City & Gild: As the economy improves, a new battle between value and volume emerges January 31, 2014 What should the consumer make of the recent spat between Adidas and Sports Direct, and how will the unfolding saga affect each brand? At the end of last year, the German sportswear giant refused to supply the retail chain with Chelsea latest replica kit. From my perspective, there will no doubt be some turbulence in [...]
Why we’re not about to witness the death of the global bubble economy January 30, 2014 AN ABNORMAL amount of liquidity is still afloat in today’s global markets, amounting to an unprecedented estimate of 27 per cent of global GDP. And whatever the troubles facing some emerging markets in recent months – apparently in the face of the Fed taper – this important ratio of global liquidity to GDP is not [...]
The Long View: The robots are coming – but the power of human ingenuity will save our jobs January 30, 2014 I FOR one don’t welcome our new robot overlords. Don’t get me wrong – I’m all in favour of the liberating potential of new technology. I’m also conscious that worries about jobs lost to mechanisation have a history of being misplaced: the jobs go but new and even better-paying ones appear elsewhere. What’s worrying right [...]
The bonus culture isn’t to blame for a collapse in corporate investment January 30, 2014 THE LATEST front in the ongoing critique of the Anglo-Saxon bonus culture has been opened up by the economist Andrew Smithers, in his recent book The Road to Recovery. He argues that it has led companies to under-invest, thereby harming economic growth. According to this argument, bonuses give managers a greater incentive to boost their [...]
Letters to the Editor – 31/01 – UK democracy, Small business, Best of Twitter January 30, 2014 UK democracy [Re: Scotland’s referendum is a fateful moment for the whole UK, yesterday] I struggle to understand how a system has developed where Scottish MPs vote on policy affecting Wales and England, but Welsh and English MPs can’t vote on some aspects of Scottish policy. Why not follow a similar model to the USA [...]
Emerging market desperation risks a repeat of 1997 Asian crisis blunders January 29, 2014 THE EMERGING market sell-off has prompted central bankers to act. Yesterday, South Africa’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.5 percentage points to 5.5 per cent, citing the depreciation of the rand and an increased risk to the country’s inflation outlook. The Reserve Bank of India has also increased its benchmark rate by [...]
We’re no longer the world’s largest financial services exporter: We should worry January 29, 2014 ECONOMIC growth is humming away at an annual rate of nearly 3 per cent, inflation is bang on target and the government’s deficit is falling. But even the sunniest of days often have some clouds. At risk of being damned as a spoilsport, there is a little-noticed fact about our economic recovery I find pretty [...]
We’re not witnessing the stirring of another Dot-com tech bubble January 29, 2014 IT MAY be chilly outside but, for those of us analysing the UK tech market, it couldn’t be hotter. It was a stellar year in 2013 for the sector. In the US, the Nasdaq index of technology-focused stocks reached highs last witnessed in 2000 – at the height of the Dot-com boom. Here in the [...]
Letters to the Editor – 30/01 – School leavers, Facebook, Best of Twitter January 29, 2014 School leavers [Re: Better Schools, Friday] This article rightly praises the overall improvement in exam results in England, and especially in London. However, education is not just about exam results but teaching all students, academically able or not, the communication skills and confidence to be useful to employers who take on those leaving school. As [...]
The grave crises facing Putin’s Russia lay bare its fundamental weaknesses January 28, 2014 CHAOS in Kiev must feel uncomfortably close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian parliament yesterday annulled laws that sought to clear the streets of protesters against Ukraine’s increasingly authoritarian pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. Ukraine’s prime minister and government have quit, and the country stands perilously on the edge of deeper conflict – prompted initially [...]