Author: Guest editor

By Professor Aditya Goenka The Department of Economics, University of Birmingham In 2019, Boris Johnson said “We’ve got a deal that’s oven-ready. We’ve just got to put it in at gas mark four, give it 20 minutes and Bob’s your uncle.” The deal was finally sealed on Christmas Eve 2020 and rushed through Parliament to … Continue reading “Brexit: What has come out of the oven?”

By Andy Lymer, Professor of Accounting and Taxation and Director of the Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management (CHASM) at the University of Birmingham The UK’s Money and Pensions Service estimates 8 million of us will face problem debt – debt they don’t know how we will repay – by the end of 2021. … Continue reading “What is the best Christmas present you can give yourself this year if you are in problem debt?”

By Professor Ian Thomson Director of Lloyds Banking Group Centre for Responsible Business The pandemic has seen plastic waste skyrocket, while corporates continue to pump out single-use plastic packaging that’s found dumped all around the world. But a new inter-disciplinary research network at the University of Birmingham is looking to tackle the problem with infinitely … Continue reading “Kicking our addiction to plastics”

By Professor John Bryson Department of Strategy and International Business, University of Birmingham Christmas is a very special time of the year. It is a time to look back at the year that is nearly past and to gaze forward. It is a time at which family and friends come together to celebrate. It is … Continue reading “Responsible consumption and COVID Christmas – shopping safely online”

By Professor Isabelle Szmigin Department of Marketing, University of Birmingham Firstly, let me say that I cannot answer the question as I do drink alcohol. I do, however, live with someone who has not had an alcoholic drink for over 30 years, so I have some vicarious understanding of one person’s view. But in a … Continue reading “Does it really matter if you don’t drink alcohol at Christmas?”

By Dr Emma Surman Department of Marketing, University of Birmingham For many, this Christmas is going to be slightly different. Christmas parties, carol singing, pantomimes – none of these will be happening in quite the same way. However, if this week’s figures about grocery shopping are anything to go by, it looks like one thing … Continue reading “All I want for Christmas is… a little less food?”

By Dr Scott Taylor, University of Birmingham, and Rosie Ginday MBE, Miss Macaroon December is the moment when corporate advertising turns towards the social. Companies such as John Lewis, Boots, all of the major supermarkets, and even Amazon, stake a claim to doing good by doing business. For some, such as the Co-op group, there … Continue reading “The Christmas Promise of Social Enterprise”

By Dr Sarah Forbes and Dr Holly Birkett Co-directors of the Equal Parenting Project The UK has seen a steep rise in the number of employees working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a recent survey showing that 86% of the employees surveyed worked from home during the first COVID-19 lockdown, with 75.3 per … Continue reading “Flexibility is the Future of Work”

By Professor Rob J R Elliott, University of Birmingham, Ben Jones, University College London, and Viet Nguyen-Tien, London School of Economics Governments around the world are actively promoting EVs and global sales have now exceeded two million vehicles. Automakers and their suppliers have made plans for large scale investment in EV related production capacity. When … Continue reading “The electric vehicle revolution: Will we run out of the critical materials?”

By Professor John Bryson Department of Strategy and International Business, University of Birmingham The first sentence of Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina is famous – “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”. The November Spending Review makes me think of this sentence. All ministerial roles are all alike; every … Continue reading “Post-COVID recovery and the November Spending Review”