Contents : Analysis Statutory Sick Pay vs the minimum wage UK statutory sick pay is lower than the minimum wage. Expect resistance to taking time off work for the ‘greater good’ during the coronavirus outbreak. The UK’s “Economically Inactive” 8.5 million people Is Home Secretary Priti Patel right to imply 8 million “economically inactive” Britons could fill low paid and low skilled work post 2020? UK Car Industry – how many British Brands are truly British? The UK car industry is no longer British. All major British car brands are under non-UK control, and there are no indigenous manufacturers of note. UK Advertising spend grows (again) Looks like UK plc pumped even more money into advertising in the first half of 2019. Overall spending was up 17% and mostly there were winners. Search stays top, although video display advertising has seen the biggest boost. Source: IAB. Digital advertising continues to grow in 2018 UK digital advertising continues to grow in 2018. Mobile is the big winner, but which other channels are attracting advertising budgets? Japan’s hidden cashless society The Japanese love cash. However, a cashless infrastructure exists beneath the thousand yen notes, driven by rail travel, coffee and the one yen coin Is it really an affordable mortgage? Interest rates are at their lowest in more than a lifetime. Have we created the next crisis when rates rise and mortgage defaults grow? Is this the end of the gig economy? A judgment against Uber could have far-reaching consequences for freelancers and the wider gig economy. Has the baby been thrown out with the bath water? Have we created the slums of the future? The rush to build apartment blocks and low cost housing means corners are being cut. The effects will rear their head in a decade or two in our new slums.