You can tune out, the Brexit melodrama won’t get fixed anytime soon October 16, 2019 A few weeks ago, I took a break from reading the news because I was worried that Brexit developments were stressing me out too much. When I returned to the papers late last week, I was relieved, and hardly surprised, that I hadn’t missed much. As we approach the 31 October Brexit deadline, we appear [...]
This year’s Nobel economics laureates have made the world a better place October 16, 2019 This year’s Nobel Prize in economics, announced on Monday, was a ray of sunshine amid the prevailing media gloom. The Prize was awarded for the work the new laureates had done on the alleviation of global poverty. This is one reason to be cheerful about it. Another is that Esther Duflo became only the second [...]
No-deal Brexit: The potential winners and losers October 15, 2019 As you read this, Brexit negotiators are working around the clock to come to an agreement that will enable the UK to leave the EU in an orderly way by the Halloween deadline. Both sides have said they are committed to working out a deal, but with time so short, nothing is certain. If they [...]
The Queen has set out a new legislative agenda for a government that can’t govern October 15, 2019 Yesterday’s grand state occasion had all the hallmarks of a normal Queen’s Speech, including the fabulous pomp, the Monarch’s gracious address and the reciprocal speeches in the Commons, but it was not a normal Queen’s Speech. The chances of this government successfully passing any of the bills it outlined yesterday are slim, at best. It has no [...]
Sorry not sorry: End the apology culture in business October 15, 2019 When David Neeleman, the founder of American airline JetBlue, published a YouTube video entitled “Our Promise to You” in 2007, it was the first corporate social media apology. The video set the standard for modern crisis management. Snow storms and bad planning had forced the airline to cancel more than a thousand flights, affecting over [...]
Warning: The conveyor belt of global growth is grinding ever more slowly October 15, 2019 Where has all the growth gone? It’s the biggest economic question that we face – not just in Britain, but throughout the world. Ignore the stresses and uncertainties caused by Brexit, or Donald Trump’s trade war, or whatever the latest problem of the day is. The bigger picture is that the world just isn’t growing [...]
This bland and disappointing Queen’s Speech is no remedy for our broken politics October 15, 2019 “Civilisation is a hopeless race to discover remedies for the evils it produces.” So wrote Jean-Jacques Rousseau, maybe somewhat cynically. Yet, listening to yesterday’s Queen’s Speech it is hard not to glimpse a thread of truth in Rousseau’s words. Longer sentences to make up for increased crime exacerbated by past cuts and the progressive breakdown [...]
DEBATE: Is Nicola Sturgeon overplaying her hand by demanding a Scottish independence referendum next year? October 15, 2019 Is Nicola Sturgeon overplaying her hand by demanding a Scottish independence referendum next year? Iain Anderson, executive chairman at Cicero Group, says YES. Sick and tired of being sick and tired of endless elections and referendums? I think most of us are. So when I heard Scotland’s first minister say this weekend that the SNP [...]
Want to ensure Britain’s future prosperity? Stop taking wealth creators for granted October 15, 2019 Last month, the UK reported record numbers of people in employment. With all the Brexit noise, it was easy to miss this incredible news. But a healthy jobs market is of critical importance to society. As a barometer of success, employment is for some (including me) more important than any other figure, including GDP. And [...]
The top dogs of global finance gather this week to confront economic storm clouds October 14, 2019 Will there be a global recession? What next for policy? Where are the major financial risks? These questions will be to the forefront of minds this week in Washington as the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank take place. Policymakers from across the globe will be in attendance, plus over 10,000 participants from [...]