Rick

Curbing high pay – Regulation or taxation?

Flip Chart Fairy Tales — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:42:56 GMT

Here’s a brain-teaser for you. Without looking, guess which OECD country has the highest level of income inequality. Now guess again. It’s Italy, followed by Chile, Portugal and Germany. The US, which would have been my guess, is down at …...(read more)

Why would RBS staff give Zoe Williams a soundbite?

Flip Chart Fairy Tales — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:07:59 GMT

Zoe Williams has been going into branches of RBS and asking staff to comment on the directors’ bonuses. She can’t understand why they are so reluctant to respond: All I wanted was the view from the ground in RBS: did … Continue reading...(read more)

Are managers just witch-doctors?

Flip Chart Fairy Tales — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:35:46 GMT

Anyone who reads Chris Dillow’s blog regularly will know that he is, to say the least, sceptical about the difference managers can make to an organisation. This piece made me laugh: To a large extent, the value of firms is … Continue reading...(read more)

Will shareholder empowerment curb executive pay?

Flip Chart Fairy Tales — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:06:21 GMT

According to Reuters, even the business leaders at Davos are wondering why shareholders haven’t revolted against high pay: Several business leaders, speaking candidly during closed meetings, pointed to growing social inequality and said there was...(read more)

Poverty, inequality and self-employment

Flip Chart Fairy Tales — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:16:37 GMT

Following on from yesterday’s post on inequality, I discovered this OECD country report on inequality in the UK. Assortative Mating (see yesterday’s post) has played a more significant role in increasing the earnings gap in the UK, says the...(read more)

How far has gender equality increased class inequality?

Flip Chart Fairy Tales — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:10:47 GMT

The arguments about high executive pay rumble on. I have been reading around the subject, which is complex, and I will post something on it in due course. In the meantime, though, here is an interesting discussion I came across … Continue reading...(read more)

NHS reforms are killing efficiency savings say MPs

Flip Chart Fairy Tales — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:07:52 GMT

The Commons Health Committee has confirmed what many of us predicted over a year ago; that the turmoil of the NHS restructure will kill off all hope of achieving the 4 percent annual efficiency savings demanded by the Nicholson Challenge. … Continue...(read more)

‘We’re not with the veto guy,’ say British firms

Flip Chart Fairy Tales — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 08:29:57 GMT

A good friend of mine, like many people from Northern Ireland, has both a UK and an Irish passport. In the aftermath of the Iraq invasion, she chose to travel on her Irish passport for a while. Given the bad … Continue reading → Read More...(read more)

Rewards for failure – Don’t blame employment law

Flip Chart Fairy Tales — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 06:19:14 GMT

The people who want to get rid of employment protection will try anything. Unfair dismissal legislation has been blamed for stifling economic growth and preventing efficiency improvements in the public sector. All baloney, of course. Now, though, City...(read more)

Thanks for 2011

Flip Chart Fairy Tales — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:51:33 GMT

The chaps and chapesses at WordPress have sent me the final stats on this blog’s visits for 2011. The most popular posts were: Murdoch’s Frankenstein - The day I posted this, the blog traffic broke all previous records, as Mr Murdoch …...(read more)

Are we losing our autonomy at work?

Flip Chart Fairy Tales — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:52:56 GMT

The Guardian’s Aditya Chakrabortty thinks we are. While we may have more power as consumers, he says, at work we are more regimented and controlled than ever before. In shops, the layout is dictated by head office, while the produce arrives …...(read more)

Regulating corporate psychopaths

Flip Chart Fairy Tales — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 10:03:46 GMT

Corporate psychopaths are still occupying positions of power, says Brian Basham. Not only that, but at least one investment bank was actively recruiting them, he claims. Should we be surprised? Not really. After all, as Joel Bakan said, if corporations...(read more)

Will 2012 be the year the lights go out?

Flip Chart Fairy Tales — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:11:17 GMT

I arrived in Ekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth largest city, at 5am. Something about the place didn’t look right. As I rode through the streets in a taxi, through my bleary-eyed stupor I realised why. It was pitch dark. Not pale-orange city dark...(read more)

Re-distributing inequality

Flip Chart Fairy Tales — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:13:54 GMT

Signs of what McKinsey called “The Great Rebalancing” are all around us. I smiled when I read about the messages of solidarity sent by Egyptians to the Occupy protesters in Europe and the USA. Time was when students in cold … Continue...(read more)

Cluedo 2012

Flip Chart Fairy Tales — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:29:15 GMT

Austerity, it seems, means that more of us are staying at home this Christmas and making our own fun. According to the Telegraph’s Harry Wallop, sales of board games are up this year, and they are especially popular among 7 … Continue reading...(read more)