13 May The best of what we read, watched and listened to this week
Image by Mike Foster from Pixabay
The news in the last few months has been uncomfortable for investors who were aware of it. If you’re struggling to maintain focus on the long term and feel that action is required when this sort of thing happens, here are some tips to help you to do the right thing for your future peace of mind. [6 min read]
Last week several of us attended a conference organised by our professional body, at which one of the speakers raised the possibility of moving to a 20% shorter working week without reducing productivity or staff earnings. Despite the fact that many businesses have managed to maintain productivity with everyone working remotely for much of the last two years, there are undoubtedly benefits from a shared workspace although it doesn’t follow that everyone there is actually achieving anything useful all day. Now professional services giant PwC has recognised this in its latest announcement, not that everyone thinks it’s a great idea. [3 min read]
Every technological development is eventually superseded by something else, even if not necessarily ‘better’ for everyone, the latest victim being the iPod music player. Now Apple is to discontinue production in the face of Spotify, so it is about to become part of history. [4 min read]
Dodgy telephone reception is less common these days but when we encounter it and need to spell something out, there is no substitute for the phonetic alphabet. Yet the one we use today has evolved from several precursors, some of which are frankly bizarre (including some which begin with an entirely different letter). It reminds Rob of a former colleague who once used his own phonetic alphabet made up of medical terms, including the not wholly helpful ‘pneumoconiosis’ for ‘P’. [3 min read]
25 years ago, the Bank of England was given the independent power to set interest rates and to the credit of politicians of all parties, it has retained it ever since. It’s not been an easy ride but at least having professionals rather than vote-conscious politicians in charge should provide us with some reassurance. [7 min read]
This month will see the opening of the much-delayed Elizabeth Line across London, the outcome of the Crossrail project. Three of the four arms are already open but from 24th May, they will be joined together and here is a handy guide to it. [8 min read]
We hope you have a good weekend.
Charles and Rob