Surprisingly positive data lifts US shares June 27, 2012 U S stocks rose yesterday as stronger-than-expected economic data helped lift energy stocks, overshadowing concerns a European Union summit will not yield tangible progress in easing the debt crisis. The energy sector showed the strongest gains among the 10 major S&P 500 groups, rising 1.9 per cent as oil prices settled higher at $80.21 a [...]
The UK’s consumer debt burden is stifling hope of economic recovery June 27, 2012 THE Eurozone crisis has grabbed all the headlines. Yet Britain’s economic problems are not exactly the same as those of the Eurozone. In Euroland, the crisis has centred on banking and sovereign debt. In Britain, we have already given our banks plenty of capital. Remember the part-nationalisation of RBS and Lloyds TSB? It was in [...]
A hostile US Supreme Court risks trapping Obama in a political nightmare June 27, 2012 ALEXANDER Hamilton, the US Founding Father, described the judicial branch of government as the “least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution,” because it “has no influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society.” With the Supreme Court expected to rule [...]
A token solution to a seventeenth century dilemma June 27, 2012 IF TODAY was a morning in London 350 years ago, and you wanted to catch up on the latest news, market information and gossip, rather than picking up a copy of City A.M. you would have gone to a coffee shop. In coffee shops you would find the latest pamphlets and printed news, and met [...]
Should the UK create an industrial strategy to guide its future economic development? June 27, 2012 YES Vicky Pryce The UK needs a strategy for industry and it must be better than what has gone before. All too often, our industrial policy has been reactive and incoherent. It has responded to lobbying and failed to offer consistent and equal support to sectors of industry. Good industrial policy must provide the tools [...]
RAPID RESPONSES June 27, 2012 Hester is not RBS [Re: Useless PR has turned NatWest’s woes into a corporate nightmare, yesterday] Having gone through James Hutchinson’s piece on the RBS computer failures, I was very surprised that all his attacks were directed on the person of Stephen Hester rather than the bank itself. I believe Hester has handled the situation [...]
Employee freedom: Olympics and beyond June 27, 2012 AS WE head towards the Olympic Games, many companies have been making contingency plans for the anticipated congestion that this will cause in London. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), almost three in ten employers say they will try and accommodate requests from employees to work from home, 17 per cent [...]
A workspace is not a workplace: A mobility strategy is crucial June 27, 2012 DIRECTOR UK ENTERPRISE, CISCO Q What are the key drivers behind a mobility strategy? A The workspace is no longer a workplace. Successful businesses are reducing their dependence on expensive office property and enabling a mobile workforce to be productive wherever they are most effective. A business is only as good as its people. Retaining [...]
OLYMPICS BY NUMBERS June 27, 2012 10.8m ticketholders (8.8m Olympic, 2m Paralympic). 200,000 people in the workforce. Including 6,000 staff, 70,000 volunteers and 100,000 contractors. 1500 UK firms have won over £6.3bn of Olympic Development Authority contracts. LOCOG has awarded a further £1bn. 118 overseas teams have signed pre-games training camp agreements in communities across the UK. 1m pieces of sport [...]
Regulatory hurdles for the UK financial sector to consider June 27, 2012 THE Olympics Delivery Authority (ODA) predicts 20m trips by spectators during London 2012, including some 3m on the busiest day. The resulting inevitable transport chaos is prompting businesses and employees to look closely at how best to keep operating efficiently, in particular working from home. Many financial services sector staff work in Docklands and the [...]
