The UK desperately needs a free trade alternative to costly EU membership November 3, 2014 THE ANNOUNCEMENT that the UK must stump up a further €2.1bn (£1.7bn) to finance the EU’s ballooning budget has understandably caused outrage. Not only does this demand appear to punish Britain’s relative economic success, while France and Germany are rewarded with handouts, but with Greece and Cyprus also asked to pay more, a political farce [...]
Space travel economics: Don’t damn the rich for splurging on Virgin Galactic November 3, 2014 “Never let a serious crisis go to waste”, concluded Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama’s ex-chief of staff. For our political commentators, a more accurate phrase might be “never let a tragedy go to waste”. Just days after the Mojave Desert crash of the Virgin Galactic spacecraft, the Guardian’s Zoe Williams has used the tragic incident to [...]
Jose Mourinho is right: Football grounds should be cauldrons of noise November 3, 2014 CHELSEA football manager Jose Mourinho is right, as ever. Stamford Bridge, the club’s home stadium, has become too quiet, even though it’s full to the rafters every week with more than 41,000 fans. In the six years since the Special One, as he is known, last plied his trade in west London, the atmosphere at [...]
As taxpayers receive personal tax statements, will greater transparency help to reform the system? November 3, 2014 Ben Gummer, Conservative MP for Ipswich, says Yes. This is an important day for taxpayers and for democracy – and that’s a big claim for a single sheet of A4. How come? Because Tax Statements provide us with the same transparency we now demand of far smaller transactions – from mobile phone bills to the [...]
Could the wheels be falling off Abenomics, as Japan boosts QE? November 3, 2014 Diana Choyleva, head of macroeconomic research at Lombard Street Research, says Yes. The wheels haven’t fallen off Abenomics, but Japan is careering towards a dangerous mix of inflation and no growth. The last thing it needs is more QE, which will debase the yen and feed directly into inflation. Deflation in Japan isn’t the disease but [...]
US elections: Obama can only salvage his failing presidency if his party loses November 2, 2014 There is a lovely story about how the administration of US President John F Kennedy – for all its intellectual glitter and panache – managed to get Vietnam so wrong. Coming back from his first cabinet meeting, vice president Lyndon Johnson told his mentor and great friend Sam Rayburn, a crafty giant of the House [...]
Remembrance Sunday 2014: The City will never forget those who fought for our liberties November 2, 2014 Every year, the pageantry and fun of the Lord Mayor’s Show is followed by a more solemn occasion, one that is of great significance to each new lord mayor: Remembrance Sunday. The City’s link with the military is ancient and rich, with every Lord Mayor’s Show being honoured by the participation of some of the [...]
Lord Hill should not fear ambition in pursuing capital markets union November 2, 2014 Today is Jonathan Hill’s first day as European commissioner for financial stability, financial services and capital markets union. He takes on the role at an inflection point: there is broad recognition that Europe needs deep, healthy, and diverse financial markets if it is to unlock economic growth. Banks still provide the major proportion of Europe’s [...]
Free enterprise will crumble if we fail to make the moral case for capitalism October 30, 2014 THE BIRTH of free enterprise more than 200 years ago fuelled the greatest advances in human prosperity and happiness the world has ever seen. Life before capitalism was, as Thomas Hobbes might have said, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. Today, people in capitalist countries live longer than those in Third World countries and twice as [...]
Don’t underestimate the economic benefits of investing in energy efficiency October 30, 2014 EVEN if this year’s Indian summer delayed the onset of colder times, families all over the country are now starting to turn on their heating, while dreading the moment the bill lands. For many families in Britain, the onset of the colder months means a stark choice. Six million low income households in this country [...]