A U.S Federal consumer watchdog agency has issued a new rule that will prevent credit card companies and banks from requiring customers to agree to settle disputes by arbitration rather than going to court. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explained: “Hundreds of millions of contracts for consumer financial products and services have included mandatory arbitration …
Back in the 1990s, people thought Jeff Bezos aspired to run an online bookshop. They badly underestimated the scale of his ambition. Today, Amazon sells everything, and offers an array of other services, from cloud computing to TV streaming. In the US it accounts for 43% of online retail sales and 74% of e-book sales; …
The following is a contribution from Sally Perkins of senioradvisor.com. She contacted me on the subject of stress, which was a matter of concern to Epicurus, who laid particular emphasis on the importance of peace of mind: https://www.senioradvisor.com/blog/2016/08/the-many-negative-effects-of-stress-on-health/. “Mental health is a topic that’s growing in importance around the world. From mental health of young …
Are robots about to make us all redundant? That’s today’s big scare story, says Sonia Sodha. But it’s a “dangerous distraction”. The real threat to the labour market is that many workplaces, far from becoming too “futuristic”, are reverting to “quasi-Victorian labour exploitation”. The recent revival of our garment industry, for example – tight turnaround …
The signs are that life for British citizens is about to get a lot tougher. After two-and-a-half years of modest economic recovery, rising inflation (due to hit 3% later this year) and stagnant wage growth will start eroding the real value of people’s pay packets. That, in turn, will have a damaging effect on growth …
I spend a lot of time being critical of the United States, and it seems only right to point out that when is comes to lousy policies, pathetic leadership (and alleged corruption into the bargain) there is, at the present time, little to choose between the US and the UK – the issues are strikingly …
Continue reading ‘The fire disaster in North Kensington, no. 2’ »
“These days, the “news” is a single hyped-up story — a mass shooting or Comey’s appearance before Congress – are often presented in near-apocalyptic fashion. Such an approach is meant to glue eyeballs to the screen in a situation in which viewers are eternally restless and there are so many other screens available. This single …
“A quarter of British exports to the EU (worth £3bn a month) go through Calais. At present they are waved through as “EU goods”. But if we crash out of the single market without a new trade deal, every consignment of British goods will have to be inspected to ensure it meets EU regulations. France …
Today the British go to the polls. Brexit hasn’t really been an election issue; it has been mentioned only in reference to Teresa May’s penchant for doing u-turns. Will she do a u-turn on Brexit as well? The authors of Brexit have been largely silent, the amazing reason being that Remainers are a dwindling minority, …
As I promised last Monday, here is a new series I’ll be trialing called Best of the Week. It’s basically a list of the best opinion articles I’ve read over the week- a very brief summary of them, and a one-sentence reaction to them. I’ve often been asked where I get my news from, and …
Letter To The Times, London “Trevor Phillips says that we should not expect Muslims to “integrate in the same way” as other communities in Britain. Nobody expects Muslims to become exactly the same as non-Muslims, but perhaps the true question is this: if Muslims are not prepared to change to accommodate our ways (such as …
From the Financial Timesi: “The Ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU would be an excellent opportunity for the EU to reverse one of its bigger recent errors in trade policy. It should ditch the whole idea of having rules on investment, or at least rules allowing companies to sue a government directly, …
The EU represents 7% of the world’s population, approximtely 23% of global GDP and 50% of global public spending. Even without Britain almost all the nations of the EU have the highest life expectancy at birth, the best access to education and the highest GDP per capita. The crude capitalism that is typical of China …
“Is what Airbnb doing internationally illegal, or simply a disgrace? “Imagine a gorgeous home for your next getaway: a well-stocked kitchen, pool out the patio doors, nice linens, flowers on the bedside table. Sounds great, right? “Here’s the problem: “That house: stolen. “That land: stolen. “The roads on that stolen land to take you to …
Continue reading ‘Letting out illegally obtained homes on illegally obtained land.’ »
“The support of the American Christian evangelicals for Donald Trump is the life jacket preventing Trump from slipping into unrecoverable political depths”. Michael Gerson in today’s Washington Post.
