Business and Economics

By Stephen Angus Peter Junor China’s urbanisation plan is designed to boost the economy by increasing domestic consumption and connecting more people to the global workplace. The government also hope to improve living standards for everyone, but urbanisation can have drastic and irreversible effects on the environment while also reshaping the cultural fabric of the country which has historically been very rural. The last couple of years have seen the urban population outnumber the rural population for the first time in...

By Adam Walker, Economics Correspondent The Digital-Savvy Generation Rises To Power Facebook has acquired mobile phone messaging app WhatsApp for a total of $19 billion, giving them a bigger corporate value than giants such as American Airlines, Ralph Lauren and Tiffany. Launched in 2009 the app was based on a £0.79 subscription model for all of its users. Following the explosive growth of smartphone ownership and the immense popularity of the application it became one of the most prominent pieces of software...

By Stuart Buchanan, Junior Broadcast Executive at 4mediarelations  There was a time when most homes relied on a radio. The wireless, sat in the corner of the kitchen or living room was a key transmitter of news, a primary source of entertainment and a pioneering medium for releasing the latest music and sculpting the latest trends. Whether you were tuning in to the Peel sessions, listening to the King’s Speech, sat in a huddle as Winston Churchill addressed a war-stricken...

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic One of Britain’s biggest exporters shows the power of the four freedoms. In July 2011 the decision of the British government to award a £1.4 billion Thameslink contract to German firm Siemens was met with uproar. To quote the Daily Mail (deplorable but, in this instance, understandable), it was “beggars belief that Bombardier could have lost out to the Germans…. This would never have happened if Britain had put the national and...

By Stephen Angus Peter Junor Since economic reforms implemented by Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970’s, urbanisation in China has been relentless and it shows no signs of slowing down. Poor economic policy along with labour and market restrictions had previously suppressed urban growth, but since then China has developed into a major economic and political power. The city remains the hallmark of urban growth and the development of new cities has been rapid.  In 1978 there were 191 cities in...

By Philip Benton  Vietnam is a country famous for its delicious cuisine, motorbikes and thanks to Top Gear’s Vietnam Special, massive model boats. But perhaps you were unaware that it also plays an instrumental role in producing the world’s second most valuable traded commodity – coffee. A thriving coffee industry has helped to transform an economy, devastated by a 30-year long war, but can coffee sustain the rapid economic growth of Vietnam? An unlikely success story Vietnam is the world’s...

by Valentina Magri According to IMF forecasts, Britain will enjoy a bigger increase in GDP than any other country in Europe after being upgraded from 1.9 per cent to 2.4 per cent. But there are at least four risk factors that may weaken the recovery. Puzzling politics There is a complicated political background to deal with this year. To start with, David Cameron has promised British people “reform first, referendum second” over Europe exit by the end of 2017. The...

By Adam Walker, Economics Correspondent A Northerner’s Perspective London is an economic powerhouse, a hub of global headquarters and a melting pot of cultures, but is it a drain on the rest of the UK? Recently there has been a lot of speculation and debate surrounding the question of whether London has a positive or negative influence on the overall UK economy with heavyweights such as The Times’ David Smith and Vince Cable contributing their own analysis. Research by the Centre for...

By Adam Walker, Economics Correspondent Since the financial crisis hit in 2007 there has been a great deal of debate concerning the culture of big business capitalism and the demonisation of the financial industry. The elitism associated with the banking industry, coupled with accusations of political bias, immunity from punitive action and excessive bonus schemes has been the main target of people’s anger, many claiming that the financial sector is out of control when compared with other industries. However, are these...