The folly of long-term forecasts March 2, 2018 In late January, Brexit minister Steve Baker suggested the Treasury had put together 15-year economic projections designed to show “all options other than staying in the customs union were bad.” Though he later walked the statement back, to some, it supported suspicions of government agencies’ complicity in “Project Fear”—an effort to scare Brits out of [...]
Six market charts that matter: Italy’s problems, Greek bonds, the Vix spike March 2, 2018 Each month, the investment writing team at Schroders highlight the most significant charts to cross their desk. Italian election: the country's most pressing business problems Elections (not to mention referendums) have been a major source of market uncertainty and volatility in recent times. The latest comes this weekend in arguably the most important election in [...]
Autumn Budget 2017: Chancellor Philip Hammond’s speech in full November 22, 2017 You can read the chancellor's Budget speech in full here: Mr Deputy Speaker I report today on an economy that continues to grow, continues to create more jobs than ever before and continues to confound those who seek to talk it down. An economy set on a path to a new relationship with our European [...]
Forget the fearmongering and embrace the internet of things January 19, 2018 Has your smart refrigerator been infected by a strain of zombie malware? Or maybe spies have been listening to you via your networked alarm? For some reason, the idea of connected devices – a vital part of the internet of things (IoT) – has sent the imaginations of some organisations into overdrive. Last February, Germany’s [...]
Theresa May doubles tech talent visas for non-EU foreign workers after Brexit to woo industry November 14, 2017 Theresa May is seeking to reassure the UK’s flourishing tech industry amid ongoing concerns over the impact of Brexit on hiring top talent. The Prime Minister and chancellor Philip Hammond will meet with top entrepreneurs and investors on Wednesday and is promising a flurry of measures to support startups across the country. “It is absolutely [...]
Editor’s Notes: Theresa May can benefit from taking on Corbyn’s anti-business agenda, Trump’s thumbs up to data and the ONS’ telecoms glitch January 19, 2018 Theresa May has never been an enthusiastic defender of free-market capitalism, much to the frustration of many in business. However, to give credit where it’s due, the PM pushed back quite hard against Jeremy Corbyn’s latest assault on private business, which was sparked by the collapse of Carillion. After the Labour leader stumbled his way [...]
This was a mixed Budget for British SMEs November 27, 2017 British businesses waited with bated breath for the chancellor to serve them another blow in his Budget speech last week. But Philip Hammond has finally cut small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) some slack, and dished out a number of policies to try to win them over. In his Autumn Statement last year, flat-rate VAT [...]
Life-changing investments: The science that could save the NHS January 11, 2018 No one can deny (apart from a handful of politicians) that the NHS is in a bad way at the moment. The crisis reached a head last week when hospitals were forced to cancel tens of thousands of operations in order to free-up resources for emergency care. This – unsurprisingly – sparked a national outcry. [...]
If tech titans ruled the US: Free healthcare and no regulation September 12, 2017 What would life be like if we overthrew politicians and instead were governed by wealthy technology entrepreneurs? This might seem like a pointless exercise in hypotheticals. But there are good reasons to think such a group will exert greater influence on US (and hence global) politics in future. The tech sector continues to grow as [...]
Heathrow calls on government to scrap air passenger duty on domestic flights to level the playing field with Europe in plan for Brexit Britain September 20, 2017 Heathrow has today called for the abolition of air passenger duty (APD) on domestic flights, and improved connections to the capital, in a letter to the chancellor on ways to boost Brexit Britain. The airport said abolishing the tax would level the playing field with Europe. Read more: MPs launch wide-ranging inquiry looking at impact [...]