The corporate intelligence industry needs to become more ethical and less like James Bond February 27, 2020 Recent news stories — such as the London Stock Exchange-listed company, Lekoil, falling victim to an allegedly fraudulent financing deal, the resignation of Credit Suisse’s chief executive after a spying scandal, and the news that Harvey Weinstein gathered information on potential witnesses against him — have all shone an uncomfortable light on the efficacy and [...]
Keep calm and drink Yorkshire Tea until the Twitter storm blows over February 27, 2020 Another day, another Twitter pile-on. This time, the warriors of social justice turned their ire on homely hot-drink merchants Yorkshire Tea. Their equally voluble online opponents rallied to its defence. Why? Because Yorkshire Tea had the temerity to be, unbeknownst to them, our new chancellor’s choice of brew. Or, more precisely, the drink selected by [...]
Metro Bank needs to start moving forward February 27, 2020 By pretty much any conceivable metric, Metro Bank has had a miserable recent history. A major accounting blunder disclosed at the start of 2019 has sparked two regulatory investigations, led to the departure of its chairman and chief executive, and wiped almost 90 per cent off the lender’s market cap. Unsurprisingly after all that, yesterday’s [...]
Our capitalist system is in crisis — here’s how we can reboot it February 27, 2020 Capitalism and the market economy are in trouble. As the benefits of our capitalist system accrue to the already wealthy while a huge swathe of the population continues to struggle, many are questioning whether inequality is built into the current system — which therefore needs overthrowing with statist intervention. Others cling on to their ideological [...]
Britain’s political landscape has shifted, but think tanks are struggling to adapt February 27, 2020 Think tanks occupy a unique place in the policy world. Neither academic institutions nor the parties tasked with policy implementation, their role has traditionally been as independent “policy labs”, growing ideas for politicians to use when in power. Yet, as we are all aware, the political landscape has shifted in recent years. And think tanks [...]
DEBATE: Would it be a disaster for Democrats if Bernie Sanders became the nominee? February 27, 2020 Would it be a disaster for Democrats if Bernie Sanders became the nominee? Samuel Armstrong, head of communications at the Henry Jackson Society, says YES. Successful Democratic campaigns have one thing in common: they focus on what matters to ordinary people. This rule’s famed champion, James Carville, delivered Bill Clinton’s victory in 1992. The motto [...]
Storm in a teacup as Yorkshire Tea wins Twitter February 26, 2020 The story was predictably silly: Tory Chancellor Rishi Sunak poses with a big bag of tea, and anti-Tory Twitterati say they will never drink that brand again, dropping a fair few expletives in their ranty responses to a completely imagined outrage. What have we learnt from this storm in a Yorkshire Tea cup? On the [...]
The Democrats face a beating if they choose Bernie Sanders as their presidential nominee February 26, 2020 In December 2019, a peculiar experiment in British politics hit the buffers in a most brutal manner. One of our great political parties — Labour — had gambled that it could swing radically leftwards away from the ideological centre ground. Its expectation was that it would win a sweeping victory with an enhanced coalition of [...]
Citizens assemblies are no solution to the climate challenge — we need innovation February 26, 2020 At first sight, long-term swings in individual seats in Australian elections are a definite niche interest, one for the real trainspotter. But during a visit to Sydney University’s Complex Systems Institute, I noticed a fascinating piece in The Australian newspaper. The Australian Labor Party had a good result in the 2007 federal elections, and a [...]
It shouldn’t take a global pandemic for firms to see the benefits of flexible working February 26, 2020 News that the coronavirus outbreak has sparked the world’s biggest work-from-home experiment in China, alongside advice to Brits returning from Italy to “self-isolate”, will have been met with mixed reactions. Some will be delighted to avoid the risks to their own health and maximise their productive hours from the relative comfort of their own homes. [...]