Lending a hand: government loans to energy firms can’t be the final answer January 5, 2022 Some of the media seem to have become addicted to gloom. Most outfits have become cautiously optimistic on Covid-19, but the prospective double squeeze on living standards has rushed in to fill the gap. Consumers are faced with tax increases and sharp rises in energy bills. The surge in the world price of energy means [...]
On palm oil and deforestation: regulators are failing, but so is the market January 5, 2022 There are products which have become indispensable to our modern way of life, and few more so than palm oil. If its production were to grind to a halt tomorrow, entire supermarket aisles would be left empty. It features in countless everyday products whose availability we take for granted, from chocolate to deodorant. We are [...]
Side Hustle: how teenagers are starting their own businesses January 5, 2022 What do teens like? Hanging out with friends, doing sports, watching movies, reading books. Or this is what you’d think. But some seventeen year olds are just as business-like as any entrepreneur in the City, when given the opportunity. This story starts with the vision of an inspiring woman. Sam Smith is the CEO of [...]
The present might look gloomy, but a brighter future awaits the City January 4, 2022 The start of the year is usually a time for optimism, resolutions, and new beginnings. But many people across the City are also experiencing a case of the January blues now that the festive period is behind us. The Omicron variant continues to drive record Covid-19 case numbers across the country. London is particularly affected. [...]
Back to the future: transforming the City into a home January 4, 2022 It might be hard to stay optimistic about the future of city centres with the Omicron variant once more causing concern. Yet, not too long ago London was back to full swing. Coffee shops were buzzing again, bars and restaurants were full and office workers were playing tube tetris each morning. This shouldn’t feel like [...]
You’ve got a like: standing up for social media January 3, 2022 Last year was not a good one for social media in the reputational stakes. As legislators began to move in on the tribal warlords of Silicon Valley—above all the king of kings Mark Zuckerberg—veteran comedian David Baddiel toured the UK with a comedy show called “Trolls: Not the Dolls” and presented a BBC documentary entitled [...]
News review: Andrew Neil, Nigel Farage and the highs and lows of GB News December 30, 2021 As the year draws to a close, we look back at what’s happened along the way. We reflect on events and draw conclusions. It seems quite timely to ask, then, one unforeseen question: what’s happened to GB News? The channel is a little over five months old, and yet it has raised more than a [...]
High hopes: airspace development could be the key to solve the housing crisis December 30, 2021 Brownfield development, which means building on derelict land that has previously been used, is increasingly taking centre stage when it comes to tackling the housing crisis. A package of £1.8bn has recently been announced for new homes on this kind of land. But less is spoken about the role for airspace developments – a sustainable, [...]
Say bye to linen and leather, and welcome digital clothing and the metaverse December 29, 2021 The latest feature of the metaverse is here: brace yourself for digital clothing. Cyber outfits are completely sustainable – not least because they don’t have any physical presence in the real world. Digital clothing is at the forefront of innovation, and at the crossroads of the digital and the real world. Surely Mark Zuckerberg already [...]
Best of the year: the business stories of 2021 December 29, 2021 Back in April, Credit Suisse got entangled in a “disaster pile-up” involving Greensill and Archegos. Eliot Wilson wrote of how the Swiss bank lost billions of dollars because of its relationship with the US based hedge fund Archegos and the now infamous Greensill Capital. This kind of economic catastrophe happens when banks have risk management [...]