There’s no justice in the US government’s record Bank of America settlement August 7, 2014 Surely anyone who hoped to see banks punished in the wake of the financial crisis should be ecstatic with the new settlement between Bank of America and the US Department of Justice? They’re not, though. The only person coming out on top in this settlement is the US government, which gets to pocket a big [...]
Counting the cost of a Russian trade war – Bottom Line August 5, 2014 It’s hardly the Cold War all over again, but Russia’s announcement that it intends to retaliate against sanctions imposed on it by Europe and America are an unfortunate escalation. The sanctions are well-deserved in the wake of Russia’s interventions in Ukraine and the downing of flight MH17. But trade is two-way and sanctions hurt the [...]
Lights out for darker skies: First World War started with a crash August 3, 2014 For the City, the Great War began with a financial crisis. Even before Britain committed itself, Europe’s great powers ranging against one another spelled disaster: the collapse of the magnificent, peaceful edifice of international trade built between the empires. As told in Jerry White’s riveting account of London in the war, Zeppelin Nights, on Friday [...]
Forget free market selfishness: It’s socialism that turns us into liars and cheats July 31, 2014 Markets make people better. Not many people seem to think so these days, but the idea got a boost from a recent piece of research by Dan Ariely and others, which compared moral behaviour in Germans brought up in East and West Germany. The team found that those with an East German background cheated twice as [...]
Bottom Line: Driverless cars aren’t on a risk-free road July 30, 2014 THE decision to put the UK in the forefront of the development of driverless cars is a brave, smart choice. Smart because this technology is accelerating fast and it makes sense to have a hand on the steering wheel. With firms such as Ricardo UK doing great work on autonomous road train projects, and experiments [...]
Welcome to the banker-poets: Why creativity thrives in financial services July 10, 2014 Why should I let the toad work/ Squat on my life?” With the summer holiday season upon us, it’s easy, even in a hardworking and ambitious place like the City, for the mind to turn to the pleasures of life outside the office. But Philip Larkin’s bitter question shouldn’t get the better of us for [...]
Bottom Line: Pharma deal must be a two-way tonic July 8, 2014 FOURTH time lucky? The latest bid for pharma firm Shire from AbbVie is an improvement of 11 per cent on its third attempt, up to £51.15 per share. With a looming deadline of 18 July due to Takeover Panel rules, AbbVie must pray the offer sticks: otherwise it will need to move fast, or be [...]
Finding Garcia: It’ll take pluck to liberate yourself from micro-management July 3, 2014 CAN YOU carry a message to Garcia? Do you even know what it means? The phrase used to be household currency, at least in America, but seems to have rather dropped from view. Yet since it was coined by an inspirational essay in 1899, it has been the subject of two feature films and it [...]
What our politicians can learn from the Hunger Games rules of persuasion June 26, 2014 PANEM today, Panem tomorrow, Panem forever.” You need to watch the chilling new teaser for the next Hunger Games movie, Mockingjay. Its cool irony confirms the series’s remarkable journey from minor young adult diversion to cultural milestone. The series of thrillers is no cinematic masterpiece, but 30 years on from 1984 it is helping inoculate [...]
Bottom Line: Leave its customers to discipline Wonga June 25, 2014 THERE’S only one word for Wonga’s actions between October 2008 and November 2010, when it sent fake lawyers’ letters to threaten late payers: shocking. The firm has rightly been ordered by the FCA to pay £2.6m in compensation to affected customers, and the matter referred to the police. The firm points out that it stopped [...]
