Justin Guy Souter

Running a lean start-up is all about efficiency, and making the best use of low-cost or free tools available. Below I’ve highlighted some of my favourite “must bookmark” services that should be in every entrepreneurs toolbox. - Justin Guy Souter

Cowell, who had previously hit out at the rival campaign, has now put a brave face on the situation, telling the Mirror he offered the Morters jobs at his record company. Cowell said: "I am genuinely impressed by the campaign they have run. It has been a good campaign with no dirty tricks and without any funding. "This is their first attempt at putting out a record and they got a Christmas number one, so they have not done badly at all. "I wanted them to come and work for me. I was deadly serious but they haven't taken me up on the offer." Jon Morter said of the phone conversation that Cowell was "lovely and wished us well". - Justin Guy Souter

NORTH East companies can today apply for a slice of a new £125m venture capital fund which is expected to support more than 850 small and medium-sized companies over the next five years. Money from the Jeremie fund will be available from January 4 and the fund mangers responsible for investing the money are today asking regional companies with investment ideas to get in touch. - Justin Guy Souter

These studies point toward tax policy as the best fiscal tool to combat recession, particularly tax changes that influence incentives to invest, like an investment tax credit. Sending out lump-sum rebates, as was done in spring 2008, makes less sense, as it provides little impetus for spending or production. LIKE our doctor facing a mysterious illness, economists should remain humble and open-minded when considering how best to fix an ailing economy. A growing body of evidence suggests that traditional Keynesian nostrums might not be the best medicine - Justin Guy Souter

There's been a lot of talk about Britain losing its AAA credit rating down the road. But guess what? As far as the markets are concerned, we already have. I've been taking a look at what's happened to the interest rate (yield) on UK government debt relative to other highly rated countries. The answer is highly instructive, if not a little depressing. UK gilts traded very close to the average of other AAA-rated countries for most of 2007 and 2008, as you'd expect. But this year a gap has opened up between us and the others. - Justin Guy Souter

A magazine advert featuring Twiggy gave a "misleading" impression about an eye cream's effects because her photo had been airbrushed, a watchdog has said. The advert for the Olay Definity eye illuminator carried a testimonial from the model crediting it as her "secret to brighter-looking eyes". - Justin Guy Souter

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has today ruled against an Olay advert containing a heavily airbrushed image of the model Twiggy on the grounds that it was misleading following a campaign led by Jo Swinson. The Liberal Democrats have called for airbrushed ads to be clearly labelled, and for airbrushing to be banned in adverts aimed at children. Commenting, Jo said: "I hope this decision marks the first step in really getting airbrushing in advertising under control. "If advertisers think that someone as beautiful as Twiggy needs to be so heavily airbrushed, then what hope is there for the rest of us? "Experts have already proved that airbrushing contributes to a host of problems in women and young girls such as depression and eating disorders. - Justin Guy Souter

The inflation surge is now upon us. The CPI rate again “surprised” to the upside – Britain is the only major economy in the world to have inflation doing this. But given that the Bank of England’s printing presses have been working overtime to fund a fiscally irresponsible government then little wonder things are different here. To understand just how unusual the UK situation is, consider the below graph: despite suffering the longest recession in G20, we have one of highest rates of inflation in the developed world - Justin Guy Souter

Good public sector managers are ready to achieve more for less. They take for granted that costs can be reduced by 20 per cent without reducing quality of service, by redesigning the front line. But they need political leadership to explain to the electorate the consequences of greater efficiency in the public sector, and to allow managers to manage. Ministers and their Shadows are not yet making that case for change. They still confuse the performance of services with their inputs, such as the size of the workforce. In fact, reform will be positive for the public sector workforce. The current model traps public sector workers in low productivity employment. Reforming the front line will increase productivity and allow sustainable higher wages in the long term. - Justin Guy Souter

Scientists have produced evidence that self-awareness is a big problem for people with autism. Sophisticated scans showed the brains of people with autism are less active when engaged in self-reflective thought - Justin Guy Souter

If the NHS can boost efficiency, a longish lull in the growth of publicly financed health spending may thus be manageable without hurting the quality of care. But even if it can survive a long squeeze, spending pressures are bound to re-emerge. That, after all, has been the sustained trend over many years and in many countries. New medical technologies and drugs are more expensive and, as people get richer, they are more likely to demand them. Although single-payer state-funded systems can resist these pressures better than those where there are many insurers, they face tax limits. The priority in the years ahead is to squeeze greater efficiency out of the NHS. Driving forward Mr Blair’s promising reforms to inject more choice and competition will help. But in the longer term Britain will need to think again about whether the taxpayer should finance so much of its health care. - Justin Guy Souter

Huw Worthington, fixed-income strategist at Barclays Capital, said: “UK bond investors should look at Greece, where the bond markets have crashed this week. The bond markets in the UK could crash too, unless the government starts to initiate serious debt reduction policies.” - Justin Guy Souter