Shale oil and gas are vital for a recovery in British manufacturing July 31, 2013 ONCE again emotion is threatening to overcome reason in the shale debate. Whether they realise it or not, the professional protestors in Balcombe, who are disrupting exploratory drilling in West Sussex, threaten to destroy jobs and livelihoods across the country. Last year, Britain got over a third of its overall energy from natural gas, another [...]
Letters to the editor – 01/08 – Planning laws, volunteering, Best of Twitter July 31, 2013 Planning laws [Re: How hidden taxes and levies are pushing up UK house prices, Monday] This piece is completely correct. But one problem with recent reforms to planning law is that many Tory MPs support coalition policy in Westminster (which is to make building easier), but then ferociously oppose virtually all plans to build locally [...]
Hamstringing banks with higher capital requirements will not stop the next crisis July 30, 2013 GREAT fallacies periodically grip the British establishment and cause enormous harm to the economy. The last big one was the obsession with joining the European Exchange Rate Mechanism at the end of the 1980s. Now we have the regulative fallacy. The great and the good are in its grip. They identified banks and excessive debt [...]
Against the Grain: It’s time we were more optimistic about our brewing economic recovery July 30, 2013 THE POSITIVE GDP growth figures for the second quarter of this year have sent most people away on their holidays in a cheerier mood than last year. The recent weather has certainly helped. But gloomy clouds may hover over the exclusive Tuscan villas and beach houses in Martha’s Vineyard, where bien pensant commentators and so-called [...]
Why UK charities rarely benefit from the rise in corporate volunteering July 30, 2013 BUSINESSES are under the cosh. They feel under pressure to show that they care about more than just maximising profits whatever it takes, and are keen to demonstrate their wider role to customers, to the public, and to their own staff. One way of doing this is by getting their employees to volunteer to help [...]
Letters to the editor – 31/07 – Green policies, Tax relief, Best of Twitter July 30, 2013 Green policies [Re: Ruinous green policies mean rising profits for UK energy companies, yesterday] I live in Wyoming County of New York State, where we already have 250 430 foot wind turbines, with 58 more due this summer. Those who live within the footprint of these wind factories have seen the value of their homes plummet. [...]
World faces productivity challenge as ageing gloom hits equity markets July 29, 2013 OFTEN investors are so preoccupied with the short-term drivers of financial markets – like corporate earnings or central bank actions – that they forget about the long term. However, there are other significant factors – like demographics – which drive markets on both a long and short-term basis. Age, in particular, is a key determinant [...]
We need to break our unsecured banking system out of its Victorian past July 29, 2013 THE UNSECURED nature of the UK banking system has long troubled both me and my company, and we have discussed the situation with the Bank of England on several occassions. Concerns over bank capital positions have also recently been reignited. Barclays, which releases its half-year results today, is one of the banks identified by the [...]
Ruinous green policies mean rising profits for UK energy companies July 29, 2013 YESTERDAY the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee released a report arguing that energy regulator Ofgem should force energy companies to produce more detailed financial information. One of the members of the committee – John Robertson MP – told the BBC that he needed to be able to assess whether the profits of the energy [...]
Letters to the editor – 30/07 – Heathrow debate, Best of Twitter July 29, 2013 Heathrow debate [Re: Forget disastrous Heathrow and build a more efficient hub to London’s east, yesterday] The aviation debate shows no sign of abating. And despite all the arguments to the contrary, the cost, economic benefits, and practicality of a Heathrow extension still make serious consideration of other options borderline nonsensical. The alternatives are costly, [...]