Is it time to shake-up the way history is taught to children in Britain’s schools? April 29, 2012 YES Robert Tombs History is a big story. The episodes are connected. They have causes and consequences. They explain each other. Think of watching football on television, entirely made up of snippets from different matches. It might be exciting at first, but soon you would realise that it made no sense. Yet that is how [...]
RAPID responses April 29, 2012 Holiday ending [Re: What course should George Osborne take, Thursday] A temporary VAT cut isn’t the answer. It’ll lead to a temporary surge in consumer spending, before falling back when the rate is restored. Similarly, a temporary cut in NIC isn’t a good enough reason for an employer to take on staff. They need to [...]
We must campaign with one voice to end financial illiteracy in the UK April 26, 2012 WE NO LONGER live in a world where our financial futures are taken care of by either the government or our employers. Today, we are increasingly expected to take personal responsibility for planning for the long term. If we are to make the right decisions, we need to understand the language of economics, statistics and [...]
Back to the future: Private enterprise has got us racing into space again April 26, 2012 IT TOOK less than one human lifespan, just 66 years, for humankind to go from our first powered flight to landing a man on the moon. But in the last decade we’ve given up on supersonic flight and grounded the space shuttle forever. There are no jetpacks zipping across the City skyline. Whatever happened to [...]
Tackling football too hard over tax nets an own goal April 26, 2012 IT SEEMS that barely a week goes by at present without a dispute between Premier League football and HMRC. High-profile stories have included HMRC sending detailed questionnaires to all Premier League clubs on employment tax compliance, Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle United settling outstanding image-rights liabilities, the ongoing football creditor case at the High Court [...]
Today Barclays puts its pay report before investors: Are you intending to support it? April 26, 2012 YES Guy Jubb We are pleased that our key concerns over last year’s executive bonuses have been addressed. The decisions demonstrate that robust stewardship engagement by long-term institutional investors does work, especially when it is undertaken in a “comply or explain” governance environment. The result is a much better alignment with pay for performance than [...]
RAPID responses April 26, 2012 Bonus control Andrew Haldane, a Bank of England official, has suggested that bonus deferral and claw-back periods should be extended to 10 years or more for bank executives. While we sympathise with the view that regulation is not sufficient, this proposal is unworkable and counterproductive. Who would work on that basis? 10 years is a [...]
The MPC shouldn’t rely on the new GDP figures – and nor should you April 25, 2012 WHO should we believe on the economy: the CBI – which released a relatively positive survey of industrial trends yesterday; or the Office for National Statistics which told us that the economy was back in recession? It is not just the CBI which is showing a more positive picture of economic growth than the official [...]
Obama’s reputation needs protection against his own Secret Service detail April 25, 2012 NO LONGER servants, and no longer civil.” Winston Churchill’s adage to describe the British bureaucracy could also be applied to the public mood today across the United States. The White House has been on the defensive over the past ten days, seeking to mitigate the fallout from two scandals that will certainly contribute to the [...]
It’s time to think creatively about growth in the UK April 25, 2012 WITH Britain said to be back in recession after four years of economic turmoil, it’s time we had a creative rethink. A lot has been said about the need for an enterprise-led recovery – and you will find no greater champion of entrepreneurship than me. Small and young businesses are the backbone of our economy, [...]