Scream buyer revealed July 12, 2012 THE identity of the bidder who set a record for the highest price for any work of art at an auction when he bought Edvard Munch’s The Scream in May can be revealed. According to the Wall Street Journal the New York financier Leon Black is the bidder who offered nearly £74m for the work [...]
Bolt’s here but there’s nothing fast about UK’s aviation policy July 12, 2012 UNSUSPECTING travellers at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 found a sporting super hero in their midst yesterday morning when Jamaican running sensation, Usain Bolt, greeted international arrivals with his trade mark “To Di Mark” lightening bolt pose. The Bolt in question was the athlete’s new Madame Tussauds wax figure paying a visit as the airport welcomes record [...]
THE GREAT (BUT WET) CITY RACE July 12, 2012 THOUSANDS of runners were out in force in the City yesterday despite the rain, participating in Standard Chartered’s Great City Race 2012. With just two weeks to go before the Olympics, the Square Mile enjoyed its own demonstration of sporting prowess as office workers took to the steets to run 5k in support of Standard [...]
You won’t get better banks if you split one bad regulator into three July 12, 2012 GOOD riddance to the Financial Services Authority (FSA). This inflated docklands quango was supposed to regulate the City, but its 4,000 staff were too busy ticking boxes to see the ticking time-bomb of the banking collapse. Likewise, the FSA failed to take any interest in Libor rigging, despite warnings from City journalists and the Bank [...]
Philanthropy only works when big donors treat charity like investment July 12, 2012 THIS week’s announcement that British venture capitalist Michael Moritz has given £75m to Oxford University is a welcome reminder of the great contribution that many in the financial services industry continue to make to worthy causes, either in public or behind the scenes. Moritz’s gift will support scholarships for the poorest students. In so doing, [...]
Coalition can learn from Lords reform failures of Wilson July 12, 2012 THIS week’s massive backbench rebellion by 91 Conservative MPs was the largest Commons rebellion to have hit the coalition since 2010, the largest rebellion on Lords reform in the post-war era, and the largest rebellion at the second reading of a bill on any issue since 1945. But the most important vote was the one [...]
Is a third runway at Heathrow essential for ensuring the UK’s future economic growth? July 12, 2012 YES Simon Walker Day by day, the clamour for airport expansion in the UK is growing. Recent interventions by the likes of Sir Richard Branson, urging the Government to ditch their “farcical” outright refusal to consider a third runway at Heathrow, are just the latest in a long line of prominent and expert voices to [...]
RAPID RESPONSES July 12, 2012 Firm interference [Re: Supporters of capitalism must help expose blundering firms, yesterday] When you compare corporate wrong-doing with the malfeasance committed by governments, corporate culpability is much smaller than the government’s. Would banks or other financial institutions offer fraudulent schemes if governments did not encourage them to? The problem can be traced to a fundamental [...]
Hip, hip, odrome! July 12, 2012 LEICESTER Square, 1900. Inside the newly opened Hippodrome, polar bears and elephants parade about and a troop of acrobatic dwarves dive from the Gods into a tank – across the room, Harry Houdini is performing some of his most spectacular acts. At its peak, the Hippodrome, built by Victorian theatre architect extraordinaire Frank Matcham, was [...]
Proms to kick off with an all-English menu July 12, 2012 The Proms start today, and so begins London’s most impressive yearly cultural festival. Naturally, rather than be eclipsed by that other London event this year, something to do with sport, the Proms has joined forces with it, forming a key part of the the London 2012 Festival. Opening night of the Olympics, then, will be [...]
