Autumn Statement 2016: Looming dangers demand an urgent rethink of monetary policy in Britain November 21, 2016 A widely-held, but erroneous, view is that low interest rates act invariably as a welcome, unambiguous boost to business, consumers and the economy. Nonetheless, it seems almost incredible that the Bank of England has maintained an emergency rate since March 2009. The granting of (notional) independence over monetary policy to this institution has allowed politicians [...]
Britain is embracing free trade just as the world turns to protectionism November 7, 2016 In pointed contrast to President Obama, Donald Trump has promised Britain that it will be at the front of the queue for a free trade deal should he triumph in today’s presidential election. Yet whether a President Trump, or indeed a President Clinton, would be minded to expend political capital on any trade deal has been thrown [...]
Theresa May’s industrial strategy isn’t about picking winners – but taking control of Britain’s economic destiny post-Brexit November 1, 2016 Purists likely shuddered at Theresa May’s commitment to a “proper, modern industrial strategy” as she reshaped the Business Department in July. Three decades of free market orthodoxy have convinced many business folk that a fully-fledged plan for industry represents a throwback to the 1970s, a decade when sickly British Leyland came to symbolise all that [...]
Wake up, policy-makers: The fintech paradigm shift could change everything October 13, 2016 Nowhere within the financial firmament does enthusiasm abound more right now than in the arena of fintech. Just as it has disrupted and revolutionised our social interactions and shopping habits, the internet is breeding new ways to cut the cost of transacting and pair those with capital with those seeking it. Peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding [...]
London’s insurance industry will thrive globally post-Brexit with the right competitive boost September 13, 2016 Rebalancing the economy away from financial services and our capital city has been the preoccupation of successive governments since 2008’s financial crisis. The sheer size of the banking sector, so the thinking went, alongside the absence of any second, truly global city beyond London, had made the UK too reliant upon the dominant industry of our [...]
The crackdown on no win, no fee risks handing a victory to dodgy directors October 15, 2014 One of the hazards of policymaking is that many of the best-laid plans can have curiously unintended consequences. In implementing policy, meanwhile, government can often find its left hand undermined by its right. So it has been with the Ministry of Justice’s laudable bid to halt spurious and costly civil litigation, an initiative which now [...]
Arbitrarily criminalising banking is a reckless way to reform British finance October 8, 2014 THE RADICAL plan to prosecute bank bosses for reckless misconduct in the management of a bank is ringing alarm bells across the City, with a slew of top bankers now threatening to join the duo from HSBC in quitting the industry in protest. The political allure of the proposal is clear. Since the financial crash [...]
Devo max is a cheap last-gasp offer – but a federal UK may be the happy result September 10, 2014 WHATEVER the outcome of next week’s referendum on Scottish independence, of one thing we can be sure: the constitutional settlement that had helped make the Union such a success for 300 years will be tainted. This settlement had just about held together after devolution. However, many of us in the other Home Nations have been [...]
Forward guidance: A political gambit that has retarded true capitalism August 18, 2014 IT’S A mistake to try and get too precise,” suggested Stanley Fischer last September, shortly before he was appointed vice chairman of the Federal Reserve. “You can’t expect the Fed to spell out what it’s going to do. Why? Because it doesn’t know.” Bank of England governor Mark Carney may now be wishing he had [...]
