From Alison Rose to water exec bonuses, massive payouts are killing productivity
The last week has been momentous on various fronts. The decision by the NatWest board to scrap £7.6m of former chief executive Alison Rose’s potential leaving payout was almost buried in the avalanche. But it offers a glimmer of hope amidst the overall gloom. The decision itself has all the hallmarks of a classic corporate […]
Brits are afraid of failure, and the flop of WeWork will deter future entrepreneurs
The conviction of Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, on multiple charges of massive fraud last week throws the spotlight once again on the risks of investing in high-tech ventures. FTX attracted vast amounts of investment from venture capital and grew spectacularly. But from being feted in the financial press and courted by […]
We’re fighting over-regulation with yet more regulations in an insane spiral
The policy of the Welsh government to impose a 20mph speed limit in towns and villages across the country has been controversial, to say the least. One of its impacts has been completely contrary to the aims of Mark Drakeford’s government, which is very keen to promote public transport. The new speed limit has led […]
If economic experts wield political power, we’ll get dragged into fiscal groupthink
Even before the double win in last week’s by-elections, Labour was behaving like a government-in-waiting. Apparently the party has begun drafting the bills for the initial pieces of legislation it will enact after the election. When George Osborne was at the Treasury, the Conservatives created the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). This meant responsibility for […]
Without a recession, Bailey won’t wrest back control over inflation
Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, admitted last week that interest rates will remain higher for some time to come. The boss of the Old Lady said he stood by the target inflation rate of 2 per cent, but to get there, higher interest rates were necessary in the arsenal for the “last […]
Daunting task of improving public services is the real challenge for next government
Scotland has featured prominently in the media following Labour’s massive victory over the SNP in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election. The sheer incompetence of the Nationalist government in Edinburgh is sinking in with the Scottish electorate. Voters in England are increasingly dissatisfied with the quality of public services they receive. But it is worse […]
Taxes have never been so high but it’s still not enough for some
Taxes are higher than at any time since the Second World War. The UK’s overall tax burden now stands at 37 per cent of the total national income, according to last week’s report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies. The Conservatives will preside over the biggest tax-increasing parliament in living memory. Taxes on average have […]
We need to get to net zero, but we will fail if we lose public support
Rishi Sunak’s proposals to adjust some of the timetables on the path to net zero have provoked outrage in many quarters. This is despite the fact that the UK has already made more progress than most countries in moving towards net zero. We might usefully compare it to this time last year, when the public […]
Rush hour pricing in pubs will kill off the customer loyalty businesses badly need
Britain’s largest pub group, Stonegate, caused outrage last week with its proposal to charge 20p a pint more at peak times at some 800 of its outlets. It is but the latest example of what has become known as “dynamic pricing”. Basically, charging more when demand is high. Many can surely empathise with the concept, […]
Don’t blame austerity for the crumbling concrete, Osborne salvaged Britain’s deficit
If only the Conservatives had loosened the purse strings on public spending in the 2010s, the story now goes, all the decrepit buildings could have been fixed. “Austerity” has, of course, become the catch-all word describing the David Cameron and George Osborne policy of restrictions on public spending to control Britain’s financial deficit. This misperception […]
