Why the government will struggle to deliver a Silicon Valley for Britain January 31, 2013 THE UK has a desperate need for growth. But while many of the means of reaching this goal – tax reform, for instance – are controversial, the need for innovation is widely accepted. Economic evidence clearly demonstrates that a key driver of growth is the development and adoption of innovative products and services. A natural [...]
Osborne isn’t the cat’s whiskers but we don’t have to give up on austerity January 31, 2013 AS THE UK economy skids towards a triple-dip recession, many are looking at George Osborne and his plan A and wondering whether someone else could do better. Osborne’s own cat Freya, for instance. If we saved on Osborne’s salary and, in a spirit of austerity, paid his replacement with Whiskas and the occasional catnip chew [...]
Customers have no incentive to punish mis-selling banks January 31, 2013 BANKS are embroiled in another “mis-selling” scandal, but we can be sure that customer behaviour won’t be affected. Few people will switch bank as a result. Regulation means we are indifferent to how our banks behave. Why? Because we know banks will always be fined for their faults, and we know we’ll always be compensated. [...]
The Debate: After a rebrand and new product launch, can BlackBerry save itself from decline? January 31, 2013 YES Jeff Kagan BlackBerry can be saved, but it won’t reclaim its position as a market leader. The question is who is going to be the third player in the market behind Apple and Google: Microsoft, Nokia, or BlackBerry? BlackBerry still has a sizeable customer base – especially corporate users. Its brand was looking tired, [...]
Letters to the editor January 31, 2013 The Nordic model [Re: How Sweden reformed its state to lay the foundations for future growth, yesterday] All those on the left who look to Sweden as the ideal society should read this article. The common image of a socialist nation, with all-encompassing state provision, needs refining. Not only is Sweden weathering this recession better [...]
How Sweden reformed its state to lay foundations for future growth January 30, 2013 THE muted optimism of the coalition’s mid-term review has made way for the harsh reality of disappointing GDP figures. The economy’s most recent dip demonstrates the scale of the remaining challenge: public sector reform was David Cameron’s big idea, but too little has been achieved. Even the coalition’s more radical reforms, in health and education, [...]
Banks aren’t rewarding failure – but restrictions on bonuses could go too far January 30, 2013 WITH the predictability of “snowflake causes chaos” stories, we are entering the annual banker bonus furore season. With the economy in doldrums, and the industry in the doghouse, it is easy to understand the concern. Top bankers have themselves said that pay has been “grotesque.” But just as predictable as the outrage is a lack [...]
Six books to spur Britain’s start-up revolution onward January 30, 2013 THE number of UK start-ups hasn’t deviated much in years, with business birth rates hovering between 10 and 13 per cent of overall enterprise numbers. So recent figures from StartUp Britain, showing a 10 per cent spike of 484,224 new firms in 2012, are a welcome anomaly. For many first-time entrepreneurs, the idea of starting [...]
The Debate: After reaching its highest point since 2008, can the FTSE 100 continue its recent rally? January 30, 2013 YES Tom Stevenson As the FTSE 100 share index moves safely back into pre-financial crisis territory, the question is whether its recent performance can continue for the rest of 2013. We analysed the performance of the index since its inception in 1984, and found that it has risen in the first month of the year [...]
Letters to the editor January 30, 2013 Heathrow vs HS2 [Re: HS2 cost-benefit is a worrying mix of naive projections, Tuesday] The comparison we should make is between HS2 and a third runway at Heathrow. The former requires a fortune of borrowed taxpayers’ money, will find it difficult to recover the cost of capital, and is a massive transfer from the bulk [...]