Economy

The UK government is battening down the hatches for a wave of strikes in December and January. Railway workers, nurses, ambulance workers, civil servants and postal staff are all set to take industrial action in the coming weeks in protest at wages not keeping up with inflation, with teachers’ and firefighters’ unions also balloting their […]

The recent protests in China against the country’s zero-COVID policy have been unprecedented in their scale, intensity and distribution. Protestors numbering in the thousands were reported in dozens of cities. Not since 1989’s Tiananmen Square protests has there been such widespread civil disobedience. The protests do not signify the imminent collapse of the Chinese Communist […]

Shorter working weeks can make people happier and more productive. fizkes / Shutterstock A group of companies that have been trialling a four-day working week have recently reported increased revenue, with fewer employees taking time off or resigning. While it’s easy to understand the effects of a shorter week on worker wellbeing, the positive effects […]

Raf Simons walks the runway for his Calvin Klein Collection during New York Fashion Week 2018. FashionStock.com Surviving 27 years in the competitive and fast-changing world of fashion is an accomplishment many brands only dream of. Raf Simons weathered the 2007-08 financial crisis, Brexit and the COVID pandemic with his eponymous label, but in November […]

Alex Traveler / Shutterstock Christmas is a period for celebrating our relationships with family and friends – a time filled with nostalgia and sentimentality. Of course for many people it’s also a time of conspicuous consumption, even if this year in the face of a cost-of-living crisis, spending is expected to fall. But in times […]

A workplace that supports diversity across all levels. ProStockStudio / Shutterstock The process for applying for a gender recognition certificate in the UK has become easier and cheaper due to government changes in recent years. There has been a slow increase in the the number of people applying as a result. It is also likely […]

Raise a glass to your local this winter. roman synkevych / unsplash, CC BY-SA A licensed venue closed every hour in Britain during the third quarter of 2022 and the nation’s pubs are “vanishing” at an alarming rate. Such troubles show no signs of easing, with hopsitality industry bodies warning more than one-third of the […]

It was Norman Lamont who first announced a new way of paying for public buildings and infrastructure in November 1992. In a speech to the House of Commons, the then chancellor of the exchequer said he was looking to encourage more private financing for such projects. Speaking only a few weeks after the government had […]

Checking food prices. 06photo / Shutterstock UK households, like those in many other countries, are struggling to make ends meet. More than half of households have only £2.66 per week left after paying for bills and essentials, according to figures from the supermarket chain Asda. The extreme spikes in the cost of energy and food […]

Spotlight on Qatar. Shutterstock/Nomi2626 The Fifa men’s World Cup 2022 in Qatar is arguably the most political in history. Even during the seemingly innocuous performance of South Korean pop star Jung Kook at the tournament’s opening ceremony, geopolitics were centre stage. For Kook, 25, is not just a good looking young man with a global […]

Someone else's problem? Gaudi Lab Two of the busiest online shopping days of the year are upon us. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis and recession, retailers will be desperately hoping that shoppers take advantage of discounts on Black Friday and Cyber Monday to bump up annual sales figures. While this would boost a […]

The last Blockbuster video store in Australia, March 13 2019. Adwo / Shutterstock Streaming services are replete with stories of the dead coming back to life. They’re also chock-full with dead or almost dead brands. Shows like Stranger Things have not only given new life to 1980s pop classics like Kate Bush’s Running up that […]