How Manchester United and Chelsea showed loaning is the new buying for Premier League clubs September 10, 2014 So the window has slammed shut on the latest football transfer extravaganza. Well perhaps not so much slamming, more flapping shut with the deals that seemed to conclude after the deadline had passed. How do we all feel? I think we’re left with a sense of shock, amazement and bewilderment at the sheer [...]
Apple Watch is the start of a whole new era of growth for Apple under Tim Cook September 9, 2014 Apple is truly a creature of habit. You could almost set a watch (no pun intended) to the regular tick tock of its annual product cycles. But every so often, Apple must change its pattern, breaking with tradition to launch a new product or set a new direction for the company. The first iMac in [...]
Forget bonus caps: Why real executive pay reform must tackle short-termism September 9, 2014 EXECUTIVE pay is a high-profile topic which almost everyone has an opinion about, and many believe the entire system is broken. But despite being well-intentioned, many suggested reforms may not be targeting the elements of pay that are most critical for shareholder value and society. Much of the debate is on what I call a [...]
How incompetent policymakers have kept the Eurozone in perpetual crisis September 9, 2014 THE EUROZONE lurches into yet another crisis, with fears of deflation and a further drop in output. There are several dominant explanations as to why Europe has been unable to recover from the crisis. Depending on their tastes, most commentators subscribe to them either on their own, or in various combinations. One puts the blame [...]
Better Together finally gets it: An appeal to reason isn’t enough to save the Union September 9, 2014 FINANCIAL markets seem to be doing a better job of making the case against Scottish independence than our politicians. Since polls were published showing the Yes campaign in the ascendancy, the slide in sterling has given everyone food for thought – and not just in Scotland. My email has fired up with colleagues in New [...]
As the Scottish referendum looms, would a Yes vote derail Britain’s economic recovery? September 9, 2014 Howard Archer, chief European and UK economist at IHS Global Insight, says Yes. A Yes vote would be unlikely to completely derail the UK recovery, given that it now looks pretty well established, but it could put a serious dent in growth prospects. The uncertainty (over what will happen with the currency and UK debt [...]
The unintended consequences of plain cigarette packaging September 9, 2014 If a single policy could reduce both the number of people who start smoking and increase the ability for smokers to quit, we would have to give it serious consideration. We are always looking for solutions to the health problems caused by smoking. To that end, at first glance, plain packaging for cigarettes seems like [...]
Taxman’s revolution: HMRC is setting the pace in digital government reform September 8, 2014 JUST like innovative private sector organisations, the government, as a provider of services to the nation’s citizens, needs to reflect and respond to the changing demands of those it serves. This is especially relevant to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which must provide effective, efficient and impartial services to its 41m individual and 5m [...]
Labour’s faulty rent control plans reflect the shallowness of UK politics today September 8, 2014 WHY DO politicians advocate policies which deal with the symptoms of problems rather than the underlying issues directly? In the past week we’ve seen Liberal Democrats react to expensive childcare by pledging to roll out “free” care for all two year-olds, which they say will help struggling families. George Osborne, meanwhile, has promised to cap [...]
England is right to shake off its complacency about a disastrous Scottish Yes September 8, 2014 IT’S A sad fact of modern life that, while divorce can be painful, the financial devastation that follows in its wake can be far more serious and long-lived. The effect of Scotland walking away from the rest of the United Kingdom would be no exception. However, some in England have argued that we should welcome [...]