How to handle “Do you have any questions?” in a job interview August 8, 2014 “So do you have any questions for us?” This is not a polite way to end the interview and usher you out of the room quickly before they cross you off their list. It is another interview question and should be treated as such. It is also a huge chance to move from defensive “I” [...]
City & Gild: Boris Johnson, the brand ambassador August 8, 2014 I was watching a black & white film the other day (who needs a 4k television when a film has a plot?) about a naval captain who united his rebellious crew by forcing them to build him a wooden dinghy, and then sailing it back and forth in front of them while they sweated away [...]
Global free trade faces a fragmented future – but we shouldn’t give up yet August 7, 2014 What is the point of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the global body dedicated to helping trade flow smoothy and freely across the world? Before the collapse of talks last week on implementing an agreement on global trade facilitation, lauded at the time of its inking as a historic turning point for an increasingly moribund [...]
There’s no justice in the US government’s record Bank of America settlement August 7, 2014 Surely anyone who hoped to see banks punished in the wake of the financial crisis should be ecstatic with the new settlement between Bank of America and the US Department of Justice? They’re not, though. The only person coming out on top in this settlement is the US government, which gets to pocket a big [...]
Delaying Crossrail 2 would strangle London – and the private sector can help pay for it August 7, 2014 One of the most encouraging things about ministers considering an extension of Crossrail to Hertfordshire, giving commuter towns like Tring and Hemel Hempstead direct access to the City and Canary Wharf, is that it shows a commitment to long-term planning that has too often been absent in the UK. Admittedly, it’s rather late to be [...]
As sectarian violence in Iraq intensifies, does the West have a responsibility to intervene? August 7, 2014 Robin Simcox, research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, says Yes. The mess in Iraq is partially of the West’s making – both in terms of the botched post-invasion planning in 2003 and the US’s disastrously premature withdrawal in 2011. The al-Qaeda offshoot Islamic State (IS) now controls significant amounts of territory and is treating [...]
How London’s stockbrokers went to war – and conflict came to the City August 6, 2014 KEEP your heads. There is no need for panic. Try and go on in the ordinary way.” These were the words of the lord mayor of London, Sir Thomas Vansittart Bowater, to citizens on the outbreak of war in 1914. For all the lord mayor’s words of encouragement, life did not go on in the [...]
Return of the freedom fighter: Boris will put real liberalism back into national politics August 6, 2014 THE PROSPECT of Boris Johnson’s return to national politics will cause much discussion about Europe, given his attractively pugnacious and positive approach to possible withdrawal from the EU (which sounds good to me). But there’s a further impact which should not go unmentioned: having Boris sitting in the House of Commons once again could see [...]
London has nothing to fear from leaving the EU – but much to gain August 6, 2014 THE EUROPE Report: A win-win situation, authored by Boris Johnson’s chief economic adviser Dr Gerard Lyons and released yesterday, is a major contribution to the “in/out” EU debate – a debate that will simply not go away. I welcome its measured, positive and undogmatic analysis of the main scenarios facing Britain and our relationship with [...]
As the chancellor embraces Bitcoin, could it soon be integral to commerce in the UK? August 6, 2014 Charlotte Bowyer, digital policy researcher at the Adam Smith Institute, says Yes. Given the right conditions, digital currencies could revolutionise payments processing and become an integral part of UK commerce. Paying online with Bitcoin could become a serious alternative to using Visa or PayPal – if they don’t adopt the technology themselves. The low fees [...]