Gaza – the end of all (conventional) wars?
war. the sound of thunder from Hell itself. heavy tanks moving into line to engage the enemy. shells pounding cities into rubble. fertile green open country turned into wasteland. it could be […]
whatever happened to all the heroes?
remember all those super-talented people who just came up with great stuff out of the blue, invented, created or designed things you just couldn’t do without? of course you can see lots […]
the rise of the megalo people
socialism draws people who have an unnaturally strong wish for power and control and think they’re much more important and powerful than they really are. any psychologist reading this will recognise that […]
the end of globalisation – time to rebuild the UK?
technology is the leading element of today’s consumer marketplace. and it’s very difficult to name a product that isn’t made in China today. it’s the continuation of a trend that saw Japan […]
from flying pigs to sushi – Congleton’s Market Quarter
just after the new millenium, Cheshire East Council proposed an ambitious development for the dilapidated Princess Street area of Congleton to be undertaken by the Salford building group, Modus. but Modus would […]
when the sum of the parts…
ICL. not a familiar name, but it was a major computer manufacturer and service provider from the 1960’s until 2002. its history was not a happy one. Like many IT companies at […]
NatWest – accident prone or terminally toxic?
publicly mis-stepping is unfortunate. but a state-bailed out global bank that constantly demonstrates to the world its total inability to walk unaided is unforgivable. RBS/NatWest’s overreach, malpractice and under-achieving sets it as […]
is the party over for democracy?
in 1832, the British Parliament passed the Reform Bill. this is regarded as the most significant milestone on the UK’s journey to the world-renowned democracy it enjoys today. but is it time […]
marching towards a big state UK
British Conservatism is built on self-determinism and self-regulation. But the UK’s post-Covid doctrine is moving as far away from that as can be imagined. Gone is our free enterprise, light touch hand […]
state of war – Somalia’s tragic legacy
Somalia is a failed state, without food, in constant drought and constantly at war. Since 1991, Islamic factions funded by China, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia have fought a bloody civil war […]
the stigma of settled science
The politburo owns the science and all dissent is forbidden. Welcome to the new Dark Ages. Its done, dusted, discovered and documented and nothing left for discussion. Or so the government experts […]
are cracks appearing in China’s economy?
China has built an economy that no nation can challenge. but is their new workshop of the world sustainable. Their manufacturing base dominates the world. Why make it yourself when China can […]
can a neobank really be safe?
There’s no such thing as a secure bank. the best any bank can do is design its systems in such a way that mitigate any losses should a breach occur. Back in […]
Royal Bank of… NatWest!
first, the news – what NatWest Group said about its name change… On 14 February 2020 we announced our plan to rename our parent company from The Royal Bank of Scotland Group […]
covid-19: fighting a biological war
An unknown weapon, an invisible foe. A battle on the home front. For everybody. No nation is attacking our borders, no army is at our gates. But the enemy is upon us […]
a battle lost – but not the war
I wonder how long it will be until the Rebel Alliance of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour, Jo Swinson’s Libdems and Ian Ashford’s SNP realise the triple-irony of what they’ve done? The first irony […]
something old, something…?
something new for something old? We use it everyday and it probably seems like its been here forever. But its actually only 12 years. I’m talking about the Google logo. Google’s new […]
Move over Silicon Valley!
Could London beat Silicon Valley as Crypto-currency’s centre of excellence? Well, Visa thinks so. it hosted a gathering of crypto-currency start-ups and other interested parties to its Digital Catapult event in London […]
smart devices to replace cards by 2020?
Visa’s latest predictions Despite many false dawns, UK mobile payments is predicted to grow three-fold over the next five years as savvy shoppers embrace new options and spend more on mobile, with […]
end of an era
this is a sad day for me. LANZen is no more. The consultancy was set up at the request of some great, loyal clients at Barclays when I left ICL. I’d never […]
unsocial banking: what I say is what you get
How dare I question. What right do I have. If I know so much, I should start a bank! What had I done – collapsed the economy, started a bank run or […]
MovenBank: can clicks really replace bricks?
Autumn 2011 has been a really interesting time for banking. I mean new banking, not that tired old high street of ours. MovenBank’s appeared, Zopa’s broken more records, Wonga’s won more awards […]
identikit banks: the UK’s big four – customer centric or simply self serving?
Here’s a question for you. Imagine all four banks merging. What would we lose? OK – so they wouldn’t share one trough – and no one makes one that big. If our […]
disruption: the true scale of innovation – and its less than you think!
A writer who I follow was bemoaning the lack of change in banking the other day. Now the point was perfectly valid – until he took a pop at P2P lending. As […]
web design: how can we ever move forward by not moving forward?
I worry about web design. We’ve always catered for the lowest available platform. Designing for people who don’t know, or just don’t care about the Web. I mean, there are some great […]
PwC: they takes yer money… but was this really your choice?
Business as usual for the global auditors. Its just like there was no banking crash. Pricewaterhouse Coopers – PwC – has just published its results. Three things jump off the page to […]
Bosch: what you do isn’t what you should always do – a lesson for banks?
Ever stopped for a moment to consider exactly what is banking really all about? Could a lawn mower be the key to change?Not any old lawn mower. But Bosch lawn mowers – […]
below Standard & Poor: a rumble in US capitalism’s gangland
Once upon a time, we thought US financial policy was decided democratically. That concept was blown away like a dollar bill in Hurricane Katrina. The US government in reality is no more […]
house of cards: how banks ran out of ideas – and talent
They must have made us buy millions of wallets. I’m talking about plastic cards. They became an obsession – even something we collected. Colourful, pictorial, themed, silver, gold, platinum, even black. We […]
social media: bringing everybody together – for better or worse
The inner groans from social psychologists must have been deafening recently. Politicians calling for a messaging platform ban during unrest – really? A typical reaction, of course. Look for something to blame. […]