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, [...]
Letters to the editor – 23/07 – Perverse taxation, Best of Twitter July 22, 2013 Perverse taxation [Re: How hidden taxes and levies are pushing up UK house prices, yesterday] What many don’t realise is that the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) can also apply to brownfield sites, even though many involve additional clearance costs and most have infrastructure in place already. It can also apply to derelict sites once they have [...]
London risks its prosperity if it fails to join the global rise of the airport city July 21, 2013 THE deadline has now passed for interested parties to lodge their proposals with the Airport Commission for increasing Britain’s airport capacity. Much has been said of the virtues and vices of each idea, but the basic reasons why London so desperately needs this expansion are equally important. Transport and connectivity are inextricably linked to the [...]
City Matters: We should rediscover the spirit of Victorian entrepreneurship in Latin America July 21, 2013 SOME 160 years ago, a wave of UK companies and engineers – among them my own great, great grandfather – crossed the Atlantic to help develop Latin America’s railways in a remarkable feat of Victorian entrepreneurship. The success of this partnership helped drive economic prosperity in both Latin America and the UK for decades. Major [...]
Lessons for regulators from Chris Froome’s Tour de France victory July 21, 2013 MANY of us have been enthralled by Chris Froome’s Tour de France win, helping restore our faith in this global event. Cycling’s regulator’s overwhelming problem is to maintain the credibility of the competition by deterring, detecting and punishing cheating. We can use the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) as an analogy for the British financial regulatory [...]