Businesses need a government that takes a long view August 30, 2012 THE British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) new forecast, published today, makes for pretty grim reading. We’re now expecting the UK economy to contract in 2012, and for growth to be anaemic in 2013. Although there are many businesses out there who are proving surprisingly resilient, the economy as a whole continues to bump along the [...]
Should the coalition support Nick Clegg’s plan to set up a state-run bank for lending? August 30, 2012 YES Robert Skidelsky Nick Clegg’s idea for a state-run bank to lend to small enterprises is a step in the right direction, but as usual, the details are missing. At the moment, it sounds like another version of the loan guarantee plans which have already failed to get money flowing. Unlike Germany, Britain does not [...]
Rapid Responses August 30, 2012 Fishing for votes [RE: A wealth tax won’t work – except as political pantomime, Thursday] Nick Clegg’s suggestion is bad politics and a sly way to fish for votes. It lacks moral merit and foresight to tackle the deep-rooted problems facing the UK economy. Wealth creators already suffer crippling taxation in the UK. Clegg’s battle [...]
Clegg’s confused narrative offers no remedy to Britain’s problems August 29, 2012 DIFFERENTIATION is increasingly the centrepiece of the Liberal Democrats’ political strategy. Back in the halcyon days of May 2010, as Nick Clegg and David Cameron flirted together in the Rose Garden, the over-arching message was about how much the LibDems and the Conservatives had in common. But as the coalition has struggled towards the halfway [...]
Romney’s wife goes on a charm offensive to woo female voters for Mitt August 29, 2012 JUST hours after New Jersey’s 50 delegates officially made her husband the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, Ann Romney took to the stage in Tampa to give a stoic defence of her husband’s business career, his values, and most of all, his credentials to be the next President. Her remarks were, initially at least, so well [...]
Catalonia’s bailout tests Madrid’s rule over Spain’s regions August 29, 2012 CATALONIA’S decision to seek a bailout from the Spanish government was just a matter of time. With over €5.7bn (£4.5bn) of debt maturing before the end of the year, Spain’s wealthiest – but also most heavily indebted – region had very little chance of paying its bills without some form of external assistance. The request [...]
Should UK business leaders be awarded honours for simply “doing the day job”? August 29, 2012 YES Philip Salter No one could defend the stifling corporatism that has penetrated our political system. As such, Bernard Jenkin and the rest of the public administration select committee are right to be calling for the secretive honours system to be opened up to scrutiny. However, the committee is wrong to suggest that business people [...]
Rapid Responses August 29, 2012 Swede dreams [RE: Sweden turns the page and Scandinavian noir explains why, Tuesday] It is worth adding that Sweden is also successful because of eight decades of close cooperation between the state, business and unions. Moody’s recently reaffirmed Sweden’s AAA rating and cited not merely its comparatively modest supply-side reforms but also its equal society. Alexander [...]
Why a flair for storytelling is vital if you want others to follow you August 28, 2012 EVERYONE tells stories. It’s one of the ways we connect with our friends and families. It’s how we impress people when we apply for jobs, or sell business products to potential customers. Telling stories is also what we do on Facebook and Twitter, and is even part of how we go about finding a partner. [...]
Exam targets shouldn’t be prioritised at the expense of a decent education August 28, 2012 THE highly emotional debate still raging about GCSE grades is not very enlightening. But what has happened tells us a lot about how incentives matter, and how they affect outcomes. At the same time, it shows us that unless a proper set of social norms is in place, incentives can have unanticipated, perverse effects. In [...]