Sandy Nairn discusses the fallout from the global financial crisis and how governments have responded with one of Britain’s most distinguished civil servants, Lord Macpherson, the former Permanent Secretary at the Treasury (2005-2016) and as such a a key player in guiding policy through the global financial crisis (GFC) and helping to ensure that the crisis did not spiral downwards to precipitate a rerun of the depression of the 1930s. But has the initial success of the policy response to the crisis been undermined by the reluctance of policymakers subsequently to end the exceptional easy money/fiscal stimulus that followed? This Q and A (link here) explores the issues and the mis-steps that have led to today’s siding financial markets.

In this extended interview with Sir David Omand, a former Permanent Secretary of the Home Office and Director of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), I discuss the threats companies face from cyber-attacks. I found it reassuring and disturbing in equal measure. The reassuring elements included examples of just how much the security services do to protect the public both individually and collectively in the form of public services and corporates. The disturbing elements included the sheer scale, geographic dispersion and state support for the range of nefarious activities that threaten companies and individuals. Understanding cybersecurity is a must subject for any investor. This is the link to the article.

October 15 2022

In late December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was notified of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan City, China. Although it took some months for the significance to be recognized, this proved to the emergence of Covid 19, the virus which triggered a global pandemic and forced entire economies into lock-down, unemployment to soar and GDP to slump. In this updated Q and A (link here) Sandy Nairn discusses what we now know (and also what we still don’t know) about Covid 19 – its causes and effects – with Professor Gerry Graham, an expert advisor in the area of biological sciences.

---