The war on drugs began 100 years ago today: Let’s hope it doesn’t last another century December 16, 2014 One hundred years ago today, President Woodrow Wilson approved the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act, the US’s first national legislation designed to control the manufacture, import and supply of opium and cocaine. Francis Burton Harrison, a Democrat representative, did little more than give his name to the law. The heavy lifting was done by Dr Hamilton [...]
Why Ireland wants the UK to stay in the EU – and make the case for openness December 16, 2014 I ENTERED the Irish diplomatic service in 1978, just five years after the UK and Ireland joined the then European Community in 1973. This means that, throughout my entire professional life, our two countries have been partners within what is now the European Union. EU membership has been very positive for Ireland. It has also [...]
Londoners deserve better than Boris’s Wormwood Scrubs mini-Manhattan December 16, 2014 LONDON’s greatest strength is its ability to constantly regenerate. But amid unprecedented levels of development, we must be wary of leaving local communities behind. Seeing Boris Johnson’s name attached to a project immediately sets alarm bells ringing. The fantasy airport, the over-budget buses, the loss of strategic sites like Earl’s Court and Mount Pleasant. His [...]
Putin’s disaster economy now faces a perfect storm December 16, 2014 VLADIMIR Putin is surely receiving his long-awaited comeuppance, as his country struggles to deal with a full-blown currency rout, driven by plunging oil prices. For if the US and Saudi Arabia are indeed in cahoots to drive down the price of oil to smite their Russian enemy, as I have previously posited, one must admit [...]
As consumer price rises fall to 1 per cent, is subdued inflation a new normal for the UK? December 16, 2014 Samuel Tombs, UK economist at Capital Economics, says Yes. Low inflation is unlikely to be just for Christmas. A combination of lower commodity and import prices, alongside stable energy bills, should mean that consumer price inflation falls to comfortably below 1 per cent in the coming months. And while the impact of these factors is [...]
Farewell corporate power: How the rise of the blockchain could change everything December 15, 2014 OUR WORLD is full of third parties – the people and organisations that regulate and manage our interactions. The financial world is particularly replete: conduct authorities, prudential bodies, central banks. Even commercial financial institutions themselves often operate as little more than giant third parties, co-ordinating the connections between millions of lenders and borrowers. However, a [...]
Britain’s infrastructure craze has echoes of Japan’s debt-fuelled building boom December 15, 2014 THE RECENT announcement that the projected cost of Crossrail 2 has risen to £27bn should be cause for deep concern within the Treasury. Added to HS2 and HS3, this means the total budget of just three planned or proposed rail schemes could be close to £100bn – or perhaps even higher, given the overruns so [...]
Bank of England stress tests: There’s still an elephant in the room December 15, 2014 With the Bank of England releasing the results of its stress tests today, banks’ financial strength is still a major concern for markets, regulators and policymakers. The second set of stress-testing results in just a two-month period, following the comprehensive assessment issued by the European Banking Authority and European Central Bank in October, the latest [...]
As vendors count the cost of the Amazon 1p glitch, is more protection needed for sellers? December 15, 2014 Stephen Palmer, managing director at TV Village, says Yes. It is important to note that this is not Amazon’s fault – it’s down to the third-party repricing software, RepricerExpress. But this has definitely made me more nervous about letting Amazon ship our goods, instead of us sending them directly. At least when we despatch them, [...]
What to expect in 2015: Europe down and crunch time for Japan and Mexico December 14, 2014 THERE ought to be a special circle of hell reserved for my colleagues – sadly a majority – who work so extra hard to never say much of anything. All too often, analysts, fearing being wrong to the point of never trying to be right, describe rather than analyse, and go along with conventional wisdom [...]