Sterling strength won’t last: Markets will soon notice UK economic weaknesses May 13, 2014 STERLING has had a good run against the dollar, but it can’t last much longer. The pound has risen to five-year highs on growing expectations of an early UK rate rise and more dovish comments from the Federal Reserve. But events on both sides of the Atlantic could upset the consensus. For a start, the [...]
How the global economy became more equal – thanks to capitalism May 13, 2014 METROPOLITAN liberals love to be able to criticise Western society. Recently, their lives have been brightened by the extensive discussion on the rise in inequality since the 1970s, especially in the Anglo-Saxon economies. There is a danger that this essentially anti-capitalist narrative will come to dominate the media, paving the way for increased regulation and [...]
Britain’s supposedly open economy can’t afford this Pfizer political inquisition May 13, 2014 THERE was something quite uncomfortable about watching MPs do their best to trip up the boss of a major multinational that has expressed an interest in investing in the UK economy. At yesterday’s Business Committee hearing into his firm’s proposed bid for Astrazeneca, Pfizer chief executive Ian Read was treated no differently to Rupert Murdoch during [...]
Letters to the Editor – 13/05 – Tech bubble, Asian powderkeg, Best of Twitter May 12, 2014 Tech bubble [Re: This irrational tech boom risks the health of the global economy, Friday] I agree with Guy Hands’s analysis of tech stock valuations. And I support the idea that the tech bubble is being fuelled by cheap money – although the same is also true of the S&P and the FTSE, by and [...]
Why Britain must reject Miliband’s arbitrary economic jingoism May 12, 2014 BRITAIN has a proud tradition of putting scientific inventions to commercial use – from the fire extinguisher to Beta blockers, used to treat high blood pressure. Both may be needed to defuse rising political tension over Pfizer’s bid to take over Astrazeneca. Ed Miliband’s shallow resort to populist protectionism threatens the rule of law, and [...]
Protectionism will do nothing for the UK – or the quality of its football May 12, 2014 ECONOMIC protectionism is back. Ukip has put immigration at the forefront of its EU election campaign, implying that competition in the jobs market from EU nationals is bad for UK interests. Labour thinks government should be more active in protecting the “national interest” in pharmaceuticals, and should stop foreigners buying property they might leave empty. [...]
The EU tax liberation day small print: Why the UK beats flat tax Lithuania May 12, 2014 WHEN I tell you Lithuania has a 15 per cent flat tax rate, does your mouth water at the idea of Britain adopting a similar system? As a former stockbroker who has researched “The Tax Burden of Typical Workers in the EU” for the past five years, I’ve learned to look at tax rates the [...]
The Asian powderkeg could blow the world back into a 1914-style disaster May 11, 2014 IT IS well that we contemplate the abyss, if only to avoid it. This year we particularly remember the ghastly disaster of 100 years ago, when an almost unfathomable complacency shared by the European elite threw a generation into the fire of the First World War, almost as an afterthought. A century on from the [...]
City Matters: The EU financial transaction tax will hurt the prudent – not the reckless May 11, 2014 THE IMPORTANT debate between the City and 11 EU governments on whether or not to introduce a tax on derivatives and shares continued last week. Both sides have scored victories, but now a more conciliatory tone is emerging, and this should be welcomed. With the European Court of Justice rejecting a pre-emptive challenge to this [...]
Radically decentralising power to town halls may pay UK growth dividend May 11, 2014 NO MAJOR UK political party is interested in a radical decentralisation of power. The Conservatives, in particular, are scarred by their experiences of “loony-left” councils in the 1980s, and we certainly don’t want to go back to those days. The big flaw in the local government system then, however, was the disconnect between the franchise [...]