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 [...]
Cable plans public bank to offer business loans September 10, 2012 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable will today outline plans for a government-backed corporate lender, as part of his attempt to reignite the coalition’s support for British industry. Cable will say in a speech at Imperial College that the smaller “challenger banks” such as Co-operative and Aldermore could be employed to operate the new business bank, though [...]
Cable plans public bank to offer business loans September 10, 2012 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable will today outline plans for a government-backed corporate lender, as part of his attempt to reignite the coalition’s support for British industry. Cable will say in a speech at Imperial College that the smaller “challenger banks” such as Co-operative and Aldermore could be employed to operate the new business bank, though [...]
America’s fiscal cliff may bring a new level of pain October 8, 2012 THE term “fiscal cliff” may have only been coined as a phrase by Ben Bernanke as recently as eight months ago, but it’s likely to be used more frequently as we head into the year-end. If US legislators fail to act, a combination of sharp tax hikes and public spending cuts could have the potential [...]
20 of the world’s largest donors December 20, 2012 1 BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION US The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was formed in 2000 through the merger of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, adopting their previous agendas of improving global health and education. With offices in the US, India, China and UK, the foundation has a global [...]
We need a national plan of action to rebuild trust in British business September 16, 2012 IT IS hard to pick up a newspaper or listen to the news without hearing another in-depth analysis of the reasons behind this downturn, and dire predictions about UK growth prospects. With the benefit of hindsight, I think we all underestimated its depth and length and were too optimistic about the global economy bouncing back. [...]
It was attitudes not demographics that determined the US campaign November 7, 2012 THERE are three things that matter about the US election result, seen from my pollster’s point of view. What do we learn about the role of demographics against attitudes in determining outcome? What might the result mean for the next UK general election? And why did we get that Mitt Romney phantom swing? A lot [...]
It was attitudes not demographics that determined the US campaign November 7, 2012 THERE are three things that matter about the US election result, seen from my pollster’s point of view. What do we learn about the role of demographics against attitudes in determining outcome? What might the result mean for the next UK general election? And why did we get that Mitt Romney phantom swing? A lot [...]
Hollande’s raid on rich is the wrong kind of revolution August 21, 2012 AFTER little more than a hundred days in power, French President François Hollande’s popularity is dropping fast. Recent polls show that 54 per cent of French citizens are dissatisfied with his performance, compared with approximately 40 per cent in July. It’s little wonder – taxes on the rich, which initially attracted voters, are in danger [...]
Why bashing the wealthy will not raise tax revenue October 11, 2012 IT’S a curious state of affairs when tax is wielded as a stick with which to beat the affluent. Whether it’s capping tax reliefs, limiting pension contributions or increasing stamp duty to 7 per cent for £2m homes, it is noticeable that the constant stream of new tax measures is no longer about raising revenue, [...]