Britons are feeling less than festive about Europe December 18, 2012 EVERY month YouGov runs its EuroTrack survey, a multi-country study tracking public opinion in the UK, Germany, France and the Nordic countries. Looking at the latest data, the results of two questions (one a serious political issue, the other more light-hearted) grabbed my attention. First, the serious political issue: how would people in the countries [...]
Inflation stays high ahead of festive season December 18, 2012 INFLATION defied expectations to remain high in November, with consumer price inflation (CPI) staying unchanged at 2.7 per cent year-on-year, according to official figures released yesterday. A large part of the year-on-year increase is a result of price rises in food and non-alcoholic beverages as poor harvests around the globe push up the cost of [...]
For a glittering morning after December 18, 2012 FORMER City worker and founder of Chemist Direct Mitesh Soma has created an antidote to the dreaded holiday hangover – his and hers Christmas party survival kits. Soma, a former Deutsche Bank management consultant first put together the emergency packs last year, in response to demand from friends in the Square Mile. He told The [...]
Deloitte helps pants to poverty pop-up shop December 18, 2012 One of Deloitte’s self-styled Social Innovation Pioneers, the ethical retailer Pants to Poverty, has opened a pop-up shop in Sloane Square for the Christmas period. It promises organically farmed stocking fillers, all the way from “cotton to bottom” by buying directly from 12,000 farmers in Southern India, who are provided with funding and education.
Bumi chief plots turnaround December 18, 2012 We have not earned the respect of our shareholders… We have been a source of massive value leakage” IT IS just 24 hours since Nick Von Schirnding was appointed chief executive of troubled coal miner Bumi, and he’s rattling around in a bare Belgravia office. The rest of the Bumi team has headed to local [...]
Editor’s Tribute December 18, 2012 AFTER an extremely successful debut appeal a year ago, we are delighted to be able to announce that our second Christmas Appeal has raised £1,025,718 for a very deserving charity. As you know, the money will go to Opportunity International, our chosen partner for the appeal, and help it in its wonderful job of providing [...]
Matching readers’ donations December 18, 2012 PEOPLE often get the wrong idea about what international development actually means. Yes, some of it is about giving emergency help following natural disasters or humanitarian assistance to people whose lives are turned upside down by war. But that’s only part of the picture. In the last few decades there’s been a real shift in [...]
A Christmas quiz on the strange puzzle of recessions and unemployment December 18, 2012 IN THE holiday spirit, I’ve decided to run a quiz at the end of this column. I’m offering a bottle of champagne to the winner, and I’ll make the draw from correct entries on 31 December. A quiz about the economy is appropriate because there are so many puzzles about the subject. In the current [...]
Rapid responses December 18, 2012 Corporation tax [Re: Politicians are powerless to curb our shrinking corporate tax base, yesterday] Douglas Carswell argues that, through international property migration, it is unavoidable that big corporations will mitigate their tax liabilities. But the sad consequence is that the only people who end up paying more is us, the financially immobile taxpayers. Something must [...]
Watershed series has transformed this England team December 17, 2012 TO PUT England’s long-awaited triumph in India yesterday in context: the last time they won there I was still playing. The length of time everyone in English cricket has waited for this moment says it all. It is a terrific achievement and, in recent memory, second only to winning the Ashes in 2005. Ashes victories [...]