How the City gained an edge in offshore renminbi – and will grow even stronger June 16, 2014 AS TOP bankers and policymakers meet in London this week for the UK-China Financial Forum, they may want to reflect on how far the City has come as a main offshore hub for the Chinese renminbi (RMB), supporting a rapidly growing number of British and other European companies trading with China. The offshore RMB market [...]
It’s nonsense to argue that the UK tax system isn’t progressive enough June 16, 2014 THE BRITISH tax system just isn’t progressive enough, the Equality Trust claimed yesterday. After citing survey figures showing that 68 per cent of the UK population believe households in the top 10 per cent by income pay more than the bottom 10 per cent relative to their incomes, the Trust offers what looks, at first [...]
Tourist trap: Why China’s wealthy new travellers have shunned Britain June 16, 2014 FOR TOO long, the UK has done too little to encourage Chinese nationals – the biggest of the big spenders in the international tourism stakes – to visit Britain. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang may be being greeted with open arms by David Cameron, but restrictive visa rules have long meant that Chinese tourists have been [...]
Three rules the West must remember when responding to the crisis in Iraq June 16, 2014 Like everyone in Washington who worked on Iraq for the past decade and hoped the nightmare had ended, my immediate reaction to the stunning recent reports was simple: “Oh my God, no.” For the news is as bad as it could be. A small, but hardened fighting force of 800 members of the Islamic State [...]
City Matters: How London is leading the way as a European centre for renminbi trade June 16, 2014 LONDON’S goal of becoming the leading Western offshore renminbi centre is expected to take a significant step forward this week, when a Chinese clearing bank is appointed in London. As the chancellor noted in his recent Mansion House speech, the capital has held a strong and growing position in renminbi trading since the City of [...]
Talent is increasingly mobile – let’s not kill it with tighter controls June 16, 2014 THE NUMBER of professionals currently working abroad or interested in relocating overseas now stands at an estimated 235m – almost 8 per cent of the number of people in work globally. Over the past five years, companies have diversified outside of their home markets for survival, and many now derive more revenue from overseas operations [...]
Letters to the Editor – 16/06 – Stuck in the past, Best of Twitter June 16, 2014 Stuck in the past [Re: As Obama says all options are open in Iraq, is Western intervention now necessary? Friday] Britain seems reluctant to advocate intervention because of its recent history. But it’s potentially dangerous to see this current crisis through the lens of the 2003 war. Many are using outdated reference points. For example, [...]
Letters to the Editor – 13/06 – No blackouts soon, Best of Twitter June 12, 2014 No blackouts soon [Re: Are we returning to 1970s-style electricity rationing? yesterday] Paying companies to curb electricity use voluntarily at peak times is a simple and practical way to shift demand, allowing questions over new investment in generation to be resolved. The coincidence of different sets of EU and UK legislation has temporarily reduced supply [...]
Bubble trouble: We’re sacrificing financial stability for a growth illusion June 12, 2014 THERE is a growing conflict at the heart of economic policymaking – and a rising danger. The risk is that financial stability is being sacrificed on the altar of growth, and that memories of the financial crisis are growing short. Consider these recent disparate examples. Mario Draghi has boldly gone where no G7 central banker [...]
Inside Pixar: Management lessons from the animation powerhouse June 12, 2014 THIS week, Pixar finally broke its silence, offering a glimpse of its next film. Inside Out won’t be released until next summer, but already the critics are gushing, with Peter Debruge writing in Variety that it could provide a whole new way to visualise how our minds work. That’s because the story is actually set [...]