Do central banks have enough firepower to fight the next recession? January 17, 2020 By the end of 2019, the UK and US had achieved a decade recession free. That’s an impressive feat, but fears of a recession remain. In fact, those fears peaked last year due to worrying signals from financial markets. When the next recession does raise its head, it will be up to our central banks [...]
The landscape may have changed, but the purpose of finance remains the same January 17, 2020 In January 2007, I walked into my first day in a role at one the world’s leading global financial institutions with all the excitement that comes with a new job. Like many of those working in the industry at that time, I didn’t foresee the hurricane that was about to hit in the shape of [...]
What Carlos Ghosn’s escape teaches us about reputation management January 16, 2020 Carlos Ghosn’s escape from the Japanese justice system is truly remarkable, not just because of the circumstances themselves – which really are stranger than fiction – but also because of what it tells us about owning the narrative in modern reputation management. Indeed, if there is a playbook on how to forge a favourable narrative [...]
Flybe bailout reveals Johnson’s priorities January 16, 2020 During the election campaign, Labour claimed that a Tory victory would unleash “Thatcherism on steroids”. Now, just weeks into the new Boris Johnson era, corporate bailouts are on the agenda. Hardly the rampant free-market dogma we were warned about. The troubled airline Flybe has received a £100m temporary tax break, plus the promise of a [...]
Til divorce do us part: advice for couples considering separation January 16, 2020 Christmas is meant to be a relaxing time, but for many people it’s also a period of stress, tension, and tribulations — especially for married couples. The financial burden of the holidays plus the pressure to have a “perfect Christmas” and the familiar strain of dealing with in-laws can lead to squabbles and even full-blown [...]
DEBATE: Was the government right to bail out Flybe? January 16, 2020 Was the government right to bail out Flybe? Rob Burgess, editor of the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website headforpoints.com, says YES. Sitting in London, it is easy to think that Flybe should be allowed to fail. Sit in the departure hall at Exeter Airport, or Southampton, or one of the other regional hubs where Flybe [...]
Donald Trump proved the doubters wrong and got it right on Iran with Qassem Soleimani January 16, 2020 When the Middle East crisis broke at the start of this year, many outcomes were predicted by a panicked commentariat in response to the US drone strike on Iran’s terrorist-in-chief, Qassem Soleimani. The various theories peddled by such observers fell into two broad camps: that war would inevitably result, or that the west would suffer [...]
Ostrich shops need to stop blaming the high street and step up January 16, 2020 Stories of failing retailers seem to be as regularly in the news as Brexit or Harry and Meghan. And when we read about them, it’s usually accompanied by lamentation that the state of the high street is to blame. Just this week, City A.M. reported that department store Beales is facing collapse. Its chief executive [...]
Don’t let corporate governance turn into a box-ticking exercise January 16, 2020 Last week, some of the UK’s biggest businesses received a rap on the knuckles, as the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) published its annual review of how well companies lived up to the Corporate Governance Code. Some FTSE firms, the accounting and governance regulator argued, were simply “paying lip service to the spirit of the Code”, [...]
Fintech can be the silver bullet to banking the UK’s unbanked January 15, 2020 Can new technology help the 1.23m people in the UK who don’t have a bank account? And could it improve the lives of the 10–12m who still struggle to access affordable loans? New research suggests that the answer to both those questions is yes. It is all thanks to London’s booming fintech sector — one [...]