by Elizabeth Stephens | 30 Jun, 2026 | Talking Points
In the 1980s, as competition went global, defined benefit pensions were exposed as the costly liabilities they always were. Companies shifted to defined contribution schemes, halting new liabilities even if past promises remained. Doubt about that shift ended in 2009,...
by Elizabeth Stephens | 4 Jan, 2026 | Talking Points
The US was always going to act decisively against President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela. Too much military hardware had been deployed to the region for there to be any doubt. Washington had branded Maduro a narco-terrorist, issued an arrest warrant and declared his...
by Elizabeth Stephens | 1 Jan, 2026 | Talking Points
As the research houses announce their Top 10 geopolitical risks for 2026, the biggest risk to geopolitical stability is the convergence of the multiplicity of threats that are reshaping the investment landscape. From the transformative impact of AI, the destructive...
by Elizabeth Stephens | 3 Jul, 2025 | Talking Points
Trump demonstrated this week what it means to wield power in office. Starmer demonstrated the opposite. A weak leader is an oxymoron. And that is what Starmer has become. In pushing his ‘big, beautiful bill’ through the Senate, Trump demonstrated his control over the...
by Elizabeth Stephens | 7 May, 2025 | Talking Points
Nigel Farage is a rare political talent. His charismatic style and penchant for reinvention, saw his Reform party sweep the Council elections last Thursday, win a by-election and two Mayoral races. Love him or loathe him, Farage is the most consequential politician of...
by Elizabeth Stephens | 22 Apr, 2025 | Talking Points
For at least two decades it has been apparent that the absence of a European or British tech champion should have been a source of concern for policy-makers. The continent has its fair share of innovators and the UK has a fantastic record in tech research and...
by Elizabeth Stephens | 22 Mar, 2025 | Talking Points
If you were writing a list of the five most powerful people in the world who would be on it? My list is Trump, Xi Jinping, Putin, and Musk. There is competition for fifth place between Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta. Macron and Starmer do...
by Elizabeth Stephens | 28 Feb, 2025 | Talking Points
The Trump-Zelensky White House meeting is a disaster for Ukraine. It ended with Trump announcing the end of US support for Kyiv and the early departure of its president from the White House. To protect the values of territorial integrity and democracy the UK and...
by Elizabeth Stephens | 8 Nov, 2024 | Talking Points
The Democrats lost this election on 11 August 2020 when Joe Biden asked Kamala Harris to be his running mate. She had run her own lacklustre presidential campaign and Biden selected her to appease the extreme left of the party, not for her national appeal. This...
by Elizabeth Stephens | 30 Oct, 2024 | Talking Points
If you were the Chancellor of a developed country with an aging population and a health and social care system that was on an unsustainable cost trajectory, it would be reasonable to assume that your priority would be to reduce these liabilities over time. When Rachel...
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