As the ECB unveils rate cuts and asset purchase plans, can it save the Eurozone from disaster? September 4, 2014 Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, says Yes. Yesterday’s announcement by the European Central Bank (ECB) – that it’s cutting rates and will buy asset-backed securities and euro-denominated covered bonds from October – will help avoid disaster, but huge risks remain. The rate cuts will only have a marginal impact, and little is known about [...]
Our obsession with monetary stimulus will end in disaster September 3, 2014 It is now six years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, and considering that the US economy has officially been in recovery for the past five years, that equity indexes have put in new all-time highs, and that credit markets are once again ebullient to the point of carelessness, it is worth contemplating that monetary [...]
Ukraine can’t win in this crisis – but Putin can be made to pay for his victory September 3, 2014 IT IS a standard rule of thumb in global risk analysis that the side in a conflict calling for a ceasefire is the side that is losing. Until two weeks ago, President Putin of Russia – seeing his Kremlin-sponsored separatists on the run in the face of a rejuvenated Ukrainian army – was all for [...]
Investors come first in the new corporate governance code September 3, 2014 THE latest version of the UK Corporate Governance Code will be launched by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) this month. Setting the standards for good governance, companies with a premium listing must report on their compliance with the Code, but many others adhere to it to demonstrate to investors their commitment to best practice. The [...]
As entrepreneurs call for tax cuts to support startups, have politicians been complacent? September 3, 2014 David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, says Yes. There is a real lack of ambition in support for the tech sector from government. Some efforts are being made to improve London’s hi-tech infrastructure, for example, but it’s concerning that the capital still comes twenty-sixth in the UK table of high-speed broadband connectivity, and falls behind [...]
Pitching it right – the fine line between bragging and selling yourself September 3, 2014 Most people are bad at this but Brits are the worst. British people love the self-effacing, self-deprecating understatement typified by Hugh Grant in Four Weddings or Notting Hill. Anything braggy and people could think you are brash and pushy and probably foreign – like the Americans. Or the South Africans. Or even worse, arrogant. Not [...]
Why an NHS tax is the wrong solution to the UK’s health challenges September 2, 2014 A NEW tax to funnel extra resources to the NHS is rising up the political agenda. Liberal Democrat MP Paul Burstow, a health minister earlier in this Parliament, proposed the idea before the summer. Sarah Wollaston MP, the Conservative chair of the key Parliamentary Health Committee, subsequently demanded higher budgets for the health service. This [...]
Salmond’s independence folly: A Yes vote will damage more than just Scotland September 2, 2014 In less than three weeks’ time, we will know the outcome. Will the United Kingdom still be united, or will the 307-year old Union break? In global London, the question of Scottish independence may seem somewhat archaic. But should Scotland go its own way, the implications will be felt well south of Hadrian’s Wall. To [...]
Housing bubble psychology: Why Wall Street isn’t smarter than Mr Average September 2, 2014 LURID stories about the excesses in the UK housing market continue to proliferate. True, there is some evidence of a cooling, as price rises tempt more sellers into the market and temporarily increase supply relative to demand. But at the same time, we learn in the Sunday Times that the good burghers of Cobham in [...]
Was the Davies Commission right to rule out Boris Island as an option for airport expansion? September 2, 2014 Stewart Wingate, chief executive of Gatwick Airport, says Yes. We share the mayor’s passion for London, as well as his desire to maintain its status as the best-connected city in the world. But what is needed above all is certainty that additional airport capacity will be delivered. And while ambitious, the Thames Estuary airport option [...]