Electronics, immigration and free money

We look at media comment on the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, on the reaction of 20 high-profile Britons to news of the UK's rising population, as well as on the effect of free money on share prices.

Electronic rules

The day when all devices are hooked up to the internet is quickly arriving, as the recent annual Consumer Electronics Show in Los Vegas showed. This new world comes with new business rules, writes the Financial Times.

… It is no longer enough just to produce a beautiful piece of hardware. Software, service and content all need to work in harmony to create the right experience for consumers — something that precious few (other than Apple) have managed. ...

70 million too many

Twenty high-profile Britons have reacted strongly to news that rising immigration will cause Britain’s population to reach 70 million by 2029. The Wall Street Journal disagrees with their arguments that immigration will decrease the country’s quality of life and change the nature of society.

... The document, signed among others by Labourite Frank Fields, Tory Nick Soames and Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, is being greeted in some quarters (particularly on the right) as an act of political courage. In fact, it is mostly a warmed-over melange of nativism and Malthusianism, and often self-contradictory to boot. It gives a nod to "the considerable benefits that immigration has brought to British life," but then proceeds to deny the benefits that immigration might bring in the future. ... It speaks of "societal harmony," but is silent about how harmonious society will be when an aging Britain with below-replacement birth rates can no longer support its pensioners. …

Another bubble?

The price of many assets are rising again after last year’s crash. But this is mainly to do with unsustainable fiscal and monetary stimuli, writes The Economist.

The effect of free money is remarkable. A year ago investors were panicking and there was talk of another Depression. Now the MSCI world index of global share prices is more than 70 per cent higher than its low in March 2009. That’s largely thanks to interest rates of 1 per cent or less in America, Japan, Britain and the euro zone, which have persuaded investors to take their money out of cash and to buy risky assets. ... 

The market rebound was necessary to stabilise economies last year, but now there is a danger that bubbles are being created. …