Great British Railways: an eerie reminder of state ownership detested by free marketeers and socialists alike The current amount of taxpayers’ money being paid to operate and maintain the railways is unsustainable, the authors of the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail report wrote in the opening pages. The railways lack a guiding focus on customers, are too fragmented, too complicated, and too expensive to run. Instead, the authors herald a new age, [...]
Begone Trumpist protectionism! How Biden will boost prospects for global trade We cannot be sure on the exact order in which European leaders were contacted by the US President-elect, but we do know that Boris Johnson was among them early on, silencing the hysteria that our Prime Minister might be snubbed. Fears have abounded during this US presidential race that a Joe Biden win would result [...]
Act now to save free trade Free trade is a cornerstone of the global economy. It has lifted billions out of poverty and enabled the highest living standards than at any point in human history. It is therefore worrying — although not surprising given the impact of coronavirus on economic activity — that we have seen a stark drop in global [...]
Sadiq Khan’s rent control pledge is a minefield of unintended consequences March 4, 2020 There is no denying that London faces a housing crisis. Similarly, there is no denying that many people feel that their rents take too high a proportion of their income. If you are Sadiq Khan, the solution is obvious: if people object to high rents, the state should cap them — problem solved. It is [...]
Donald Trump’s Republicans want a trade deal with the UK, and they want one quickly March 9, 2017 Two weeks ago I was in the United States. I met with officials, staff and influential Republican supporters and I can tell you that there is no shortage of enthusiasm for a UK – US trade deal. The Trump administration may still be settling in, but behind the scenes, his supporters and key figures see [...]
With the deal looking dead, is the likely failure of the LSE-Deutsche Boerse merger good news for London? February 27, 2017 Daniel Hodson, former chief executive of LIFFE and non-executive director of The London Clearing House, says Yes. At the heart of both the rationale and risk to London for this transaction is clearing. The London Clearing House (LCH), 57 per cent owned by the London Stock Exchange (LSE), is a City icon, a multitrillion highly [...]
It’s time Chicken Licken Remainers admitted the sky hasn’t fallen in post-Brexit September 8, 2016 Before the referendum, the Remain camp did not hold back from listing the catastrophic consequences of Brexit. The banks and financial services sector would abandon London overnight, they said. Vital funding would be lost for farming, science and regeneration schemes. The British economy would immediately stall, then spiral into a crash. Eleven weeks on from [...]
