Ruth Sunderland

Profile: Full name: Ruth Sunderland Area of interest: Business (esp. energy issues, pension provision and developing markets); also writes occasionally on society and womens's issues Journals/Organisation: Daily Mail | The Observer Email: ruth.sunderland@observer.co.uk Personal website: Website: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/columnist-1072434/Ruth-Sunderland.html | http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/ruthsunderland Blog: http://sunderlandblog.dailymail.co.uk Representation: Networks: https://twitter.com/#!/ruthiesun | http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/ruth-sunderland/14/634/6a1

Biography: About: Education: Career: Worked for Which? magazine; Investors Chronicle: features editor; Daily Express: chief city correspondent; The Mail on Sunday: business editor; Daily Mail: deputy city editor; The Observer: business editor 2006/2010; Daily Mail: associate City editor, 2010- Current position/role: Daily Mail associate City Editor also writes/has written for: Other roles/Main role: Other interests: Disclosures: Viewpoints/Insight: Broadcast media: Video: Controversy/Criticism: Awards/Honours: Scoops: Other:

Books & Debate: Latest work: Speaking/Appearances: Debate:

Daily Mail: Column name: Remit/Info: Section: Role: Pen-name: Email: Website: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/columnist-1072434/Ruth-Sunderland.html Commissioning editor: Day published: Regularity: Column format: Average length:

Articles:

The Observer: Column name: Remit/Info: Business (esp. energy issues, pension provision and developing markets); also writes occasionally on society and womens's issues, often business related Section: Business & Media Role: Business Editor Pen-name: Email: mailto:ruth.sunderland@observer.co.uk Website: Ruth Sunderland's Business Comment Commissioning editor: Day published: Sunday Regularity: Weekly Column format: Average length:

Articles: 2010 Of course we must fight for women around the world - Those who argue that a society's attitude to female rights is 'cultural' ignore the stark economic realities - 29th August Employee engagement: are more firms listening to their staff, or are they just paying lip service? - New research for the Observer suggests large companies are at last making an effort to understand their employees and 'engage' with them, but doubts remain about whether it will bring about meaningful change - 22nd August BHP Billiton's bid for Potash Corp is timely as fertiliser market grows fast - Battle to control fertiliser market looms amid surge in global food demand - 22nd August Rock-bottom interest rates are cushioning us against George Osborne's cuts, but for how much longer? - Andrew Sentance's hawkish stance on the MPC could be an indication of things to come - 15th August It will take more than Bill Gates to save the world - The great give-away by the billionaires' club is laudable, but it's not the solution to our ills - 8th August Abolition of retirement age is wise, but it won't solve the pensions problem - The UK's 200 largest companies have a pensions shortfall of £100bn and the downturn is likely to make deficits worse - 1st August Fat. Obese. Who cares? We're too obsessed by size - When neo-puritans imply that slimness equates to virtue, we're on dangerous ground - 1st August David Cameron is right to pin his hopes on India - The prime minister is well aware that emerging markets hold the key to rebalancing Britain's economy - 25th July Pension funds must be more vocal if they are to be good stewards of our cash - The custodians of our retirement cash need to actively hold companies such as BP to account - 4th July Europe's deficit hawks sound confident. But all this fiscal suffering might be for nothing - The lessons of the past suggest that no one can be sure whether austerity will work - 27th June Austerity isn't enough, Mr Osborne. Without growth, all the pain will be meaningless - The focus of the chancellor's emergency budget will be on painful fiscal medicine. But his faith that the private sector can make up for loss of public investment is questionable - 20th June At last, someone's making an effort to hold the audit profession to account - With an overhaul a long way off, the audit industry would most benefit from an end to the 'big four' carving up the market - 20th June Banks are carrying on while the rest of us pay the price - The sins of Big Oil are distracting us from the continuing disgraceful behaviour of the banks - 13th June BP is just a symptom of a dangerous addiction to oil - The Deepwater Horizon disaster is just one of the many horrific consequences of the developed world's addiction to fossil fuels - 13th June After Sir Fred Goodwin, Tony Hayward – time to tame the boardroom titans - Companies like BP have more power than ever before – but there is a democratic deficit at the core of their governance - 13th June FTSE 100: how London's leading share index lost touch with the rest of Britain - The disasters befalling BP, BA, Cadbury and the Pru might give the impression that British business had lost its way. In reality, they, like so many in the FTSE 100, are now detached multinationals playing by their own rules - 6th June Heading the Takeover Panel is no job for an investment banker - Accepting temporary roles as gamekeepers cannot hide the fact that these people remain City poachers - 30th May Angela Merkel's ban on naked short-selling is brave, not naive - The German chancellor knows that the EU is locked in a power struggle with financial markets over the debt crisis - 23rd May Euro's existential dilemma strains European unity - Viability of euro is in the interest of economic powerhouses of US and China as the debt crisis hinders global economic recovery - 23rd May Control the jackals circling the beleaguered people of Greece - When the speculators have finished exploiting financial meltdown in the eurozone, they will turn their rapacious eyes on Britain - 9th May Britain's assets are slowly being nationalised, unfortunately not by us - The Deutsche Bahn bid for Arriva is evidence our open door policy towards foreign takeovers is starting to look absurd - 25th April Labour and the Tories are just too scared to take on the bankers - Both the UK's main parties seem terrified of crossing an unelected – and unaccountable – financial elite - 18th April Smug Cameron reveals the Conservatives' true colours - The Tories' marriage tax allowance puts women firmly back in the Fifties - 11th April Tax on jobs' protest by business leaders is fooling no one - Chief executives imply they speak on behalf of workers when they attack the proposed increase in national insurance. But they take the part of employees only when it suits them - 9th April (Cif at the polls) With returns at rock bottom, what's the point in being thrifty? - The credit crunch has been worth £26bn to borrowers while the prudent have lost £18bn - 4th April Darling is proving to be a better chancellor than many of Number 11's famous beasts - By refusing the calls for pre-election giveaways, the chancellor has begun the rehabilitation of government as a benign force - 28th March Manufacturing sector needs a new direction - Industry was betrayed by Thatcher, and Labour has failed to repair the damage - 7th March (See also: My home town of Middlesbrough is fighting decline but there are signs of real hope) Takeover frenzy is leaving Branch Office Britain with an identity crisis - Overseas takeovers sever the link with local traditions – and undermine employees' sense of economic responsibility - 28th February The responsible investment revolution begins here - Too few people are calling corporations to account. But a bold new stakeholder initiativethat mobilises all of us, aims to change all that -21st February The eurozone's troubles hurt us too - The eurozone's woes vindicate Britain's decision to stay out of the single currency, but it is still our biggest trading partner - 14th February It's ludicrous to punish people at work for their private failings - Fabio Capello sets a poor example by sacking John Terry for his lack of morals. Trust the experience of City bosses - 8th February There's no business like show business, but Adam and Archie could make the grade at ITV - Crozier may not know much about television, but he and Norman deserve the benefit of the doubt - 31st January Harman's sexual equality campaign is no sideshow - Harriet Harman deserves praise for her international attempts to raise awareness of inequality - 31st January Time to bar predators looking for tasty morsels like Cadbury - Britain is the only nation allowing its best corporate assets to be snatched up by overseas interests - 24th January Obama's drawn first blood – now it's the UK's turn - We supporters of the US's Glass-Steagall Act used to be regarded as eccentrics. Now the most powerful man in the world is backing it - 24th January Google has sent China a critical message - The internet search giant reminds the growing superpower that it cannot have everything its own way - 17th January Cadbury can look after itself. But, at last, Mandelson has seen the light - The business secretary's belated intervention in Kraft's takeover bid for Cadbury is a welcome change of course. We clearly can't rely on investors to defend national interests - 17th January Cameron's right about marriage, but wrong on how to support it - In areas where the unemployed men just aren't an attractive proposition, tax breaks are a non-starter - 10th January

Articles: 2009 In the boardroom, a woman's work is never done - In the wake of the credit crunch, I unexpectedly found myself on a feminist crusade. Some progress has been made, but not yet enough - 27th December Britain still has to dig itself out of a very bleak midwinter - The UK is the only G20 economy that has failed to grow - 27th December Clever men have designs on women - Some men, such as Stuart Rose and Philip Green, are past masters at female psychology. Sadly, too many in business are not - 13th December In the battle for Cadbury's golden eggs, its real worth is being overlooked - Values such as trust and social responsibility cannot be found on the balance sheet - 6th December Taxpayers must trust UKFI to bring order to the banking zoo - There are unfounded fears UKFI will favour either government or bankers in managing the state's RBS holdings - 6th December As Dubai crashes from wonder to blunder, who will go down with it? - The Gulf state's dream has turned into a desert mirage, casting doubt on the fledgling Islamic finance market - 29th November The Walker report: share ownership is no ownership at all - Investors large and small are shamefully negligent of their stewardship duties. But can the situation be improved? - 29th November (see: The Walker report: summary) Property market hasn't collapsed because banks can't face the truth - Lenders are still extending credit to commercial developers because they simply can't afford to crystallise their losses - 22nd November Walker needs some help with his backbone - There has been a lot of noise about getting tough with the banks, but it doesn't look like that is going to translate into much-needed action - 22nd November Discrimination isn't always so photogenic - Jordan Wimmer's £4m claim has made headlines, but it is light years from typical cases - 15th November Lloyds is asking the market for billions so that it can mind the Gaps - Lloyds' aim in raising billions from the market is a return to banking business as usual - 1st November ITV needs less show and more business - Likeable and charismatic chairmen are all very well, but what the broadcaster needs now is a proper boardroom heavyweight - 25th October We can put a stop to huge, undeserved bank bonuses - It is not utopian or anti-capitalist to curb the greed of people who say they cannot manage on £200,000 a year - 25th October Deauville forum: Women want a different business agenda - Women's Forum for the Economy and Society says women would like more focus on health, food, climate and education - 18th October To understand the crash, we need a Bonfire of the Vanities for our time - Economists have told us why the crunch happened, but the why may be better explained through books, theatre and art - 11th October Dante's Inferno is no more of a fantasy than the fairytales the bankers told us - Gordon Brown and many others believed the theory that the dominant finance sector was socially beneficial. They were completely wrong - 4th October Class actions are vital to help women fight for equal pay - The Equality bill needs to be beefed up if women are to bridge the 17% pay gap with their male counterparts - 4th October Kraft's bid to buy Cadbury means it's time we stopped selling off UK plc - Foreign investors have relentless takeover ambitions, but letting them buy ever more of our household names is not good policy - 27th September Bankers moan while real families suffer - Bankers moan about being 'demonised' while families are trapped in permanent unemployment - 27th September Stop telling me I'd be happier in the kitchen - Women may still not be exactly full of joy, but we're definitely better off than our mothers - 27th September (Comment is free) Banks prefer to turn on Lord Turner when they should turn over a new leaf - Is it too cynical to wonder whether the banks have seized on the chance to pick fights with chief regulator Lord Turner as a distraction from the more fundamental question of whether they are actually doing their job? - 6th September Is the world really on the road to a full recovery? - Despite signs of growth, fearful G20 finance ministers yesterday pledged more support for the fragile economy - 6th September And here are a few other ideas to make the bankers splutter - Tax measures are being considered to damp down excessive banking profits and pay - 30th August Observer survey reveals gender barrier stopping women reaching the top - Observer survey reveals 'backward-looking' male directors failing to recognise female equality - 23rd August To rebuild the corporate sector, we have to do more than just smash the glass ceiling - The UK should think hard about following the example of Norway and having a minimum level of women on boards - 16th August Bullying Harriet Harman for standing up for women demeans us all - Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman was ridiculed last week for promoting feminism. But was what she proposed really so crazy? - 9th August Be a good citizen or lose a bit of humanity - Is being a good citizen worth the risk? - 2nd August A plea to Sir David: save our schools, jobs and pensions from Britain's timid investors - Sir David Walker should make sure his review of corporate governance addresses the role of bank shareholders, the missing link in the crisis - 12th July It's ridiculous to talk about 'freeconomics' when we've already given ourselves away - The free fallacy goes way beyond the internet - 5th July Don't relegate women to domestic science - Brain power is what is going to get us out of the recession and we can't afford to squander any - 28th June It's not bankers who deserve the credit - it's investment-starved British industry - It is depressing that vast riches are the only way to lure a banker into public service - 28th June Sir Fred might have gone away, but the issue of bankers' bonuses sticks with us - The timing of Sir Fred Goodwin's decision to hand back some of his pension is fascinating - 21st June Green shoots are not a fig leaf for the City - Poor, poor bankers. They are scared that Brown will not defend them against new European regulation - 14th June Barclays and the Gulf - As Abu Dhabi bails out, will Qatar stay? - 7th June (See also: Beyond oil: a Switzerland in the sands) What industry needs is clear commitment - One inconvenient truth this crunch exposed is that manufacturing does still matter - 31st May Childless is not a synonym for weird - It's intolerable that women's careers are still hobbled by assumptions based on their fertility - 24th May We must remind those self-interested execs who really owns the company - Short-termism in pension funds is the ultimate in self-defeating behaviour - 17th May Equitable's guardian looks back in anger - Charles Thomson resuscitated the mutual during a decade of government bungling and inaction. He's quite annoyed about it - 3rd May Why we pay for Nigel's parachute - The bonus culture cannot be justified so long as the rest of us are paying for them - 19th April Women cannot afford to be clueless about cash any more - During the boom, there was a tendency to focus on luxuries. Sadly, such indulgence leads to bankruptcy - 12th April We've yet to put our houses in order - Brown's success with the electorate will depend more on the state of the UK housing market than on his gladhanding on the international stage - 5th April The lives of these women is where the crunch bites deepest - The unwillingness to concede that the crunch affects women more than men threatens to cause long-lasting damage to developing economies - 29th March Chips down for casino banks - The irony is, they still believe they're masters of the universe - 22nd March Cult of the equity: it's down but not yet out - These are difficult times for those of us who still, just about, believe in stockmarket investment - 15th March Equality? You'll have to wait until 2082 - For having the temerity to suggest there is a gender dimension to the credit crunch, I have been accused of reductive sexual stereotyping and of a naive failure to realise women in power can be just as greedy and repellent as men - 8th March UK businesswomen still fear to show their feminine virtues - It is amazing to see what is happening to women in Iceland. In the UK you seldom see that combination of femininity and strength in the business world - 22nd February Investors and boards on the brink of war - High drama at the banks has almost overshadowed the extraordinary situation at Rio Tinto and BP - 15th February We cannot return to the old macho ways - The past few weeks have seen a parade of men appear before the male-dominated Treasury select committee to discuss the credit crisis. Women's voices are not being heard in the debate over what went wrong or how it can be fixed - 15th February Earth to overpaid bankers: you're working for us now - Restraining top bankers' pay is a necessary part of healing and re-making the banking system - 8th February This mess was made by men. Now let the women have their say - It's ludicrous that men dominated the debate in Davos. The single biggest force for economic growth is being ignored - 1st February Obama era must end the dissent deficit - The new presidency creates an opportunity to break with the dangerous group-think of the Bush/Blair years - 25th January The real victims of this credit crunch? Women - With more women working in the hardest hit areas - retail and services - it is they who will suffer most, jeopardising their hard earned financial independence and equality at work - 18th January Crisis creates threat of new lost generation - Children of the boom are having rapidly to adjust to a more austere reality - 11th January A harsh year ahead, but don't lose hope - Darling's suggestion that the economy will start picking up next year seems rosy - 4th January

Articles: Inside the minds of men who want to get rich quick - Conning investors and dodging the regulators who are supposed to curb them, swindlers cost markets millions, but it is important to understand the psychology of fraud - 21st December 2008 Here's to a hi-tech homegrown future - Is science the new finance? If and when we sort out the mess caused by the credit crunch, the UK will face a deeper question: what will be the basis of our future prosperity? - 21st December 2008 Dole queues longer even than the 1980s - Thousands of UK job losses were announced last week and the latest US payroll figures were so awful they exceeded forecasters' worst imaginings. I fear worse is to come - 7th December 2008 Pension divide gives Darling a headache - Hiking the top rate for those earning £150,000 a year won't raise an enormous amount of money, but it is an important piece of symbolism - 30th November 2008 Bungee Budget must help us bounce back - Failure to act now could result in new, deep and lasting scars on the economic landscape - 23rd November 2008 The human cost of losing your job - how the loss of her father's job in the Eighties affected her family - 16th November 2008 Who made Barclays' eastern promise? - The bank is paying a high price to avoid being in thrall to the UK government - 9th November 2008 Decoupling: it's totally divorced from reality - 26th October 2008 We lost sight of the true worth of things. Now let's get it back - In a culture where a handbag can cost £5,000 and face-creams £100, it shouldn't be a surprise we're yearning after authenticity - 19th October 2008 The biggest bet in the world - G7 finance ministers hold meeting and devise five-point plan to restore calm to markets with taxpayers' money - 12th October 2008 It's not just the banks: Britain itself is looking sub-prime - 5th October 2008 Rethink laissez faire attitude that led to French power play - Negotiations are still delicate, but it looks as though EDF will bag its target this time - 7th September 2008 When did killer heels become so aggressive? - 31st August 2008 Why subsidise our shameless City when the north deserves a break? - 17th August 2008 We need a grown-up debate about energy - 3rd August 2008 So, your daughter's man is unsuitable... - If you want to know why single women get involved with married men, look at their fathers - 27th July 2008 (women and society) Short-sellers are not all villains, and banks are hardly choirboys - 27th July 2008 The final judgment: regulators, too, were far from Equitable - 20th July 2008 If you think it's bad now, just wait... (US housing and sub-prime) - 13th July 2008 Moody blues cast a shadow over more than just Bradford & Bingley - 6th July 2008 A Victorian value we couldn't afford to lose - 29th June 2008 Were our mutual friends a safer bet? - 8th June 2008 The hidden cost of selling your pension to the highest bidder - 1st June 2008 To dye or not? It's a bit of a grey areaIt's all very well for Anna Ford, but we don't all have the cheekbones to carry off the silver look - 25th May 2008 (women and society) Carrots as well as sticks will help us to swallow green taxes - 25th May 2008 Brown seen through rose-tinted spectacles - 18th May 2008 Fib-ettes: a woman's best weapon to beat ageism - 4th May 2008 (women and society) Darling, you must get a grip on tax policy - 4th May 2008 We need to make it up to manufacturing - 27th April 2008 Rio's head prospector stakes out his claims - Paul Skinner of mining giant Rio Tinto may be holding off a merger at home, but he's surveying a bright future in China - 20th April 2008 Living in a bubble didn't make us rich - 13th April 2008 It's goodbye housing boom and hello sub-prime Britain - 6th April 2008 Chilling parallels to be found in Iceland - 30th March 2008 Fragile economy: handle with care - 30th March 2008 Inside the hunt for the City's bank raiders - 23d March 2008 French women can be chic and serious. Why can't we? - While Parisiennes are stylish, their counterparts over here are still dominated by their inner frump - 16th March 2008 xxxxxxx Stability? That was a lifetime ago, Darling - 16th March 2008 The real problem? No one trusts a bank - 2nd March 2008 They're tiny and unlikely to run for it - 2nd March 2008 Forget non-doms: we face a real brain drain - 24th February 2008 Whatever the outcome, Darling is damned - 17th February 2008 Can City profit from pensions? You bet your life - 17th February 2008 RBS must stick to the path of righteousness - 10th February 2008 It's official: recession hits the real world - 10th February 2008 Now you see the debt, now you don't - but you'll feel it - 10th February 2008 My name is Ruth. I have a drink problem. I never touch it - 3rd February 2008 (women and society) Can Microsoft beat tough kid Google? - 3rd February 2008 Shock and ore: state raids shift up a gear - 3rd February 2008 Would Fred take five now? - 27th January 2008 You can bet Kerviel is not the odd man out - 27th January 2008 By all means welcome the Chinese, but not too warmly - 20th January 2008 Time to vote out MPs' pension deal - 20th January 2008 Now Labour's all a big nuclear family - 13th January 2008 And the good news is... hard to find - 6th January 2008 God rest ye wealthy, gentlemen... - 23rd December 2007 Which way now when the world has shifted? - Ruth Sunderland looks at the causes and consequences of a 10-year boom imploding, leaving Britain at a dangerous economic crossroads - 23rd December 2007 Northern Rock begins to crumble - 23rd December 2007 We must learn to live with the reds going into our banks - 23rd December 2007 A dark end to a decade of prosperity - 16th December 2007 Without rules, this pensions pass-the-parcel will end in tears - 16th December 2007 The Rock should tell PwC its number's up - 9th December 2007 Crunch homes in on the housing market - 2nd December 2007 Extraditing our citizens to US is a bad business - 2nd December 2007 Branson's not the only white knight - 2nd December 2007 Darling is all at sea as sharks circle Rock - 25th November 2007 Tough task before BHP strikes gold - 25th November 2007 Walker has further to go down the pay road - 25th November 2007 Gordon needs to parcel up the Rock before Christmas - 18th November 2007 BHP must sweeten the deal for Rio Tinto - 18th November 2007

News & updates: Guardian and Observer's US business correspondent to take over from Ruth Sunderland, who returns to the Daily Mail - The Guardian, 9th august 2010

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