After Facebook reported a $157m (£99m) loss last quarter, should investors be concerned? July 29, 2012 YES Aaron Padgham Excluding staff share payments, Facebook made a second quarter profit of $295m (£187.7m), 22.9 per cent ahead of the comparable period last year. Revenue, however, rose by 32 per cent to $1.18bn, Facebook’s slowest growth rate seen since its inception. These aren’t the kind of figures one expects from a company trading [...]
RAPID responses July 29, 2012 Olympic reversal [Re: Even sceptics must now embrace the greatest show on earth, Friday] Like many Londoners, I felt massively unexcited about the Olympics. Compared to the Diamond Jubilee, it felt over-organised, dominated by large corporations, and disconnected from the ordinary tempo of the nation. But in the last few days my feelings have reversed. [...]
London Olympics 2012: Now is the time for sport to take centre stage July 26, 2012 WHAT persuades a normally rational person to part with hard-earned cash to watch Turkey play Angola in the preliminary stages of a women’s basketball tournament? With apologies to the female basketball players of said countries, and the otherwise right-thinking friend of mine in question, it can only be the excitement of a home Olympics. It’s [...]
The Games are a chance for Britain to showcase its freedom and openness July 26, 2012 IT’S fitting that the Olympic flame, which passed through the City yesterday, is lit in Olympia by focusing the sun’s rays in a mirror. The modern Games is a mirror of nations, in which the host nation and its guests reveal themselves to the world. Take the torch relay. For the Nazis, who ran the [...]
Spain faces bigger problems than its bankrupt regions July 26, 2012 OVER the past week, the crisis in Spain has reached a critical level. Fortunately, thanks to hints of further European Central Bank (ECB) intervention from ECB President Mario Draghi yesterday, the situation has abated somewhat. Unfortunately, this relief will probably only be temporary – not only because Draghi’s comments are unlikely to be followed up [...]
Is the Prime Minister right to predict that the Olympic Games will boost the UK economy? July 26, 2012 YES John Longworth The London 2012 Olympics is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the best of Britain and make it clear to visitors and spectators from across the globe that we are ready to trade with the world. We believe the Olympics will provide a timely confidence boost for businesses, particularly in the retail, hospitality [...]
RAPID RESPONSES July 26, 2012 Plans for growth [Re: It’s time for some genuine radicalism from George Osborne, yesterday] This article is spot on, but we need more emphasis on one of the main reasons for this country’s inability to quickly and efficiently increase its economic growth. National insurance is a tax on jobs that punishes owners and workers alike. It [...]
Stagnation Britain: Osborne has played his hand extremely badly July 25, 2012 THE statisticians will be arguing about the last quarter’s growth figures for years. Was it really a 0.7 per cent fall in national income, a 0.9 per cent fall or a 0.5 per cent fall? If it were not for the soggy weather and extra Bank Holidays, might we have managed just a 0.2 per [...]
Romney’s trip to Europe draws attention to Obama’s diplomatic blunders July 25, 2012 MITT Romney’s overseas schedule this week is not just about creating the optics of a statesman. In Britain, Poland and Israel, the Republican presidential nominee will seek to showcase what he says is the damage caused by Barack Obama to America’s principles and three of her most important strategic allies. As a marked contrast to [...]
Be mistrustful of the ONS data on economic growth July 25, 2012 BY THE time you read this, I will have been to see a play, The Doctor’s Dilemma. To enter into the atmosphere, I’ll have to embrace a willing suspension of disbelief. Inevitably, the fiction of the play will conflict with the reality of what I know – or, more precisely, of what I think I [...]