Britain’s struggling Border Force is in no state to manage a post-Brexit migration crackdown September 12, 2016 When we leave the EU, we may bring in work permits or some other way of controlling immigration from Europe. The home secretary confirmed that this was on the table this weekend. To do this, however, we will need to overhaul our Border Force. In a new report released this week, I outline the deep [...]
Buyers beware: Is the central bank credibility crunch point approaching? September 12, 2016 Market contrarians continue to close out their short positions on stocks, bonds and risk currencies as buying supports market levels, record low bond yields and emerging market assets. But can central banks continue to win the confidence game and herd investors into riskier trades, or will the credibility of Draghi, Kuroda, Carney and Yellen ultimately be [...]
Will the iPhone 7 be a hit for Apple or not? September 12, 2016 The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus have landed. With pre-orders opened and models racing into stores on 16 September, no doubt we’ll once again witness images of snaking queues of eager Apple devotees keen to part with their money. Apple made all the hyperbolic comparisons and numerical naming changes to suggest that this was a year of [...]
Trade secretary Liam Fox has faced a fallout from some sloppy rhetoric. But he makes a very valid point about exporting September 12, 2016 Things haven't been going smoothly for the newly appointed secretary of state for international trade, Liam Fox. First, he became embroiled in an unseemly row with the foreign secretary about who stood where in the Whitehall pecking order. Then he got overexcited about the potential for a free-trade deal with Australia, only for our antipodean friends [...]
Italy is just three plausible steps away from crashing out of the Eurozone September 12, 2016 “Never ask a question if you don’t know the answer” – Common courtroom adage "Plausible threat” is a term of art in political risk analysis, meaning the peril being discussed can come about through entirely possible events. Martians disrupting France’s upcoming presidential election would not be a plausible threat (fun though it would be). On the [...]
London will remain a world-leading city because of its world-beating talent September 12, 2016 When people think of London, our city’s iconic buildings, red buses, black taxis, and vibrant cultural scene often come to mind. But the capital offers so much more than that, with PwC finding in a recent report that London, for the second year in a row, is the world’s number one place for companies to do [...]
Why we’re embracing radical transparency to tackle social, gender and ethnic inequalities at PwC September 12, 2016 There is little doubt that trust in business isn’t riding high. The feelings of distrust towards big business sparked by the 2008 financial crisis remain and, to some degree, have been reignited by the EU referendum vote. Recognising this, Theresa May pledged in her first speech as Prime Minister to make Britain a country that “works [...]
Is a hard Brexit looking increasingly likely? September 12, 2016 Alex Deane, common councilman in Canada Corporation and managing director at FTI Consulting, says Yes. Those obsessing about “the deal” we get with the European Union miss some basic truths. People and companies trade with one another, not nations. We are highly successful in economic relationships entirely without a trade deal: we have no [...]
Pressure for pay reform may now be irresistible September 9, 2016 Chris Philp’s timing is impeccable. Theresa May’s fresh vow to reform executive pay had no sooner been uttered this week than her fellow Conservative MP was spraying bullets at company directors, institutional investors and remuneration consultants. A looming autumn crackdown by the government explains why committee room 15 in the House of Commons was packed on [...]
Theresa May is right to back academic selection in schools – as long as we don’t return to the rigid grammar system of the 1950s September 9, 2016 The chattering classes often complain that debates about schools are dominated by anecdote, as if ordinary people’s experience of education is totally irrelevant. So what if parents feel their local school is sub-standard? Who cares if most unskilled workers believe permitting more academic selection would give their children a better chance in life? Grammar schools are [...]