The great power shift
10 Jul 2009 [0 Comments | 157 views]
Be in no doubt, when the dust settles and the crisis of these times recedes into the history books, the world will look different. And one of the main differences will be the position of the US. Post credit crunch it will quite simply have less power and influence than pre credit crunch. It won’t necessarily be [...]
Wage cuts: the next big threat
10 Jul 2009 [0 Comments | 109 views]
BT wants its staff to take a long, long break, on cut-down wages. Great if you are single with few commitments and fancy a few months in Thailand; not so good if you’re married, mortgaged up to the hilt, have kids, or suffer from negative equity. BA wants its staff to follow the generous offer [...]
Is that a new Chinese bubble, or just good old-fashioned global realignment?
10 Jul 2009 [0 Comments | 97 views]
You see what happens when the state owns the banks. Really owns the banks, that is. In the UK we fret, how is it that banks get all this money from us, the taxpayers, and yet will not lend? It’s not like that in China. The figures really are staggering. Lending in the first half [...]
Bank of E opens can of worms, as it puts printing money on hold
10 Jul 2009 [0 Comments | 87 views]
The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee sat and cogitated yesterday, and did nothing. In the process, they opened a can of worms. The pound shot up on the news, so did yields on UK government bonds, creating doubts over the government’s ability to raise money in the future. And as ever, opinion on what [...]
125% mortgages return – madness or common sense?
9 Jul 2009 [0 Comments | 92 views]
It emerged this morning that the Nationwide Building Society is offering 125 per cent mortgages to some of its customers. The move is at odds with the preferences expressed by Gordon Brown who wants to see mortgages capped at less than 100 per cent of a property’s value. No doubt there will be those who [...]
House prices: the recovery, the truth
9 Jul 2009 [0 Comments | 98 views]
The latest round is complete. Yesterday, the Halifax released its latest monthly housing market survey, following recent releases from Hometrack and the Nationwide. As ever with these things the picture is mixed, but the trend seems to be clear. Perhaps a more interesting story came in The Times earlier this week, with the hint that lack [...]
2010 will be better than we thought, much better: unless you are Germany
9 Jul 2009 [0 Comments | 78 views]
The IMF released its latest forecasts for the global economy yesterday. There was bad news, good news and more bad news. There’s bad news for 2009. Good news for most of the world, including the UK, for 2010, but it’s bad if you are Germany. Meanwhile, Capital Economics has got good news growing out of [...]
Food inflation hits 14-month low
9 Jul 2009 [0 Comments | 115 views]
Food inflation is down again, says a report out yesterday from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). As for non-food inflation on the High Street, the annual rate has been negative now for seven months in a row. Overall annual shop price inflation was 0.7 per cent in June compared with 1.3 per cent in May, says the [...]
Google prepares to do battle on Microsoft’s front lawn
8 Jul 2009 [0 Comments | 95 views]
One of the advantages of being the richest man in the world is that people tend to laugh at your jokes. Once asked about the threat to his business posed by Google, Bill Gates said: “I hear they’re coming out with a robot that will cook hamburgers, too. Let’s spread that rumour – there’s nothing they can’t do.” [...]
The recession is over, just like the pigs flying over us
8 Jul 2009 [0 Comments | 83 views]
So it’s all over? Last week we learnt that house prices were up again, according to the Nationwide. This morning the bullishness from Nationwide went a step further, and its consumer confidence index hit a five-year high, at least by one interpretation. Read that one again, the consumer confidence hit a five-year high in June. [...]
