Who’s back: The Doctor is the unexpected freedom fighter our civilisation still needs August 21, 2014 Look who’s back. Tomorrow night Peter Capaldi, formerly swear-master Malcolm Tucker from The Thick of It, takes his place at the Tardis console. What makes Doctor Who so enduring? It’s thirty years since it made me cower behind my childhood sofa, but after its bold regeneration in 2005, this bizarre TV series seems like its [...]
More rigorous GCSEs are good for business – but nurturing grit is also vital August 21, 2014 WHETHER you have a son or daughter who has been nervously awaiting their exam results or you’re a high-tech manufacturer hoping to add to your pool of skilled technicians, we all want young people to get the chance to fulfil their potential – not just in work but in life. With the latest GCSE results [...]
As Nobel laureates slam Eurozone policy, will historians “tar and feather” its central bank? August 21, 2014 Jennifer McKeown, senior European economist at Capital Economics, says Yes. With the Eurozone’s feeble recovery grinding to a halt, and inflation dangerously close to zero, there is a clear case for the European Central Bank (ECB) to do all it can to stimulate the economy. Policies announced in June to offer more liquidity to banks [...]
Why the Pope is wrong on inequality August 21, 2014 Pope Francis visited Seoul, South Korea last Saturday, where he urged wealthy nations to “hear the cry of the poor” and resist the “allure of materialism.” The condemnation of capitalism and inequality has been a common theme for Francis since his papacy began. In his first major work written as Pope, Francis called capitalism “a [...]
How an independent Scotland can keep the pound – and have more stable banks August 20, 2014 When Scottish voters go to the polls in their independence referendum next month, they may ultimately make their decision on the basis of a single question: if we voted Yes, what currency would we use? The question has massive implications for Scotland’s economy, and since the “Plan A” of a formal currency union between Scotland [...]
Commuters need a radical privatised solution to cut through the rail blob August 20, 2014 THE ANGRY reaction to this week’s announcement of inflation-beating fare rises shows just how little the current train franchise system has succeeded in winning the hearts and minds of travellers. Incomplete privatisation has left us between two stools, with the result that calls for renationalisation grow louder every year. The long-term solution, however, lies not [...]
The West and Middle East have failed to fully recognise the threat of Islamic State August 20, 2014 THE appalling decapitation of American journalist James Foley, apparently by a British member of the Islamic State (IS), is a shocking development in an already tragic conflict. Although IS has long favoured this method of murder, it is the fact that a British man seems to be responsible that is especially difficult to swallow. How [...]
After a split Monetary Policy Committee vote, has forward guidance now lost all credibility? August 20, 2014 Sam Alderson, an economist at the Centre for Economic and Business Research, says Yes. A credible forward guidance policy would allow markets to roughly forecast the timings of future rate rises, avoiding the twitchiness we’ve seen this week. The goalposts which the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is working to need to be stuck to. They [...]
Stalled career syndrome: What to do when your job’s going nowhere August 20, 2014 Are you bored at work? Passed over for that promotion? Find yourself procrastinating or spending time surfing the net to make up office face time? Feel like you’re not getting anywhere? Then you may be suffering from stalled career syndrome. Symptoms include boredom, lack of progression and unused skills. Staring at the screen while you [...]
Forget “normal” monetary policy: There is no longer such a thing August 19, 2014 AS THE great and the good of central banking gather to prophesise in Jackson Hole this week, they have good reason to reflect on Bob Dylan’s famous song. The times are indeed a changin’. Change has been a recurring theme in monetary policy over the past few years: in the intellectual understanding, in the operational [...]