Which way next for global house prices?
28 May 2010 [1 Comment | 3,159 views]
The latest OECD economic outlook report hit us with some fascinating stuff about global house prices. And what is really good about the OECD data is that it may well have presented just about the most meaningful data of the lot. It looked at the ratio of average prices to income and rent going back [...]
Markets celebrate as China makes soothing noises
28 May 2010 [0 Comments | 340 views]
It was another busy day yesterday. Will the dragon come out to play, or go back in its cave? That’s the big question. By ‘dragon’ of course is meant China, and by coming out to play we mean lend lots of money to indebted foreigners. The question is, can the Eurozone continue to expect money [...]
Up rates to 3.5%, says ‘mad’ OECD
27 May 2010 [0 Comments | 724 views]
Yesterday, the latest OECD Economic Outlook report was released. If you dig deep into the report, you finally come across a recommendation for the UK that, if applied, would wreak economic havoc across the land. Earlier this week the OECD issued another report predicting economic crisis as a result of measures taken by governments to [...]
Sell in May and go away, or get out while you can
26 May 2010 [0 Comments | 461 views]
Sell in May and go away. That’s one saying we could use to explain the latest turmoil to hit the markets. The stock market has predicted nine of the last five recessions, that’s another one. Are we in deep trouble again, or is it all just hype? Scanning the Internet, there is no shortage of [...]
Stock markets: is it like 2008, or just a case of springtime nerves?
26 May 2010 [0 Comments | 358 views]
May is a notoriously bad month for share prices. Every year, this column pulls out the same old expression, sell in May and go away. And there is no shortage of economists who reckon the latest upheavals are little more than our annual springtime panic. Ian Harwood, who is the chief economist at Evolution Securities [...]
The pain in Spain comes out of the drains
26 May 2010 [0 Comments | 309 views]
As you know, Spanish regulators did things the right way. In Spain, unlike the rest of the banking world, banks were required to maintain much higher capital ratios. And for the last 18 months we have been told that regulators should learn the lesson of Spanish banks. Governments have imposed the impossible condition on banks [...]
Should Greece default?
26 May 2010 [0 Comments | 311 views]
Opinion is split. Writing in The Times, Anatole Kaletsky claims that a Greek default would have a more serious impact on the global economy than the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Much to his disgust, however, a growing chorus of voices is calling for Greek default. He said: “Yet the possibility of a Greek debt default [...]
Punish savings
26 May 2010 [1 Comment | 318 views]
There is an elephant in the living room that few dare mention. By seeking safety, savers have created unprecedented risk for the global economy. But savers have been protected from their reckless saving. They have been protected because no one dares let banks fail, or no one dares let governments go bust. Above all, savers’ [...]
Good news lurks in latest economic data
26 May 2010 [0 Comments | 222 views]
The ONS has revised upwards its latest estimate of the UK economy’s growth rate in Q1. It now reckons the UK expanded by 0.2 per cent. It’s odd. Economists are still lamenting the UK’s performance in Q1, and yet it is surely too soon to tell. The ONS revised its assessment of growth in Q4 [...]
Austerity begins
25 May 2010 [0 Comments | 481 views]
The great austerity drive begins, and not only in the UK. The Italian government is due to reveal its austerity package today, and the IMF has slated Spain for not doing enough. As for Blighty, it may be… well, if nothing else it tells us how politicians seemed to be awful at seeing the bl***ing [...]
