Mervyn King says the Jubilee break will hit GDP. Should we have fewer bank holidays? May 16, 2012 YES Eamonn Butler The main trouble with bank holidays is that you spend them sitting in the same traffic jam as everyone else. Why can’t we stagger our holidays and take them when we choose, instead of when politicians deem fit? Legally, UK workers don’t have an automatic right to paid leave on public holidays, [...]
RAPID RESPONSES May 16, 2012 Success isn’t bought [Re: Do we need rules to stop football teams from buying success, Tuesday] Success can’t be bought, success can only be achieved through diligence and proper planning. Money in football only gives competitive advantage, it does not by itself lead to a favourable outcome. A financial fair play rule would not offer [...]
Radical drug development makes life sciences a healthy investment May 15, 2012 IN THE past two years, I’ve spent most of my time researching what I consider to be the most exciting area for investment in the next decade – life sciences, particularly novel drugs. The reason all investors should be excited about what might loosely be called biopharma has a lot to do with advances in [...]
Why personal choice in smoking or sex is the only measure that matters May 15, 2012 SAUDI law prevents women from revealing their body in public. This prohibition is intended to protect Saudis from the lustful impulses that the Saudi authorities believe would overwhelm men if they saw a woman’s forearm or ankle. Fornication must not be encouraged. Few people in Britain believe that fornication is something its voluntary participants need [...]
Wider contagion remains greatest risk of Greek exit May 15, 2012 SOME form of Eurozone break-up seems more and more likely. Austerity can’t work without growth, of which there is no prospect for the Eurozone’s peripheral economies. With recessions set to deepen, fiscal targets will become even more difficult to achieve. It is now close to a consensus view that political deadlock in Greece will mean [...]
Is JP Morgan’s recent $2bn trading loss a reason to strengthen banking regulations? May 15, 2012 YES Tony Dolphin The $2bn (£1.24bn) trading loss at JP Morgan is bad news for its shareholders, bad news for its employees and bad news for its senior executives. But, so far, US taxpayers have not lost a cent. So why does it advance the case for tougher financial regulation? Because if this can happen [...]
RAPID RESPONSES May 15, 2012 Premier play things [Re: Do we need rules to stop football teams buying success?, yesterday] I am a Chelsea boy, so it’s no surprise that my answer is no. If a billionaire decides he wants to buy a football club, let him. If that means that the club gains an advantage, tough. Man U has [...]
Here’s the real Plan B for Britain: We need a competition revolution May 14, 2012 NO ONE can dispute that the UK economy needs more growth. It seems that the coalition’s essential austerity measures are not enough. But despite its cheerleaders, the usual Plan B, based on debt-financed infrastructure spending, won’t make any difference to growth – while denting confidence. One such plan suggested £30bn in spending. Over three years, [...]
Minimum booze prices miss benefits: Raising a glass can increase your pay May 14, 2012 THE Scottish government has confirmed that it will set a minimum price for alcohol of 50p per unit, while a 40p price is planned for England and Wales for later in the year. The basic idea is that consuming beer, wine and spirits is bad, and that basic economics can help deter it. If a [...]
Euro exits are the least bad option for the periphery May 14, 2012 MOST economists expect catastrophic consequences if any country exits the euro. Like most conventional wisdom, such a view will be contradicted not by opposing ideas but by the march of events. If the euro broke up, it wouldn’t be the first currency union to come apart. Within the past 100 years, there have been 69 [...]