City Matters: Tough decisions on infrastructure must not be delayed for future generations August 18, 2013 THE DUST has barely settled on the London Anniversary Games and work has already begun to convert the iconic Olympic Stadium for future use. Some may feel a sense of regret that a stadium home to so many glorious memories last summer will never be seen again in its current form. But it is only [...]
Shareholder Spring did not go away but activist investors are evolving August 18, 2013 PROXY season is more or less over, and boards are bulging with new members or otherwise breathing a sigh of relief. Last year’s Shareholder Spring saw activism make a big impression on British investors, but this year many assume the surge has receded. Beyond headline-grabbing revolts over director pay, however, activist investors are still playing [...]
Letters to the Editor – 19/08 – Arts versus science, Best of Twitter August 18, 2013 Arts versus science [Re: Why you can bank on the humanities to launch a City career, Friday] I have mixed feelings about this editorial. I agree that banking employees should have a well-rounded education. And coming as I do from a quantitative background, I admire those who have been trained in the art of “peaceful [...]
Britain’s education revolution is now bearing fruit but still has further to go August 15, 2013 TEENAGERS across the country will today be suffering from a day of celebrations, following the release of A-level results yesterday. This time every year TV screens and newspapers are plastered with the joyful faces of students who have finally found out how they did, and whether they’ve got the place at university they were after. [...]
Corporate Tube sponsorship could take the pressure off overburdened commuters August 15, 2013 THIS week’s inflation figures all but confirm that Londoners will face a rise in Tube and bus fares of over 4 per cent in January. This may look small compared to projected increases of up to 9 per cent on some of the busiest rail routes into London, but it is still regrettable. It doesn’t [...]
Premier League return will benefit more than just well-paid players August 15, 2013 THE PREMIER League returns tomorrow. Although most of us will be interested in the quality of the football on offer, the amounts of money involved are no less significant. It’s Europe’s highest revenue-generating league by a margin of over €1bn (£850m), with combined club revenue of over £2.3bn in 2011-12. But while players continue to [...]
Letters to the editor – 16/08 – Land prices, A-levels, Best of Twitter August 15, 2013 Land prices [Re: UK needs to stop deliberately inflating residential land prices, yesterday] A study on Hong Kong showed that, even in that extreme example, a substantial share of house prices is explained by building restrictions, not a genuine shortage of land. Physical scarcity of land is mostly a theoretical possibility. There are hardly any [...]
For-profit universities could deliver welcome change to higher education August 14, 2013 IN A bold and commendable move, the government last week granted university status to BPP University, making it the second for-profit private higher education institution in the UK. It comes less than a year after the University of Law (formerly the College of Law) became the first private university to be established since Buckingham (officially [...]
It’s time our qualifications system broke free from the A-Level stranglehold August 14, 2013 AS STUDENTS collect their A-Level results, we should ponder why Britain continues to have state-mandated qualifications in the first place. Why is it that the government continues to promote A-levels, and to prescribe their structure and method of assessment, when there are useful and valued alternatives such as the International Baccalaureate (IB), the City and [...]
Eurozone hauls itself out of recession but growth remains fragile August 14, 2013 THE Eurozone has finally exited its longest recession. Rather than smashing through the barrier, it limped over the line with 0.3 per cent growth in the second quarter of this year – although even this was enough to exceed weary expectations. It is clear that any recovery remains fragile – fortunately, even those EU leaders [...]