Why we can still save the zombie firms hindering the UK economic revival November 17, 2013 AFTER the worst recession in living memory, the UK’s recovery feels decidedly sluggish. While the US and German economies are larger than ever, the UK is still well below its pre-recession peak. Yet insolvencies are at a historic low and many businesses seem to be (just about) surviving. Why is this? According to R3, the [...]
Letters to the Editor – 18/11 – Crazy patents, Space spin-offs, Best of Twitter November 17, 2013 Crazy patents [Re: It’s time for tech firms to end their insane global patent wars, Friday] The mis-use of patents has become crazy. As the economist Gary Becker has said, patents should be a last resort, to be used when market-based methods of encouraging innovation are likely to be insufficient. More worryingly, many companies use [...]
Merchant banks no longer rule the City but their influence hasn’t gone November 14, 2013 WHEN the First World War broke out, an interesting meeting took place in the City to assess its implications. It consisted of what were then known as accepting houses: the elite merchant banks who ruled the City with unquestioned command. Run by the sons of the gentry, they made their money by buying commercial IOUs [...]
The Long View: UK leadership of the international space race isn’t entirely out-of-this-world November 14, 2013 WHO SAYS the sky has to be the limit? Britain’s space industry has ambitions to become a global leader. The sector’s new growth plan, announced this week, includes establishing a British spaceport within five years. It wants our 6.5 per cent share of the global space market in 2010 to be 8 per cent by [...]
How a new garden city could offer affordable family homes at scale November 14, 2013 LORD Wolfson’s decision to devote his £250,000 Economics Prize in 2014 to how to deliver a new garden city has raised eyebrows. The prize has rapidly become a rallying point for the most challenging questions of the day, with Roger Bootle winning last year for his treatise on how a country should exit the euro. [...]
Letters to the Editor – 15/11 – Building pressures, Best of Twitter November 14, 2013 Building pressures [Re: The Greenbelt sacred cow: It pens in the poor for no environmental gain, Monday] It is not only Greenbelt land that is being wasted. There is so much scope for Brownfield development in London. Bishopsgate Goods Yard – a 10 acre plot by Shoreditch that has sat derelict for 50 years – [...]
Stronger growth points to review of the Bank’s forward guidance policy November 13, 2013 THE UK economy is looking up – it’s official! The Bank of England delivered a hat-trick of good economic news yesterday in its latest Inflation Report projections. Economic growth is looking stronger, inflation is coming down more quickly than expected, and unemployment is now projected to be lower than in the previous forecast in August. [...]
Mentors are key to helping entrepreneurs reach the next stage of development November 13, 2013 IT SEEMED Julie Waddell had all the ingredients for success when she set up Moorish, which sells Britain’s only smoked hummus products. Orders were pouring in, a leading supermarket had expressed interest in her wares and she had been nominated for an industry award. But Waddell needed help. Lacking business experience, she turned to Chris [...]
Do not assume that an interest rate rise would be bad for the economy November 13, 2013 OTHER things being equal, is it better if interest rates are as far below inflation as feasible, or as high above? Most discussions of interest rates assume that lower interest rates are the better. We are told, in an optimistic tone, that “the Bank of England may be able to keep interest rates at 0.5 [...]
Letters to the Editor – 14/11 – Greenbelt, Premier league bid, Best of Twitter November 13, 2013 Greenbelt [Re: The Greenbelt sacred cow: It pens in the poor for no environmental gain, yesterday] I agree 100 per cent with the author. Support for the Greenbelt is strong among those over 60. In many cases, these people bought property between the 1960s and 1980s, when prices were often below £50,000 in today’s money. [...]