BBC stars will gain from radical pay transparency 19 Jul 2017 The UK public broadcaster has named everyone who earns more than 150,000 pounds a year. The main conclusion is that valuing TV presenters is guesswork. As with chief executives of listed companies, disclosing compensation will just enable them to demand even higher wages.
Guest view: Culture can’t be bank-reform casualty 18 Jul 2017 Moves to relax U.S., UK and European regulation and supervision necessitate still greater attention on the important issues of institutional conduct, argues William Rhodes, a former Citigroup executive and co-chair of the G30’s steering committee on bank culture and governance.
SoundCloud flags music’s lopsided digital revival 7 Jul 2017 The German streaming service is cutting 40 percent of staff, according to reports, after Spotify shelved a possible purchase last year. With most of the returns from the industry’s digital renaissance going to labels, streamers have yet to prove they have an independent future.
Silicon Valley reinvents avoidable sexism scandals 26 Jun 2017 Binary Capital is imploding amid claims of predatory behavior. Uber is belatedly tackling similar issues. Venture-capital doyen Reid Hoffman wants an industry “decency pledge.” That's fine, but the tech world could have learned long ago from experience, including on Wall Street.
Brexit assurances give EU citizens scant comfort 26 Jun 2017 The government has told Europeans they will not be forced to leave the United Kingdom. That’s welcome. But many grey areas will depend on the judgement of overworked bureaucrats. Worse still, any pledges could be rendered invalid if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal.
New Irish leader is more like Renzi than Macron 5 Jun 2017 Leo Varadkar will be Ireland’s youngest prime minister, prompting comparisons with France’s Emmanuel Macron. Parallels with Italy’s former PM Matteo Renzi are more apt. His government is weak, and he could be at odds with Europe on Ireland’s chief challenges of Brexit and taxes.
Hadas: Ending the hyperbole over pension savings 31 May 2017 The World Economic Forum wants all workers to put more aside for retirement. That may be conventional wisdom, but it is economic nonsense. For a nation, current savings cannot reduce the burdens of future pensions: if anything such reliance risks worsening the social challenge.
Review: The shirk ethic – a user’s guide 28 Nov 2014 Work can be seen as a blessing or a curse. In “Empty Labor,” Roland Paulsen examines people who take mostly the latter view, asking how and why they shirk, and whether it’s always a bad thing. His study of idleness on the job is enlightening, amusing and sad.