Britain’s two nations are continuing to grow ever further apart November 27, 2013 WHEN Benjamin Disraeli, the 19th century Prime Minister, wrote of “two nations, between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy”, he was of course referring to the rich and the poor. But according to a fascinating report from Deutsche Bank, today’s two nations are what it calls the lands that “fall either side of [...]
There is nothing worse than self-righteousness in business November 21, 2013 REMEMBER the righteous folk telling us that the problem with banking was all those nasty, profit making global corporations, with their horrid shareholders and especially those awful hedge funds? And that the answer was to encourage small, regional co-operatives, with their senior management drawn from a broader cross-section of the community to boost corporate governance? [...]
There is nothing worse than self-righteousness in business November 18, 2013 REMEMBER the righteous folk telling us that the problem with banking was all those nasty, profit making global corporations, with their horrid shareholders and especially those awful hedge funds? And that the answer was to encourage small, regional co-operatives, with their senior management drawn from a broader cross-section of the community to boost corporate governance? [...]
Why it’s no time to be complacent about the UK’s inflation problem November 14, 2013 THE SURPRISE fall in the annual inflation rate in October to 2.2 per cent on the consumer price index and 2.6 per cent on the retail price index is obviously welcome news. However, it’s too soon to be complacent. It also reminds us that inflation has been consistently above the Bank of England’s 2 per [...]
How to seek employer support for your Executive MBA November 13, 2013 But don’t ignore the range of alternative options available if the corporate sponsorship avenue is blocked SINCE the financial crisis, there has been a notable decline in those taking corporate sponsorship for their Executive MBA (EMBA) courses. Whereas around a third of a typical cohort would once be self-funded, with the remainder receiving employer support, [...]
Why it’s no time to be complacent about the UK’s inflation problem November 12, 2013 THE SURPRISE fall in the annual inflation rate in October to 2.2 per cent on the consumer price index and 2.6 per cent on the retail price index is obviously welcome news. However, it’s too soon to be complacent. It also reminds us that inflation has been consistently above the Bank of England’s 2 per [...]
The Greenbelt sacred cow: It pens in the poor for no environmental gain | City A.M. November 11, 2013 GREENBELTS combine the qualities of sacred cows and juggernauts. To question their benignly green and fair credentials is to invite abuse: yet the unstoppable damage they do to societal fairness, housing affordability, the economic efficiency of our cities, even the environment, is devastating. Greenbelts have a mystical quality, in that almost everything we believe about [...]
The Greenbelt sacred cow: It pens in the poor for no environmental gain November 10, 2013 GREENBELTS combine the qualities of sacred cows and juggernauts. To question their benignly green and fair credentials is to invite abuse: yet the unstoppable damage they do to societal fairness, housing affordability, the economic efficiency of our cities, even the environment, is devastating. Greenbelts have a mystical quality, in that almost everything we believe about [...]
Letters to the Editor – 11/11 – Interest rates, House building, Best of Twitter November 10, 2013 Interest rates [Re: The UK’s hawks are right – but so are the Eurozone’s doves, Friday] Interest rates at 2.5 per cent would restore real returns to those with savings and pensions. At the same time, it would kill the corrosively damaging house price bubble – itself the product of supply rationing by the state, [...]
Europe ignores its relative decline – the UK could have a different future November 7, 2013 A NEW strain of gormlessness is infecting Europe. Despite the temporary distraction of a European Central Bank rate cut, it’s the problems besetting America and the Brics that have been noisily and gleefully recounted in European newspapers on a daily basis. These difficulties are certainly real, but their prominent coverage belies the intellectual blind alley [...]