City Matters: Yes Britain is an island nation – but we mustn’t romanticise leaving the EU August 10, 2014 SCARCELY a week has gone by in the last couple of years without a report being launched that explores the merits of remaining in the EU, or without a politician making an intervention. And as the debate has raged, the political and personal arguments have been conflated with the economic. It is unsurprising, therefore, that [...]
Young people are turning to entrepreneurship – but the trend isn’t inevitable August 10, 2014 ENTREPRENEURSHIP is all the rage. Research released today by HSBC shows that nearly a quarter of young people starting university this autumn want to work for themselves when they graduate. Banker, lawyer and consultant are no longer the default options. This news won’t please everyone. Due to the conspicuous wealth of Silicon Valley’s have-yachts and [...]
How to handle “Do you have any questions?” in a job interview August 8, 2014 “So do you have any questions for us?” This is not a polite way to end the interview and usher you out of the room quickly before they cross you off their list. It is another interview question and should be treated as such. It is also a huge chance to move from defensive “I” [...]
City & Gild: Boris Johnson, the brand ambassador August 8, 2014 I was watching a black & white film the other day (who needs a 4k television when a film has a plot?) about a naval captain who united his rebellious crew by forcing them to build him a wooden dinghy, and then sailing it back and forth in front of them while they sweated away [...]
Global free trade faces a fragmented future – but we shouldn’t give up yet August 7, 2014 What is the point of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the global body dedicated to helping trade flow smoothy and freely across the world? Before the collapse of talks last week on implementing an agreement on global trade facilitation, lauded at the time of its inking as a historic turning point for an increasingly moribund [...]
There’s no justice in the US government’s record Bank of America settlement August 7, 2014 Surely anyone who hoped to see banks punished in the wake of the financial crisis should be ecstatic with the new settlement between Bank of America and the US Department of Justice? They’re not, though. The only person coming out on top in this settlement is the US government, which gets to pocket a big [...]
Delaying Crossrail 2 would strangle London – and the private sector can help pay for it August 7, 2014 One of the most encouraging things about ministers considering an extension of Crossrail to Hertfordshire, giving commuter towns like Tring and Hemel Hempstead direct access to the City and Canary Wharf, is that it shows a commitment to long-term planning that has too often been absent in the UK. Admittedly, it’s rather late to be [...]
As sectarian violence in Iraq intensifies, does the West have a responsibility to intervene? August 7, 2014 Robin Simcox, research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, says Yes. The mess in Iraq is partially of the West’s making – both in terms of the botched post-invasion planning in 2003 and the US’s disastrously premature withdrawal in 2011. The al-Qaeda offshoot Islamic State (IS) now controls significant amounts of territory and is treating [...]
How London’s stockbrokers went to war – and conflict came to the City August 6, 2014 KEEP your heads. There is no need for panic. Try and go on in the ordinary way.” These were the words of the lord mayor of London, Sir Thomas Vansittart Bowater, to citizens on the outbreak of war in 1914. For all the lord mayor’s words of encouragement, life did not go on in the [...]
Return of the freedom fighter: Boris will put real liberalism back into national politics August 6, 2014 THE PROSPECT of Boris Johnson’s return to national politics will cause much discussion about Europe, given his attractively pugnacious and positive approach to possible withdrawal from the EU (which sounds good to me). But there’s a further impact which should not go unmentioned: having Boris sitting in the House of Commons once again could see [...]