Once again, it’s the old question: who guards the guardians? June 17, 2013 AS ever, the ancient Greeks and Romans got there before us; they couldn’t conceivably have dreamt of the internet, of the cloud or of National Security Agency (NSA) super-computers in Fort Meade, Maryland, in an as yet undiscovered continent, combing through trillions of phone calls, emails and Facebook pages, but they’d already nailed the gist of [...]
Reality is intruding on the extreme claims of climate change alarmists May 1, 2013 A COMMON feature of debates about global warming is that extreme claims often go unchallenged. At best, criticism is impolitic. Worse, critics are portrayed as tools of malign fossil fuel interests. Being impervious to push-back leads to what I describe in my recent book as climate change derangement syndrome, when normally sane people say dumb [...]
Only real school choice for parents can inspire an education revolution April 19, 2013 IN THE past century, most parts of the economy have seen a fundamental transformation in how things are produced and delivered. Yet schools today function pretty much as they did 100 years ago. The radical progress characterising modern societies simply does not apply to education. And there’s a reason for this. A fundamental difference between [...]
The man teaching the traders how to trade April 19, 2013 Yogesh Chandarana talks with hedge fund manager and trading guru Lex van Dam about competing with computer algorithms, and what to expect from CityA.M.’s 2013 Active Trader Conference How has the trading world changed since you spoke at last year’s City A.M. Active Trader Conference? Last year, the theme was risk-on risk-off. Now markets seem [...]
Deutsche Börse slaps down CME merger talks February 25, 2013 EXCHANGE rivals CME Group and Deutsche Börse saw a spike in trading yesterday after it emerged the two sides had met for talks about a possible merger. German exchange operator Deutsche Börse last night issued a statement denying it was in merger talks, shooting down rumours a deal could be on the cards after the [...]
What the other papers say this morning February 22, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Brussels turns up pressure on Libor Banks and broker-dealers ensnared in the Libor-rigging scandal are facing fresh pressure to settle with Europe’s top competition authority as it expands the scope of its probes. In a speech on Friday in Paris, the EU’s competition commissioner will stress his determination to pursue the cases and [...]
How EU regulation has prevented UK horse meat action February 14, 2013 DAVID Cameron’s enthusiasm for the Single Market must be taking a knock, as the horse meat scandal gallops on. It is, after all, one of the fundamental four freedoms of the Single Market – the free movement of goods – that prohibits environment secretary Owen Paterson from banning imports of suspect meat. But the EU [...]
Libor needed reform – but state control of market information is dangerous February 6, 2013 A£390M Libor fine for RBS and a $5bn (£3.2bn) US government lawsuit against Standard & Poor’s. In both the ongoing Libor and credit rating agency sagas, previously free and private information services are being pulled under regulatory control. The unwritten rule is that markets depend on information, that information should be competitively-provided, and that information [...]
Liberty Global strikes £15bn deal with Virgin Media February 6, 2013 Liberty Global struck a deal late last night to acquire pay-TV operator Virgin Media in a $23.3bn (£15bn) cash and shares deal. The companies announced the deal late last night, following Virgin Media’s confirmation yesterday that it had been approached by John Malone’s Liberty Global. The deal will give Liberty entry to one of Europe’s [...]
Osborne’s bank plan set to hurt City and economy February 4, 2013 THREATENING to split up all banks if the ringfence does not work will hurt the economy and hit the value of the bailed-out banks, analysts and lawyers claimed yesterday, attacking George Osborne’s plan for the sector. Individual banks could be broken up if the authorities fear they are trying to get around the partial separation [...]