Showing 1 - 10 of 130
Curious case of Sunak's snap election decision
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 01/06/2024
» 'Why did he do it? We were all told it would be the autumn and we were hoping by then we could turn things around. It is very perplexing," said a former cabinet minister after Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a surprise election for July 4.
Time to put brakes on immigration
News, Published on 04/01/2024
» No politician can be expected to tell us all of the truth. If they did so, they would lose an election even for town dogcatcher. Nonetheless it doesn't seem too much to suggest, in this season of hope, that 2024 might go significantly better than 2023 if more of our leaders around the world acknowledged realities about some of the troubles that beset us.
Reforming the capital market landscape
Oped, Published on 20/12/2023
» The capital market plays a significant role in the country's socio-economy.
Time to close the clean-tech gap
News, Published on 04/09/2023
» In the debate about how to curb global warming, climate action is often confused for climate justice. Many European countries (including the United Kingdom) have taken to self-flagellation, atoning for their long history of burning fossil fuels by attempting to decarbonise their domestic economies as quickly as possible, no matter the cost.
Which one is the real Europe?
Oped, Published on 04/08/2023
» This year marks the 30th anniversary of the European Union. When the Maastricht Treaty took effect in 1993, Europeans embarked on a historically unique experiment in supranational governance and shared sovereignty. The EU's single market allows for the free movement of goods, services and capital among 27 member states; and, critically, its Schengen Area means open borders between member states (and free movement rights even in non-Schengen member states), granting more than 400 million people an unprecedented form of citizenship that transcends national territories. While free trade is an old idea, the free movement of people on this scale is entirely novel.
Northern Ireland's transformation
Oped, Published on 13/04/2023
» Twenty-five years ago, I, along with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, US President Bill Clinton, and the leaders of Northern Ireland's four main political parties, presented what became known as the Good Friday Agreement (GFA). That accord resolved a conflict that had caused thousands of deaths and untold grief and destruction for decades, arguably for centuries.
'Davos Man' needs to acquire some social skills
Oped, Published on 04/02/2023
» One of the most iconic images of our time shows a polar bear marooned and adrift on an ice floe. Few other images capture the reality of climate change so viscerally. And now, ironically, Davos Man finds himself in a similar metaphorical position. His natural habitat, the hyper-globalised world of the past half-century, is shrinking, and he has gone from skiing in the Swiss Alps to skating on thin ice.
Time to make the most of deglobalisation
Oped, Published on 22/12/2022
» After four decades of fostering integration through trade and finance, the global economy has begun a painful process of fragmentation. Initially driven by wealthy countries -- namely, the US under former President Donald Trump and the UK following the Brexit referendum -- several geopolitical forces have combined to accelerate the shift toward deglobalisation.
Trussonomics: No better than 'liberty' lettuce
Oped, Published on 29/10/2022
» Following the brutal market backlash against her plans for unfunded tax cuts and tens of billions of pounds in additional spending, Liz Truss resigned as British prime minister, succeeded by her Tory rival, Rishi Sunak. The international media is now struggling to make sense of it all, but the task may be impossible. I have been working at it for over a decade and remain perplexed.
Rishi Sunak is a new and old-fashioned Tory
News, Published on 27/10/2022
» It is a nice coincidence that Rishi Sunak has won the leadership of the Conservative Party, and hence the prime ministership, on the most important day of Diwali, the "festival of light" celebrated by Hindus, along with Sikhs, Jains, and some Buddhists. Diwali supposedly marks the triumph of "light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance". It is also associated with wealth and prosperity. In February 2020, Mr Sunak took his oath of office as chancellor of the exchequer holding a copy of the Bhagavad Gita and celebrated Diwali by putting lights outside his official residence at Number 11 Downing Street. He will now be the first Hindu to become UK prime minister. His time in office will hinge on his ability to deliver a reasonable measure of prosperity to a country that is in dire economic straits.