The end of Iraq: The outlines of a more stable region are finally in sight July 2, 2014 IT SHOULD come as no surprise to anyone that Iraq is an unnatural construct. Even as the British were establishing the pushmi-pullyu state following the Great War, the danger signs of its viability were there for all to see. John Van Ess, an American missionary and old Mesopotamian hand, explicitly warned his friend Gertrude Bell [...]
Why genuine competition in education will pay a serious growth dividend July 2, 2014 POLITICIANS are obsessive about education, and for good reason. It offers the potential for personal flourishing and faster economic growth, all at the same time. Education secretary Michael Gove has even claimed that “the single most effective way to generate economic growth is [to] invest in human and intellectual capital – to build a better [...]
How Americans learned to love football July 2, 2014 WE BRITS have long enjoyed looking down our noses at Americans when it comes to football. They call it soccer, they get the terminology wrong, and they are inexplicably obsessed with viewing it through the prism of statistics. Making fun of all this has been a favourite pastime within our favourite pastime. Or at least [...]
As prices pass their 2007 peak, does the housing market pose a risk to the economy? July 2, 2014 Philip Lachowycz, economist at Fathom Consulting, says Yes. The mortgage lenders are again reporting substantial increases in house prices. And this is not happening from a position where property had become cheap – far from it. The current rises are happening from a base where, relative to incomes, the level of prices was already some [...]
Letters to the Editor – 02/07 – Flexible working, EU reform failures, Best of Twitter July 1, 2014 Flexible working [Re: Firms fear a backlash over flexible work, Monday] City A.M.’s reporting on the new flexible working regulations omits the crucial point that staff can request flexibility in work location, not just hours. This reflects a common misconception among employers that flexible working is synonymous with flexi-time. In fact, multi-location working (usually involving [...]
There is a problem in the UK’s energy market – but it’s the regulator’s fault July 1, 2014 OFGEM has referred the retail energy market for investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). This is the right decision, for the wrong reasons. Most of Ofgem’s concerns are insubstantial. The real source of the problem is Ofgem’s policy, described in its annual report issued the same day as “Simpler, clearer, fairer. Three words [...]
The crisis isn’t over: The Eurozone’s laggards still need disciplining July 1, 2014 THE POLISH banking and financial elite gathered last week at a conference in the Baltic seaside resort of Sopot. The proceedings were enlivened by the presence on the platform of Jacek Rostowski, one of the senior Polish politicians recently caught on tape badmouthing David Cameron, in very colourful terms, for his failure to stand up [...]
We urgently need simpler taxes: National Insurance is a good place to start July 1, 2014 JUST days after the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee published a damning report, describing tax authorities as “unable to cope” with the number and complexity of UK tax reliefs, it has emerged that the chancellor is considering abolishing employee’s National Insurance and merging it into income tax. This is genuinely great news. With a [...]
As Ocado posts a half-year profit, will the business now go from strength to strength? July 1, 2014 Jonathan Jackson, a partner and head of equities at Killik & Co, says Yes. Ocado offers a unique way to play the expected strong growth in the UK online grocery market. The group offers investors the potential to benefit from its industry-leading intellectual property, built up over 13 years of investment in technology, to more [...]
Letters to the Editor – 01/07 – Not a new normal, Best of Twitter June 30, 2014 Not a new normal [Re: Is Mark Carney right that the “new normal” for interest rates will be 2.5 per cent?, yesterday] Mark Carney has pointed to financial market expectations to support his assertion that the “new normal” for rates will be around 2.5 per cent. He is wrong. Financial markets do not forecast the [...]