Business

Rumours of the death of music are exaggerated

30th July, 2008

David Crow says the record industry’s attempt to clamp down on illegal downloads is belated and befuddled — but the good news is that live music is thriving again

City Life

30th July, 2008

Cold beer, smiling people, stable growth: where Gordon should have gone on holiday

The decline of the empire of Starbucks

23rd July, 2008

Matthew Lynn says coffee is the pure brew of capitalism — as the credit crunch bites, no wonder the world’s most ubiquitous coffee-house chain is heading for trouble

Who’s in charge? It’s hapless Hank

16th July, 2008

The failings of Hank Paulson

Can London be turned around like a troubled company?

16th July, 2008

Judi Bevan meets Tim Parker, the controversial private-equity player who slashed jobs and boosted value at Kwik-Fit and the AA, and is about to apply his skills at City Hall

Any Other Business

9th July, 2008

Martin Vander Weyer's thoughts on the world of business

Good news for the prudent: we’re heading for recession

9th July, 2008

Richard Northedge says those who did not overspend during the boom years will soon be able to buy whatever they want at bargain prices, perhaps even with borrowed money

Private education

9th July, 2008

School fees: a luxury you can’t afford

Fading memories of the Raj in the tea gardens of Assam

2nd July, 2008

Richard Orange says the Indian tea industry is enjoying a revival — but that the traditional tea-planters’ way of life, established by the British, is passing into history

There is not much to distinguish Dhanesheva Kurmi from the rest of the crowd at the Hautely Tea Estate, a remote garden an hour and a half’s bumpy drive from the Assamese town of Jorhat.

The market’s favourite scapegoat

2nd July, 2008

Christopher Fildes on short selling

The veteran batsman who just hates to lose

25th June, 2008

Judi Bevan meets Sir Martin Sorrell, the hard-driving Eighties entrepreneur who is still chasing acquisitions for the company he created, the advertising giant WPP

‘Building a company is the nearest thing a man can do to giving birth and nurturing a child to maturity,’ says Sir Martin Sorrell, the founder and chief executive of WPP.

Pound sold to highest bidder

25th June, 2008

Matthew Lynn on domain name sales

City Life

25th June, 2008

Childcare costs soar, house prices plunge, and the rich get sued by Mr Riches

Business as usual with the Burmese generals

18th June, 2008

Elliot Wilson explains why international condemnation of Burma’s brutal military leaders is so ineffectual: because many other countries are eager to do deals with them

Wishful thinking at the Economist

18th June, 2008

Tony Curzon Price on oil price speculators

Not a scandal but a textbook success

18th June, 2008

Ross Butler says MPs’ criticisms of the sell-off of theformer Defence Research Agency are financially naive

‘Don’t focus on what you can make, but on what you can lose’

11th June, 2008

David Craig, a pioneer of the British hedge-fund industry, recalls lessons learned from John Paulson, the New York investor who topped last year’s global earnings league

Global rules made in London? Brussels sniffs conspiracy

11th June, 2008

Christopher Fildes on international accounting standards  

Ladies, bring us your business plans

11th June, 2008

Venture capitalist Bruce Macfarlane says women are a better risk than men, yet they rarely ask him to back them

Opportunities for vintage growth

11th June, 2008

Christopher Silvester says you don’t have to be rich to invest in fine wine, and the rewards can be handsome