Unleash the potential of small developers to help resolve the housing crisis September 30, 2014 JUST as with small business lending, the house-building market in Britain is deeply dysfunctional. Development is being suffocated, helping to inflate house prices and stoke the red-hot rental market. In some parts of the country, the situation is particularly grim. In the East Midlands, housing starts are barely at a third of their peak levels [...]
As Wonga profits slide, will regulatory pressure squeeze payday lenders out of the market? September 30, 2014 John Lamidey, senior partner at Arminius Associates and former chief executive of the Consumer Finance Association, says Yes. The Competition and Markets Authority says that 83 per cent of payday lending customers have taken out a loan online, and 29 per cent have done so on the high street (12 per cent use both). The [...]
Beware the unintended consequences of hiking the minimum wage September 29, 2014 ED MILIBAND’S promise of an £8 per hour minimum wage by 2020 is one of the latest salvoes in the political battle over living standards. We can expect more help for hard-pressed families from the other party conferences, including the trumpeting of October’s above-inflation rise in the minimum wage. With real wages having fallen dramatically, [...]
Gutsy Osborne was right to gamble on a promise of further spending cuts September 29, 2014 ED MILIBAND made a pitch for office that was so forgettable that he forgot it himself.” That line was the key message chancellor George Osborne wanted us to take away from his party conference speech yesterday. While the Conservatives have a plan to continue to eliminate the budget deficit and create the conditions for prosperous [...]
Hong Kong: Would a failure to allow democratic reforms hurt its standing as a business hub? September 29, 2014 Nathan Gamester, programme director at the Legatum Institute, says Yes. It pays to be a democracy. Hong Kong’s protesters know this, which is why they are digging in despite violent clashes with the police and strong condemnation from Beijing’s central authorities. Some may point to China as a country that has been successful without democracy. [...]
As star fund manager Neil Woodford criticises the industry for overcharging, is he correct? September 29, 2014 Gina Miller is founder of the True and Fair Campaign and SCM Private, says Yes. We’ve been highlighting high fees, hidden charges, index cloning and other scandalous industry practices for five years, and have been actively campaigning via our True and Fair Campaign since 2012 for new legislation to end these practices. It is fantastic [...]
Why taking on Islamic State in Syria is a recipe for unmitigated disaster September 28, 2014 For all that he is supposed to be a master communicator – and despite the oceans of ink spilled on the subject – I must confess I have no idea what exactly President Obama is trying to do against the Islamic State (IS). The White House talks of degrading and ultimately destroying the militants by [...]
There’s a black hole at the heart of the City: Lack of superfast broadband September 28, 2014 In the twenty-first century, superfast broadband is something we take for granted, like clean water and bright lights. But despite being in the world’s most popular business location, many of the City’s SMEs are still receiving the internet equivalent of rusty, murky water. While our larger businesses are well-served by fibre optic broadband, SMEs and [...]
Young entrepreneurs are holding their nerve while their parents fear failure September 28, 2014 One piece of data that can strike fear into the minds of government officials is the level of company formations. It may not sound like a stomach-turner, but a surge of new businesses could offer reassurance when politicians are rightly keen to see unemployment continue to fall. Right now, there’s cause for jumpiness. While the [...]
Lloyds settlement latest example of the shadow regulatory state September 28, 2014 The announced settlement between the American and British authorities and Lloyds Banking Group, in which the bank will pay almost $370m to US and UK authorities, is the latest major fallout from claims that multiple international banks profited by manipulating the London Interbank Offer Rate (Libor), a key financial benchmark embedded in contracts around the [...]