Peter Mandelson’s new book, ‘The Third Man’ has caused a fuss.  But he says little that is new.  However, his style and priorities do emphasise that spin was a major problem for New Labour.  They made successful efforts to manipulate the media.  This war was lost because of the activities of Alastair Campbell, Peter Mandelson and others who pop-up on our TV screens in 2010 claiming fancy titles of advisers on this and that to the Blair/Brown administrations.  You find them in strange places.  This narrowly-based group persuaded an electorate that the country was governed by a Party obsessed with presentation and determined to avoid the truth.  More form than substance.  Maybe preening greed was the motivation for this tome?

Intangible assets such as innovation, organisational culture and strategic capabilities now account for as much as 85 per cent of market capitalisation for many firms.  This is the conclusion of Gary Hamel, the corporate strategist and author, who sprays important ideas all over the place.  The future is about differentiation:  size is no longer a defining issue.  ‘Capture new wealth by being novel and ask yourself if the voice of imagination is as loud as the noise of experience.’

Market share is dead, asserts Hamel.  If companies want to increase their proportion of wealth;  they will have to ‘reboot’ and rethink plans more quickly.  He suggests three types of capital – intellectual, structural and financial.  A lot of businesses are threatened by their traditional ways of doing things.

Smart managers are reconsidering value for customers in a post-digital economy. They are finding that is now less about the quality of a product or service – performance is taken for granted.  Increasingly, customers are favouring the suppliers who can best answer such questions as:

·         delivery:  are you reliable?

·         total cost of procurement and ownership:  how much will I pay – in time and aggravation – to do business with you?

·         information:  what can you tell me about my customers?

·         business-based expertise:  which of my internal processes can you make more effective?

·         brand:  what promise does your product or name imply?

Listen.  Listen.  Carefully.  Politicians in the western world are reviving the certainties that intervening in particular industries and companies can drive growth and create jobs.  This is happening despite the painful evidence of the 60s and 70s.  Several countries in the European Union are facing demands for a return of industrial policies.  Even France’s government has taken stakes in toy manufacturers, video-sharing websites and fallen champions.  Barack Obama’s administration in America is for all practical purposes the owner of General Motors and influential offices in Wall Street.  Japan’s new government is getting into the old habits of deepening all kinds of links between the state and business.  Bail-outs and billions of stimulus-type spending has captured the imaginations and meddling of politicians.  Is it possible they are in awe of what looks like the success of state capitalism in PR China?  If so, it is dangerous stuff.

The economic crisis is not over.  Evidence grows that recessionary trends throughout the world have not gone away.  There is a dangerous change of mood by the UK’s influencers.  Credit for companies and households might tighten again soon.  This, despite the criticisms from the Rt Hon Vince Cable, secretary of state for Business, Innovation and Skills.  The recent Bank of England’s Credit Conditions Survey has found that a majority of banks said they expect to advance reduced funds in this quarter.  What’s the problem?  Partly, there are fears of the end to quantitative easing.  Then there are concerns in corporate minds about the euro and sovereign debts.  Such doubts encourage banks to retain cash and not lend to contemporaries.  Their own costs of borrowing emphasise misgivings.  So where is the destination of interest rates?  Economists offer a wide spread of predictions.  They always do.  The general agreement is that the emergency budget made rises less likely.  However, this does not affect the availability of credit.  As always, cash is king.

Big changes in major cities.  The proverbial smoke signals suggest that each of England’s twelve largest cities will elect both a directly-elected mayor and police commissioners on 3 May 2012.  There are technical difficulties in making sure each function covers the same territory.  For example, will the electors for mayor of Manchester be the same as those for Greater Manchester’s police force.  This would be a dramatic shake-up in the way cities are run.  The new-style mayor is likely to have substantial personal powers:  housing, planning, regeneration and transport.  S/he could remove the job of chief executive and take personal responsibility for hiring and dismissing staff, appointing a ‘cabinet’, deciding the structure for managing the council and directing expenditure.  We will get more information in a parliamentary bill on ‘localism’.  This process does not seem to include the earlier promise of a referendum to discover if voters wish to have an elected mayor.  The government fears a string of ‘no’ votes.  There are proposals for a confirmatory plebiscite a couple of years after installation.  These intentions might cause a huge row inside the Coalition.  The Liberal Democrats have big doubts about the ideas.  Indeed, there are sniffs of democratic deficit.  Nonetheless, the post of elected major in London is generally regarded as a success by both major political parties.

William Hague has become an elder statesman before his fiftieth birthday.  He was a minister (Wales and social security) in John Major’s government.  Insiders say he has awareness of passions and big pictures.  Maybe the political humiliation that ended his period as leader of the Conservative Party caused reassessments and brought some humility?  His subsequent biographies of Pitt the Younger and William Wilberforce are excellent pieces of work.  William Hague appears to have examined closely the task of Foreign Secretary.  The civil servants respect him.  He has posted competent civil servants to the European Union/Commission, created a National Security Council and told ambassadors to emphasise the UK’s economic interests in their activities.  The Conservatives’ grassroots regard him as a reliable custodian of their values in the Coalition.  All of these things, and his skills as a parliamentarian, have made William Hague one of our favourite politicians.  Moreover, since his marriage to Ffion Jenkins and discovery that he can be the House of Commons’ biggest earner from events and dinners, he looks more at home with himself.

AWOL.  I am going to the economic and social centre of the world from Thursday until Monday.  You know, Cleethorpes.  There will not be another blog until 16 August.