New chancellor Philip Hammond must not treat pensions like a political football July 14, 2016 As chancellor, George Osborne presided over one of the most radical periods of reform for pensions. The direction of pension policy was tightly controlled by Treasury. Very few people saw it coming when the chancellor announced in his March 2014 budget speech that he would give ‘freedom and choice for all’ in how people take [...]
Don’t look now, but Europe is the big loser from Brexit July 14, 2016 To put it mildly, the British political establishment did not cover itself in glory in the immediate aftermath of the momentous Brexit vote. I am re-reading Shakespeare’s histories to try to find the correct specific analogy that best describes what Michael Gove did to Boris Johnson, just as I am feverishly going over Kafka to [...]
Telematics will make you safer and save you money – by disrupting the disrupters July 14, 2016 Telematics – the technology for collecting and analysing driver behaviour – has been transforming the face of car insurance for a long time. Now it is set to play a key role in how people engage with market disrupters such as Uber and Zipcar. These new entrants give people a great deal of flexibility in how [...]
With the Bank of England expected to cut interest rates, is looser monetary policy now a necessity for developed economies? July 14, 2016 Alasdair Cavalla, senior economist at the Centre for Economic and Business Research, says Yes. For central banks, today’s world looks very different to before the crisis. In a deflationary era, the trade-off between inflation and growth could hardly have moved further in the doves’ favour. China’s rise leaves unprecedented imbalances: overcapacity of supply; abundance of capital; and [...]
We’re all in the dark when it comes to her economic policies – but here are five conjectures July 14, 2016 This is one of those articles I could live to regret. Speculating on the future economic policies of a Prime Minister in power for less than a day is either bold, reckless or both. We’re all in the dark, a bit like Ken Clarke, who said last week that he only knew in detail what [...]
Negotiations mustn’t be put off. We owe it to the British people to get things underway now July 14, 2016 Standing outside the Commons, new Prime Minister Theresa May proclaimed that we are going to make a success of Brexit. One of her first tasks is to reassure the country that a plan for a post-Brexit Britain will be presented as soon as reasonably possible. While there is a tiny minority who remain unwilling to accept [...]
Will Theresa May’s “hostile environment” become our “hostile nation”? July 13, 2016 At the moment, an hour is a long time in politics, but all being well Theresa May will be our next Prime Minister by this evening. As pundits speculate on what will define her premiership, most assume it will be the priority to invoke Article 50 and initiate the Brexit process. But it would be [...]
Brexit and anti-establishment politics: The Out vote was the first great thwack against the status quo July 13, 2016 A groundswell of disenchantment with ruling elites across Europe is threatening to destabilise the region. There were 35 separate calls for referendums from alternative parties in the EU in the 24 hours after the UK’s Leave vote was announced, according to the European Council on Foreign Relations, although not all were explicitly about exiting the [...]
Three immediate challenges to the new government are apparent July 13, 2016 Recently I sat next to the head of corporate lending at one of the big banks. The usual question of “how’s business” was inevitably asked, with the answer “just had six quarters of lending growth but the last two weeks… awful! Especially with infrastructure, we had so much in the pipeline but confidence is low”. [...]
Three reasons why gold is the best-peforming investment this year, and prices are going to keep on rising July 13, 2016 Gold has been one of the best-performing assets this year, and the weeks since Brexit was announced have pushed the precious metal higher. Gold is now priced at $1,373 an ounce, 22 per cent or $312 higher than when 2016 began. Of all the investment funds out there, gold funds are the five best performers. [...]