Artificial intelligence is our chance to shoot for the moon July 19, 2017 A common criticism of the recent election has been that the campaigns failed to address many of the big issues that will affect the futures of most people. It’s a fair point. I don’t recall hearing one politician talk about the rapidly changing world of business and work, and what this country may look like [...]
Petropavlovsk’s positive first-half trading figures overshadowed by its chief exec’s resignation July 18, 2017 Petropavlovsk continued good progress on its 2017 turnaround as first-half production increased more than expected, but turbulent times are set to continue for the gold miner after its boss left the company yesterday. The Russia-focused miner revealed it produced around 232,400 ounces of gold in the first half, up 19 per cent from the previous [...]
The UK’s failed drug strategy causes misery and costs lives July 17, 2017 The long overdue update to the UK Drug Strategy was published by the Home Office last Friday. Sadly, as expected, it is nothing but more of the same. It offers no new ideas worthy of note, while reinforcing the failures of existing policy by further embedding an approach which has already been conclusively proven both [...]
Uber merges with Yandex, its rival in Russia and Eastern Europe in latest retreat after China July 13, 2017 Uber has announced a merger with its rival in Russia in the latest bid by the multi-billion dollar valued startup to start turning a profit. It will take a 36.6 per cent stake in the combined business which will also include UberEats worth $1.4bn, ploughing an additional $225m in cash into the business. The new [...]
The UK’s digital economy is among the best in the world, according to this new study July 12, 2017 The UK has one of the best digital economies of any country in the world, ahead of the US and the rest of Western Europe, and is considered part of a small number of "digital elite" that are "both highly digitally evolved and advancing quickly." That's according to a major new study of 60 countries [...]
Russia emails rock Trump and dollar drops on son’s shock revelations of help with anti-Hillary Clinton campaign July 12, 2017 Markets were jolted last night after Donald Trump Jr released a chain of emails showing he was offered damaging information about Hillary Clinton by a Russian prosecutor. US President Donald Trump’s son was offered a meeting with a Russian lawyer relating to “sensitive” information on Clinton, Trump’s rival during last year’s presidential election, according to [...]
Editor’s Notes: If politicians want to win back trust they should start by ditching the lies, plus: Downing Street’s new BBC hire, measuring GDP and innovative Estonia July 7, 2017 This afternoon I’m hosting a discussion on the theme of experts and how to earn trust in a post-truth world. On the panel will be Andy Haldane of the Bank of England, Hetan Shah of the Royal Statistical Society and Julia Grant of Pro Bono Economics. Our host is the consultancy giant FTI, which has [...]
Big UK banks slip down in global ranking, but Metro and the challengers make ground July 3, 2017 Big UK banks are suffering compared with international rivals, according to a ranking of the world’s 1,000 largest lenders out today. HSBC remains Britain’s biggest bank in the global ranking, coming in ninth for the second year in a row. However, the lender – which topped the 2008 ranking – suffered its worst result in [...]
Buried treasure: The British shadow economy is worth £200bn June 29, 2017 The British shadow economy accounted for more than £200bn last year, according to new estimates of goods and services kept away from the eyes of authorities. The murky world of the legal goods and services deliberately concealed from governments was worth 11.3 per cent of the UK’s GDP in 2016, according to the Association of [...]
How regulation and market priorities drive fintech focus globally June 28, 2017 The interest in fintech worldwide shows no signs of abating, as illustrated by the strong attendance at each stop on our recent CFA Institute speaker tour throughout Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East. But even more interesting is the regional variation in what 'fintech' means to local entrepreneurs. Talking to investors, company founders, [...]