Letters to the Editor – 17/12 – Scrap Davies, Alternative finance, Best of Twitter
Scrap Davies
If you believe that the importance of hub capacity is overstated there is clearly no need to expand Heathrow. If you believe, as I do, that London and the UK needs an internationally-competitive hub airport, we should be clear what that means. It means an airport with four runways and the capacity to expand to at least six in the future. Heathrow cannot be that airport. Stansted could expand to fit the bill, although a new airport on the Isle of Grain would be better. If Sir Howard Davies fails to rule out Heathrow’s expansion it will be clear that his report should be scrapped.
Richard Tracey, GLA Conservatives transport spokesman
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Alternative finance
[Re: Rise of alternative finance could put business bankers’ incumbency at risk, yesterday]
Peer-to-peer, crowdfunding and other areas of alternative finance no doubt have a lot of promise. But it’s surely too soon to say they could make a serious dent into the banking business. As the author points out, such organisations currently only account for around 2 per cent of UK business lending. And it is difficult to imagine individuals moving their deposits away from banks en masse. Without government assurances on deposits, and little data to adequately asses risk and reward ratios, alternative finance has a long way to go.
Darren Dixon
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BEST OF TWITTER
Further divergence between France and Germany. Huge problem for Eurozone as it drags on.
@minefornothing
Time it’s taking for tapering to take off is testimony to Fed’s timidity. I think it’s priced in: twice, or thrice.
@kitjuckes
Nominal GDP is falling in Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Spain. This is toxic in a high-debt environment.
@RobertAlanWard
China generates more electricity (4.9 trillion kilowatt-hours) than the entire European Union.
@ianbremmer