We need more rights over our data – but Google was wrong to “forget” Robert Peston blog July 3, 2014 "THERE is no such thing as bad publicity,” Google must be thinking as the internet firm is once again in the headlines. This time, it stands accused of removing an article, written by the BBC’s economics editor Robert Peston, from its search results. Google is either being uncharacteristically clumsy in its attempts to comply with [...]
As Ed Miliband seeks to woo businesses, is Labour’s pro-enterprise stance credible? July 3, 2014 Lord Wood of Anfield, shadow cabinet minister and adviser to Ed Miliband, says Yes. Labour knows that the foundation of a successful Britain is the success of British business – large and small, home and abroad. But to compete and succeed in the decades ahead, we need to address the long-term challenges of our economy. [...]
Why the right to be forgotten is bad for business – and freedom July 3, 2014 BBC JOURNALIST Robert Peston has become the highest-profile victim of the European Court of Justice's (ECJ) May ruling, compelling search engines to remove links to unflattering information online, under certain terms, if requested. The “right to be forgotten”, which allows individuals to ask for “inadequate, irrelevant, or no longer relevant” material to be taken down, [...]
The end of Iraq: The outlines of a more stable region are finally in sight July 2, 2014 IT SHOULD come as no surprise to anyone that Iraq is an unnatural construct. Even as the British were establishing the pushmi-pullyu state following the Great War, the danger signs of its viability were there for all to see. John Van Ess, an American missionary and old Mesopotamian hand, explicitly warned his friend Gertrude Bell [...]
Why genuine competition in education will pay a serious growth dividend July 2, 2014 POLITICIANS are obsessive about education, and for good reason. It offers the potential for personal flourishing and faster economic growth, all at the same time. Education secretary Michael Gove has even claimed that “the single most effective way to generate economic growth is [to] invest in human and intellectual capital – to build a better [...]
How Americans learned to love football July 2, 2014 WE BRITS have long enjoyed looking down our noses at Americans when it comes to football. They call it soccer, they get the terminology wrong, and they are inexplicably obsessed with viewing it through the prism of statistics. Making fun of all this has been a favourite pastime within our favourite pastime. Or at least [...]
As prices pass their 2007 peak, does the housing market pose a risk to the economy? July 2, 2014 Philip Lachowycz, economist at Fathom Consulting, says Yes. The mortgage lenders are again reporting substantial increases in house prices. And this is not happening from a position where property had become cheap – far from it. The current rises are happening from a base where, relative to incomes, the level of prices was already some [...]
Letters to the Editor – 02/07 – Flexible working, EU reform failures, Best of Twitter July 1, 2014 Flexible working [Re: Firms fear a backlash over flexible work, Monday] Morning Wire’s reporting on the new flexible working regulations omits the crucial point that staff can request flexibility in work location, not just hours. This reflects a common misconception among employers that flexible working is synonymous with flexi-time. In fact, multi-location working (usually involving [...]
There is a problem in the UK’s energy market – but it’s the regulator’s fault July 1, 2014 OFGEM has referred the retail energy market for investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). This is the right decision, for the wrong reasons. Most of Ofgem’s concerns are insubstantial. The real source of the problem is Ofgem’s policy, described in its annual report issued the same day as “Simpler, clearer, fairer. Three words [...]
The crisis isn’t over: The Eurozone’s laggards still need disciplining July 1, 2014 THE POLISH banking and financial elite gathered last week at a conference in the Baltic seaside resort of Sopot. The proceedings were enlivened by the presence on the platform of Jacek Rostowski, one of the senior Polish politicians recently caught on tape badmouthing David Cameron, in very colourful terms, for his failure to stand up [...]