Daily Archives: April 11, 2017

British business must act on corporate governance – News from Parliament – UK Parliament

April 11, 2017 By in Brexit, Central banks, Fiscal Policy, Neoliberal, Politicians, Politics, Reform, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Read first-hand the report of the UK parliamentary Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee report which says business must act to address lack of trust.

Source: British business must act on corporate governance – News from Parliament – UK Parliament

I remember from my sabbatical when I completed an applied doctorate in business administration that there was a rich research literature on corporate governance, both in terms of theory and empirical analysis.

For a parliamentary select committee to say that business must act is a cop out.

Corporate governance does not improve in the UK because there are powerful vested interested in play protecting the status-quo.

Part of the problem is that the UK does not have a written constitution, unlikes the US and Germany. In both the US and Germany, corporate governance has some serious teeth and executives live in real fear of intervention.

Despite the drum-beating of Brexiteers, the UK is strategically weak and corporate governance is one of the cornerstones of weakness. The City is still a closed shop with interlocking directorships.

But nothing will change with a Conservative Government in power who pander to their chums.

Perhaps, it will take a new centrist party inspired by the UK’s Macron?

 

 

Opinion -The cancellation of Boris Johnson’s trip to Moscow puts Britain in its place in the world | Editorial – The Independent – John Gelmini

April 11, 2017 By in Defense Policy, Foreign Policy, Politics Leave a comment

Dr Alf is right to point out Britain’s increasing irrelevance in the world following the cancellation of Boris Johnson’s trip to Russia, assuming it was cancelled on Mrs May’s orders as a nod towards pleasing Donald Trump.

The reality is that Trump, Putin, Xi Jin Ping ,and Turkey, between them, have the ability to do a deal in a darkened room, solve the Syrian crisis, take Assad into exile, put in an acceptable replacement and deal with ISIS on the battlefield. The UN and the UN Security Council are probably now part of the problem.

Our (UK) influence should be focussed on Saudi Arabia and developing global trade, not pretending that we are a “Great Power” punching above our weight.

Being part of a bankrupt EU, which is going to split into two anyway, will not help us only selling our way out of trouble and improving the productivity of our lazy and unproductive citizens will do that.

Johnson, Davis and Fox seem too corpulent ,too laid back, and too devoid of strategy to even comprehend that and as we saw with the truculent father who lost his case when he took his daughter to Florida in term time, the public do not comprehend just how behind and uncompetitive our children and young people are in the global jobs stakes.

Syria has to be addressed effectively, Iran has to be contained and Saudi Arabia, the champion of Wahhabism and unwarranted mosque building, also has to be dealt with; otherwise, its risk-profiling World War III.

John Gelmini