Lay all your bets on a winner: Why optimism beats calculation November 25, 2012 I WAS so tired at breakfast that, when the waitress asked if I wanted coffee, I just tapped the table a few times. When she asked about sugar, I flattened my hand, palm downwards, and slowly waved it left and right. As a casino worker, she knew the blackjack signals for yes and no. And [...]
Who qualifies for investment relief November 25, 2012 THE Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) was launched without much fanfare in April this year. Designed to help early-stage companies raise equity finance, it offers tax relief to investors, with the aim of offsetting the reticence some feel about staking their money on a high-risk venture. Not all small companies qualify, however. Firms must have [...]
EU budget stalemate: The battle is about more than European waste November 25, 2012 THE EU summit in Brussels last week ended the way most people expected: no agreement. The deal on the table from Hermann van Rompuy – president of the European Council – was for a €973bn (£787.5bn) budget over seven years in 2011 prices. It was significantly less than the over €1 trillion budget originally proposed [...]
The City needs partners to strengthen its place in Europe’s single market November 25, 2012 UNCERTAINTY over the future of Europe, and to an extent Britain’s role within it, continues to dominate the agenda, even as the latest summit in Brussels wraps up. Clearly there are strong views on both sides of this debate in the Square Mile. But – regardless of whether you are a eurosceptic, europhile or something [...]
There must be no compromise on our press freedom November 25, 2012 WHEN he made his plea for press freedom in 1644, the poet John Milton said: “Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.” His depiction of press freedom as the greatest thing a man could be granted, standing “above all liberties”, was not poetic melodrama. [...]
Is the government’s new Energy Bill a good deal for British businesses and consumers? November 25, 2012 YES Tim Yeo If we do not find £100bn of investment by 2020, Britain will face an energy crisis. We need to replace polluting coal power plants and construct new nuclear reactors. The government’s Energy Bill will give generators a guaranteed price for clean, low-carbon electricity. This will cut the risk of investing in projects [...]
Rapid responses November 25, 2012 House of cards [Re:Why Britain’s housing market has escaped the disasters of the 1990s, Friday] Although Ruth Lea’s article is interesting, I’m concerned that a similar housing disaster to that of 1990s has simply been postponed by our unnaturally low interest rates. The problem that Britain’s housing market faces is that a huge number of [...]
High childcare costs needn’t give you a case of baby blues November 25, 2012 RISING childcare costs are deterring British mothers from returning to work. According to a 2011 Eurostat survey, 48.8 per cent of women with three or more children are in employment in the UK, compared with 71.3 per cent in the Netherlands and 68.2 in Finland. But family formation patterns have changed over the past few [...]
Trust a trust to protect your child’s education November 25, 2012 SINCE 2002, private school fees have risen at 1.8 times the rate of inflation. The average cost today is £11,500 per year, up from £6,800 in 2002. Private education is becoming more of a luxury, and it may be a good idea to find a more innovative solution than relying on your Christmas bonus. A [...]
Prepare for a brave new world of more investment choices November 25, 2012 NEW rules from the Financial Services Authority – the retail distribution review (RDR), which comes into effect on 1 January – intend to empower consumers by making investing more transparent. The idea is to help retail investing work more effectively. But investors will also face greater choice in how they buy their investments, and this [...]
