Chinese monetary superpower rivals the Fed in the emerging market storm February 5, 2014 ONE OF the joys of my job is watching fashionable but off-base theories crumple in the face of real world events. The current emerging market storm has seen the obvious destruction of not one, but two cocktail party staples: the rise of the Brics/Mints and the idea of the G-Zero world. The first thought to [...]
Challenger banks face a Capital Catch 22: It’s time to level the playing field February 5, 2014 WANDER down any high street and you’ll see those well-known chain restaurants offering appetising food at a reasonable price. Then there are the one-off, often family-run eateries with their own unique menu – perhaps with a speciality that will one day become a staple of that household-name restaurant over the road. The larger chains, of [...]
Why wage subsidies are not the best way to help the poorest paid in Britain February 5, 2014 BRITAIN’S tax credit regime was introduced by Gordon Brown in an attempt to boost the living standards of the low paid. But by topping up pay, this effective state wage subsidy has worrying long-term implications for the worst off and the economy. Tax credits suppress natural market pay rises, encourage overmanning (particularly in non-growth sectors), [...]
Letters to the Editor – 06/02 – Quango bonfire, Global growth, Best of Twitter February 5, 2014 Quango bonfire [Re: How charities lavish millions of taxpayer money on left-wing campaigns, yesterday] The government should consider revisiting its “bonfire of the quangos”, although they should see it through properly this time. Over 200 have been axed, with impressive savings upwards of £2bn quoted, but far too many of the roles have been rehashed, [...]
No Diane Abbott, now is the worst time for rent controls February 5, 2014 It'd be hard to miss London's housing problems. London house prices rose by a staggering 11.6 per cent in the year to November 2013, according to ONS data. Labour MP Diane Abbott has proposed a solution: Just made a speech in Parliament on need for RENT CONTROLS #ifnotnowwhen? #londonhousingcrisis — Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) February [...]
Brussels is trying to bury the City by forcing it to play by warped EU rules February 4, 2014 IN BRUSSELS, you can hear the dull sound of hammer on iron: the EU driving nails into a coffin. There may be plenty of zombie banks in the Eurozone, and an undead currency walking the corridors of the European Central Bank, but it’s the City that Brussels wants to bury first. There were two examples [...]
Against the Grain: Myths and reality of Valentine’s Day: It’s more than just a marketing ploy February 4, 2014 VALENTINE’S Day is almost upon us. Many readers may recall a time when its main purpose was for love-struck teenagers to communicate, anonymously or otherwise, with the objects of their desire. Now it is big business. It is hardly possible to enter a pub or restaurant without being exhorted to publicly display fidelity and love [...]
The frightening reality of the welfare state we’re in February 4, 2014 IF TV’S Benefits Street raised a fuss, James Bartholomew’s The Welfare State We’re In should cause an earthquake. Never mind a few scrounging scallywags, Bartholomew’s book (just republished) gives us the total historical horror of the welfare state in living Technicolor. Bartholomew is a Redbull double-espresso to Iain Duncan Smith’s limp chamomile tea. Forget reforming [...]
Letters to the Editor – 05/02 – Civil service, More cuts, Best of Twitter February 4, 2014 Civil service [Re: Would political appointments to the civil service increase government effectiveness? Yesterday] Public bodies are largely run by people who have an instinctive opposition to enterprise, standards and choice. No wonder senior Tories are now realising that they need to make drastic changes. It would be nice to return to a world of [...]
Politicians are scared of the small state but a positive vision will sell it to voters February 3, 2014 HOW DO you shrink the state when it is dominated by health, education and welfare? The answer is with a positive vision that is much more than just tax cuts. The right needs to craft a compelling world-view of what the economy and society would look like with a minimalist state. The biggest problem is [...]