What does life look like after coronavirus? March 20, 2020 Right now, the priority for all countries must be to confront the immediate challenges of the coronavirus pandemic: ensuring access to healthcare, maintaining the flow of essential supplies, and managing the economic fall-out that risks seeing businesses and individuals devastated through no fault of their own. But historically, periods of national crisis have often been [...]
We can all perform small acts of heroism at this time March 20, 2020 It is a very unusual person who has not felt fear this week. As a society, we tend to think that we are in control, yet what is happening around us tells us we are not — maybe we never have been. As a former government chief nursing officer, I know we have the very [...]
Will British businesses stand behind Bailey? March 20, 2020 Most people spend their first week in a new job getting to know people and figuring out how the printer works. Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey ends his first week having slashed interest rates to the lowest level in the institution’s 325-year history. When he writes a book about his time at Threadneedle St [...]
A blame game helps no one but fake news is even worse March 20, 2020 In the midst of a crisis like Covid-19, the ability to remain objective is usually one of the first human characteristics to be abandoned. It can easily be surrendered to panic as the urge to enter survival mode intensifies. Decisions that would have seemed inconceivable days before the crisis emerged suddenly appear rational. Actions that [...]
School closures are the latest sign of just how much our society is going to change March 19, 2020 The past few weeks have been spent trying to understand and interrogate the coronavirus outbreak, initially at a distance but increasingly up close and personal. Friends and neighbours are now self-isolating, some with symptoms that sound almost certain to be Covid-19, others less so — but without sufficient tests, people aren’t willing to take the [...]
Give it the green light: Helsinki wants eco ideas for its energy revolution March 19, 2020 By their nature, cities are in a unique position to develop solutions to global problems. Partnerships between cities, where we can draw from a diversity of approaches to common problems, provide valuable insights and that’s why Helsinki is today sharing with London our common experience of tackling climate change. Cities have a key role to [...]
DEBATE: Is there a case for the UK government bailing out airlines in the midst of the coronavirus crisis? March 19, 2020 Is there a case for the UK government bailing out airlines in the midst of the coronavirus crisis? YES, says Rob Burgess, editor of headforpoints.com, the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website. There are many reasons not to bail out companies — it is wrong to reward stupidity, bad management, corruption, or those who failed to [...]
It’s time to self-isolate from social media’s armchair experts March 19, 2020 You can tell whether a news story is really, properly serious by the degree to which people develop instant expertise. Back in 2008, all sorts of people who didn’t know an asset from a debt suddenly started holding forth confidently about balance sheet liabilities and CDO-Squareds. A few years later, in the wake of the [...]
The worst of times may just bring out the best in us March 19, 2020 From the Queen of Denmark to the mayor of Parsipanny, New Jersey, leaders around the world are reaching for a phrase that speaks to the challenge we face: we must come together by staying apart. Ireland’s Leo Varadkar deployed the same line in an excellent speech to his nation on Tuesday night. It captures perfectly [...]
DEBATE: Is now the time for the UK to trial a temporary Universal Basic Income? March 18, 2020 Is now the time for the UK to trial a temporary Universal Basic Income? YES, says Julian Jessop, an economics fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs. In normal times, cash payments regardless of individual need would be too expensive, poorly targeted, and distortionary. It is therefore right to use existing means-tested benefits (notably universal [...]