Productivity

December 6, 2018

Maxwell’s Consumer: seeking a sustainable world

The recent uprising of the Gilets Jaunes in France is one idiosyncratic national reaction to a global problem. But global problems demand global answers and…

October 8, 2018

Brexit dividend discovered in Sheffield

It is proving increasingly difficult to identify the benefits Brexit might bring. Now a team of economists based in Sheffield have detected an upside in…

June 7, 2018

Capitalism blame game: politician vs expert

So it is agreed, capitalism is broken – for many. Can it be fixed to make it more “inclusive and sustainable”? Yes, says a politician…

May 28, 2018

Italian storms darken European horizon

A new “anti-system” political coalition in Italy is stirring up the relative tranquillity of the Eurozone economy. Banks and businesses are fastening their seatbelts and…

April 30, 2018

How much does your neighbour earn?

John Egan takes a look at the complexities entailed in answering the question. If you would like to know how well off you are, you…

March 7, 2018

Chief-Exec series: The iceberg of intangible capital

From running a business to managing an economy, understanding the value and whereabouts of capital assets is vital. But this isn’t as easy as it…

February 12, 2018

Chief-Exec series: Lifting the lid on UK productivity

Here is a chart that reveals a UK economy in the doldrums and shows where it could be heading. John Egan decribes the challenges this…

November 15, 2017

Analysis: Amazon and the power of capital

On the 150th anniversary of the publication of Karl Marx’s Das Kapital, we add our energy-dissipative view of the interactions of labour and capital in…

October 17, 2017

Productivity, Productivity, Productivity

Today sees the publication of a comprehensive review of the state of the nation and the potential impacts of Brexit in the OECD’s 2017 economic…

August 28, 2017

Analysis: an Apple that just keeps on rising

Imagine Apple Inc. as a quintessentially huge machine fuelled by investment, converting labour into value and, via sales, into revenue and profit. John Egan looks beyond…

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Brexit: PM under fire over new Brexit plan
Theresa May will make the case for her new Brexit plan in Parliament later, amid signs that Conservative opposition to her leadership is hardening. The prime minister will outline changes to the Withdrawal Agreement Bill – including a promise to give MPs a vote on holding another referendum. But shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said the offer was “too weak”. Some senior Tories will today ask party bosses for a rule change to allow a no-confidence vote in her leadership. Environment Secretary Michael Gove defended the PM’s plan, urging MPs to “take a little bit of time and step back” to “reflect” on the detail of the bill – due to be published later today. BBC news, May 22

Hard Brexit ‘could push Ireland into recession’
A disorderly Brexit or another surge in property prices could plunge the Irish economy back into recession, a think-tank for developed countries has warned. Growth will remain robust until the end of next year at least but a number of threats could derail the benign outlook, the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development has projected in its latest assessment of the Irish economy. “Uncertainties to the outlook are significant. The most immediate one is a disorderly conclusion of Brexit negotiations, which could plunge the Irish economy into a recession,” it said. Increasing property prices may “lay the foundation for another boom-and-bust cycle” if associated with another surge in credit growth, it added. It also warned that changes to the international tax regime could affect foreign direct investment. The Times, May 22

Far-right Facebook groups ‘spreading hate to millions in Europe’
A web of far-right Facebook accounts spreading fake news and hate speech to millions of people across Europe has been uncovered by the campaign group Avaaz. Facebook, which is struggling to clean up the platform and salvage its reputation, has already taken down accounts with about 6 million followers before voting in the European elections begins. It was still investigating hundreds of other accounts with an additional 26 million followers, Avaaz said. In total, the group reported more than 500 suspect groups and Facebook pages operating across France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Poland and Spain. Most were either spreading fake news or using false pages and profiles to artificially boost the content of parties or sites they supported, in violation of Facebook’s rules. The Guardian, May 22

US companies face retaliation in China
US companies in China are facing a backlash from the intensifying trade dispute between Washington and Beijing, with almost half the members of a US business lobby group in the country reporting they have been hit with retaliatory measures. Roughly 47 per cent of the members of the American Chamber of Commerce in China and a similar group based in Shanghai said that on top of recently imposed tariffs, they faced retaliation such as slower customs clearance, more inspections and delayed approvals for licences, according to a survey released on Wednesday. About a third of the 239 American companies surveyed said they were cancelling or delaying investments in China while about 40 per cent said they were considering relocating manufacturing facilities outside of China, with south-east Asia and Mexico among the favoured destinations. Financial Times, May 22

Boris Johnson targets centre-ground Tories
Boris Johnson is launching a bid to court One Nation Conservative MPs in the group of centrist liberals run by Amber Rudd, as he tries to pitch himself as a candidate who can appeal beyond right-wing Brexit supporters. The former foreign secretary, who is favourite to be the next Conservative leader, is backed by Brexit hardliner Jacob Rees-Mogg but infuriated many Tory colleagues by backing Theresa May’s deal after months of campaigning against it. Some Conservative MPs have privately threatened to quit the party if Johnson becomes prime minister, with particular anger over his use of populist rhetoric suggesting that Muslim women wearing burqas resemble bank robbers and “choose to go around looking like letterboxes”. However, Johnson has been making an effort to reach out to the more centrist wing of the party in recent days, endorsing a mini-manifesto released by Rudd’s group of 60 One Nation MPs, which promotes human rights and social responsibility. The Guardian, May 22

British Steel future hanging in the balance
The future of 5,000 British Steel workers remains uncertain as its owners continue to lobby for government backing. The UK’s second-biggest steel maker had been trying to secure £75m in financial support to help it to address “Brexit-related issues”. If the firm does not get the money it would put 5,000 jobs at risk and endanger 20,000 in the supply chain. Labour has urged the government to nationalise British Steel. But Treasury sources say the only way nationalisation would be contemplated is if there were credible buyers waiting in the wings. BBC news, May 22

Plastic straws, cutlery and cotton buds ban
Single-use plastic plates, cutlery, straws, drinks stirrers and cotton buds will be banned in England under a government plan to reduce litter. The ban on straws, stirrers and cotton buds will take effect from April next year and sales of plastic plates and cutlery will be prohibited the year after. Michael Gove, the environment secretary, confirmed the ban yesterday as the EU announced that member states would introduce a much wider ban on single-use plastic items in two years’ time. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said last night that the wider EU ban would be implemented in England after Brexit, including the ban on plastic plates and cutlery. The Times, May 22

UN report compares Tory welfare policies to creation of workhouses
A leading United Nations poverty expert has compared Conservative welfare policies to the creation of 19th-century workhouses and warned that unless austerity is ended, the UK’s poorest people face lives that are “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”. In his final report on the impact of austerity on human rights in the UK, Philip Alston, the UN rapporteur on extreme poverty, accused ministers of being in a state of denial about the impact of policies, including the rollout of universal credit, since 2010. He accused them of the “systematic immiseration of a significant part of the British population” and warned that worse could be yet to come for the most vulnerable, who face “a major adverse impact” if Brexit proceeds. He said leaving the EU was “a tragic distraction from the social and economic policies shaping a Britain that it’s hard to believe any political parties really want”. The Guardian, May 22

Apprenticeship system failing the disadvantaged
The reform of the apprenticeship system in England is failing to reach the most disadvantaged in society and risks leaving behind those who most need to improve their skills, the public accounts committee has warned. The apprenticeship levy, which forces employers with annual payrolls over £3m to set aside a sum equivalent to 0.5 per cent of their wage bill to fund workplace training, has proved controversial because it has led to a jump in spending on degree-level courses, rather than invigorating training in lower-skilled jobs as originally intended. “This was a huge opportunity to skill up some of the lowest skilled people, but no one thought through what behavioural changes the levy might produce,” said Meg Hillier, chair of the committee. Financial Times, May 22

Monks resurrect lost medieval beer
Belgian monks have recovered a long-lost recipe for a medieval beer that has not been brewed for two centuries and plan to bring it back to life. The beer, the first to bear the name of the Grimbergen abbey just outside Brussels, was first brewed in 1128 and served to the Norbertine monks, who also used it as a means of paying local labourers. Production came to an end in 1797 when French revolutionaries invaded and torched the abbey. The recipe and brewing methods, kept in 12th-century texts in the library, only survived because the fathers smashed a hole in a wall and removed the books before the old abbey burnt to the ground. The Times, May 22