Full stream ahead: With Spotify opting for an unusual IPO route, should investors be wary? March 20, 2018 Spotify, the streaming giant that prides itself on helping people discover music, is about to go public. The company plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange on 2 April, but it’s doing things differently – opting for a direct listing instead. This means that, instead of issuing shares, the private investors and [...]
DEBATE: Should we be worried about the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook data row? March 20, 2018 Should we be worried about the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook data row? Dr Julia Powles, research fellow in technology law and policy at New York University School of Law and Cornell Tech, says YES. Rogue data science outfit Cambridge Analytica wrongfully acquiring 50m Facebook profiles is a huge deal. This is true whether or not it influenced [...]
Lucy Watson and Clive Watson discuss Tell Your Friends, London’s upcoming vegan foodie hotspot March 19, 2018 Growing up as the daughter of a man who has launched and sold several successful pub chains, Lucy Watson never thought she would launch her own hospitality business. “I always thought of it as quite a manly industry,” she says. Apart from sometimes working as a waitress in his pubs, her aspirations were fixed elsewhere. [...]
This stock market index rose 289% but could still be good value March 17, 2018 Over time, smaller company shares have outperformed larger ones, research shows. The FTSE Small Cap index has risen 289% since its nadir in February 2009, compared with a 158% rise for the FTSE 100. Because of their size, “small caps” have the potential to grow more quickly. The quicker a company can grow its earnings [...]
USA: Two economies, one nation March 15, 2018 As economists and investors, we treat the United States as one country and one economy and the eurozone as a conglomerate of many countries with a common currency. There are good reasons for this: The United States is not just a currency union and a single market but also a fiscal union with a uniform [...]
Jamie Chadwick interview: I want to reach Formula One for myself but also to show that women can do it March 14, 2018 Jamie Chadwick is not like other British prodigies tipped for future Formula One fame. Of course, there have already been the customary podium places in British F3, the interest from sponsors and the media excitement that greets any early success on the track. But whereas the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Damon Hill [...]
The social media battle against fake news has begun – beware your own emotions March 14, 2018 Did Donald Tusk, the former Prime Minister of Poland and now president of the European Council, conspire with Vladimir Putin to murder the President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski? Many Poles believe this preposterous story, I learned last week at a fascinating conference on social influence at the University of Warsaw. In 2010, a Polish Air [...]
Spring Statement: UK “prepared to act unilaterally” on tech giants tax changes March 13, 2018 The government has said it is “prepared to act unilaterally” in order to ensure digital giants are paying the taxes they owe. Launched as part of Philip Hammond’s Spring Statement today, the new document reiterates the government view that the principle that companies should be taxed based on profits where they create value is being [...]
‘Trump could be the best president since Reagan’: US ambassador Woody Johnson on trade deals, tariffs, Brexit and London’s ‘surprisingly good’ restaurants March 13, 2018 Six months into his term as Donald Trump’s ambassador to the UK, and newly installed south of the river in a fortress-like embassy, Woody Johnson is enjoying himself. “I’m loving it,” he tells me, in his first interview with a business newspaper since arriving in London last August. At a reception for journalists in the [...]
Game changer: Meet the women tasked by the FA to unlock the commercial power of women’s football March 13, 2018 A 4-1 win over France in Phil Neville’s first game as head coach at this month’s She Believes Cup pointed to a positive future for the England women’s team in the coming years. It was England’s second win in 44 years over France and only their second win after two previous visits to the annual [...]