Back to the 1970s: Globalisation will force UK’s hand over export shortfall January 13, 2014 FOR MOST of the past century, UK economic growth has depended primarily on consumer spending and housing. Indeed, the current recovery is heavily driven by these two factors – even though the shape of this revival is gradually changing. But globalisation brings new challenges. We have to pay for much more expensive energy and raw [...]
Technology and the minimum wage: A big rise could harm the lowest skilled January 13, 2014 POLITICIANS of all parties, including Treasury minister Sajid Javid, have stated that there’s a strong case for a significant increase in the minimum wage. Their arguments were perhaps best summarised in a blog by Paul Kirby, the former head of the Number 10 Policy Unit. His economic case for a big rise is based on [...]
Britain must do more to accelerate exploitation of its vast shale potential January 13, 2014 TO SUPPORT the development of its huge shale potential, Britain desperately needs the backing of investors, local communities, and local government. The stakes are high – with the slow demise of the North Sea, we face rising import bills, a rapidly declining tax base and, as last year’s dispute at the Grangemouth refinery warned us, [...]
Letters to the editor – 14/01 – Cheap money, Housing crunch, Best of Twitter January 13, 2014 Cheap money [Re: Raise interest rates gradually or risk a much sharper swing of the pendulum, Friday] We need to ask ourselves what kind of a recovery is consistent with near-zero interest rates worldwide and continued quantitative easing (QE) in the US. If the US economy is adding hundreds of billions of dollars to GDP [...]
A3 Cabriolet: the everyman Audi January 13, 2014 This new, unassuming motor is a Jack of all trades, and there is nothing terribly wrong with that Audi likes to maximise the pizazz for the press launch of a new model. For the A3 Cabriolet it was a private jet to Nice and on to the Hotel Hermitage just off Casino Square in Monaco. [...]
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Premier League: Arsenal back on top with Villa victory January 13, 2014 ASTON VILLA 1 vs ARSENAL 2 ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger has told his players to forget what is going on elsewhere and focus on winning after they returned to the top of the Premier League last night. Two first-half goals in less than a minute from midfielder Jack Wilshere and striker Olivier Giroud were enough [...]
Ronaldo beats Messi to world player award January 13, 2014 A TEARFUL Cristiano Ronaldo paid tribute to his Real Madrid and Portugal team-mates upon receiving the Ballon d’Or for 2013 yesterday, ending Lionel Messi’s four-year reign as governing body Fifa’s world player of the year. The 28-year-old gained 1,365 points in the vote cast by national captains and coaches, plus members of the global football [...]
Three hours: How long it took for Murray to be sole Brit at Oz Open January 13, 2014 BRITISH tennis No1 Laura Robson refused to blame a recent wrist injury for her first-round exit at the Australian Open on a sorry day for the nation’s female stars at the year’s first grand slam. Less than three hours into the opening day Andy Murray was the only Briton left in the tournament, after Robson’s [...]
Matic set for Chelsea return with De Bruyne poised to exit January 13, 2014 CHELSEA are closing in on the £21m signing of midfielder Nemanja Matic, less than three years after his departure from Stamford Bridge. The 25-year-old was used as a makeweight in the £21m deal to sign central defender David Luiz from Benfica in August 2011. But the Serbian has since shot to prominence and was named [...]
