New postcode lending data reveals Britain’s strikingly healthy SME sector July 24, 2013 HOW are businesses in your area doing? Are they building up cash piles, or piling up the debts? Until this week, regional borrowing and saving by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was a mystery. But thanks to data released from banks for 120 postcode areas, we now know what is happening in each part of [...]
Phoney war between the generations masks worrying lack of reform July 24, 2013 THE battle of the generations is raging. Did the Baby Boomers have an easier life? Or are the cosseted members of Generation Y – the demographic cohort born from the early 1980s onwards – just engaging in self-pity? The truth is not “somewhere in between”, and this debate is actively damaging. Differences between the generations [...]
Letters to the editor – 25/07 – Train squeeze, Best of Twitter July 24, 2013 Train squeeze [Re: Commuter crush: Seven out of 10 most overcrowded trains in Britain go to London, yesterday] Unfortunately there is no silver bullet that will solve this situation. Lengthening trains, platforms, and building new infrastructure can help, but will only go so far. The government should start incentivising home working. They could introduce measures like three-day-a-week [...]
How an ageing Britain can grow old and avoid a looming longevity crisis July 23, 2013 BRITAIN’s future is getting greyer. In its most recent fiscal sustainability report, the Office of Budget Responsibility recognised that we are living longer and need more care. But we haven’t saved enough. The state won’t be able to keep us, and the dependency ratio will only worsen as fewer workers struggle to fund more pensioners. [...]
Against the Grain: Detroit – like Europe – will have to learn that defaults are never a free lunch July 23, 2013 POTENTIAL defaults in Europe have reignited fears that the Eurozone crisis could flare up again. In Portugal, the ruling coalition parties and the main opposition Socialists have been unable to agree on a EU-led bailout plan after days of talks. Yields on the country’s ten-year bonds approached 7 per cent, compared to just 1.5 per [...]
Geeks and hackers are transforming healthcare and saving our economy July 23, 2013 THE future of healthcare is taking shape. But it’s not being invented in drug company labs or planned by the NHS. Amateurs, obsessives and hackers are leading the charge. It’s a movement that will help us live longer – and could save the economy. It’s all happening through a combination of new gadgets, the power [...]
Letters to the editor – 24/07 – Commuter towns, Internet publishing, Best of Twitter July 23, 2013 Commuter towns [Re: We must urgently fix Britain’s horribly broken housing market, Friday] A good piece. With population exploding, demand is rising inexorably in the South East, and new supply is coming from private landlords relentlessly subdividing houses into smaller flats. This is a problem, and is worsening people’s quality of life. We need a [...]
This future King will inherit a throne that is integral to our nation’s identity July 22, 2013 THE birth yesterday of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s son, a future heir to the throne, has once again focused the eyes of the world on Britain. It may be a cliché, but it is nevertheless true that the monarchy is almost uniquely capable of making Britain the centre of international attention. When his [...]
Ed Balls’s praise for Obama’s fiscal stimulus ignores the devil in the detail July 22, 2013 SHADOW chancellor Ed Balls yesterday launched a commission with former US treasury secretary Larry Summers on “inclusive prosperity”. The aim – to map out the reforms required to generate more high wage jobs here and in the US – is laudable. But while the conclusions are likely to entail predictable calls for more government spending [...]
The monarchy plays an under-appreciated role in boosting UK business July 22, 2013 TONIGHT business leaders will attend a reception at Buckingham Palace for the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise. While everyone’s attention will be on the Royal baby, which the Centre for Retail Research estimates will boost the economy by £243m, the day-to-day work of the monarchy continues. With the Royal Wedding in 2011, last year’s Diamond Jubilee, [...]