As President Hollande purges leftist rebels, can his reform plans revive the French economy? August 26, 2014 Yannick Naud, portfolio manager at Sturgeon Capital, says Yes. The forced Cabinet overhaul and dismissal of three top ministers underlines the political crisis facing President Francois Hollande, as he seeks to balance pressure to reduce France’s budget deficit with domestic demands to revive a stalled economy. France can’t afford to wait any longer and should [...]
The West’s critical analytical flaw that spawned 80 years of Mid East failure August 25, 2014 Once again in Iraq – like some diabolical version of Bill Murray’s predicament in the peerless Groundhog Day – Western countries are arming the locals, with the US launching air strikes to stabilise a situation unhinged at least in part by our own doing. And yet we are surprised. Why does this keep happening? Simply [...]
City Matters: London’s schools have improved dramatically – but more can still be done August 25, 2014 Two things tend to happen without fail at this time of year: the holiday season draws to a close – and young people everywhere receive their much anticipated exam results. Exam results and qualifications are a key rite of passage, and all City A.M. readers can be impressed by what London’s young people are achieving. [...]
We have far more time for leisure than our parents – so why are we so stressed? August 25, 2014 It seems a common refrain that modern life is busier and more hectic than ever – and this can feel especially true on the first day back at work after a Bank Holiday. But the hard data tells a different story. The work week has fallen significantly across industrial countries over the last 40 years. [...]
Jeremy Hunt should scrap plain cigarette packaging August 25, 2014 After Australia passed a first-of-its-kind law in 2012 mandating that all cigarettes be sold in plain brown packaging free of branding, UK health secretary Jeremy Hunt vowed to keep a close eye on the Australian law’s progress before introducing similar legislation in the UK. Two years later, the Australian bill has failed to reduce smoking, [...]
Reviewed – From crisis to confidence: Macroeconomics after the crash August 25, 2014 The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) recently released a monograph by Roger Koppl about the Great Recession (and the theory of recessions and recoveries more generally). Titled From Crisis to Confidence, the wide-ranging document goes through the intellectual history of macroeconomics, discusses modern theories, contrasts Keynesianism and the Austrians, and integrates theory of big players [...]
Make rogue businesses pay at the point of sale – City & Gild August 22, 2014 Many a quinoa-based dinner party has boiled and fizzed in anger at the apparent lack of accountability, the sheer brazen-ness of rogue businesses or politicians to carry on without regret or punishment. In this mood, people believe such scoundrels can flog a horse, burn a factory, miss-sell the assets, miss-sell the products, generally miss-sell, miss-sell, [...]
Two ways to really annoy your boss August 22, 2014 Want to annoy your boss? Why wouldn’t you? By simply and consistently annoying your boss you could leave those boring office days behind, forget the early mornings and that rubbish, crowded commute and spend the rest of your days at home in your underwear watching daytime TV. Whoop whoop. Alternatively, if you hate daytime TV, [...]
It’s official: Why doing good by your employees boosts stock performance August 21, 2014 COMPANIES claim all the time that “people are our greatest asset”, and that they invest in their employees. However, this may simply be marketing spin – instead, the firm’s true objective is to maximise profit. Indeed, traditional approaches to human resource management saw manager-worker relations as a zero-sum game – a pound paid to workers [...]
Who’s back: The Doctor is the unexpected freedom fighter our civilisation still needs August 21, 2014 Look who’s back. Tomorrow night Peter Capaldi, formerly swear-master Malcolm Tucker from The Thick of It, takes his place at the Tardis console. What makes Doctor Who so enduring? It’s thirty years since it made me cower behind my childhood sofa, but after its bold regeneration in 2005, this bizarre TV series seems like its [...]