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 [...]
More rigorous GCSEs are good for business – but nurturing grit is also vital August 21, 2014 WHETHER you have a son or daughter who has been nervously awaiting their exam results or you’re a high-tech manufacturer hoping to add to your pool of skilled technicians, we all want young people to get the chance to fulfil their potential – not just in work but in life. With the latest GCSE results [...]
As Nobel laureates slam Eurozone policy, will historians “tar and feather” its central bank? August 21, 2014 Jennifer McKeown, senior European economist at Capital Economics, says Yes. With the Eurozone’s feeble recovery grinding to a halt, and inflation dangerously close to zero, there is a clear case for the European Central Bank (ECB) to do all it can to stimulate the economy. Policies announced in June to offer more liquidity to banks [...]
Why the Pope is wrong on inequality August 21, 2014 Pope Francis visited Seoul, South Korea last Saturday, where he urged wealthy nations to “hear the cry of the poor” and resist the “allure of materialism.” The condemnation of capitalism and inequality has been a common theme for Francis since his papacy began. In his first major work written as Pope, Francis called capitalism “a [...]
How an independent Scotland can keep the pound – and have more stable banks August 20, 2014 When Scottish voters go to the polls in their independence referendum next month, they may ultimately make their decision on the basis of a single question: if we voted Yes, what currency would we use? The question has massive implications for Scotland’s economy, and since the “Plan A” of a formal currency union between Scotland [...]