DEBATE: Was the collapse of Thomas Cook inevitable? September 24, 2019 Was the collapse of Thomas Cook inevitable? Julian Jessop, economics fellow at the Institute for Economic Affairs, says YES. It is sad to see the collapse of the world’s oldest travel firm, but badly run companies must be allowed to fail. There was some bad luck here, including unrest in Turkey, European heat waves, and [...]
In a world of data and digitisation, the City continues to hold the winning cards September 24, 2019 At a time when the spotlight is on London’s future as a global hub for finance, new data showing that the capital has extended its lead in global FX and interest rate derivatives trading since 2016 was a clear vote of confidence in the City. This was backed up by the latest Global Financial Centres [...]
Could this pro-Brexit economist be what Threadneedle Street needs? September 24, 2019 Gerard Lyons’ candidacy for governor of the Bank of England may look like a pro-Brexit ploy, a way to sneak Boris Johnson’s optimism into a pessimistic institution. But Lyons – who has never worked in a central bank, served as Johnson’s chief economic adviser when the now-Prime Minister was mayor of London, and was previously [...]
McDonnell sets out his plans for a superstate September 24, 2019 August, 2023. You had hoped to be on holiday, but you’re still waiting for your regional Workers’ Leisure Committee to allocate you some days. Still, at least you have a three-day weekend coming up. Of course, every weekend is three days long now, which took a bit of getting used to but seems to have [...]
Advertisers need to get in on the streaming revolution September 23, 2019 TV consumption habits have undergone a revolutionary shift. It started with the arrival of players like Netflix, and a decade later, it’s rapidly accelerating as new platforms like Amazon Prime Video and BritBox enter the space. These new entrants are being spurred by consumer demand – 63 per cent of UK consumers stream today, with [...]
Debate: Should rail firms be rewarded for running trains on time? September 23, 2019 Should rail firms be rewarded for running trains on time? Yes – Matt Gillow is a research associate at the Adam Smith Institute. Transport secretary Grant Shapps isn’t just offering incentives for operators to deliver an agreed service, but repercussions if they fail. If big rail monopolies commit to a service and fail to deliver [...]
Fintechs are moving at such break-neck speeds that they’re struggling to mitigate the risks September 23, 2019 The “challenger” moniker has been given to a new generation of financial brands because they are disrupting the status quo set by the financial institutions of the past. But it may be that the speed at which these tech-focused firms are expanding will leave them open to significant risk in the near future. In fact, [...]
Britain’s Goldilocks moment has arrived in the nick of time September 23, 2019 Not too hot, and not too cold. It’s time for the three bears to move over and take the porridge with them, because the temperature of the UK economy points to a Goldilocks moment arriving just in the nick of time. A low-inflation fairy tale has come to the aid of a nation grappling with [...]
Roll up, roll up for the Labour circus of chaos September 22, 2019 Boris Johnson’s top adviser Dominic Cummings, had planned to disregard the Westminster convention that sees political parties maintaining a respectful silence during each other’s party conferences. There’s always a bit of a noise, but generally it’s considered fair play to let each party have the field to themselves for a couple of days a year, [...]
Medical cannabis could nip Britain’s growing opioid crisis in the bud September 20, 2019 The United States is suffering from an epidemic that is estimated to have claimed 400,000 lives. In what is now known as the opioid crisis, drug manufacturers have been raking in huge profits over the past two decades by mass prescribing a diverse class of addictive painkillers known as opioids. Now, about 130 people in [...]