RAPID RESPONSES May 17, 2012 Structural freedom [Re: Personal choice is the only measure that matters, Wednesday] We have to do more than just make the intellectual case for personal choice in our lifestyles. We have to stop the “person In Whitehall” from restricting our liberty of action and thought. But which party stands for freedom – socially and economically? [...]
London must resist its critics and adapt to survive the financial crisis May 16, 2012 LONDON’S great success over many centuries has stemmed from its adaptability. It has attracted talent and money from around the world. It has been outward-looking, sending argosies to the Levant, trading with an empire and more recently acting as the world’s favourite financial centre. Like all such success stories in the UK, it attracts its [...]
Obama’s conversion to gay marriage will only help him if it’s principled May 16, 2012 NEWSWEEK’S latest cover proclaims “The First Gay President,” with a picture of President Barack Obama wearing a rainbow halo. Obama’s support for gay marriage is a first for a sitting president, a fact his allies in the press have lauded for the past week. David Cameron, who’s championed marriage without receiving similar plaudits, could only [...]
The MPC has put its incompetence on public display May 16, 2012 THE latest inflation report from the Bank of England (BoE) makes it clear that the credibility of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has been undermined further. The relatively sharp upward revision to CPI inflation forecasts out to the third quarter of 2013 is now rather more realistic, but that realism is tainted by the scepticism [...]
Mervyn King says the Jubilee break will hit GDP. Should we have fewer bank holidays? May 16, 2012 YES Eamonn Butler The main trouble with bank holidays is that you spend them sitting in the same traffic jam as everyone else. Why can’t we stagger our holidays and take them when we choose, instead of when politicians deem fit? Legally, UK workers don’t have an automatic right to paid leave on public holidays, [...]
RAPID RESPONSES May 16, 2012 Success isn’t bought [Re: Do we need rules to stop football teams from buying success, Tuesday] Success can’t be bought, success can only be achieved through diligence and proper planning. Money in football only gives competitive advantage, it does not by itself lead to a favourable outcome. A financial fair play rule would not offer [...]
Radical drug development makes life sciences a healthy investment May 15, 2012 IN THE past two years, I’ve spent most of my time researching what I consider to be the most exciting area for investment in the next decade – life sciences, particularly novel drugs. The reason all investors should be excited about what might loosely be called biopharma has a lot to do with advances in [...]
Why personal choice in smoking or sex is the only measure that matters May 15, 2012 SAUDI law prevents women from revealing their body in public. This prohibition is intended to protect Saudis from the lustful impulses that the Saudi authorities believe would overwhelm men if they saw a woman’s forearm or ankle. Fornication must not be encouraged. Few people in Britain believe that fornication is something its voluntary participants need [...]
Wider contagion remains greatest risk of Greek exit May 15, 2012 SOME form of Eurozone break-up seems more and more likely. Austerity can’t work without growth, of which there is no prospect for the Eurozone’s peripheral economies. With recessions set to deepen, fiscal targets will become even more difficult to achieve. It is now close to a consensus view that political deadlock in Greece will mean [...]
Is JP Morgan’s recent $2bn trading loss a reason to strengthen banking regulations? May 15, 2012 YES Tony Dolphin The $2bn (£1.24bn) trading loss at JP Morgan is bad news for its shareholders, bad news for its employees and bad news for its senior executives. But, so far, US taxpayers have not lost a cent. So why does it advance the case for tougher financial regulation? Because if this can happen [...]