IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva On 16 November, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva delivered an opening statement for the fund’s 10th IMF Statistical Forum which was entitled Measuring the Tangible Benefits of Intangible Capital. The two-day event was addressed by…
Category: Capital
WeWork shows intangible capital companies may be houses of cards
In what is one of the most dramatic collapses in the value of a firm in business history, WeWork – the start-up US-based rental firm – is this week seeking financing it needs to keep the firm operating. Company failure…
Intangibles dominate Britain’s biggest companies
On 31 December 2015, the 25 companies with the biggest market capitalisation listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) reported they owned £522bn worth of assets that were physical. Their other assets — various types of intangible capital – were…
Capital is a social construct and can’t be controlled
Richard Murphy has called for the end of the freedom of movement for capital In a comment posted on his website on 30 December, academic and accountant Richard Murphy said that the UK vote in favour of leaving the EU…
Intellectual capital and TTIP
The draft intellectual property (IP) rights chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement being negotiated between the US and 11 Pacific nations was published by Wikileaks on 9 October. The 60-page document covers topics that economists normally don’t worry about:…
Intangible capital a source of regional growth differences in UK
Britain’s deputy PM Nick Clegg yesterday delivered the opening keynote speech at the International Economic Conference in Leeds in which he summarised government action taken to promote growth and employment in northern England. “How do we build on the strengths…
Think you know the value of your home? Think again
The prices of houses in London have risen by 26 per cent in the last 12 months, according to new figures published by Nationwide, Britain’s biggest building society. I’m a London homeowner, so this is a story of more than…
Piketty challenges FT in data row
Thomas Piketty has delivered a rebuttal to the FT’s claim he improperly manipulated data and drew wrong conclusions about the concentration of wealth in Capital in the 21st Century. In a technical appendix posted on his website on 28 May,…
Inclusive capitalism: goal or illusion?
A glittering panel of global personalities gathered in London today to debate the possibility of delivering “Inclusive Capitalism“. They included the Prince of Wales, President Clinton and Fiona Woolf, Lord Mayor of the City of London, as well as CEOs of…
Storm builds over use of data by Piketty
The controversy about Thomas Piketty’s use of data in Capital in the 21st Century is producing more heat than light. It started on 23 May when the FT reported that figures used by Piketty had been manipulated and didn’t produce…