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 [...]
The Greenbelt sacred cow: It pens in the poor for no environmental gain November 10, 2013 GREENBELTS combine the qualities of sacred cows and juggernauts. To question their benignly green and fair credentials is to invite abuse: yet the unstoppable damage they do to societal fairness, housing affordability, the economic efficiency of our cities, even the environment, is devastating. Greenbelts have a mystical quality, in that almost everything we believe about [...]
City Matters: We need to unlock London’s full diversity to tackle its future challenges November 10, 2013 I TOOK my seat in the golden state coach on Saturday, to join the world’s oldest street pageant and be shown to the world as the 686th lord mayor of London. It’s a role that’s over 800 years old, and comes imbued with a huge amount of history. Every lord mayor brings something different to [...]
Maths teaching has been stuck in a vicious circle to our economy’s detriment November 10, 2013 IF YOU’RE gloomy about the UK’s economic future, some recent additions to YouTube might cheer you up. One features a girl icing and re-icing a cake in red, white and chocolate. Another has 15-year olds sporting big fake Poirot moustaches. And in a third, a collection of battered buckets pours water in, and out, of [...]
Letters to the Editor – 11/11 – Interest rates, House building, Best of Twitter November 10, 2013 Interest rates [Re: The UK’s hawks are right – but so are the Eurozone’s doves, Friday] Interest rates at 2.5 per cent would restore real returns to those with savings and pensions. At the same time, it would kill the corrosively damaging house price bubble – itself the product of supply rationing by the state, [...]
Europe ignores its relative decline – the UK could have a different future November 7, 2013 A NEW strain of gormlessness is infecting Europe. Despite the temporary distraction of a European Central Bank rate cut, it’s the problems besetting America and the Brics that have been noisily and gleefully recounted in European newspapers on a daily basis. These difficulties are certainly real, but their prominent coverage belies the intellectual blind alley [...]
The Long View: Governor Christie could be the straight-talking heavyweight his party needs November 7, 2013 A NEW kind of presidential run may have just got underway in America. With Hillary Clinton the likely Democrat nominee in 2016, the Republicans are in desperate need of a challenger who can stand up against her campaigning heft. Chris Christie may be the literal and figurative heavyweight his party needs. The New Jersey governor, [...]
How ending the letting free-for-all could save our failing high streets November 7, 2013 THE RECENT purchase of much of the retail property along London’s Queensway by Meyer Bergman and a Brunei family was a keynote deal. As all successful retail property investors know: control the mix of shops, and you control the fortunes of the area. Control the Queensway mix and you can restore a down-at-heel shopping offer [...]