http://www.ft.com/comment/columnists/johngapperhttp://www.ft.com/rss/comment/columnist/johngapperFT.com - John Gapperen© Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2008. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. See http://www.ft.com/servicestools/help/terms#legal1 for the terms and conditions of reuse.support@ft.comWed, 23 Jul 2008 19:57 BSTThu, 24 Jul 2008 20:27:02 BSTNewspapers60http://news.ft.com/cms/d1f3ce1a-6bbe-11da-bb53-0000779e2340.gifhttp://www.ft.com/comment/columnists/johngapper(PICS-1.1 "http://www.classify.org/safesurf/" L gen true for "http://www.ft.com/" r (SS~~000 1))http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b323d5f2-58e7-11dd-a093-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b323d5f2-58e7-11dd-a093-000077b07658.htmlIt often happens when a big company takes over a small one. The acquirer insists its new subsidiary will be left alone and managers will be free to carry on as before. Then, one day, the long leash becomes a short one, writes John Gapper Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:57 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3d280af8-54f5-11dd-ae9c-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3d280af8-54f5-11dd-ae9c-000077b07658.htmlThe beauty of short-selling is that it gives people with financial expertise a motive to root in company accounts and look for problems, writes John Gapper Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:38 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d7d3b01c-535f-11dd-8dd2-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d7d3b01c-535f-11dd-8dd2-000077b07658.htmlUnlike the Joint Strike Fighter programme, the US will not share the F-22 with its allies because it wants to keep hold of the technology. However, it does not want to buy many of the aircraft either, which has made each fighter absurdly expensive, writes John Gapper Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:09 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0a62e594-4ddd-11dd-820e-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0a62e594-4ddd-11dd-820e-000077b07658.htmlShareholders would be unwise to give the Yahoo chief yet more time to fix the company, says John Gapper. When they meet on August 1 they should prefer Microsoft, if it will renew its full bid, and Carl Icahn, the activist investor who wants to kick out Mr YangWed, 9 Jul 2008 19:08 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3af9b640-49e3-11dd-891a-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3af9b640-49e3-11dd-891a-000077b07658.htmlThe high street has been expanding for so many years that some contraction is due, and that reality is finally sinking in to companies, writes John Gapper Fri, 4 Jul 2008 19:17 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5e628e04-4858-11dd-a851-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5e628e04-4858-11dd-a851-000077b07658.htmlThe music industry has big problems that go much deeper than piracy. Should we worry about whether the labels succeed or fail? Only if you're a shareholder, says John Gapper. The day that Universal or EMI founders will not be the day the music diesWed, 2 Jul 2008 18:35 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a40447d0-37d8-11dd-aabb-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a40447d0-37d8-11dd-aabb-0000779fd2ac.htmlHandled correctly, biological research could help to increase crop yields while reducing the thirst for chemicals and water. This could even help to prevent degradation of land and the environmental wastage in the developing world, writes John Gapper Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:24 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e8da0808-3252-11dd-9b87-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e8da0808-3252-11dd-9b87-0000779fd2ac.htmlIn the best of all possible worlds, covenant-light loans may well allow a company to go through a temporary dip in fortunes and then recover with no permanent harm done. But how can a debt-holder know that this will happen, asks John Gapper Wed, 4 Jun 2008 18:27 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9d5de758-21ce-11dd-a50a-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9d5de758-21ce-11dd-a50a-000077b07658.htmlThe world is larger than America; the small screen is larger than the big screen; paid-for entertainment is larger than free; and adults are larger than teenagers. The television series Sex and the City says a lot about the future of film and TV, says John Gapper Wed, 14 May 2008 19:01 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c54f4258-1c5f-11dd-8bfc-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c54f4258-1c5f-11dd-8bfc-000077b07658.htmlTransport and communications infrastructure symbolises a nation's economic development and the US is starting to look like the third world. In fact, many developing countries look and feel better. Does the US have the will to solve this challenge, asks John Gapper Wed, 7 May 2008 19:37 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aacc61ca-16c6-11dd-bbfc-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aacc61ca-16c6-11dd-bbfc-0000779fd2ac.htmlOnly at the Milken Institute Global Conference would the one song played between financial debates be Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds, writes John Gapper. "Don't worry 'bout a thing, 'cause every little thing gonna be alright"Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:56 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/770ba47a-1155-11dd-a93b-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/770ba47a-1155-11dd-a93b-0000779fd2ac.htmlThe fact that UBS lost $37bn in less than a year is an indictment of Marcel Ospel himself, not just of a bunch of deluded traders and ineffectual executives in the US, writes John Gapper. It took 13 years for the flaw to become painfully obvious, but it was there right from the startWed, 23 Apr 2008 19:53 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f22fabc4-0bdd-11dd-9840-0000779fd2ac.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f22fabc4-0bdd-11dd-9840-0000779fd2ac.htmlThe proposed merger of Delta and Northwest Airlines to form the largest airline in the US sounds impressive but few mergers have combined such lofty rhetoric with such meagre intent, writes John Gapper Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:32 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/953e2360-fb60-11dc-8c3e-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/953e2360-fb60-11dc-8c3e-000077b07658.htmlEveryone insists that something ought to be done to stop this financial crisis recurring. Take a deep breath, everyone. The last time that right-thinking Americans agreed on the need for more regulation as rapidly as possible, we got Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, writes John Gapper Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:32 GMThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6fc94f48-f76d-11dc-ac40-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6fc94f48-f76d-11dc-ac40-000077b07658.htmlIt is both justice and good practice for the perpetrators of the Bear Stearns financial debacle to suffer, writes John Gapper Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:59 GMT