Do not assume that an interest rate rise would be bad for the economy November 13, 2013 OTHER things being equal, is it better if interest rates are as far below inflation as feasible, or as high above? Most discussions of interest rates assume that lower interest rates are the better. We are told, in an optimistic tone, that “the Bank of England may be able to keep interest rates at 0.5 [...]
Letters to the Editor – 14/11 – Greenbelt, Premier league bid, Best of Twitter November 13, 2013 Greenbelt [Re: The Greenbelt sacred cow: It pens in the poor for no environmental gain, yesterday] I agree 100 per cent with the author. Support for the Greenbelt is strong among those over 60. In many cases, these people bought property between the 1960s and 1980s, when prices were often below £50,000 in today’s money. [...]
How institutional capital could keep the lights on and lower energy bills November 12, 2013 WITH so much talk about the lights going out in the UK over the next two to three years, it almost starts to be believable. In its last Electricity Capacity Assessment, Ofgem prophesied that our reserve margin of available capacity could fall below 5 per cent of total peak demand by 2015-16, raising the risk [...]
Against the Grain: The future’s bright for young people – but only if they learn more maths November 12, 2013 A FASHIONABLE topic among pessimists is the lifetime prospects of children born into the middle class. Graduate debt, falling home affordability, and job insecurity after graduation, they all add up to to a miserable picture for young people today. Alan Milburn, the government’s “social mobility tsar”, put the seal of approval on this prevailing angst [...]
Why it’s no time to be complacent about the UK’s inflation problem November 12, 2013 THE SURPRISE fall in the annual inflation rate in October to 2.2 per cent on the consumer price index and 2.6 per cent on the retail price index is obviously welcome news. However, it’s too soon to be complacent. It also reminds us that inflation has been consistently above the Bank of England’s 2 per [...]
Letters to the Editor – 13/11 – Listing rules, Greenbelt, Best of Twitter November 12, 2013 Listing rules [Re: New listing rules protect investors and safeguard London’s open markets, yesterday] Elements of the new listing rules may help to prevent scandals involving poor corporate governance. But there is a danger that, by singling out companies controlled by majority shareholders for added scrutiny, we drive away future flotations. Many of the world’s [...]
Bank capital rules are holding back a credit binge – but also our recovery November 11, 2013 THE RECENT run of better-than-expected economic data and the government’s Help to Buy scheme have sparked talk of a return to credit-fuelled boom and bust. Some have joined renowned monetary policy hawk Andrew Sentance, a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, in calling for interest rates to rise sooner rather than [...]
We need to judge policies by good outcomes not just on good intentions November 11, 2013 OVER the past week, two aspects of our public debate have become noticeable. First, many judge policies by their intentions, not their effects. This often leads to policymaking that seeks fairness, but actually eliminates opportunity. The second is that unequal outcomes are often just assumed to indicate institutional bias or injustice. Both result in do-gooders [...]
New listing rules protect investors and safeguard London’s open markets November 11, 2013 THE OPERATION of public markets frequently attracts high levels of scrutiny. But for much of the past 18 months, the spotlight on the UK equity market and the listing regime has been intense. Questions over corporate governance at companies with a controlling shareholder – and by extension the rights and protections for minority investors – [...]
Letters to the Editor – 12/11 – Greenbelt benefits, Best of Twitter November 11, 2013 Greenbelt benefits [Re: The Greenbelt sacred cow: It pens in the poor for no environmental gain, yesterday] Professor Anne Powers (LSE) estimates that there are sufficient brownfield sites across London to provide the necessary housing for the next 20 years. Surely we should be looking at how we design affordable housing, in areas that are [...]