Big Tech’s market might in five charts September 21, 2020 The largest US technology stocks – Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Google (Alphabet) – known as the “FAMAGs”, tumbled sharply at the beginning of this month, after supercharging the US stock market from the depths of the Covid-pandemic in March. These “superstar” firms have largely benefitted from the economic fallout of the crisis, as more people [...]
Two-thirds of companies say home working has hit employee motivation September 21, 2020 Two-thirds of UK companies believe the motivation and enthusiasm of employees have suffered as a result of remote working during the Covid-19 crisis, according to a new survey. A survey of more than 1,500 firms occupying offices found office working outranked home working for creativity and innovation, as well as productivity and motivation. Roughly 64 [...]
The digital services tax is targeting the wrong companies September 21, 2020 Cost-pass-through is a well-established economic theory. It describes what happens when a business changes the price of the products or services it sells following a change in the cost of producing them – be that an increase in procurement or production costs, increased demand, or a tax hike. When the government announced its ban on [...]
Japan’s Yoshihide Suga: New Prime Minister, same old problems September 21, 2020 All my life I have been fascinated by island kingdoms with honour cultures off large, unknowable continents. For in both the UK and Japan, things are rarely as they seem, and subtext is all. For example, the key to understanding modern Japanese politics is to know that the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is not [...]
Lord Mayor: Delayed Dragons will shine a light on responsible business September 21, 2020 John Lennon once said: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”. That famous quote is more apt now than ever. The Mansion House should have been a hive of activity today, with preparations in full swing for the Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards ceremony, which was supposed to take place tomorrow. [...]
Rishi Sunak considers slashing welfare and public sector pay September 20, 2020 Rishi Sunak is reportedly planning on freezng benefits and public sector pay as a part of a bid to offset the Treasury’s coronavirus spending. The government has spent around £190bn in emergency Covid-19 funding, which has put this year’s budget deficit at an estimated £350bn – 12-times higher than pre-crisis expectations. Media speculation has been [...]
Bank of England reaction: Will interest rates go negative? September 18, 2020 The Bank of England (BoE) held monetary policy steady yesterday for the second meeting in a row. Interest rates were left at 0.1 per cent and bond-buying at £745bn in a business-as-usual decision. All nine members of the monetary policy committee (MPC) voted in favour of continuing this monetary policy. But analysts, investors and traders [...]
How Covid changed cyber crime September 18, 2020 It might not be surprising that cyber criminals have taken advantage of coronavirus and the rush to remote working. The age of cyber warfare was upon us even before the crisis. New research suggests online fraudsters are boosting their attacks at an alarming pace, and it’s thought multimillion dollar ransoms could be at stake. Interpol, [...]
Easyjet appoints Tui executive as new finance chief September 18, 2020 Budget airline Easyjet has poached an executive from rival firm Tui to become its new chief financial officer. The company has appointed Tui aviation chief executive and business improvement director Kenton Jarvis to replace outgoing finance chief Andrew Findlay. It comes as the airline sector battles the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused [...]
Blackrock votes against over 5,000 directors as investors step up demands September 17, 2020 Asset manager Blackrock opposed the re-election of more than 5,000 directors this year as it said investors are starting to expect more on corporate governance. The Blackrock Investment Stewardship report for the 12 months to June 2020 found it had voted against 5,100 directors compared to nearly 4,800 the prior year. Over 1,700 of these [...]