Here’s a radical idea: Let’s take stock before introducing more regulation October 3, 2012 FINANCIAL services regulations aren’t like London buses, where you wait around for ages and then three come along at once. There’s no waiting around, and they come by the busload all the time. So far this week, we’ve had Ed Miliband threatening to break up the banks, and then the EU’s Liikanen report calling for [...]
Why both left and right must call for an EU referendum October 3, 2012 WHY would we – a card-carrying Conservative eurosceptic City man, and a life-long europhile Labour activist and former special adviser to two Labour cabinet ministers – team up? What project could possibly unite us? The People’s Pledge. The People’s Pledge is the politically independent campaign for a referendum on the UK’s membership of the European [...]
After reporting its first fall in profits since 1994, is Tesco now facing serious decline? October 3, 2012 YES Neil Saunders Those looking for a quick turnaround from Tesco will be disappointed by the latest results, which underline deep-rooted problems. UK like-for-like sales growth has improved since the last update. However, this has been driven by more discounting; a short-term solution that treats the symptoms of Tesco’s illness, but does very little in [...]
Rapid Responses October 3, 2012 Attack on property I’m a chartered surveyor working in London, and I was recently informed that Newham Council has decided to introduce mandatory blanket licensing of all rental properties in the borough. Letting agents or private landlords must pay £150 if they apply for a license by the end of the year. Afterwards, a five-year [...]
Masters degrees for a post-crisis business career October 3, 2012 FIVE years on from the collapse of Northern Rock, and the ensuing crisis is still keenly felt in the world’s business schools. It’s been the source of some soul-searching – professors have had to question their roles as the educators of some of the crisis’s leading figures. Much of the critique is rightly rebutted. Michel [...]
Battle of the hot new e-readers October 3, 2012 Kindle Paperwhite, $119 (US price) Amazon says this is the Kindle it has always wanted to build. The Paperwhite is similar to the Kindle Touch but with one important difference – it comes with a built-in light that “evenly illuminates the screen”, allowing you to read in the dark. The only problem is, if you live [...]
Telecoms peace deal brings 4G to Britain October 2, 2012 BRITAIN’S four major mobile companies will all be able to offer high-speed mobile internet networks from as soon as next summer, after government-brokered talks between broadcasting regulator Ofcom and the operators last night moved forward the date that fourth-generation (4G) airwaves will be cleared for use. Culture secretary Maria Miller brought together the heads of [...]
Ed Miliband targets City during One Nation speech October 2, 2012 ED Miliband yesterday issued a direct challenge to the City, saying the first objective of a Labour government would be to “sort out our banks”. He also pledged to end quarterly results for listed companies, a move he said would end short-termism. The Labour leader used his speech at the party’s Manchester conference to call [...]
Rajoy denies that Spain’s bailout plea is imminent October 2, 2012 SPANISH Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy rebuffed suggestions that his government would imminently request a full bailout, during a press conference in Madrid yesterday. A European source had previously said that the Spanish were now “ready to request aid”, according to Reuters, yet Rajoy responded with a blunt “no” when asked if a call for aid [...]
Miliband’s speech: Powerful rhetoric but muddled thinking October 2, 2012 IF standing up and delivering a lengthy speech fluently and without notes were all that it took to become Prime Minister, Ed Miliband would be a shoo-in after yesterday’s performance. Modern Britain – and especially the politically engaged minority – has in common with ancient Greece an exaggerated respect for rhetoric, delivery and articulacy. On [...]
