How we can mobilise public sector land to build the homes London needs January 26, 2016 In 1941, under tremendous pressure to increase food production, the war cabinet commissioned a National Farm Survey. It sought to identify uncultivated agricultural land, as well as new land to support the dig for victory. It resulted in 36,000 maps and was nicknamed the “Second Domesday Book”. Under pressure to identify land for new homes [...]
With Twitter shares down 55 per cent from a year ago, is the future of the social media platform secure? January 26, 2016 Nick Leech, digital director of 123-reg, the domain registrar and hosting company, says Yes. Twitter does have a future, but investors and the public need to keep their expectations for that future in line. Twitter is not going to rival the mass adoption that Facebook is recognised for, and it’s not going to have the [...]
Ignore celebrities who moan about corporations January 25, 2016 The American writer Paul Theroux once observed that “there are probably more annoying things than being hectored about African development by a wealthy Irish rock star in an American cowboy hat, but I can’t think of one at the moment". It was 2005, and he was expressing a no-doubt commonly held frustration with Bono’s incessant posturing. [...]
China: The end of dreams and the return of sanity January 25, 2016 Perhaps the most debilitating of all human emotions is disillusionment, for it marks the death of fond hopes, the painful recognition that dreams will simply not come to pass. It is this feeling – as much as any hard empirical data – that is driving the present market crisis in China, where not one but [...]
Immigration powers the City’s competitiveness: Don’t cut off the supply in the pursuit of an arbitrary migration target January 25, 2016 For centuries, the City has thrived on being open – open to those who want to come to a leading financial and business centre, work hard and contribute to the growth of the economy. And this openness is not limited to people from fellow European countries, but also to those spread across the globe. This [...]
Following the FTSE 100’s first weekly gain of the year, is the panic gripping global markets now over? January 25, 2016 Alexander Dryden, global market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management, says Yes. Global equity markets have had a shaky start to 2016 which has come off the back of global growth concerns and investor nervousness. We had expected increased volatility in 2016, but the recent market pessimism had become excessive. Investors should remember that the global [...]
Bernie Sanders: It’s not just the elite who should fear America’s leading socialist radical January 22, 2016 Brothers Larry and Bernie Sanders claim to be very close. Bernie (who is running to be the Democratic nominee for the US presidency) told the Daily Telegraph last year that he learned many of his views from his older brother. But Larry isn’t some US political luminary. Back in May, running as a member of the [...]
Will oil prices fall below zero? Fear more than fundamentals is driving markets lower January 22, 2016 Reporting by Clive Crude… How low can it go? This is the question every oil analyst is asking. First they thought $100 was the floor, then $70, then it was $50, then $25 and even $10 has been mooted. Yesterday, we read that “petrol is to be cheaper than water”. Today, leading energy expert Oli [...]
Are Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan doing more harm than good by donating towards the EU In campaign? January 22, 2016 Richard Stone, chief executive of The Share Centre, says Yes. The EU referendum should be decided by voters informed by a balanced debate of the key issues. That debate risks becoming emotive, for example, about immigration, or skewed by the weight of the political machinery of the state. By contributing to the In campaign, big business [...]
New rankings show US democracy on the edge January 21, 2016 The Economist Intelligence Unit today releases its 2015 Democracy Index, ranking countries on a range of criteria including political participation, pluralism, civil liberties and political culture. One of the central conclusions of the EIU’s analysis is that “in many democracies, political elites worry about their inability to relate to the electorate and fear the challenge [...]