Business and Economics

By Valentina Magri Mamma mia, here we go again. But this time is different: neither Abba nor Mr Berlusconi are part of the story. Despite this fact, there is an eerie feeling over déjà vu in the air. Italy has dipped back into recession for the third time since 2008. The latest Istat preliminary estimate of GDP fell by 0.2 per cent in the second quarter 2014. It is the minimum level in 14 years. How could this of happened (again)?...

By Duncan McCaslin Start-up businesses are constantly innovating and becoming globally competitive, particularly when attracting a younger, hungrier workforce. The on-going question for many businesses trying to build a committed workforce is the question of how to stay relevant, competitive and appealing. It’s important to invest your time wisely when marketing your start-up. Whether it’s an approach to strengthening user engagement, customer loyalty, team building and employee wellness, brand awareness, or face-to-face signups, a start-up business has the ability to...

By Jack Peat  “Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night. But at least it will have passed through the poor fellow’s hands.” Will Rogers Good capitalism is the ability to promote incentives and opportunity in equal measure. Sway too far one way and the potential of human capital is stifled, sway too far in the other direction and the willingness to realise this potential also goes amiss. Of...

By Toby James  Early last month, Tony Hall, the director general of the BBC, proposed changes to the way the BBC operates with regard to production of television programmes. The BBC has always been at the forefront of broadcast innovation. This throne has been somewhat usurped lately by the sheer number of other companies producing or broadcasting television, be it Sky’s grasp over sports, Endemol and Freemantle Media’s ubiquity in production or UKTV’s innovative way of broadcasting BBC and other...

By Elsa Buchanan As the European Commission and the US are busy negotiating a free trade agreement, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), campaigners say they are increasingly worried citizens are losing their democratic privileges. While corporations are looking forward to an improved trade and regulatory cooperation between the US and EU, the opposition -which includes Pan-European civil society groups - is concerned that regulatory convergence will grind down hard-won social and environmental standards. "The thing with TTIP is...

By Stephen Angus Peter Junor  October represents a deadline for the various African blocs to negotiate and accept a free trade deal with the EU, a deal which has been on the table since Doha 2000. African relations with the EU are split into five blocs: West Africa, Central Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). As of now, West Africa and the SADC are the only two blocs to have...

By Philip Benton Recently I attended a talk here in London about digital currencies and how they could be the answer to our economic woes and the key to rebuilding our broken society. I went in with an open mind, keen to broaden my interest in the curious world of crypto currencies, but somehow came out with more questions than answers. The talk was hosted by ex-investment banker Simon Dixon and Max Keiser of The Keiser Report fame. The opening...

By Nathan Lee  The Financial Times has introduced a new scheme encouraging young authors to tackle emerging business themes. The Bracken Bower Prize has been launched by the FT alongside McKinsey & Company, organisers of the Business Book of the Year Award, with the aim of unearthing new talent and encouraging writers to research ideas that could fill future business books of the year. A prize of £15,000 will be given for the best book proposal and will be awarded...

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic All this talk of the high street demise seems rather perverse walking along the streets of Shoreditch. The pop-up shops selling locally sourced produce and the wealth of arts and crafts ventures that litter the street are a massive f**k off to multinationals, demonstrating that with a bit of intuition local shops can thrive. But even Shoreditch, in all its hipster glory, seems to be changing. At the heart of Shoreditch, arguably...