand up and be counted – and put the facts into the EU debate November 9, 2014 OVER the last few weeks, I have had the opportunity to discuss the political situation in Britain, and the state of Britain’s relations with the EU, with business and political leaders in both Brussels and London. It is no exaggeration to say that there has never been such concern in business about politics. This is [...]
Fintech, reshoring and infrastructure: Britain has £300bn of potential November 9, 2014 TODAY, the country’s leading politicians and business figures are getting together at the CBI Annual Conference to debate ideas for future growth. As it is becoming clear that the UK economy has turned a corner, the challenge now is to ensure long-term growth and prosperity that is shared by all. So where will the main [...]
Is Ed Miliband holding the Labour Party back from winning the general election next year? November 9, 2014 Kate McCann is political reporter at City A.M, says Yes. Labour is in the midst of an odd sort of crisis. On the surface, the party is doing alright – it is generally ahead in the polls, despite a surprisingly united Tory party, and has a couple of vote-winning policies to its name. Yet below [...]
25 years later: Remembering the fall of the Berlin Wall November 9, 2014 This weekend, the world observes the 25th anniversary of one of the most historic events in modern history, the fall of the Berlin Wall. The wall, erected by the German Democratic Republic of East Berlin in 1961 and fortified for nearly 30 years, was built to stem the flow of defectors from the Eastern bloc [...]
Bank competition is picking up speed – and this inquiry is a vital next step November 6, 2014 YESTERDAY, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it will be launching far-reaching investigations into the state of competition in the personal current account and smaller business banking markets. This is an extremely significant development, and one that the government welcomes. It is exactly why we created the CMA. A key part of our [...]