Brewdog’s China deal shows the limits of ESG virtue-signalling February 21, 2023 O, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to make commercial hay from a human rights campaign, as Walter Scott very nearly wrote. Brewdog are the latest example of a brand which has made much of its holier than thou culture – only to ditch it in full when the reward is [...]
Nicola Sturgeon’s exit is a chance to leave independence politics behind February 16, 2023 Nicola Sturgeon is a skilled politician, of this we can be in no doubt. However she used those skills almost exclusively for the advancement of a single mission: Scottish Independence. In the UK, there are politicians of different creeds and business leaders from across sectors working tirelessly to create opportunities where previously there were none, [...]
The Bank of England appears to have learnt from earlier mistakes February 2, 2023 The Bank of England made a host of missteps in the early parts of the inflation spike. It has become more boring - and more effective - since.
Tech Nation’s fall must not mean the end of UK’s global talent visa February 1, 2023 The future of Britain’s global talent visa – otherwise known as the tech visa – is in doubt after the winding down of Tech Nation. It shouldn’t be. One of the successes of Britain’s transition out of the European Union has been the professional side of the immigration system. The transition for those seeking ‘settled [...]
In defence of capitalism? Why the end of CDs signals the triumph of (green) free markets January 25, 2023 A book lands on the desk at City A.M. towers: In Defence of Capitalism. A brave title in today’s climate, regrettably, and at points the arguments are even braver still – not least when the German author Dr. Rainer Zitelmann, an economist, uses his music collection as an example of how markets might well save [...]
Much of the blame for Sadiq Khan’s tax hikes lays in Whitehall January 18, 2023 Sadiq Khan is unlikely to be flavour of the month in too many London households this morning. Yesterday he announced a combination of top-up charges to Council Tax and an across-the-board increase in transport costs across London. The London Conservatives are, unsurprisingly, up in arms. But much of the blame lies not at City Hall’s [...]
Industrial strategy? Britishvolt and OneWeb prove markets are usually best left alone January 17, 2023 The name of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy can leave economists of a certain ilk cold – particularly the last two words. In the UK’s political zeitgeist, industrial strategy has been closely tied to the dreaded concept of picking winners – with the government standing accused of picking individual sectors and indeed [...]
Reasons to be cheerful on the UK economy? They’re there, if you’re looking for them January 16, 2023 Nobody likes to be negative, so perhaps that explains the surprising survey results on our front page today. Perhaps confidence in the economy is coming not from sensible forecasting but from unguarded new year’s optimism. Or, to borrow a line from Blackadder’s General Melchett, “that’s the spirit: if nothing else works, then a total pig-headed [...]
Best of tech opinion in 2022 December 29, 2022 From Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg to algorithms keeping us in with our daily dose of otters, some of the best tech opinion in City A.M.
Best of political opinion in 2022 December 28, 2022 The best opinion and analysis of the high drama in Westminster in 2022.
