Boris Johnson has sown dangerous ambiguity over Covid rules with mixed messaging for Freedom Day July 14, 2021 Sixty years ago, Daniel Ellsberg, as a graduate student at Harvard, wrote a now-seminal paper on behavioural economics. The conclusions of “Risk, ambiguity and the Savage axioms” pose a fundamental challenge to the conventional economic model of rational choice, as well as the Government’s current Covid strategy. Despite its seemingly esoteric nature, an experiment carried [...]
A crackdown on music streaming services would harm Britain’s hard-won creative success July 14, 2021 Britain’s music industry is a lynchpin in our culture and national identity, but it is also a huge driver of our economy, a source of digital innovation, and a major asset for our global competitiveness. As the PM has announced the removal of all limits on gatherings indoors and outdoors, we need to play an [...]
Daily Mail: Lord Rothermere’s take-private bid is a bold step forward into the past July 13, 2021 It’s rare that a routine stock market announcement ruffles feathers, but when Daily Mail and General Trust, the parent company behind the Mail newspaper titles, yesterday revealed that Lord Rothermere was weighing up a bid to take the media group private, it succeeded in doing just that. It’s a complicated deal that relies on the [...]
If not now, when? Boris Johnson’s grand reopening must be buttressed with a shorter waiting gap for second doses July 13, 2021 “It is only thanks to the vaccine program, we are able to take these cautious steps, but to take these steps, we must be cautious and we must be vaccinated, so please, get that jab,” Boris Johnson cried from the podium of Downing Street yesterday. It was not, as the Prime Minister had once promised, [...]
Behind the OPEC standoff: Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the rush to decarbonise in the Middle East July 13, 2021 The breakdown of talks between the OPEC+ group of oil producers last week came down to disagreements between Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The two often time allies have found themselves on opposite sides of the fence over production levels of oil, a running source source of tension that has come to the fore more [...]
Workspace CEO: London’s working map will change as offices reopen but it’s an opportunity for true innovation July 13, 2021 There is widespread agreement that we are all undergoing a fundamental re-examination of our day-to-day lives as a result of the pandemic. Few aspects of modern life have been scrutinised as much as they way we work and where we work. With restrictions on work from home set to be lifted, much of this is [...]
Boris Johnson needs to tread a path back to a free market economy and focus on facilitating investment July 12, 2021 Boris Johnson has always been difficult to classify in ideological terms. Ten years ago, he was a small-state economic and social liberal who identified as a One Nation Conservative. His City Hall rival Ken Livingstone initially feared he was “the most hardline right-wing ideologue since Thatcher” but later concluded he was “a fairly lazy tosser [...]
KPMG: Financial services firms ability to tackle the pandemic and climate risk will be a measure of their success July 12, 2021 Tomorrow’s Financial Stability Report from the Bank of England will no doubt applaud the crucial role played by UK financial services in guiding our economy through the pandemic so far. But, to think we are out of the woods is an error – leaving lockdown will require every bit as much caution as surviving it has. [...]
Finally ending Covid-19 restrictions in the UK will be a new dawn for business July 12, 2021 Last week the Prime Minister outlined the Government’s long-awaited plans to ease social and economic COVID-19 restrictions in England. July 19 is the expected date, with a final decision to be taken today. If the PM goes ahead, this would be a new dawn and the first step towards returning the Square Mile to the [...]
High as a kite: The boom in the cannabis industry has forced the green sector to tackle its sustainability challenge July 10, 2021 Cannabis has long been considered a green industry, ready for the future. More and more places are decriminalising cannabis and the UK has become awash with CBD products. There has even been a growing market for hemp-based clothes as demand for sustainable fashion has eschewed cheap products. Hemp, a variety of cannabis, is an extremely [...]