Greedy bankers get slated for ISAs. Is it deserved?

Greedy bankers get slated for ISAs. Is it deserved?

A big row is breaking out between consumers and the banks. Err, well, that’s not new. But this time, the focus of attention is cash ISAs and greedy banks.

According to Consumer Focus: “A third of the UK population has a cash ISA, and consumers view them as safe...Read More

Are we really too stupid to get climate change?

There have been some developments on the climate change front. While climate change sceptics lambast the University of East Anglia (UEA) and its Professor Phil Jones for allegedly hiding e-mail contradicting the man-made hypothesis, and while cynics in general suggest that the whole climate change thing is a money-making...Read More

Did men and testosterone create the crisis of our times?

Maybe the real problem with bankers is that too many of them are men.

At least, that’s one of the more popular of the theories explaining what caused the credit bubble. The argument goes like this. The problem with bankers is they took too many risks. This risk taking was encouraged...Read More

The three chancellors and the confirmation bias

Last night, from the three chancellors, or to be precise the one chancellor and two wannabe chancellors, we saw classic confirmation bias.

This is when we make up our minds that something is true, and from that moment on we only consider evidence which supports our view and we reject everything...Read More

The economic league chart that matters hits the press

In all the hullabaloo over the last couple of years, economists have had this tendency to overlook the things that really matter in the process of wealth creation.

Sure, debt matters; so does monetary policy; and so does the value of a currency. But there are deeper forces...Read More

The bail outs begin

And so it came to pass that Dubai World and Greece were saved.

As ever with these things, there was rumour and counter rumour, and no shortage of feet put in it. The question is, what will the rescue packages achieve, and will a double dip recession in the eurozone be...Read More

Did the chancellor present an entrepreneurs' budget?

Mr Darling droned on for just a few minutes short of an hour yesterday, and yet he hardly said anything. There was barely any news at all in the budget, and today the media pore over it, dissecting this, debunking that.

Well, actually, that is not entirely so. The budget contained...Read More

Yesterday's fireworks had nothing to do with the budget

Imagine it is Guy Fawkes Night. You and your chums huddle around a huge bonfire, but then, just as soon as the firework display starts, you suddenly become inordinately preoccupied with your navel. You stare at it for the entire duration of the display, and then when the fireworks end,...Read More

You will need an oxygen mask, ropes and a pickaxe if you want to ascend the great mountain called UK debt

Are you feeling masochistic? If so, you may be delighted to know that Credit Action has released a report highlighting the scale of Britain’s indebtedness.

In all the fuss over the public debt, we can too easily ignore the huge scale of consumer debt. Well, ignore it no more, here are...Read More

House prices see modest recovery, but the underlying trend still points down

Two bits of key data on the housing market have seen the light of day over the last couple of days. Nationwide’s latest survey showed rises in average prices during March, but figures from the Bank of England point to falls ahead.

According to the Nationwide, house prices rose 0.7 per...Read More

The battle of idealism: do tax cuts create tax revenue?

In last night’s debate between Messrs Darling, Osborne, and Cable, the debate turned to a pretty crucial point. The Tories want to reduce National Insurance contributions. Both Cable and Darling pointed out the common-sense flaw in this argument, that the Tories seem to want to do the impossible, that is...Read More

Murdoch bites the subscription bullet

The war on free content has gathered new momentum as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp announced that from May, content for The Times and Sunday Times will no longer be available for free.

Readers wishing to access content from the newspapers will be charged £1 to read one day’s worth of content...Read More

Threat of double dip recession looms

China remains worried. While Mr Sarkozy and Ms Merkel were celebrating the fat Greek wedding of IMF and eurozone support, Zhu Min, who is the Deputy Governor at the People’s Bank of China, said: “Greece is only one case, but it’s only a tip of the iceberg.” He added:...Read More

Inflation dips; mortgages see double dip; US house prices drip; and Japan's exports follow trajectory of big dipper

What with it being budget day and all, we are guessing you don’t want to read reams on the economy. After all, the economy is all that will be on the news tonight.

And yet yesterday saw a string of interesting announcements. In the UK there was good news on...Read More