Business leaders must speak up in promoting a culture of capitalism June 12, 2012 MY 33 years at Tesco, 14 of them as its chief executive, left me in no doubt that people hold one of two views of the world: there are those who believe in trusting people, markets and competition, and those who put their faith in government, in all its various guises. Life being what it [...]
Government should not be doling out money to charities for lobbying June 12, 2012 WOULD you be surprised to hear that British charities receive more money from the government and the National Lottery than they do from individual donors? More than £12bn a year was transferred from the taxpayer to the third sector at the last count. Much of this was essentially outsourcing. Millions of pounds of foreign aid [...]
Accounting rules place box ticking above prudence June 12, 2012 AN INCREASINGLY acrimonious battle on accounting standards is playing out that few people can follow with ease. Accounting standards, as a consequence of their highly technical nature, are easy to put aside as only of interest to those who have spent decades deciphering company finances. However, accounts are fundamental to the functioning of the modern [...]
As the Eurozone crisis heightens, is now the right time for Britain to consider an EU exit? June 12, 2012 YES Nigel Farage The first duty of any British government is to act, entirely, in Britain’s interest. It’s what it was voted in to do, what it is paid to do. Thus it must allow this country to disentangle itself from the wreckage of the European Union. If it does not, then Britain may well [...]
RAPID RESPONSES June 12, 2012 Confidence shaken [Re: Euro establishment isn’t learning any lessons from the crisis, yesterday] Euro debt is out of favour, but Europe certainly isn’t. Who wouldn’t want a piece of Europe? If debt were converted to become asset backed – governments would have to surrender their assets in a default situation – then I see no sovereign debt [...]
Why private bondholders need to share in Spain’s banking pain June 11, 2012 IT’S under control. That seemed to be Mariano Rajoy’s message as he left for Poland to watch Spain take on Italy, hours after finalising a €100bn euro rescue deal for the country’s banks. The Spanish Prime Minister and EU finance ministers can certainly be pleased at achieving such a quick deal, but they should not [...]
Football has a lot to teach those in power about good economic policy June 11, 2012 EURO 2012 is in full swing, which is great, not least because of the many parallels between the economy and football. Monetary policy has a similar function to goalkeepers. Central banks are the last line of defence and their primary task is to avoid making mistakes. Goalkeepers will rarely win you a match, but they [...]
There’ll be no UK Zuckerberg while we fear all failure June 11, 2012 POKE fun at Facebook’s plummeting shares all you like. Call the company overhyped. Doubt its lofty valuation. But the facts remain: Facebook, born eight years ago in Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard dorm room, has nearly a billion regular users and dominates internet social networking. Whether or not it continues to grow at breakneck speed, we’re all [...]
As Tesco reports a drop in UK sales, has the retailer been pursuing the wrong strategy? June 11, 2012 YES Richard Perks “Retail is detail” and Tesco has been getting too many of the details wrong – poor quality, bad service, tired stores and an inept marketing function that couldn’t cope with Asda’s price guarantee. Very basically, Tesco has been using the UK as a cash cow to provide funds for development elsewhere. But, [...]
RAPID RESPONSES June 11, 2012 Moral hazards [Re: It’s time governments stopped bailing out bankrupt banks, yesterday] Banks won’t stop behaving responsibly until they know that behaving irresponsibly results in unmitigated disaster for them. That means letting them fail and making sure directors and executives enjoy a level of liability for their actions. Failure would suddenly seem much less appealing if [...]