Global economy

The Great British car sell-off Aston Martin: Where two British icons meet A manufacturer of luxury sports cars since 1913, Aston Martin became a fully-fledged icon with James Bond’s 1964 film "Goldfinger." Bond’s car, the DB5, is often seen as one of the most beautiful in the world and Astons have appeared in six other Bond films. It plans to float on the London Stock Exchange this year. Bankrupt seven times, the company is expected to be valued at around €4.3 billion. … [Read more...] about UK think tank looks for bright ideas to reform economy

Despite all that, Britain is not in the early stages of a traditional wage-price spiral. For a start, there were a couple of one-off factors that pushed up inflation in January. There was a jump in the price of oil – now reversed as a result of the coronavirus – and the falls in energy prices in January 2019 were not repeated. … [Read more...] about Incoming BoE boss will have time to settle in despite inflation jump

Even down to its claustrophobic production values and uncompromising, rapid-fire beats, grime thrived in part because it described the flaws in New Labour’s otherwise confident, wealthy, “modern” Britain. While the grime kids’ neighbours in Canary Wharf inflated the bubble that would help destroy the global economy, life for the other half was marked by knife crime “epidemics” and moral panics over “hoodies” and “Asbo kids”. Tony Blair decried a “culture of disrespect” and backed shopping centres that were banning anyone wearing hooded tops – it was no wonder that one of Dizzee Rascal’s most memorable observations/boasts on his Mercury-winning debut album was “I’m a problem for Anthony Blair”. As leader of the opposition, David Cameron tried to have his cake and eat it, famously proposing to “hug a hoodie”, but also blaming violent rap lyrics for real-world violence – … [Read more...] about Party politics: why grime defines the sound of protest in 2016

But the EU list risks being watered down in the ongoing political negotiations over the exact details of what constitutes “green” activities. Already, furious lobbying has led to the inclusion of a category of “enabling” activities under the auspices of “pathways to green”. These could easily become loopholes for activities that are more brown than green. The incentive for carbon financiers is to stick the label green everywhere they can in preparation for the second step: persuading European regulators to promote (de-risk) green assets. … [Read more...] about The European Green Deal will bypass the poor and go straight to the rich

The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, told MEPs last month: “It is unrealistic that a global negotiation can be done in 11 months, so we can’t do it all. We will do all we can to get what I call the ‘vital minimum’ to establish a relationship with the UK if that is the timescale.” … [Read more...] about Brexit: Boris Johnson to open trade talks with Ursula von der Leyen