Business
VW and the truth of engineering: say what you do, do what you say
Not that I was much of a boy racer, but the sexiest car I ever owned was a 1982 Volkswagen…
This will-they-won’t-they rate-rise saga has dragged on long enough
When news broke last Thursday evening that the US Federal Reserve had decided to keep interest rates on hold, I…
The Living Wage is nifty politics – but let’s see more help for small business too
What is George Osborne’s Living Wage? Is it a ploy to shift cost from the taxpayer to the employer by…
All those boardroom codes still can’t catch rogues and incompetents
Sir Adrian Cadbury, who has died aged 86, is remembered as the author in 1992 of a first stab at…
Cheer up: we’re robust enough to withstand a shock from China
Home from the hot Aegean, huddled by the fire as rain ruins the bank holiday weekend, I’m thinking: what gloom…
Exit the dragon
China’s long boom may finally be ending. The consequences for the world will be profound
Farewell to the City’s stroppy regulator: a modest sop for the new bank tax
A City insider at last month’s Mansion House dinner told me the Financial Conduct Authority had become ‘a bit of…
God’s new business plan
Justin Welby wants the C of E to focus on growth – and he’s enlisting bankers to help
Contagion of a different kind as Greece wriggles off the hook
The clear winner in the Greek crisis is the author of The Little Book of Negotiating Clichés, whose royalties must…
The surfer, the sailor and the horseman: prosperity is all about personal stories
The tectonic plates of economic life rumble and shift. As ever, market watchers are obsessed by big themes — and…
Which behaved worse: callous Thomas Cook or cynical Barclays?
Which is worse, morally and reputationally — to be Thomas Cook, shamed by its refusal to show proper human concern,…
Cheap shots and uncosted bribes are drowning out vision, wisdom and optimism
The interesting thing about Labour’s pledge to abolish non-dom tax status — a squib designed to trap Tories into expressing…
Ed dawn
He could still win. Here’s what happens if he does
Advice to StanChart’s new chief: reputation is even tougher to manage than financial risk
One day you’re an elder statesman, chairing top committees and pontificating on Question Time, and the next you’re out in…
Unwanted consequences: will cheap oil lead to a Labour election victory?
BP’s profits are down, and the oil giant is slashing up to $6 billion out of its investment plan for…
Austerity really is a virtue, whatever the Greeks think
The only question I remember from my Oxford moral philosophy paper was ‘What is integrity and is it a virtue?’…
Tony’s toxic legacy
Labour's attitude to wealth is sliding back into the 1970s - and Tony Blair's new career is one reason why
Will 2015 witness the Triumph of Probity and Prudence? I’m not betting on it
You might recall a column I once wrote about a party at the Wallace Collection. It took place in late…
Qatar’s bid for Canary Wharf fills me with foreboding, even if they deserve each other
I’ve written before of a ‘curse of Qatar’ that might explain misfortunes attending the Gulf state’s UK investments, of which…
Curatorial wrongs
The world exists and then it disappears, piece by piece, the gaps widening until one age is replaced by another,…
What happens in Vegas… and why I’m happy it doesn’t happen at home
I didn’t realise that the Rialto Bridge has a moving walkway and muzak, that the gondolas beneath it float on…
Kilkenny Notebook
‘What is a Minsky moment, anyway?’ asks Gerry Stembridge, an Irish satirist. ‘I’ve been reading about them in the papers…
Our prosperity is rising, but our start-up entrepreneurs need much more fertiliser
This issue includes the new Spectator Money supplement, in which I hope you’ll find a bouquet of stimulating ideas. The…
Mandatory fun
Forced, studenty wackiness has taken over our culture. It’s time to take a stand
Remember the Negroni Index? At last I’ve found a market that never stops rising
This dispatch comes to you from Venice — where I arrived at sunset on the Orient Express. More of that…
