Google Glass won’t save humanity – but could show us a larger richer world February 22, 2013 THE LONG VIEW TWO VISIONS of our technological future are battling it out this week. Google has released a promotional video celebrating the potential of its astonishing, voice-activated heads-up display Google Glass, complete with acrobats on video chat in mid-air. Meanwhile, the new series of Charlie Brooker’s TV show Black Mirror continues with a bleak [...]
How clever traffic management can boost UK growth February 22, 2013 BRITAIN’S roads are being choked by a swarm of unnecessary, expensive, and damaging restrictions. Between 2000 and 2008, the number of traffic lights rose by over 30 per cent, boosted by an extra 1,800 imposed on London’s streets under former mayor Ken Livingstone. There are now over 30,000 signal-controlled junctions and 25,000 pelican crossings across [...]
The Debate: After interest on QE gilts boosted UK’s £11.4bn January surplus, do the figures lack credibility? February 22, 2013 YES Nida Ali The public sector finances demonstrate the problems caused by the statistical fudges of the past couple of years – like the transfer of coupon interest that the Bank of England has earned from buying gilts under its programme of quantitative easing. It’s difficult to decipher the underlying trends. It appears that the [...]
Letters to the Editor February 22, 2013 Runaway inflation [Re: Sorry savers: More easing is still needed to support UK recovery, yesterday] Employment is at its highest level since 1971. Meanwhile, real wages are being driven down by runaway inflation induced by the Bank of England’s weak pound policy. In past recessions, it was the UK consumer that was the driving force [...]
The hawk and the dove give their verdict February 21, 2013 Confusing Bank policy is failing to contain persistently high inflation MONETARY policy in the UK is becoming increasingly confusing. When the Bank of England assumed responsibility for setting interest rates in 1997, it was given a clear objective – keeping inflation on target at a low target level (retail price index, excluding mortgage interest payments [...]
Sorry savers: More easing is still needed to support UK recovery February 21, 2013 THE Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) minutes of its meeting on 20 February make some very interesting reading. They suggest that the Committee is ready to adopt a more flexible approach to policy-making. And of particular interest is that, for an unprecedented fifth time, governor of the Bank of England Sir Mervyn King voted in the [...]
Taxing poor less won’t make them back hikes for rest February 21, 2013 ONE of the best ways to ease the tax burden on low earners is to increase the personal allowance, the amount you can earn before you start paying income tax. Letting people keep more of their own money is far better than taking it away in tax and giving it back in benefits. Fiscal churn [...]
Letters to the Editor February 21, 2013 Reform for growth [Re: Time to take drastic action to reboot Britain’s feeble economy, yesterday] Cutting corporation tax and capital gains tax will undoubtedly increase the incentive for risk-taking and investment, both prerequisites for growth. But other fundamental problems will remain. First, government spending is currently unaffordable. The required money cannot be raised from taxation [...]
The Debate: Would an EU cap on bankers’ pay damage London’s ability to attract the best talent? February 18, 2013 YES Eamonn Butler The latest EU proposals to fix bonus rates will strangle the life out of the City of London. Perhaps that is part of the intention: other EU financial centres envy London’s superiority. Pay policy is a key part of attracting and retaining the top-rate staff that City firms need to run their [...]
Letters to the Editor February 18, 2013 The capital's roads [Re: Congestion charge after ten years: it’s time to be bolder, yesterday] Baroness Valentine is right that the congestion charge scheme could be bigger, bolder and more sophisticated. But this is unlikely to be acceptable to motorists, or to deliver sustainable improvements to the quality of roads in London, given our existing [...]