Facebook and Amazon are losing the antitrust argument but are gambling on America’s broken politics to save them July 19, 2021 In recent weeks, Amazon and then Facebook launched legal challenges against Lina Khan, the new Chair of America’s antitrust regulator, the Federal Trade Commission. Both argued that Khan should step aside in any future investigation into competitive practices and any possible pursuit of a Big Tech breakup. Rather than offering much criticism of the content of [...]
Work from home advice has finally been dropped and we need our staff back in offices for our economy to recover July 19, 2021 Today is truly a significant moment for businesses and households across the nation, as social and economic COVID-19 restrictions in England are finally eased. It’s been a long journey, but for the City, after many months of quiet we can now breathe a collective sigh of relief, as workers and visitors start to return to [...]
London needs to overhaul its transport system to meet Sadiq Khan’s net zero ambitions July 18, 2021 We have less than a decade to become a zero-carbon city if we’re to meet the Mayor of London’s ambitions. Sadiq Khan has committed to using his second term as Mayor to tackle the climate emergency by setting a target for London to be carbon-neutral by 2030. City Hall is not alone. Twenty-eight of London’s [...]
An ode to the pub, the nucleus of our social lives July 17, 2021 How will you be celebrating Freedom Day? With restrictions on socialising having gradually eased over recent months, next Monday feels to many of us like the grand finale – a cathartic moment which finally marks the much-anticipated “Return To Normal”. As we embrace this new dawn, pubs can begin their recovery as pub goers rekindle the joys of standing drinking, ordering at the bar and meeting [...]
Africa, an overlooked continent for global investment is becoming a burgeoning Fintech leader July 17, 2021 “But do people in Africa actually play video games?” That’s a question I am often asked when talking about my business, by bemused venture capitalists and startup founders alike, anywhere from London to Hong Kong, New York to Silicon Valley. That one question exposes a persistent attitude towards Africa; that the continent is decades behind [...]
Weekend Read: Job market tension threatens to derail Britain’s economic recovery July 17, 2021 The UK labour market is roaring back to life. After months of being shuttered due to Covid, businesses are finally welcoming customers back through their doors – and ramping up hiring to cope with soaring demand. Companies added 356,000 workers to payrolls over the last month. Total weekly hours worked has reached its highest level [...]
Britain is running out of new ideas and it’s killing productivity July 16, 2021 It is no secret that Britain is in a productivity slump. The statistics should be familiar. In the decade before the pandemic, productivity grew at just 0.3 per cent per year. Before the financial crisis, it grew at 2 per cent. That might sound like an abstract or wonkish concern, but it is the difference [...]
Joe Biden’s executive order smoothing a transition to open-banking should inspire UK competition and innovation July 16, 2021 President Biden won a lot of praise when he issued a slew of consumer-friendly executive orders last week. One of them could have an impact here, an ocean away from the US consumers who’ll feel the direct benefit. The order aims to make it easier for US customers to access and share their banking data. [...]
Screenshot: Will a streaming overhaul tidy up the UK’s messy music sector? July 16, 2021 This week: **Media Moment of the Week: ‘Oh fiddlesticks’ **Could a streaming crackdown tidy up Britain’s messy music sector? Media Moment of the Week: ‘Oh fiddlesticks’ In a situation you wouldn’t have thought possible in 2021, the BBC somehow found a man in Nottingham on Monday morning who still didn’t know the result of the [...]
Arcane taxes on junk food is all pain with almost no benefit July 16, 2021 Some people are born lucky. They can eat junk food all day long without putting on any weight. Others develop rolls of fat after a few packets of crisps. The former can live blissfully without these concerns. The latter must struggle every day – either with obesity or self-control and exercise – to stay in [...]