Monthly Archives: December 2008

The CIPD’s John Philpott has predicted that 600,000 jobs will be lost next year and that the redundancies will continue into 2010. The British Chambers of Commerce have warned of pay freezes and even cuts in wages over the next year. It … Continue reading →

Last month I wrote about how, as soon as things get difficult, all talk of public policy being decided by unelected groups of experts goes out of the window. Political independence is fine when the economy is growing and everything … Continue reading →

It may come as a surprise to readers outside the UK that, as well as having a lax regulatory regime that allows financiers to make and keep large amounts of money while screwing up the economy for everyone else, this … Continue reading →

Sorry for the lack of posts. I’ve been attacked by the germ that seems to have knocked half of London for six over the past couple of weeks. Judging by the blog stats, which have dropped off over the last few days, … Continue reading →

There are now dozens of blogs on my sidebar and I don’t get round to reading them all nearly often enough. At the weekend, when I was waiting in the car for my wife to arrive at the station, I … Continue reading →

There is a lot of fuss this morning about the European Parliament’s vote to remove the right to opt out of the EU’s Working Time Directive. The anti-EU papers are having a field day, business organisations are predicting ruin and employment lawyers … Continue reading →

I’ve heard it said that Irish people tell the best Irish jokes and Jewish people tell the best Jewish jokes. The same is probably true of management consultants. The Berkeley Partnership is running a series of cartoons with the theme … Continue reading →

Like most bloggers, I just love it when events prove me right. It’s only two weeks since I commented on the government’s plan to cut 30% off the cost of its back office functions by setting up shared service centres for … Continue reading →

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, we find out that our banks have been the victims not only of their own incompetence but of fraud as well. Even the cleverer banks, like HSBC and Santander, who managed to avoid … Continue reading →

Another installment of the Haringey saga. The council, or should that be Ed Balls, has appointed a new director of children’s services. According to the London Evening Standard, Peter Lewis will earn £200,000 a year. That’s considerably more than Sharon … Continue reading →