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Martin Vander Weyer: Bad news for pawnbrokers. Is that good news for the rest of us?
While attention has focused on the sudden ubiquity and alleged iniquity of payday lenders, boom and impending bust has infected…
Martin Vander Weyer: Freeze gas bills, freeze fuel duty – and one day we'll all freeze in the dark
‘We need successful energy companies in Britain, we need them to invest for the future,’ said Ed Miliband in his…
This isn’t a property bubble – it’s a reason to improve London’s transport
Everyone —including me, if I’m honest — has been talking about a new property bubble. But is it for real?…
Bet on Royal Mail, not Twitter
Royal Mail delivers to 29 million UK addresses; last year it generated £9 billion of revenues, of which £324 million…
Welcome back, TSB: your founder’s spirit is alive and well and living in Airdrie
A big hello to the revived Trustee Savings Bank — the spin-off of 631 Lloyds branches that were going to…
What Vodafone should do with its huge windfall: invest it in the next Vodafone
Vodafone, which has just collected an £84 billion windfall from the sale of its 45 per cent stake in Verizon…
A windfall tax on monster basements could solve London’s housing problem
The mega-rich are best housed behind high fences, on wooded estates patrolled by dogs; that way, they don’t have to…
Unpaid internships turned me into a banker – but I still think they’re a good thing
My thanks to ‘AndyB’, the only reader who posted an online comment on my column last week. It was ‘Don’t…
Back off, nimbyists, or fracking will benefit Beijing more than Balcombe
The fracking debate has been brought to a new heat by David Cameron’s message to Home Counties nimbyists and eco-crusties…
Whisper it, but the big banks are finally getting their houses in order
By and large it was a good week for the big banks — underpinned by encouraging news from the wider…
Dear Justin Welby – here’s how you can really take on Wonga
I’ve been in the pulpit again, this time to salute the centenary of the death of Charles Norris Gray, a…
The free market didn’t kill Detroit: blame bad managers and worse unions
One of the best articles I ever commissioned as an editor was an account by James Doran of a road…
Don't blame the baby boomers - they had it tough too
Here’s a competition for you: ‘The most irritating discussion on Radio 4 in the past month.’ Answers in not more…
With one cunningly placed number, Boris may have killed HS2
‘Does anyone seriously doubt that this amazing scheme is actually going to go ahead?’ boomed Boris Johnson last week. ‘No…
The world is better off without Marc Rich – but his heirs still control the price of almost everything
Marc Rich, the godfather of global commodity trading who died last week, ‘deserves credit as one of the greatest creators…
