On 1 February, I caught up with Dave Fishwick, star of Channel 4’s fantastic series Bank of Dave: Convinced that he can do a better job than the high street banks, Dave Fishwick sets up his own small bank and endeavours to make it profitable – in just 180 days […]
Read MoreOn Tuesday 15th November, I was delighted to welcome into Parliament representatives and supporters of the FairLife charity for the launch of the FairLife Mark. The FairLife Mark is a fair trading mark for financial products, services, commitments, education and guidance. A number of FairLife Ambassadors attended, ranging from senior […]
Read MoreYesterday, I spoke against Clause 35 and schedules 15 to 17 of the Finance Bill 2013. They introduce tax relief for “high-end” television production (that is, posh drama and comedy) and video games development. They’re industries I’d like to see flourish but not by granting special privileges. It’s special privilege which is […]
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Once I saw George Selgin referenced on page 7, the paper dollar criticised on page 8 and a Zim$100 trillion note on page 12, I knew I would enjoy Ouch!: Ignorance is Bliss, Except when It Hurts- What You Don’t Know About Money and Why It Matters (More Than You […]
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For City AM, Prof Philip Booth writes, Thatcher changed the City forever but Big Bang isn’t the whole story: Let’s be absolutely clear: in general, the 1980s was not a period of financial deregulation. Insider trading was made illegal in 1980. The life insurance industry, which had been almost free […]
Read MoreA new source of help for small and medium enterprises across the country was introduced yesterday when Treasury Minister Lord Sassoon launched a comprehensive on-line directory of finance companies providing alternatives to conventional bank loans or overdrafts. Businesses may need finance for a variety of reasons, including short-term cash flow or working […]
Read MoreAmerican musician Ray Stevens has produced this superb analysis of the Obama Budget Plan: I’m sure Ray has much to teach politicians and the public in the UK and Europe too, particularly about ethics and decency in the public finances. For more on that subject, see Jörg Guido Hülsmann’s brilliant book […]
Read MoreMy colleague Jesse Norman MP has done some fantastic work towards obtaining rebates on exorbitant private finance initiative (PFI) contracts. See for example his article It is time to derail the PFI gravy train. To that end, yesterday we held a lengthy debate in Westminster Hall which you can find here. PFI really […]
Read MoreIt was briefly fashionable to admit that interest rates were too low for too long, leading to a boom built on expansionist monetary policy. Unfortunately (related link my own): Economic theory has demonstrated in an irrefutable way that a prosperity created by an expansionist monetary and credit policy is illusory […]
Read MoreI have written today on financial regulation for The Cobden Centre: In the aftermath of the financial crisis, we are now going down a road towards ‘judgement-based’ regulation of financial firms in an attempt to salvage capitalism. It is proposed that firms will be supervised by what amount to shadow management […]
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