Our economy and housing supply are being held back by planning: Liberalise now November 22, 2011 THE roots of our urban and housing crises began in the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act. This created the current planning framework where all major private property changes are subject to state veto. All land released for housing has to be approved by councils. Councils tell developers what they should build and where it [...]
Social investing will give a boost to philanthropy November 22, 2011 GEORGE Osborne’s Autumn Statement is likely to reveal that things are going to be tough for some years. One consequence is that money to tackle many social issues will be in short supply. One hope is that the third sector can plug some of the hole created by the deficit reduction plan. But funding for [...]
Why the drugs debate requires more humility November 22, 2011 THE former head of MI5, Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller, last week called on the government to decriminalise cannabis. She thinks the “war on drugs” is not working. Like most who make this claim, she counts undiminished drug consumption as one of the policy’s failures. Liberalisers seem to agree with prohibitionists that drugs are bad for their [...]
RAPID RESPONSES November 22, 2011 Brown and out Spot on, Allister Heath [Brownonomics makes a shock return, yesterday]. The coalition’s other housing policy announcement is equally poorly thought out. It proposes to raise the discount for individuals buying their council home to 50 per cent, giving an unearned windfall to a lucky few. But this will raise only a trickle [...]
Political ineptitude is driving euro-dollar November 22, 2011 THE string of announcements yesterday provided a snapshot of the failings of politicians and committees on either side of the Atlantic to come up with any form of solution to their respective debt woes. We saw some short-term euro-dollar moves off the news that the IMF had approved changes to credit line structures designed to [...]
EUROBONDS COULD BE THE SOLUTION November 22, 2011 AS TURMOIL in the European credit markets continues to weigh on the euro, some analysts are pressing for the European Central Bank (ECB) to engage in Swiss National Bank (SNB) like intervention. But even the most accommodative monetary policy in the world will not produce a long-term solution for Europe. If the euro is to [...]
THE TIPSTER November 22, 2011 THE fragile state of the UK economy has seen the pound fall against a number of currencies in the past week and with the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting notes likely to point to further quantitative easing, more pressure could be put on sterling. The fall against the euro has been stemmed somewhat [...]
FOREX ANALYST PICKS November 22, 2011 FOREX STRATEGIST JOHN KICKLIGHTER My pick: Short dollar-Swissie, long dollar-yen, short Kiwi dollar-dollar Expertise: Fundamental analysis with risk management Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week We have finally seen a strong break against risk; and it has worked well for last week’s short sterling-dollar setup and euro-yen (below ¥105) as well. [...]
Connecting with employees and the public through the Olympics’ power November 22, 2011 COUNTDOWN TO THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES 247 DAYS TO GO EDF’s Gareth Wynn explains the group’s commitment to the London 2012 games from the very start Q.What was your brand’s primary reason for being involved with the Games? A.EDF Energy was actually the first commercial sponsor of the bid, even predating Seb Coe, when [...]
Get your skates on this Xmas November 22, 2011 Dedicated runners say part of the reason they slog through the pain barrier, come rain or snow, is to recapture the feeling of being young: to feel the wind rushing through their hair and the ground rolling under their feet. I think running is too much like hard work but after ice skating for the [...]
