Pay bosses in debt – not just equity – to deter future crisis April 24, 2014 THE FINANCIAL crisis saw chief executives undertake risky actions that cost society billions. Examples included irresponsible subprime lending and over-expansion through excessive leverage. Moreover, this problem has extended beyond financial institutions. Punch Taverns, for example, accumulated £2.3bn of debt through an expansion spree before the crisis, which has long been causing the business difficulties. Why? [...]
A terraced street revolution could end London’s housing crunch April 24, 2014 IN EXCELLENT news for anyone concerned about London’s housing crisis, local government secretary Eric Pickles has announced that he is looking at how post-war estates can be more comprehensively redeveloped into “traditional streetscapes.” He got it right when he said that traditional streets “can provide more housing and commercial space using the same amount of [...]
How Britain is wasting its real shale gas potential April 24, 2014 WITH the Ukraine crisis intensifying and concerns growing over its impact on energy security, the government has responded this week with rather inconsistent messages: it announced more multi-billion subsidies for unreliable renewable energy projects and another promise to speed up shale gas extraction in Britain. Speaking at a conference in Blackpool, and with a new [...]
Letters to the Editor – 24/04 – Licence to operate, Best of Twitter April 23, 2014 Licence to operate [Re: Cable is fighting yesterday’s battle, yesterday] Whether Allister Heath likes it or not, the “licence to operate” – a term first popularised by Tomorrow’s Company when protestors were attacking Shell’s petrol stations over the Brent Spar crisis two decades ago – is a reality for free enterprise everywhere. This is not [...]
Why freedom – not foreign aid – is the only real route to development April 23, 2014 INDIA, the world’s largest democracy, is currently holding the world’s longest general election. But does this mean India is economically and politically free, in the sense that it provides the degree of openness required for fertile economic growth? I think not. National and local contexts will differ between Mumbai and Dubai, the UK and the [...]
Crime’s collapse masks the march of the cyber criminal April 23, 2014 IN AN era of squeezed budgets and public services under pressure, the police service continues to defy expectations. Yesterday had more good news, with data from A&E departments indicating a dramatic reduction in violent crime. A new study, led by professor Jonathan Shepherd at Cardiff University, found a 12 per cent fall in injuries due [...]
Sanctions on Russia will hurt – but doing nothing also has a price April 23, 2014 EUROPEAN leaders were quick to say Russia’s annexation of Crimea was “unacceptable”, but mostly accepted it. Others say they know Russia is behind the violence in eastern Ukraine, but still do nothing. Talk is cheap. The real test is whether the EU will move from rhetoric to real action and impose meaningful sanctions on Russia. [...]
Letters to the Editor – 23/04 – Labour’s spending, The West’s decline, Best of Twitter April 22, 2014 Labour’s spending [Re: The cost of living crisis isn’t over – but Ed Miliband still won’t solve it, yesterday] It is difficult to see how Labour intends to deal with high childcare costs, while also promising to raise the national minimum wage or introduce a (much higher) living wage. Unless the intention is just to [...]
Just three reforms would transform UK recovery into long-term boom April 22, 2014 WHISPER it, but things finally seem to be looking up. Investment is rising, unemployment is falling, and the deficit seems to be coming under control. But it could be a lot better. Real wages will not recover to their pre-crisis peak until 2020. And expected growth of 2.7 per cent this year is well below [...]
Why Europe should cut taxes – not engineer inflation April 22, 2014 CONSUMER prices in Sweden fell by 0.4 per cent in the year to March 2014, according to Eurostat figures. Over the same period, inflation was negative in a further seven European countries, including Greece, Portugal and Spain. In eight other countries, inflation was still positive but very low, running at an annual rate of less [...]