Irreverent, punchy and thought-provoking
Whoa, that was quite a fall. Markets across the world fell sharply last week. Since the beginning of the year, stock indices from China to the UK, from Japan to the US have fallen by between 7 and 9 per cent. And that’s a nasty drop by anyone’s standards.
Mind you, there was a bit of inevitability about this. Much of the media and analysts, with this column no exception, had been scratching their heads over the rises seen during the last few months. It was obvious to just about everyone there were …
Uncle Sam sees cure as productivity surges
And UK wages set to fall
But producers see costs rise
Toyota plan in disarray
Uncle Sam sees cure as productivity surges
US productivity surged by a stunning 6.2 per cent (on an annualized basis) in the fourth quarter. Actually that was down slightly from the previous quarter when annualised productivity was up 7.2 per cent, but it is hugely impressive, nonetheless.
The big question, however, is why?
Is productivity up so high simply because US businesses have cut costs until they are left with an ultra efficient core? …
Saving is back. Turn on the TV and you are hit by one ad after another telling you how good it is to save. Saving has replaced retail therapy as the most fun you can have with your clothes on.
Okay, maybe saving isn’t that good, but Brits are waking up to the joy of seeing their money grow through the magic of compound interest. Or to be more accurate, thanks to rock bottom interest rates, gaining pleasure from saving has a hint of masochism about it. There isn’t much magic …
Bad news, it seems, comes in twos, and today we have got two bits of bad new for the housing market.
First off, comes news from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, or CML. It reckons the UK mortgage market is about to suffer from a £300 billion funding gap.
The problem is this. Thanks to the credit crunch the wholesale funding market has gone the way of the dodo. The government has filled the gap though special one off schemes, not to mention quantitative easing, but what happens when this comes to …
Yesterday was a disappointing day for the economy. The week had started so well, what with Purchasing Mangers Indices around the world surging it seemed as if manufacturing was booming. In the UK, for example the PMI index from CIPS/Markit hit its highest level since October 1994. What with the US expanding so fast in the final quarter (annualized growth stood at 5.7 per cent), it seemed the dark days of recession were fading into a distant memory.
But a dark cloud was on the horizon. There was a fear. The …
