Economic chestnuts on an open fire
24 Dec 2010 [0 Comments | 400 views]
So this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year over, and a new one just begun. Well, one thing we can say without fear of contradiction: the global economy is one year older, too, but what has it done? The Sudoko puzzle Is China changing? Wages, the rich, and why super rich is [...]
Are house prices 50 per cent too expensive?
23 Dec 2010 [4 Comments | 2,550 views]
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reckons house prices will fall 2 per cent next year, but it is assuming interest rates will remain low. Elsewhere, a growing number of economists and columnists are talking about interest rates going up. This would be bad for the housing market. But actually, we reckon there is [...]
Gold: arch bears turn to bulls – is the barbarous relic set to move even higher?
22 Dec 2010 [1 Comment | 526 views]
For quite a while Capital Economics have been bears on gold. As of this week that has changed, with the consultancy now forecasting that the pretty yellow metal could reach $2,000. Mind you, contrarians argue that the time to buy is when the most bullish of investors has turned bearish, and the time to sell [...]
Snow claims victim
22 Dec 2010 [0 Comments | 272 views]
Already a retailer has issued a profits warning and has blamed the snow. Meanwhile, the Federation of Small Businesses has called for the government to give a helping hand to businesses that are reeling thanks to the bad weather. Alexon, the women’s fashion group that includes the Ann Harvey, Eastex and Kaliko brands, has said [...]
Bank bonuses and the impotent UK government
21 Dec 2010 [1 Comment | 379 views]
The row, or is that outright war, over bank bonuses rumbles on. Vince Cable has never been shy in spouting forth his anti-bank rhetoric, but now even the man who is normally the bank’s friend, Boris Johnson, has made a speech criticising bank bonuses. And yet still the threat remains: You stop our bonuses, then [...]
Interest rate warning would be scary, if it was right
21 Dec 2010 [0 Comments | 600 views]
The CBI has predicted that interest rates will rise to 2.75 per cent by the final quarter of 2012. The Telegraph has put the CBI projection together with figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and worked out that around three million householders will run into difficulty paying their mortgages if the CBI is [...]
The X-Factor: innovation and the unpredictable rise of Facebook and Twitter
20 Dec 2010 [0 Comments | 310 views]
Chris Wright, the founder and chairman of Chrysalis, has had some unkind things to say about that TV programme, The X-Factor. He makes a point, and his observations have a resonance that applies beyond the world of music. “The music industry,” he said, “hates X-Factor with a passion.” His argument is this. The programme creates [...]
The real economic cost of snow is that shoppers may learn to be more discerning
20 Dec 2010 [0 Comments | 436 views]
Okay, it’s cold. Airports are chaotic. Brits who are currently abroad are struggling to get home for Christmas. Holidaymakers are reconsidering their plans. And High Streets are looking decidedly quiet. But what makes the snow this time around especially unfortunate, is its timing. The consequences may well prove to be serious. But whether they are [...]
MPC dove, Adam Posen, calls for humility, admits to not being sure, and predicts inflation will fall
17 Dec 2010 [0 Comments | 407 views]
Economists, huh? Central bankers took credit for that period of seemingly never-ending growth – the period known as NICE, and then when things went pear- shaped they said: “Well it wasn’t my fault.” Alan Greenspan was the worst. The maestro happily took plaudits for keeping inflation down and growth up, but where was his humility [...]
Social media: profits begin to flow to companies that Twitter, blog or Facebook
17 Dec 2010 [0 Comments | 3,462 views]
So where do you stand on social media? How often do you Twitter? What’s your Facebook profile like? Are you LinkedIn, on YouTube, or do you blog like crazy? Or are you a cynic, and fail to see how social media can help the bottom line? New research from McKinsey suggests that social media is [...]
