As the US presidential election nears, would a Mitt Romney victory be good for markets? October 28, 2012 YES Nancy Curtin A Mitt Romney victory would be a positive step for markets, given his opposition to capital gains tax increases, his support for immediate corporation tax cuts, and his business friendly, supply-side approach. We need to move away from a scenario where the government picks winners and losers in the corporate world, to [...]
Will a merger between Penguin and Random House better place the firm to tackle Amazon? October 29, 2012 YES Lizzie Carr The merger of Penguin and Random House is ultimately about the survival of the fittest. Publishing is going through revolutionary changes, and this merger shows just how much some brands will need to adapt to survive in today’s marketplace. Given the size of the two companies, there are some obvious cost-savings the [...]
Will a merger between Penguin and Random House better place the firm to tackle Amazon? October 29, 2012 YES Lizzie Carr The merger of Penguin and Random House is ultimately about the survival of the fittest. Publishing is going through revolutionary changes, and this merger shows just how much some brands will need to adapt to survive in today’s marketplace. Given the size of the two companies, there are some obvious cost-savings the [...]
Banks are part of the solution: They’re the lifeblood of UK economic growth November 21, 2012 WHEN it comes to the economy, banks are usually seen as the problem – as the ones that got us in this mess. But banks are also part of the solution. It is not just that financial services is a major sector of the economy – one of the few sectors where the UK is [...]
We must ditch unfair loopholes – and then cut tax overall November 19, 2012 BRITAIN’S corporation tax system is broken. It is arbitrary, opaque, incomprehensible and unfair. At best, it is uncompetitive compared with other countries, such as Ireland; at worst it is a complete nightmare of complications and distorted incentives. Britain’s tax system is one of the worst things about the UK: It needs to be smashed up [...]
We must ditch unfair loopholes – and then cut tax overall November 18, 2012 BRITAIN’S corporation tax system is broken. It is arbitrary, opaque, incomprehensible and unfair. At best, it is uncompetitive compared with other countries, such as Ireland; at worst it is a complete nightmare of complications and distorted incentives. Britain’s tax system is one of the worst things about the UK: It needs to be smashed up [...]
Analysts think Apple has gone rotten: Three banks downgrade to neutral September 11, 2013 A disappointing reveal from tech giant Apple last night has seen analysts downgrade their buy recommendations in the company's stock to neutral. No surprises last night despite promises from chief executive officer Tim Cook in May last year that security was being ramped up. Crucially, Apple's budget iPhone 5C turned out to not be that [...]
Osborne’s employment incentives idea is no game changer October 8, 2012 FOR once, the government managed to unveil a policy yesterday that had not been pre-leaked. George Osborne’s latest plan combines two ideas: it seeks to better align staff and employer incentives; and to make the labour market more flexible. Employers will be able to make new job offers conditional on – and offer to existing [...]
Tax gap shrinks but higher VAT limits revenues October 18, 2012 THE TAX gap narrowed as a proportion of total tax liabilities in the 2010-11 tax year, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HRMC) said yesterday (see graph, below), despite widening in absolute terms. The proportion of total estimated tax liabilities the taxman missed slipped from 7.1 per cent to 6.7 per cent, which HMRC touts as impressive compared to [...]
Rapid responses October 21, 2012 Start-up nation [Re: Google’s awful day reminds us it is becoming less special, Friday] I was interested to read Allister Heath’s comments on Google settling down to mundane normality. I have started half a dozen tech businesses in my time, and I agree that turning a tech start-up into a successful company is a path [...]