Why the coalition must freeze rates on retail premises November 5, 2012 THERE IS nothing sexy about business rates. They don’t have much globe-trotting glamour and perhaps that’s part of the problem. As taxes go, they’re more a cup of tea than a café au lait. One of the government’s flagship business pledges is to make the UK the most competitive tax regime in the G20. It’s [...]
As the mayor announces a rise in London’s Living Wage, does it make economic sense? November 5, 2012 YES Boris Johnson Since its introduction in 2005 an estimated 11,500 workers have benefited from the London Living Wage rate. Over a full year, this year’s rise will put around £4.5m into the pockets of lower-paid Londoners. Recent research from Queen Mary University showed that introducing the London Living Wage improves staff retention rates for [...]
Rapid responses November 5, 2012 Green shoots I took it as a sure sign that we were in the grip of a severe bear market when your regular Monday feature “Bill of the Week” was quietly canned. So it was with interest that I saw a “green shoot” in yesterday’s edition, with the Capitalist reporting on a thundering bill chalked [...]
Retail banks have changed – but don’t blame investment banking November 4, 2012 AT A recent debate, the Bank of England’s Andy Haldane called for a culture change in retail banking. He claimed that a structural separation of retail banking from investment banking would end damaging cross-contamination. Retail banking could return to its roots in relationship management and judgement, based on local knowledge. But Haldane’s comments were based [...]
The City’s high standing remains undiminished in spite of recent troubles November 4, 2012 WHEN I took over as lord mayor 361 days ago, I half-jokingly said that my background as an oarsman would help me steer a course through the choppy waters facing the City. As it happens, the past 12 months have proved a real test of City fortitude. The financial services industry has had to navigate [...]
US energy policy is thriving despite a quiet campaign November 4, 2012 HOW do free market economies respond to scarcity? They innovate. And while the presidential candidates haven’t said anything particulary interesting about energy policy – despite mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg’s endorsement of Barack Obama for his climate policies – US businesses have been showing us just how it is done. State governments have been [...]
As RBS again raises its PPI liabilities, are there reasons for concern about the claims system? November 4, 2012 YES Stephen Gilchrist Lloyds now claims that its liability against payment protection insurance (PPI) misselling will hit £5.3bn, and has set aside a further £1bn, while RBS is expected to confirm that its total bill will increase by £400m to reach £1.7bn. Have world-ranking financial institutions grossly underestimated the scale of their original faults, or [...]
Rapid responses November 4, 2012 Risky business [Re: Financial regulation is worsening Europe’s demographic time bomb, Thursday] Bruno Pfister’s argument that financial regulation makes things worse is one that too often gets forgotten in the current discourse of “too big to fail” orthodoxy. This discourse has now effectively become “businesses must not take any risk they cannot afford” in the [...]
The fiscal cliff looms dangerously over the US presidential campaign November 1, 2012 AS THE US presidential election approaches, one issue has been singularly absent from the campaign. And it’s the issue that worries US investors the most. According to a recent survey by Macro Risk Advisors, Americans are increasingly concerned about a looming “fiscal cliff”, over which the US is set to hurtle on 2 January 2013. [...]
When disaster strikes the most valuable response comes at a local level November 1, 2012 DISASTERS don’t need leaders. In the blacked out streets of Manhattan this week, after superstorm Sandy hit, traffic is reportedly flowing despite the absence of traffic lights, with drivers behaving more cautiously and coordinating with their fellow road users. It’s the sort of local, spontaneous solution that tends to follow catastrophic events. Politicians, of course, [...]