all posts in the 'Business economics' category


Is it OK to limit parents’ drinks if their children are with them?

The pub chain JD Weatherspoon is to allow parents only two alcoholic drinks if their children are with them, citing a lack of play facilities.
Sounds like a socially responsible thing to do right? Children don’t have to experience the sight of their parents getting bladdered, or risking being driven home by over the limit Mum […]

Roaming charges

Tim W has a go at mobile roaming charges. He links to this, which suggests:
But there’s something else a bit murky here. The European Commission is focusing soley on the roaming charges. Just because the companies might be making large profits on that narrowly defined section of their business doesn’t mean they’re pocketing it and […]

Another failed merger

DaimlerChrysler may demerge. Back in the days when I did this kind of research, we often found that 60-70% of mergers destroyed value for the acquiring shareholders. The most typical problems were a failure to manage massive integration issues and, of course, over-paying for the acquisition. Along with over-paying, one can suggest a failure to […]

How to finance drug development

The news today that AstraZeneca failed to meet phase III trials for its stroke drug NXY-059 has prompted Tim Worstall to ask opponents of drug patents
If AstraZeneca is not allowed to make fat profits from those drugs that do work, do get through phase III trials, where is that money going to come from? Without […]