Rising prices and lack of goods are what happens when just-in-time economy collides with skin-of-the-pants government It all seems to have happened so fast. Only a few months ago, the government was congratulating itself for the speed at which Britain …
‘A perfect storm’: supply chain crisis could blow world economy off course
From Liverpool to LA, shortages of energy, labour and transport are threatening recovery from CovidHow the supply chain crisis is affecting six big economiesIt was all going so well. Successful vaccination programmes were driving the post-pandemic reco…
The Southeastern train arriving on platform 3 is £25m late
Latest rail franchise to hit the buffers at least arrived at the destination via an unconventional routeGovernment to take over Southeastern State takeover will amplify calls for rail reformThe conventional way for a company to get stripped of a rail f…
The global supply chain crisis could fuel a severe dose of stagflation
Economic observers should heed the warnings now – rising prices and slowing growth are a very real threatHow will the global economy and markets evolve over the next year? There are four scenarios that could follow the “mild stagflation” of the last fe…
Food fraud and counterfeit cotton: the detectives untangling the global supply chain
Amid the complex web of international trade, proving the authenticity of a product can be near-impossible. But one company is taking the search to the atomic levelFive years ago, the textile giant Welspun found itself mired in a scandal that hinged on …
The west must engage with the Taliban and provide financial support
The gains of the past 20 years in Afghanistan will be lost unless we keep funding social infrastructureAfghanistan is on the brink of economic meltdown. Millions of people are going hungry. Teachers and doctors are going unpaid. The social infrastructu…
The pandemic-induced global slump is just part of a 20-year financial crisis | Larry Elliott
A prolonged malaise caused by deep-seated structural problems has prevented a full economic recovery post-2007Every year since 1978 the world’s central bankers have gathered to chew the fat at Jackson Hole in the Grand Tetons. This year’s star attracti…
Ian Botham appointed UK trade ambassador to Australia
Former England cricketer and crossbench peer will ‘bat for business down under’, says Liz TrussIan Botham, the former England cricketer and crossbench peer, has been appointed a UK trade ambassador to Australia, the government has announced.He is one o…
Banking chiefs head for the hills in bid to leave cheap money behind
At the Jackson Hole bankers’ summit this week, the talk will be of ending quantitative easing – and this time it will be seriousIt is credited with preventing the worst global recession since at least the second world war from turning into something fa…
If education is such a great investment, it deserves serious international backing
The World Bank and IMF should step in to finance a recovery of children’s learning chances devastated by the pandemic“Education,” wrote Nelson Mandela, “is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” One wonders what he would have made o…