Monthly Archives: January 2009

Britain has suddenly been hit by a wave of strikes the like of which we haven’t seen for twenty years. What started as a dispute over the use of foreign workers at an oil refinery in Lincolnshire has, in the course of two days, turned … Continue reading →

This handy little picture, apparently compiled by JP Morgan, shows how the market value of some of the world’s largest banks has collapsed in less than two years. You’ll need to click on it to read it properly. It reminds me of the … Continue reading →

During the boom years (remember them?) the British became obsessed with Property Porn. Now we’ve swapped that addiction for Recession Porn. I thought I’d invented that term but, alas, it seems someone else got there first. Filthy Smoker (what a great name) posted … Continue reading →

The Provisional Shadow Chancellor may be in trouble with party hacks and the Tory press for saying that David Cameron was talking rubbish about the economy, but it seems that business people quite like him. In a poll of business leaders, … Continue reading →

One of my favourite books on corporate culture is Edgar Schein’s Organisational Culture and Leadership. Simplistic definitions of culture, such as ‘the way we do things around here’ or even ‘shared values’, are not especially useful. Schein’s understanding of culture … Continue reading →

My initial reaction when I saw the title of this year’s Guardian Public Services Summit was rather unkind. Are we entering a post bureucratic age?  Bwahahahahahahahaha! That’s a good ‘un. Then I decided, instead of just heaping derision on the idea, … Continue reading →

More on the question of whether or not Britain is about to go bankrupt. Some of the figures that have been quoted in the press look frightening. Britain’s banks are huge. For example, RBS, the bank that the taxpayer now … Continue reading →

I was musing the other day that just as, if you had some spare capital kicking around, now would be a good time to buy property, if you were seriously rich it would also be a good time to set up a … Continue reading →

Some people have said that this blog takes a somewhat cynical view of business, the economy and the world of work. It’s not the first time I have had this feedback. My boss at the evil City firm I used … Continue reading →

Just heard that from Will Hutton on Radio 4’s World at One. When our media were having a go at Iceland in October I said that the UK could well find itself in a similar situation and that, before demanding that Iceland cover UK … Continue reading →