Downside of regulation
There are many things wrong with British banks, but contrary to the Cruickshank Report, the fact that they make profits is not one of them.
Spanner in the works
The proposal to extend the Droit de Suite amounts to a subsidy of successful artists by unsuccessful ones.
Beating the west at its own game
Commercial success with innovation depends less on the innovations themselves than on the other qualities of a firm. Sony’s use of Bell Labs technology is the classic example.
Creativity at centre stage
Who really benefits from copyright laws? “Artists for strong copyright” seem not to understand for whose interests they are campaigning.
The Role of Business in Society
The view of business as necessarily selfish, narrow and instrumental, is, as it always has been, nonsense. Business which is selfish in motivation, narrow in outlook, and instrumental in behaviour is rarely successful business.
Outside football league table tells us all we need to know
League tables are in vogue, and despite the difficulties they seem worthwhile. If only it were easy to produce a “value added” table.
A rare privilege
Returns go where there is scarcity. The land in Champagne is intrinsically scarce. Other factors can be made scarce, or to cease to be scarce, as the history of broadcasting tells us.
Passes and returns
Dalglish arrives at Newcastle and Horlick moves to ABN Amro. The common theme: do teams, or individuals, capture the returns to outstanding performance?
Of fortunes and foresight
Will the dominant firms of the next century be the ones that show foresight and react quickly? Many of the best companies work simply by doing traditional business very, very well.
Father Christmas does not exist?
Father Christmas does not exist? Tell that to investors who seem unable to ask how much value certain business really add