WALL ST THE WEEK AHEAD June 24, 2012 WALL Street navigated some potent obstacles last week – Greece’s elections and the Federal Reserve’s slashing its US economic growth forecasts – but the drama is not over. Investors say big gains will be hard to come by amid signs of slowing growth . The S&P 500 posted its second-biggest daily decline of the year [...]
City 2050: Build tall and verdant June 24, 2012 WHAT will the City look like in 2050? Since the Gherkin was completed just under 10 years ago, prompting a new wave of signature architecture, the City’s future skyline has been a subject of much debate. As part of The Developing City exhibition, New London Architecture has commissioned three groups of architects, developers and property [...]
Brics defended us from anti-growth greens at Rio+20 June 24, 2012 THE OUTCOME of the UN Rio+20 conference last week was a welcome surprise. The conference was held to review the progress of the UN’s global programme to manage environmental issues, adopted in Rio de Janeiro 20 years before. Rio+20 rejected calls by green NGOs to endorse green economics and restated the need for an open [...]
Russia’s potential in financial services is a prize the City should unwrap June 24, 2012 IT’S ASTONISHING that you can travel by train from the heart of the City of London right to the Pacific at Vladivostok, crossing nine time zones and an eighth of the world’s landmass on the way. Sadly, the pace of business doesn’t allow such journeys anymore, so I will be taking my business delegation to [...]
Is Ed Miliband right to propose restrictions to immigration to protect British workers? June 24, 2012 YES Andrew Harrop Ed Miliband is trying to avoid being typecast as an urban liberal with a relaxed attitude to migration numbers. So his speech was grounded in two other dimensions of his political personality – he worries about people struggling on low incomes and he wants more responsibility in how people and businesses operate [...]
RAPID responses June 24, 2012 Return to O-levels [Re: Cameron must back Gove for the sake of Britain’s children, Friday] Michael Gove’s proposal isn’t perfect, but it’s an improvement on the failing system we have today – a de facto two-tier system of double-digit top grades and a long list of failures. Let’s hope Gove can defeat his third-rate political [...]
Kicking live music up a number of notches June 24, 2012 WHEN Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg pitched up to his IPO in a hoodie, some criticised him. However, to get to that stage he had already convinced plenty of private investors that he was worthy of their cash. Clearly the hoodie hadn’t bothered them. In under a minute into my meeting with Ian Hogarth, co-founder of Songkick [...]
Personality is essential for success in both business and life June 24, 2012 WHAT’S a successful personality? I am one of 11 children born in the outback of Australia. My father was an itinerant farm labourer, so sometimes we were given accommodation and sometimes we stayed in a big tent. Strong as an ox, “Dad” was a good worker but also liked a drink. He was violent towards [...]
Make Britain the home of the brave June 24, 2012 ON FRIDAY, Neil Carmichael MP from the education select committee, hosted a debate in the House of Commons on how innovative further education could better equip the workforce of the future. A pertinent subject, following the revelation of Michael Gove’s plans for education reform. Entrepreneurs can provide an interesting perspective. Friday’s event came on the [...]
Arctic Junkies June 24, 2012 HUMAN population: 2,600. Polar bear population: 3,500. Welcome to Svalbard, Arctic playground for thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. As far as seaside tourism towns go, Norway’s Svalbard is pretty much the polar opposite of Bournemouth. Instead of zimmer-frames, find ski poles. In place of dawdling mobility scooters, find snowmobiles capable of flying over the ice [...]
