As some big banks place curfews on staff, is there anything left of the old City nightlife culture? October 23, 2014 Lawson Muncaster, co-founder and managing director of City A.M., says Yes. I popped out for dinner last night – suitably dressed. No thanks to the powers that be, City nightlife is alive and well. We’ve had it from all sides, with reports that banks are to place curfews on staff just the latest episode. But [...]
Beyond the AGM: Shareholders and firms must collaborate more closely on strategy October 22, 2014 On Monday, the government will publish its final response to the Kay Review, which looked at how we can get financial markets to work better for the long-term. Although the debate about promoting long-termism is far broader than the review, the time is right to take a closer look at whether companies feel the policy [...]
The NHS’s monopoly is weakening – UK healthcare has a bright future October 22, 2014 Monday 7 July started out as any other day for me, but it quickly took a dramatic turn for the worse. Mid-morning, my aorta (the main artery from the heart) tore, and the rest of my life changed. Weeks spent in a hospital bed led me to contemplate the future of the NHS. Will it [...]
How shared ownership can help get Londoners on the housing ladder October 22, 2014 The Scottish Parliament has set out plans to levy its first tax since 1707. In an effort to support first time buyers, it proposed reforming stamp duty into a marginal – rather than a “slab” – tax, meaning that house sales in Scotland will no longer incur the highest rate on the whole price. These [...]
Is Waitrose boss Mark Price right that the Big Four supermarkets are “20 years out of date”? October 22, 2014 James McGregor, director of Retail Remedy, says Yes. Mark Price is correct that structural shifts in retail are a far bigger threat to the Big Four (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons) than Aldi and Lidl. Yes, the discounters are a problem, but they’re not the big problem. The main issue is that people’s grocery shopping [...]
Devo Met: How to boost growth by unleashing the power of our cities October 21, 2014 London is Britain’s global city. Between 1997 and 2012, its economy more than doubled, and that trend is set to continue. The mayor’s projections show the capital adding 1.4m jobs by 2050, assuming a 2.5 per cent annual growth in real gross value added. Its population is forecast to grow by 37 per cent to [...]
Yet another missed deficit target for Osborne – public sector pay is to blame October 21, 2014 Why can’t the UK government get its deficit down? This issue has been exercising commentators recently, in the light of the latest assessment from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that George Osborne will once again miss his target for the deficit in the 2014-15 financial year. Of course, the size of the deficit has [...]
Apple Pay is only the start: Mobile wallets are about to take off October 21, 2014 It’s here folks. Well, in the US at least. Yesterday, a string of American retailers (including Bloomingdale’s, Foot Locker and Toys R Us) started accepting Apple Pay transactions, allowing consumers to make payments through credit card information stored on the new iPhone. Exciting stuff, but haven’t people been predicting the end of cash for some [...]
As its growth falls yet again, could a flagging China spell disaster for the global economy? October 21, 2014 Freya Beamish, economist at Lombard Street Research, says Yes. The Chinese authorities are in no man’s land. They have accepted slower growth but are not yet ready to go for the financial and wider reforms that would usher in a new phase of expansion. We calculate our own Chinese GDP numbers. Our estimate shows that [...]
Back off Barroso: Your outlandish claims are nothing but propaganda October 20, 2014 So farewell then, Jose Manuel Barroso. The outgoing EU Commission president’s valedictory tour of our TV screens has underlined one inescapable fact: Europe’s bureaucrats are much too bossy, interfering and out of touch. They need to wake up and smell the coffee. I wish Barroso a long and peaceful retirement. But let me gently remind [...]