What the other papers say this morning – 23 October 2013 October 22, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Ebay buys same-day courier service Ebay is acquiring a same-day courier service based in London and overhauling its own website as it seeks to compete against Amazon and Walmart and give itself a social media edge. The Californian ecommerce group is buying Shutl, a four-year-old start-up with operations in the US and the [...]
Reform the regulators to ensure markets work in the consumer’s interest October 17, 2013 WHEN should governments intervene in markets? George Osborne recently described the Help to Buy scheme as a “necessary intervention” to fix a specific market failure – the shortage of high loan-to-value mortgages. Aside from concerns that this may pump up a housing bubble, Osborne’s comments – and Ed Miliband’s earlier proposal to inject more competition [...]
New York Report: Markets stay calm despite US shutdown October 1, 2013 US stocks kicked off a new month and a new quarter with gains yesterday as investors, for now, appeared confident that the first partial government shutdown in nearly two decades would be short lived. After declining seven out of the past eight sessions on concerns about a possible shutdown, Wall Street rebounded as investors viewed [...]
The Tories are failing to find a market response to Ed Miliband’s anti-capitalism September 30, 2013 THE ROLE of the state has long been the major fault line in UK political discourse. This is not surprising, given that the interaction between state and citizen has changed so profoundly over the past 100 years. And with Ed Miliband’s challenge to the market economy last week, and yesterday’s attempted defence by George Osborne, [...]
ACCA Comment: How to achieve boardroom utopia September 17, 2013 A wider definition of diversity and new roles are key developments THE boardroom is again under the microscope, with challenges recently raised over executive pay, lack of diversity, and business performance, not to mention how much boards actually know about the workings of an organisation. The perception is that sometimes the board is an unrealistic [...]
The Long View: The key to effective action? Don’t view the world in those nifty shades of grey September 12, 2013 SHADES of grey are fashionable – and not just because of those kinky books. If there’s one ideal that the modern intellectual class likes to celebrate, to praise in students and respect in authority, it is a fine, discriminating eye for picking out the full spectrum of grey on any issue. Monochrome thought is for [...]
A well-produced morality play for the modern age September 12, 2013 THEATRE THE RITUAL SLAUGHTER OF GORGE MASTROMAS Royal Court | By Xenobe Purvis Four Stars PLAYWRIGHT Dennis Kelly creates a morality play for the modern age in The Ritual Slaughter of Gorge Mastromas, his enthralling debut at the Royal Court. Its premise is simple: an affable everyman is offered the opportunity to succeed, a Faustian [...]
This is now a total employment recovery – and it brings Carney’s forward guidance into question September 11, 2013 The most encouraging news in today's jobs data is the confirmation that the shift from part-time to full-time employment is in full swing. From the peak of the crisis, full-time employment numbers have been crushed, with part-time jobs filling the void. Now we're seeing the pendulum swing back as the UK's economic recovery strengthens. The [...]
Lloyd’s chief says insurance is set for boom September 9, 2013 THE COMMERCIAL insurance industry is set to triple in size by 2025 as the business benefits from growth in the developing world, the chairman of Lloyd’s of London said yesterday, John Nelson told an audience in Monte Carlo that global demand for business insurance will increase from $600bn (£382bn) to $2 trillion a year over [...]
Legal aid competition scrapped September 5, 2013 THE GOVERNMENT yesterday scrapped plans to automatically award legal aid contracts to the lowest bidder, following an outcry by lawyers. Justice secretary Chris Grayling said he would scale back planned market reforms, which lawyers feared would see large outsourcers such as G4S take work away from high street solicitors who currently dominate the sector. Legal aid – [...]