RAPID responses May 20, 2012 Don’t forget Cyprus For obvious reasons, we are most interested in the west European dimensions to the euro crisis, but why is so little attention given to the possibility of Cyprus leaving the euro simultaneously with Greece (or very nearly so)? In an interview on Tuesday’s Today programme, Vince Cable more or less conceded that [...]
Like avian flu Eurozone contagion could be on us before we know it May 17, 2012 ON THURSDAY we finally saw what contagion could look like. After large deposit withdrawals from Greek lenders earlier this week, Spanish newspapers reported that one of Spain’s banks was facing similar problems, although it later denied this. Contagion was only meant to happen when Greece actually left – or was kicked out – of the [...]
Character matters today more than ever – but in business it always has May 17, 2012 DOES Britain need to reform its character? According to a new centre being formed at the University of Birmingham, and launched this week at the House of Lords, emphatically so. The Jubilee Centre of Character and Values, funded by the John Templeton Foundation, has a mission of developing character in our schools and in our [...]
Facebook shows how university is a startup’s friend May 17, 2012 MARK Zuckerberg could be forgiven for thinking that dropping out of Harvard to develop Facebook was the best decision of his life, when he’s in line for a windfall of more than £11bn today. But this success is a smokescreen. A degree is often the best way to prepare someone for a future of entrepreneurial [...]
Is GM’s decision to build the Astra in Britain a signal that UK manufacturing is reviving? May 17, 2012 YES David Crow Vince Cable was yesterday trying to take all the credit for GM’s decision to continue building the Vauxhall Astra at the Ellesmere Port plant in Cheshire. But the truth is that Vauxhall workers secured their own destiny during the last downturn, when the labour force responded with remarkable flexibility to a sharp [...]
RAPID RESPONSES May 17, 2012 Structural freedom [Re: Personal choice is the only measure that matters, Wednesday] We have to do more than just make the intellectual case for personal choice in our lifestyles. We have to stop the “person In Whitehall” from restricting our liberty of action and thought. But which party stands for freedom – socially and economically? [...]
London must resist its critics and adapt to survive the financial crisis May 16, 2012 LONDON’S great success over many centuries has stemmed from its adaptability. It has attracted talent and money from around the world. It has been outward-looking, sending argosies to the Levant, trading with an empire and more recently acting as the world’s favourite financial centre. Like all such success stories in the UK, it attracts its [...]
Obama’s conversion to gay marriage will only help him if it’s principled May 16, 2012 NEWSWEEK’S latest cover proclaims “The First Gay President,” with a picture of President Barack Obama wearing a rainbow halo. Obama’s support for gay marriage is a first for a sitting president, a fact his allies in the press have lauded for the past week. David Cameron, who’s championed marriage without receiving similar plaudits, could only [...]
The MPC has put its incompetence on public display May 16, 2012 THE latest inflation report from the Bank of England (BoE) makes it clear that the credibility of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has been undermined further. The relatively sharp upward revision to CPI inflation forecasts out to the third quarter of 2013 is now rather more realistic, but that realism is tainted by the scepticism [...]
Mervyn King says the Jubilee break will hit GDP. Should we have fewer bank holidays? May 16, 2012 YES Eamonn Butler The main trouble with bank holidays is that you spend them sitting in the same traffic jam as everyone else. Why can’t we stagger our holidays and take them when we choose, instead of when politicians deem fit? Legally, UK workers don’t have an automatic right to paid leave on public holidays, [...]