No recessions for 80 years: The fanciful world of High Speed Rail 2’s business case January 9, 2012 AFTER the well-flagged decision this afternoon to press ahead with the first stage of the High Speed 2 rail project (HS2), the City and business will be pressed to “contribute” to the strong business case. An aspect that MPs are singularly ill-equipped to consider, but that the City will focus on, is the way the [...]
MPs say we need less drink – they must be wasted January 9, 2012 BRITAIN’S middle classes have long been obsessed with what the other, poorer, half eats and drinks. Yesterday, MPs on the science committee called on the government to issue new guidance on alcohol consumption, recommending that people have at least two alcohol-free days a week. It’s a bit rich for politicians, who are often found worse-for-wear [...]
We’re the 100 per cent because we all pay tax January 9, 2012 DEBATES about tax can be pretty taxing – as two recent examples of both sides of the debate embellishing the facts to create outrage out of nothing clearly show. In a recent report, Action Aid found that 98 per cent of FTSE 100 companies had subsidiaries that operated within a tax haven. There are problems [...]
RAPID RESPONSES January 9, 2012 Crippled by costs I’m glad to see that Ernst and Young has now revealed the true cost that an EU financial transaction tax (FTT) would impose on the whole of the European Union and, in particular, the City of London [Tobin Tax could cost EU billions, Monday]. David Cameron would certainly be right to veto [...]
The get fit quick scheme January 9, 2012 People rarely have a clean break with their good intentions. They disappear gradually, a death by 1000 cuts. “I’m too tired to make lunch for work tomorrow.” “It’s too cold to walk to the gym.” “I don’t have time for a run today.” Self-styled “body genius” and personal trainer to the stars (well, Katie Price [...]
FIT IN THE CITY January 9, 2012 FITNESS & DIET EXPERT So the fun’s over and now it’s time to tackle January’s inevitable mincepie-top. Best place to start is often the studio, instead of the gym floor; trying to go it alone on the treadmill can be tough after weeks of gluttony and inactivity. These are my picks of the city’s finest [...]
A credit crunch movie that doesn’t hate bankers January 9, 2012 IF you had to guess where J.C. Chandor’s sympathies lie, you’d probably go with “anti-banker”. Had I met him without having watched a pre-release DVD of Margin Call, his art-house credit crunch thriller, I’d take one look at his skinny jeans, luxuriant black hair and air of New York cool and think: no way is [...]
ON FILM: BANKER MOVIES MADE SINCE 2008 January 9, 2012 Capitalism: A Love Story Michael Moore wouldn’t let something like the credit crunch go by without a stab at the system that has created global prosperity, and so we have his 2009 “documentary” in which he skewers the “casino mentality” of Wall Street and indicts capitalism as a whole. Tiresome. Too Big To Fail Based [...]
SNB’s Hildebrand resigns over currency trade scandal January 9, 2012 Swiss National Bank (SNB) chairman Philipp Hildebrand is resigning with immediate effect after a scandal over a controversial currency trade made by his wife, the SNB said. The SNB said in a brief statement that Hildebrand would speak about his decision at a media briefing in Berne and make available a number of unspecified documents. [...]
Lloyds chief Horta-Osorio “thrilled” to be back at work January 9, 2012 Lloyds Banking Group Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said he was “thrilled” to return to work on Monday after a two-month absence due to fatigue, but faces an even bigger challenge turning around the part-state-owned lender than when he left. “I am thrilled to be back and I look forward to working with my colleagues again,” [...]
