An eye for an eye, a hack for a hack: The global cyber arms race is heating up August 30, 2016 Many will be familiar with the biblical adage “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”. Underpinning the Book of Exodus, this principle of even-handed justice formed the kernel of Old Testament law. Yet contemporary followers of the book allowed it to transmute into a justification for personal vengeance. It wasn’t until Jesus [...]
Liberalising air travel delivered huge gains to consumers: Don’t let Brexit jeopardise this August 30, 2016 UK aviation is a growing success story. More than 251m passengers passed through a UK airport in 2015 – a record number – and our airlines, which operate from more than 40 airports across the country, carried 144m people and 1m tonnes of cargo last year. The industry is worth almost £50bn to our national income [...]
Will September be a particularly cruel month for investors? August 30, 2016 David Buik, market commentator at Panmure Gordon, says Yes. As a committed Brexiteer, it is imperative to be eternally optimistic, particularly in the face of hysterical Remain financial forecasting which emanated from the establishment, encouraged by a slew of eminent economists. After Brexit, further quantitative easing and a rate cut were quickly introduced, which resulted in [...]
From Italy to Trump, why are investors so complacent about political risk? August 30, 2016 As Theresa May plotted with her Cabinet this weekend about the country’s plan for Brexit, doomsday-predictors should have every reason to be amazed at where asset prices sit today. Funnily enough, market-savvy Brexiteers I spoke to in the aftermath of the vote were surprised but sanguine, saying markets always overreact. Clearly in the short term [...]
Watch and learn: Lessons for the Aim market August 29, 2016 An increasing amount of high-profile, international companies which are listed on Aim have ambitious vision for growth and are seeking advice on the best to go about this. In many cases, having your sights set on growth may lead to frequently undertaking acquisitions and investments. Growth-seeking, Aim-quoted companies can draw a number of insights from [...]
The UK has turned its back on the EU – we must not do the same to China August 29, 2016 It has been a little over two months since the EU referendum and data from the UK economy has continued to leave both sides of the Brexit debate wanting. Commentators were overly negative in July and now seem to be swinging excessively positive but the reality is we simply haven’t had enough data to work [...]
The boardroom and the slave: These are the actions firms need to take August 26, 2016 This autumn, executive boards should expect to see slavery and trafficking as compulsory board agenda items, with the introduction of Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act. The statement Large UK companies are required to publish an annual statement, signed by a director, detailing actions taken to eradicate modern slavery within its organisation and its [...]
Forget baby boomers and millennials, it’s Generation X that’s shaping the fate of companies in Europe August 26, 2016 Sandwiched between the headline-grabbing millennials and baby boomers, Generation X is sometimes overlooked. But according to Hugo Scott-Gall of Goldman Sachs Research, understanding what drives the decisions of the group born between 1965 and 1980 is essential, not least because the cohort has hit its peak spending power and accounts for over 25 per cent [...]
How the latest Clinton email twist lays bare the miserable choice Americans have to make August 26, 2016 Hillary Clinton’s email scandal just can’t seem to die. Good; it shouldn’t. On Wednesday, the Associated Press (AP) broke news that “more than half the people outside the government who met with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money – either personally or through companies or groups – to the Clinton Foundation.” [...]
We should regionalise immigration decisions – starting with a London visa August 26, 2016 Londoners voted if not resoundingly, then certainly confidently, for remaining in the EU. And in the wake of the result, a determination has emerged to assert that London is open – a statement at once defiant and optimistic, and grounded in culture as much as in economics. Around 850,000 Londoners were born in another EU [...]