The dissection of 2008 and all that
23 Dec 2008 [3 Comments | 258 views]
This is the last issue of Investment and Business news in 2008. The next issue will be with you on January 5.
Maybe, then, right now is a good time to take stock.
What a year. 2008 saw 'once in a hundred years events', or so we have been told. Capitalism is in trouble. Social unrest is growing across the world, and governments are being dragged by their populace into protectionism.
But, opportunity lurks too. In fact, right now, the global opportunity is truly outstanding. The danger is that we talk ourselves out of seeing this.
It seems that 2008
Why opportunity lurks within crisis
23 Dec 2008 [0 Comments | 219 views]
If you had been an economist in, say, September 1929 and were asked to provide a prognosis for how strong you felt the global economy was, it is likely you would have produced a glowing report.
The previous 50 years or so had seen extraordinary change.
It seems that the 47-year period which ended as the First World War broke out was a kind of big bank of innovation.
Favourite articles of the year: Mark 2 – Comrade Brown heralds in new age of exuberance
23 Dec 2008 [0 Comments | 184 views]
Originally published 14 October, after banking bailout agreed
As Gordon Brown and the members of his politburo sat and cogitated this weekend, they hit on a formula to do the impossible. They introduced a socialist programme to the world, the likes of which had not been seen since the years after the Tsar was toppled from Russia; yet in the process had the arch proponents of capitalism gushing their approval like best-behaved school children.
The great fight back begins
22 Dec 2008 [0 Comments | 216 views]
It began in Northern Ireland, in towns like Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh. The means by which the UK economy can recover have been laid.
Hands up all residents of Britain who wish they were paid in euros. Envy those who are. If you receive your salary in euros then you have received an effective 25 per cent pay rise over the last year or so.
It’s bad news if you enjoy a regular holiday in Europe every summer. It’s bad news if you take the ferry to France every now and then, and return topped up with cheap booze. But if you want to see the UK economy move onto a sustainable footing, it is time to at last think about celebrating.
This morning,
Housing market recovery could be ten years away, and prepare for boos and hisses aimed at banks
22 Dec 2008 [0 Comments | 160 views]
The most bearish comment yet from a leading economist; an extraordinary criticism made by the presenter of the Channel Four programme Location, Location, Location; an even more extraordinary and quite disturbing move by a well known High Street bank; and news on a panacea to the housing crisis, were the big four developments to have occurred in relation to the Great British Housing Crash this weekend.
China and Japan: the contagion spreads – and free trade is the only possible solution
22 Dec 2008 [0 Comments | 230 views]
In China, unemployment is the challenge, social unrest the big worry.
In Japan, it seems exports are falling off the edge of a cliff. News that Toyota is now forecasting its first annual loss since the 1930s sums up the whole thing pretty well.
The real danger, however, is that the world retreats behind protectionism. That will surely be the single biggest threat in 2009.
According to this morning’s FT, the Chinese government is making tackling unemployment its number one priority.
Apparently 10 million migrant
Panic as pound heads for euro parity, but it is not all bad
19 Dec 2008 [0 Comments | 235 views]
According to the Telegraph, this year has seen the biggest falls in sterling since the UK came out of the gold standard in 1931.
At the time of writing there were just 1.06 euros to the pound...
...That brings us to Jaguar and talk of a government bail out.
Mortgage market to go negative in 2009, repossessions to hit 1991 level
19 Dec 2008 [0 Comments | 124 views]
You have got to feel sorry for the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). "It is hard to imagine a more challenging environment in which to be making market forecasts," it said yesterday.
Nonetheless, it did make its predictions, and then you are left feeling sorry for the half-million home owners who the CML expects will go three months or more in arrears.
Yesterday, CML made its mortgage predictions for 2009
What’s up in Japan, Germany, France and Russia
19 Dec 2008 [0 Comments | 223 views]
Okay, it is time for a quick look around the world.
We know things are grim in the UK and US, but what about the rest?
Here is a brief summary of the latest state of play in Japan, Germany, France, Russia, India, Iceland, and Iraq.
Chart of the day
19 Dec 2008 [0 Comments | 135 views]
