Italian gold may be just the job to save the day: A mini solution to Italy’s debt crisis November 10, 2011 GETTING the gold out of Italy isn’t easy. Just ask Michael Caine. However, if as some commentators are now speculating, there is no other option, the only thing worse than trying to sneak it out in a coach along treacherous Alpine roads would be trying to sell it. The odds of getting anything close to [...]
My memories of the fallen on our new battlefields November 10, 2011 IRAQ, 2003 BRITISH WAR CEMETERY, BASRA I jumped down from the turret of the Warrior, and squeezed through the rusty gate and entrance arch of Basra’s British War Cemetery. A large walled plot lay ahead, filled with rubble, rubbish, spiky bushes and wild dogs. I wondered where the graves were. Below my boots lay fragments [...]
Let’s agree we’ve had enough of consensus November 10, 2011 IT’S A curious thing that people welcome the end of one consensus by calling for another. On the New Statesman blog this week, Owen Jones wrote “the old neo-liberal consensus is crumbling” and argued this was the moment for Ed Miliband to establish a “new political consensus”. It seems to be the creed of the [...]
RAPID RESPONSES November 10, 2011 Trying times Ever since I was a guest lecturer at Cambridge University I have been forecasting that the maximum life expectancy of the euro was 10 years, that it would probably be the Italian economy that would be the final straw and that when the whole rotten edifice collapsed it would happen at a frightening [...]
Labour’s plan for business: Government should unite profit with social purpose November 9, 2011 WHEN private equity firm NPM Capital and the current management bought out a sleepy Dutch carpet manufacturer called Desso in 2007, they were seeking to do what all successful investors do: to find a gap in the market from which they could profit. And profit they have. Following the buy out, Desso’s market share rose [...]
Prohibition fuels firestorm of new dangerous drugs November 9, 2011 IN THE restless pursuit of pleasure, human beings will try almost any substance when circumstances require. During prohibition, Americans resorted to drinking toxic moonshine and inhaling ether. Second-rate substitutes and legal highs are seldom as pleasant as the real thing and are sometimes more dangerous, but at least you don’t have to worry about getting [...]
Europe needs to admit that it has a problem November 9, 2011 THE finger of blame usually points away, but sometimes we should turn it round, and point it at ourselves. As individuals, societies and countries we are more often than we normally realise the architect of our own problems. Greeks don’t like paying taxes and love early pensions, and end up with a bankrupt government. The [...]
RAPID RESPONSES November 9, 2011 Curing Japan AS A seasoned Japanese business professional, David Crow’s article [The Japanese disease, yesterday] made me smile with agreement, saddened with frustration and duty-bound to build upon its analysis. I commend Crow’s accurate observation of our cultural traits, but I would ask why characteristics which once made Japan great now fail to serve us [...]
The Japanese disease: How its corporate culture turns disasters into catastrophes November 8, 2011 IT HAS not been a good few years for Japan PLC. In 2009, its car industry was plunged into crisis after Toyota was forced to recall 6m vehicles following a series of fatal accidents in the US. Then came the tragic Japanese earthquake, which had a chilling effect on businesses. A few months later, Sony [...]
Here is the Next step for Marks & Spencer to take November 8, 2011 TWENTY years ago, the UK was in recession and Marks & Spencer had just changed its boss: some things never change. Under Rick Greenbury, M&S went on to have a good 1990s, before over-expansion led to the inevitable and painful correction, under a new management team. Twenty years on, the competition is much tougher and [...]