There’s widespread agreement that the high street banks have had too much of a monopoly in the provision of personal and business loans for far too long. As a consequence, they are currently able to restrict supply, irrespective of demand, while they satisfy a conflicting need to rebalance reserves. Paradoxically, those worst affected are the...

Every year, around one in ten Small & Medium Enterprises closes down. With start-ups in their first year, the rate can be as high as one in four. The question is why, in the 21st century, despite massive progress in information and communications technology over recent decades, are such high failure rates still considered acceptable?