Thanks to action on climate change at international level, renewable energy (electricity generation by means of solar panels, wind power, heat pumps and so on) is the most rapidly growing industry on the planet. That doesn’t necessarily make it investible. Renewable energy is much more expensive than conventional power generation from hydrocarbons – and much…
Oxford BioMedica may have a cure for leukaemia. Its share price has soared since the last week of June. Its treatment uses a modified version of the HIV virus to insert a cancer-killing gene into patients’ cells. This is a stunning example of how gene therapy will revolutionise medicine in the future. And there are…
The minority UK Conservative government is under pressure to loosen the fiscal purse strings. Does that mean the dream of balancing the budget remains no more than a dream? Who would benefit? Will taxes have to rise? And what are the risks? Cardiac arrest in the Gilts market is a real possibility. Under pressure Boris…
Things are changing in the aviation business. Three new trends in aircraft technology are about to revolutionise the industry. First, a new generation of super-long range aircraft are coming into service, meaning that flights from the UK to Australia will soon all be non-stop. Second, aero-engines are becoming super-efficient, meaning lower fuel costs and less…
What does the composition of President Macron’s post-election government tell us about France’s likely reform programme? Were the four early resignations a sign of weakness or of strength? Is the young President in as strong a position as he looks? And, assuming things are going in the right direction, who will be the early winners…
On 12 May this year a virulent piece of ransomware was unleashed upon the globe by persons yet unknown. In the UK, hospital computers were rendered inoperable. Renault (EPA:RNO) was forced to shut down car production at some of its plants in France. Russian government websites went down. German railway station information panels were blanked…
The FTSE-100 has been gliding around the stratospheric 7,500 level. So everything must be alright, then? Not necessarily. The FTSE-100 is powered by international market sentiment and the relative weakness of the Pound, which makes British blue chips look good value. Now confidence is on the wane. The Institute of Directors issued a report last…
Raking over the smouldering embers of the UK general election, there is one salient theme that speaks to the future. The deep socio-political-demographic divide between the Elders and the Millennials has reached a tipping point. A youthquake has struck. Society – not just in the UK but across the West – is about to change…
It was the big-budget West End musical that flopped. The “snap” UK general election of 2017 never really had a compelling plotline. Its major characters were poorly drawn, the acting wooden and the singing excruciating. The theatre had to be evacuated twice for security reasons. The diva-heroine didn’t even make it on the stage for…
What’s done cannot be undone. William Shakespeare, Macbeth. Here in Scotland, the British general election is a referendum on whether there should be a second referendum on independence. Increasingly, it is a binary choice between the Scottish Nationalists and the Tories. What will be the impact of the election on the Scottish economy? And what…
