Defective regulations are pushing up energy prices as competition suffers October 27, 2013 ENERGY prices keep rising. Prime Ministers and energy ministers, past and present, all propose their own solutions, although there is little agreement on the cause of the problem. The latest proposal is an annual competition audit by energy regulator Ofgem, with input invited from the Office of Fair Trading. It will look at prices, profits [...]
City Matters: Celebrate the soft power underpinning London’s economic fundamentals October 27, 2013 OVER the past twelve months, we have seen the UK economy, London and the City move towards a healthier position. The UK economy expanded by 0.8 per cent in the third quarter, the IMF has significantly raised its growth forecast for 2013 as a whole, London businesses feel more optimistic than at any time since [...]
We can thank Britain’s services industries for powering the recovery October 27, 2013 AS EXPECTED, the latest GDP figures show that the UK economy grew healthily in the third quarter of this year. All the main sectors – services, manufacturing and construction – contributed to growth for the second quarter in a row. This provides some reassurance that the recovery is broad-based, and that the momentum will continue [...]
Letters to the Editor – 28/10 – Energy innovation, Best of Twitter October 27, 2013 Energy innovation [Re: The global economy sinks under its debts as the real cost of energy rises, Thursday] Tim Morgan’s vision of low EROEI (Energy Return On Energy Invested) constraining living standards is overly pessimistic. Though his EROEI data may be true, the economy-as-an-energy-system argument requires two additional premises, which are not. First, the argument [...]
Nick Clegg is wrong: English schools should have more freedom not less October 24, 2013 IN WHAT seemed like a surprise U-turn, deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has departed from previous coalition education policy, arguing that academies must hire officially-qualified teachers and follow the national curriculum. This shift isn’t too surprising, however. Clegg is repeating what was decided at the Liberal Democrats’ spring conference. But while this makes his announcement [...]
The Long View: The new totalitarianism of hard work leaves us little time to enjoy its benefits October 24, 2013 THERE’S something repellent about the Conservative Party’s new slogan “For Hardworking People”. I can’t agree with those critics who think it is an empty promise. It reflects the values in which David Cameron believes. It suits the social incentives he is seeking to construct. But while encouraging people to work for their own betterment is [...]
The rise of Islamic finance has exciting implications beyond the Muslim world October 24, 2013 THE FINANCIAL crisis has made many question whether Western financial models can withstand future onslaughts, whether they are even fit for purpose. But Islamic finance (one of the fastest growing financial sectors) withstood the crisis comparatively well. A 2010 IMF study found that, on average, Islamic banks showed greater resilience than their conventional counterparts. So [...]
Letters to the Editor – 25/10 – Deferred costs, Best of Twitter October 24, 2013 Deferred costs [Re: The global economy sinks under its debts as the real cost of energy rises, yesterday] Tim Morgan’s article strikes at the real issue facing the global economy and all of us. Perpetual growth is almost certainly over. The debt problem of the credit crisis has not gone away, it has simply been transferred [...]
The global economy sinks under its debts as the real cost of energy rises October 23, 2013 ALTHOUGH the economy is improving, this is turning out to be “a recovery, but not as we know it”. Britain may be getting better off, but people keep getting poorer, as the costs of essentials continue to grow much more rapidly than incomes. Yet far from being a uniquely British problem, this is a worldwide [...]
The UK economic growth surge exposes the real evidence on bank lending October 23, 2013 WHEN Charlie Bean, deputy governor at the Bank of England, gave his speech this week on the UK’s economic outlook, he admitted that the Old Lady was surprised with what was happening. The Bank’s analysis showed that the “recent run of UK data has been unusually strong relative to market expectations”. There are “at last [...]