Scandals have made the UK a dangerously low-trust society November 14, 2012 IN his bestselling book Trust, Francis Fukuyama argued that social capital is an essential prerequisite to prosperity. High-trust societies enjoy complex networks of voluntary associations, and this creates a climate conducive to commercial cooperation, entrepreneurship, the building of large companies and international trade. He warned in the 1990s that trust was in decline in the [...]
What the other papers say this morning November 14, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Government to delay welfare reform The government is prepared to delay its flagship welfare reform amid fears the complex changes may need to be more thoroughly tested before being extended to all benefit claimants. Universal credit, under which six benefits will be incorporated into a single payment, lies at the heart of a [...]
Why Metro Bank is flourishing in the low growth banking business November 13, 2012 WHEN we first opened Metro Bank’s doors in 2010, the prevailing response was that we were a little crazy. “How can you expect to drop into London and do something nobody’s done in more than 100 years: create a differentiated new bank model? It can’t be done!” But we knew that the UK banking market [...]
Research in Motion to unveil latest BlackBerry in January November 12, 2012 BLACKBERRY maker Research in Motion (RIM) will unveil the next generation of its smartphones in January, the troubled Canadian company announced yesterday. The BlackBerry 10 (BB10) software, which has been repeatedly delayed by technical problems, will be a radical overhaul of the operating system used on its phones. RIM is pinning its hopes on the [...]
Chrysan: lost in translation? November 12, 2012 RESTAURANT CHRYSAN 1 Snowden Street, EC2A 2DQ Tel: 020 3657 4777 FOOD **** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE ** Cost for two people with drinks: £160 A FRIEND of mine has recently taken up learning Japanese. So, last month, I found myself spending a surreal afternoon watching a Japanese detective drama series, Deka Kurokawa Suzuki, which really [...]
Waiting for a special delivery to bring home the goods November 11, 2012 THE Royal Mail’s privatisation has been lost in the post for too long to get your hopes up right now. But if Royal Mail delivers first class half-year results tomorrow, it will pave the way for an initial public offering (IPO) next year. The state postal giant, which employs 159,000 people in the UK, has [...]
Apple and HTC make peace in global smartphone patent war November 11, 2012 APPLE and Taiwanese rival HTC have settled a patent battle over mobile phone technology and announced a 10-year licensing agreement, putting an end to a global dispute that has dragged on for two years. The firms announced the deal in a surprise joint statement yesterday. They did not reveal details, except to say that the [...]
Samsung overtakes Apple as Galaxy S3 becomes a bestseller November 8, 2012 SAMSUNG’S Galaxy S3 overtook Apple’s iPhone 4S to become the world’s bestselling smartphone in the third quarter of the year, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. Samsung shipped 18m of its flagship model, compared to the iPhone 4S’s 16.2m. This was partly due to the fact that the latest version of Apple’s device, the iPhone [...]
US stocks fall further on fears over economy November 8, 2012 US stocks fell yesterday and could be in line for more weakness as worries about Washington’s ability to find a timely solution to the “fiscal cliff” dominate investor thinking in coming weeks. The S&P 500 dropped for a second day and closed below its 200-day moving average for the first time in five months. The [...]
Apple shares hit a five-month low as it loses Facetime battle November 7, 2012 SHARES in Apple slumped to a five-month low yesterday after it was ordered to pay $368m (£230m) over a US patent dispute over its Facetime video calling service. Although the fine, paid to Connecticut company VirnetX, is small compared to Apple’s $120bn cash pile, the ruling could affect future use of the technology in Apple’s [...]