Innovation isn’t dead – but we mustn’t forget why the profit motive matters January 14, 2013 ECONOMISTS have long realised that sustained improvements in GDP-per-capita and welfare are achieved through productivity growth, driven by innovation. Over the past 250 years, a raft of technologies, including electricity, sanitation, fossil fuel extraction and internal combustion have revolutionised agriculture, facilitated the industrial revolution, and slashed transportation and communication times. Following 700 hundred years of [...]
Social mobility is a problem for British business to resolve January 14, 2013 ECONOMISTS tell us that the worst may be over. After a double-dip recession, unemployment is dropping, the FTSE has made a confident start to the year, banks are showing an increased willingness to lend, there are indications of life in the housing market, and there are some signs of growth. But even the most optimistic [...]
Are the government’s plans to introduce flat rate state pensions a welcome improvement? January 14, 2013 YES Ros Altmann The proposed changes the are broadly welcome. A flat rate state pension for all will provide a foundation on which other later life income can be built. We must make it safe to save and to work for longer, but the current system of means-testing undermines this. Ultimately, anyone reaching the state [...]
Letters to the Editor January 14, 2013 Britain in Europe [Re: Why the European dream has gone sour for so many firms, yesterday] Many of the benefits of trading with the EU have been wiped away by technological and economic trends. International markets have changed beyond recognition over the last ten years, and the EU hasn’t moved accordingly. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that [...]
The future of oil: It’s change or be changed for the largest corporates January 13, 2013 PRESSURES are building on the world’s largest quoted oil firms. Environmental disasters and the economic downturn have taken their toll, but more profound trends are undermining traditional business models in the industry. And it won’t be enough to tinker around the edges. The response must be as radical as that that followed the oil company [...]
Britain must reverse its appalling export record in high-growth markets January 13, 2013 EUROPE continues to dominate the agenda, as the Prime Minister’s eagerly-awaited speech on the subject lies on the horizon. As Europe’s financial capital, there is no doubt that this issue is of critical importance to the future prosperity of London and the UK. The EU accounts for half our exports and is responsible for a [...]
Death of the high street spells doom for retail property January 13, 2013 MORE than one in ten shops in Britain now stand empty. And the situation, the worst it has been in recent years, is unlikely to get better. Gone are the days when consumers spent like lottery winners, and investors could see any high street shop with a good covenant (and upwards-only rent reviews) as the [...]
As third quarter figures disappoint, could the UK be heading towards a triple-dip recession? January 13, 2013 YES Chris Williamson The data available so far for the fourth quarter of 2012 points to a marginal contraction of the economy. Manufacturing output, retail sales, exports and tax revenues are all falling. The big question is whether GDP will also fall in the first quarter of 2013. The Markit/CIPS manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) [...]
Letters to the editor January 13, 2013 EU membership [Re: Britain is bound to a Single Market at the expense of freedom to trade, Friday] This is a good article, and it’s encouraging to hear that Britain could thrive outside the EU. I can’t understand why so many politicians are so committed. Recent unrest in the southern Mediterranean and German economic stagnation [...]
Britain is bound to a Single Market at the expense of freedom to trade January 10, 2013 HOW often do we hear politicians claiming that “half our exports” go to the EU? I’m not sure this statistic was ever properly true. The data has been distorted in two ways. First, there is what economists call the “Rotterdam effect”: many British exports destined for non-EU markets are routed through Antwerp and Rotterdam, thus [...]