The great economic oil leak gets worse – only the small people can plug it
17 Jun 2010 [0 Comments | 635 views]
Goodness gracious, news on the economy seems to be gushing forth faster than oil into the Gulf of Mexico. There is only one thing that seems able to match the sheer volume of gas gushing forth from the world’s media on the economy, and that’s the hot air being emitted from the US media, and [...]
Innovation is answer to UK’s fiscal hell
9 Jun 2010 [0 Comments | 454 views]
Productivity has been the curse of the UK economy. For decades productivity in the UK has lagged behind productivity levels in the US and other European countries. But there is a hint of hope. Between 1991 and 2008 the UK’s productivity growth rate was the highest in the G7. That’s an important point. Productivity is [...]
Capital gains tax to rise: markets don’t like it, but they miss the point
19 May 2010 [3 Comments | 830 views]
So there’s a row brewing between the Lib Dems and the Tories over tax. The Tories want lower tax, the Lib Dems want fairer taxes. And at the centre of the debate lies likely changes to capital gains tax (CGT). It seems likely we will see capital gains tax on shares and second homes rise, [...]
Entrepreneurs cheer up
27 Apr 2010 [0 Comments | 398 views]
Hope comes out of the woodwork, and comes courtesy of entrepreneurs. So suggests a new report from Hiscox, entitled: DNA of an entrepreneur. For once it is good news, and points to an economic revival driven by entrepreneurs. The study was carried out in the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands. Curiously, when asked if [...]
Did the chancellor present an entrepreneurs’ budget?
25 Mar 2010 [1 Comment | 576 views]
Mr Darling droned on for just a few minutes short of an hour yesterday, and yet he hardly said anything. There was barely any news at all in the budget, and today the media pore over it, dissecting this, debunking that. Well, actually, that is not entirely so. The budget contained some interesting bits too. [...]
Darling needs to boost enterprise
22 Mar 2010 [0 Comments | 282 views]
Alistair Darling was quizzed by Andrew Marr on Sunday. Would Mr D use his budget as a pre-election bribe? This may come as a complete shock to you, but our chancellor denied he was planning to do this. But what he did do was to talk about encouraging growth. Now you can encourage growth in [...]
Solid oxide fuel cells: they look like batteries, they are hot, and they may solve the fuel crisis
4 Mar 2010 [0 Comments | 474 views]
With all the doom and gloom floating about at the moment, it is easy to fall into a pit of despair. Let’s face it, there’s a lot that’s wrong with the economy. And with the baby boomers retirement getting closer, it is difficult to see how the economy will cope. This column has argued over [...]
Offshore wind farm, the critic’s line up, but they miss the point
8 Jan 2010 [1 Comment | 397 views]
The critics of the government’s plan to build a giant farm in the North Sea are lining up. One set of arguments say the job creation elements is being exaggerated, and most of the jobs will come from abroad. Another set of arguments says wind energy is no good anyway, it is unpredictable, and therefore [...]
The next decade, why hope lurks at bottom of Pandora’s Box of ills
4 Jan 2010 [0 Comments | 1,335 views]
Economists across the world use the start of the New Year to turn to their crystal balls for a spot of economic prophesying. You won’t be surprised to learn that most are struggling to think of anything good to say. What with the fiscal deficit threatening to crush our prosperity for years, the inevitability of public [...]
House prices set to rise in 2010, dollar set to recover, China set for meteoric growth and UK set for export led boom
23 Dec 2009 [5 Comments | 3,681 views]
Well, this may not seem like realism to you, but yesterday saw a raging torrent of information pointing to a humdinger of a recovery in 2010. According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), house prices are set to rise next year by between 1 and 2 per cent. The volume of monthly sales is [...]
