The new EU price controls that will hold back a cashless future – and hit the poor June 8, 2014 PAYMENT cards are a marvel of modern civilisation. Both consumers and retailers benefit from payments that are safer and quicker than cash or cheque – and from the fact that consumers are not limited by the amount of cash in their wallet or bank account. Brits get this, which is why Britain has among the [...]
City Matters: We cannot afford to be complacent about ensuring capitalism is inclusive June 8, 2014 THE DEBATE over the future of capitalism has been intensified in recent months by French economist Thomas Piketty. His best-selling book has sparked popular interest in wealth and income inequality across the globe. Leaving aside the arguments over Piketty’s underlying data, it is clear that this is a pertinent issue that needs to be treated [...]
I’m proud of my pension reforms: They will make saving worthwhile again June 8, 2014 IT IS not often that pensions take centre stage in UK politics, but I’m proud that last week was one of those rare occasions. And for good reason. What will become the new Pensions Bill will give us the opportunity to help firms provide a wider range of workplace pensions for their staff – a [...]
Letters to the Editor – 09/06 – ECB easing, D-Day, Best of Twitter June 8, 2014 ECB easing [Re: ECB easing must damage growth, Friday] If central banks are to have any responsibility, it is for the nominal side of the economy, that which they can affect. Since the crisis, nominal GDP (NGDP) growth has remained stunted in the euro area. The tragedy is that the measures announced by the ECB [...]
Letters to the Editor – 06/06 – Penning in the poor, Home working, Best of Twitter June 5, 2014 Penning in the poor [Re: Why Britain’s housing crisis risks turning into catastrophe, Wednesday] An excellent, angry piece by Paul Cheshire. Alongside the problem he identifies of Britain building houses where they’re needed least, our new homes are also among the smallest in Europe. All these land use restrictions have the effect of penning poor [...]
Our leaders have forgotten the spirit of D-Day – and why it saved the world June 5, 2014 “OUR landings have failed and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.”– letter by US [...]
Leadership lessons from the ancients: How to succeed like Cyrus the Great June 5, 2014 IT WAS a great invasion in the cause of liberty. Not 70 years ago, but two and a half millennia, when on 7 October 540 BC the army of Cyrus the Great entered Babylon by water. Beforehand, he misdirected the blockaded city by digging a ditch encircling its walls, as if settling his army in [...]
ECB easing must damage growth eventually: Let’s hope we’re not there yet June 5, 2014 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) has cut its main interest rate to 0.15 per cent, and imposed an interest rate charge of 0.1 per cent upon banks leaving money in the ECB (as opposed to the traditional practice whereby central banks pay interest on such reserves). ECB governor Mario Draghi has also indicated a willingness [...]
Letters to the Editor – 05/06 – Total recall, Best of Twitter June 4, 2014 Total recall [Re: It is high time voters were given the right to recall their MPs, yesterday] I’ve always felt that the right to recall is a hammer to crack a walnut, and distracts from better reforms that should be implemented. There are really only a handful of MPs who might have been subject to [...]
This is no zombie government – but the Queen’s Speech lacked bold vision June 4, 2014 NOTHING baffles me more than the complaint that government isn’t doing enough. The accusation that coalition ministers have become zombies, walking around aimlessly with nothing to do, has energised those who feel that, if government slows down, life as we know it might well collapse. The notion that creativity, social progress and economic growth will [...]