Forget the crushing consensus of trigger warnings and safe spaces: Our world needs more contrarians November 28, 2016 The news that the London nightclub Fabric is to potentially reopen is welcome. The progressive house music played there provided an antidote to the chart-toppers heard in the more salubrious salons of the West End. Similarly, those who speak out and stand up for what they believe in provide a contrarian view to mainstream thinking. This [...]
Is the uncompromising stance of the other EU leaders pushing the UK towards a hard Brexit? November 28, 2016 Rachel Cunliffe, deputy editor of Reaction, says Yes. First the European President decided to lecture Britain that it was “hard Brexit” or “no Brexit". Then the Prime Minister of Malta (that European powerhouse) felt the need to reiterate that the EU is “not bluffing” about barring the UK from the Single Market. Such posturing only [...]
Why more training is needed to prepare for increasing cyber attacks November 27, 2016 We've probably all received those emails, apparently from a bank, asking us to check our account by logging into it. Those kinds of emails are sent out on a massive scale so that, randomly, some are received by the bank's actual customers. If you're not a customer, it’s easy to spot them for what they [...]
Editor’s notes: Still in shock over Brexit? Get a grip November 25, 2016 Some corners of our national life are finding it harder to adapt to the new post-referendum reality than others. Earlier this week I joined the cream of the British commentariat at the annual Comment Awards, celebrating the best columns and comment pieces of 2016. As you know, we have a stable of excellent columnists here [...]
Don’t lament the sale of homegrown businesses – they are a sign of success for Britain’s burgeoning tech sector November 25, 2016 In business, a good exit is a good exit – regardless of whether the sale is to a foreign company. The acquisition of one of the UK’s tech unicorns by China’s Ctrip is another win for the country’s technology industry and the latest signal that investing in UK tech pays off. It’s also a much needed [...]
The City will remain at the vanguard of financial innovation post-Brexit November 24, 2016 A year ago, London Stock Exchange celebrated the first Green Bond from China to be listed internationally, a landmark renminbi and dollar issuance by the Agricultural Bank of China. I wrote here at the time how London was leading the world in financing the global shift to a low carbon economy – a transition endorsed [...]
With Italians set to vote no in a key political reform referendum, should we now expect “Italeave”? November 24, 2016 Tim Worstall, senior fellow at the Adam Smith Institute, and author of Chasing Rainbows: Economic Myths, Environmental Facts, says Yes. Failure by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to win the Italian constitutional referendum should indeed lead to Italy’s exit from the EU. Renzi has said that he will resign if he loses, which will almost certainly [...]
There is a financial services-shaped hole in the government’s economic strategy November 24, 2016 Oscar Wilde famously wrote that “there is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” For anyone who works in the City, that seems a particularly pertinent quote right now. For Wednesday’s Autumn Statement – one of the biggest events in the economic policy calendar – [...]
Let’s face it: the UK’s stagnant productivity levels are here to stay November 24, 2016 Key elements of the chancellor’s Autumn Statement were policies both to increase productivity and to curb the government deficit. Unfortunately, neither of these goals is likely to be realised. Stagnant productivity certainly is a major millstone round the UK economy’s neck. Output per hour today is only fractionally above what it was 10 years ago, [...]
How hotels and travel websites can fight back against Airbnb’s audacious move into Trips November 24, 2016 For sheer chutzpah, it’s difficult to beat Airbnb’s announcement that is expanding its home sharing platform to offer holistic travel experiences. Not content with disrupting the hotel trade, the hosting service wants to put its live like a local stamp on the global tourism sector, in a pitch for the complete customer journey including ultimately [...]