Business and Economics
Business and Economics News
The Next Financial Crisis will be caused by Central Bankers Not Investment Bankers
By Ben Ramanauskas On September 15th 2008, the global investment bank Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy. It was- and still remains- the largest bankruptcy filing in the history of the United States and precipitated a global financial crisis that has had a devastating impact on the world economy. The conduct of many of the bankers at Lehman Brothers, and it’s subsequent fall, became emblematic of the culture of greed and excessive risk taking of the financial services industry. As the...
20 million pensions raided by Tories…with low-paid worst hit
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor People on less than £15k a year will be clobbered by the Tory government as increases under Labour are cancelled. Private sector workers, who are low-paid, will be the worst affected as twenty million people are hurt by Tory pension changes. George Osborne said his new flat rate £155.65-a-week pension is “simpler and fairer, and there is no doubt it is vastly larger than the current £115.95 rate. However, there will no longer be additional...
Martin Shkreli maybe a Jerk but is a symptom of what’s wrong with Pharma Industry
By Ben Ramanauskas Martin Shkreli has managed to engender feelings of revulsion in the vast majority of the population. He incurred widespread odium when his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, acquired the drug Daraprim, which is commonly used to treat toxoplasmosis, which kills people with weakened immune systems, such as people suffering from AIDS or undergoing chemotherapy. The parasite which causes toxoplasmosis lives inside of one third of the population, in tiny cysts that go undetected because they are quarantined in our...
The OECD has called for less Austerity…Will Europe Listen?
By Dean Hochlaf Since the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent economic downturn, Europe has pursued a course of vigorous austerity, in a desperate attempt to reign in government spending which spiralled after a series of high profile bank bail-outs. In Britain austerity is practically synonymous with Chancellor George Osborne. In Europe, it is Wolfgang Schäuble, the indomitable German Finance Minister who best encapsulates the continents commitment to austerity policies. The fascination with austerity borders on the dogmatic. The Greek economy...
Iain Duncan Smith approves cuts to disabled people on assumption “enough will die.”
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Iain Duncan Smith is giving the green light to almost a 20 per cent cut in support for people with disabilities. Funds available for disabled people who used to access the ILF (Independent Living Fund) will be reduced by nearly a fifth over the next four years. Government ministers have said the measures are appropriate as the claimant number will fall, however campaigner Linda Burnip claims this is calculated “based on the hope enough people...
Victims of Bedroom Tax Suffer By £66 More Than DWP Predicted
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Figures that have just been released have revealed that the controversial tax is costing 442,000 poor homes £15.27 a week up from an estimated £14. A lot of money for struggling people living on the breadline. This is a total of £794 a year, £66 higher than the £728 the DWP claimed it would be in the official impact assessment from 2013/14. This is 9 per cent above the original figure. The difference on the...
Millions in Poverty Through Tory Cuts as Study Says Work Failing to Pay
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Welfare cuts have hit children the hardest as families can’t make ends meet, a study has revealed. Due to Tory spending cuts more people live below the poverty line that in 2008 at the height of the global financial meltdown. The report, by the JRF (Joseph Rowntree Foundation) found that 11.6 million people are struggling to make ends meet. Shockingly the majority of these people live in working households. The JRF study says that cuts...
Meet the Capital’s Entrepreneurs Deeply Concerned by a Quarterly Hike in Tax Returns
Porterlight Bicycles’ office-come-workshop, tucked away inside a warehouse on an industrial estate in Seven Sisters, has all the space of a garden shed. Between Lawrence Brand – the founder of Porterlight Bicycles – myself, and a baby blue bicycle frame, there is little room to manoeuvre. Hunched over a workbench, we are sandwiching a small blackboard. Chalked on the board is a motivational message: ‘Time to Build’. Brand believes the Chancellor has failed to send out the same message to...
EasyJet Founder Launches Low Cost Supermarket in Park Royal
EasyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has opened a new low cost supermarket in Park Royal offering staple goods for 25p each. EasyFoodstore opened on Monday offering a range of groceries for 25p as part of a introductory promotion set to last all of February. The outlet has a “limited and basic range of items at rock-bottom prices” using the slogan, “No expensive brands. Just food honestly priced”. The move is a clear challenge to the astronomic rise of retailers Aldi and...