Letters to the editor – 08/08 – Credibility void, Productivity trend, Best of Twitter August 7, 2013 Credibility void [Re: Economic data picks up but the Bank must clarify its position on inflation, yesterday] The author is right that the Bank of England has lost credibility. But it was not so long ago that the Bank adhered to targets regardless of circumstance. When recession struck in the 1980s and 1990s, it took [...]
Economic data picks up but the Bank must clarify its position on inflation August 6, 2013 THIS week has seen a further significant pick-up in the economic data. The Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index (PMI) showed services output in July rising at the fastest pace since the boom-times of 2006. The “composite PMI” (which includes manufacturing and construction as well as services) rose at its fastest ever recorded rate since the index [...]
Against the Grain: Even more powerful than an earthquake: The Don Bradman phenomenon August 6, 2013 THE holiday season is in full swing, and many have been more focused on cricket than on the state of the economy. Like in all team sports, a favourite pastime of fans is to argue over their choices of the greatest ever team or player. But there is one person who is an automatic choice. [...]
Our retail industry has a bright future – but it must adapt to survive August 6, 2013 A ROW of boarded up shops is not how we want our high street to look. But since the beginning of the recession, a high number of retail casualties have been claimed – great stalwarts of the high street like Woolworths and HMV among them. Despite flickering hopes of economic recovery, it is unlikely that [...]
Letters to the editor – 07/08 – Human ingenuity, Education reform, Best of Twitter August 6, 2013 Human ingenuity [Re: All hail the boffin burger: The next step in human nutrition, yesterday] We’re proud of our chefs for their innovative dishes. But experimentation can also help in tackling the age-old problem of food scarcity. Ideas like this artificial burger are becoming a reality, promising an age of cheap and nutritious food. Yet too often [...]
Michael Gove’s illiteracy crusade will have huge benefits for our economy August 5, 2013 NEARLY half of all businesses are forced to provide literacy classes because many recruits can’t write a coherent memo. Even graduates from our best universities, according to anecdotal evidence from employers, have difficulty expressing themselves in comprehensible written sentences — hence so much dreadful bureaucratese. Meanwhile, a large proportion of universities are offering remedial courses [...]
Technology has the power to transform – but it won’t render jobs obsolete August 5, 2013 FEARS that technology would destroy jobs and create mass unemployment have recurred with each wave of innovation since the Industrial Revolution. I was reminded of this when reading a book by the prominent trade union leader Clive Jenkins, from the late 1970s. The Collapse of Work did not beat around the bush. To Jenkins, technology [...]
A triumph of austerity: What Britain can learn from the Baltic states August 5, 2013 FOR the last five years, the UK has had one of the largest budget deficits in the EU. Britain’s public debt has exceeded 90 per cent of GDP. Only Europe’s real crisis countries have pursued even looser fiscal policy. The British and southern European governments have neither safeguarded public finances, nor stimulated economic growth. Perhaps [...]
Letters to the editor for 6 August 2013 August 5, 2013 Boosting business [Re: Open for business: How universities can boost our long-term recovery, Friday] Stephen Caddick is right to call for more active collaboration between business and universities. This is happening already through the University Technical Colleges (UTCs) across the country. These institutions are high quality technical schools for 14 to 19 year olds, bringing [...]
New regulation threatens the success of Britain’s thriving insurance sector August 4, 2013 SINCE the financial crisis, policymakers have focused on regulating banks. But while banking plays a central role in the financial sector, insurance plays another. The UK insurance industry is the largest in Europe. It manages investments amounting to 26 per cent of annual GDP, and accounts for £10.4bn in tax revenue, employing 290,000 people in [...]