US Edition 
Dashwood: Times are changing for Lloyds of London
John Nelson, chairman of Lloyd's of London, is sticking to his promise to cut the £17m organisation's budget in 2012.
Nelson is working round the clock to cut the insurance market's cloth. Indeed the former Hammerson boss has taken the axe to some of his predecessor, Lord Levene's, earlier extravagances.
He has already downgraded the chairman's Mercedes to an eco-friendly Prius, and cancelled bookings for the Winston Churchill Suite at Monaco's Hotel de Paris. The luxury lounge was often occupied by his predecessor during the Monte Carlo Reinsurance Rendezvous.
On the other side of the pond, Nelson has banned the use of apartments at Greenbriers, a five-star West Virginia resort, utilised by Lloyd's staff at a previous American conference.
Finally Lloyd's old windows at One Lime Street are being replaced with clear glass to let in light and save energy.
The times they are a-changin'.
Conran's designer cuff is a lifesaver
Charity wristbands are ten a penny.
But designer Sebastian Conran, son of Sir Terence, has made an award-winning cuff with a difference and one which could save the Government up to £2bn a year in care costs.
Conran, in conjunction with buddi – the GPS tracking device company – has won a Design Council competition for his invention.
He teamed up with the founder of buddi and confused.com, Sara Murray, to create a permanently-worn wristband that provides user identification, personal monitoring and emergency alerts to help people suffering from dementia.
The Council's £60,000 cash injection allows work to begin immediately on the production of prototypes, to be unveiled in March.
Murray said: "No one has developed a device like this for the over-50s.
"Everyone thinks at that age you're uncool. We want to change that."
Financial leaders in titanic clash
Cast aside your crystal balls. Next week financial heavyweights will do what politicians and financial leaders have been dodging – making economic predictions.
Former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Lamont, will take centre stage at the Economic Research Council's first Clash of the Titans event.
Lord Lamont will be accompanied by macro-economic Professor John Muellbauer, of Oxford University and Prof Danny Quah of the London School of Economics.
The question posed will be, "what three major changes would you make if you were in power in 2012"?
I'm sure they'll come up with some solid answers. After all the ERC – the oldest economic think tank – and the 69-year-old former Chancellor have seen a few recessions between them.
Sarkozy in battle mode
French President Nicolas Sarkozy chose Toulon as the setting of his rallying speech this week.
The Gallic leader pledged that no eurozone country will be allowed to default and criticised in-fighting between European countries. His choice of city represented his aggressive mood – Toulon is where Napoleon Bonaparte defeated the British in 1793.