Economics

A new report has revealed a cultural change in banks may take a generation, with the cost of poor culture far exceeding previous estimates. British retail banks and building societies have paid out at least £38.5 billion in fines and redress for customers over the last 15 years, with at least £27 billion of that due to the mis-selling of PPI. Poor culture also resulted in poor customer service, with banks have receiving 20.8 million complaints between 2008 and the first half of 2014, and 25 million between 2006 and...

By J T Coombes    www.globalmagnacarta.com    @GMagnaCarta Many years ago I had a bank manager as a next door neighbour. He was a lovely man, a bit like Captain Mainwaring in Dad’s Army, who cared about people but without the pomposity. After he retired we began to see the closure of bank branches and the centralisation of banking services. When I asked his view on these changes he said that we were now witnessing the end of banking in...

By Valentina Magri Inequality has been one of the most heated topics of economic debate in 2014 after the great success of Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”. The book was awarded the 2014 Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year prize on 11 November 2014. Mr Piketty, who is in China promoting his book, said in the accepting video that “issues about economic wealth and capital and public debt are too important to be left to a...

Thomson Reuters IP & Science has today revealed that its list of the top 100 most innovative organisations in the world contains no UK companies. The fourth annual Top 100 Global Innovators list has been released today with UK companies nowhere to be seen. The list shows that, while the French economy may have continued its sclerotic performance in 2014, the country is still home to seven of the top 100 innovators, down from 12 in 2013. Germany also outperformed the UK with...

By J T Coombes    www.globalmagnacarta.com     @GMagnaCarta In this new millennium 21st century Society is saddled with systems way past their sell by date. . . . A 15th century democratic system, complete with glass ceiling . . . An 11th century monetary system that increasingly holds the world to ransom . . . A 2000 year old surveillance system being replaced by modern technology Voting with what we now have will never solve the problems we now face  In this...

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic  Every year since 1856, as the first leaf buds appear on trees and daffodils can be seen in terraced gardens and along the banks of public parks, Oxford and Cambridge eights race along the River Thames as part of the most watched university competition in the country between the two oldest and, for now, most respected institutions in the country. But could they about to be displaced by university colleges that reside...

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic  Boom and bust seems like a primitive economic state, but few would argue today that the harsh cyclical nature of the economy has seen its day. If anything, they've become more severe. Soviet economist Nikolai Kondratiev theorised in the early 20th century that the economy works in waves that range from forty to sixty years, with high sectoral growth leading to intervals of relatively slow growth. In 1939 Joseph Schumpeter suggested naming...

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic  There are very few big industries in existence today that are not overrun by big companies. Take a minute to count how many rail operators there are in the UK or mobile phone companies, banks or electricity firms and you’ll struggle to move past your first five fingers. In a world where corporate capitalism is allowed to run riot, understanding how to keep big firms in check has become of paramount importance....

By Gregory Taylor  It was not the best start for the Conservative Party Conference, but things have gone rather better than some would have thought. On Saturday night we had seen one MP joining UKIP and another minister standing down because of a sex scandal. For political geeks like me, it’s great political news. The Tories came back fighting and managed to avoid just discussing the EU and immigration, although both are very important. Rather, welfare, economic policy, the NHS and education...