Double dip draws closer, but corporate America may yet save the day
14 Jul 2010 [0 Comments | 339 views]
Credit rating agencies are in the news today. Standard and Poor’s wants to have its cake and eat it. At least, its latest comments on the UK do smack of someone who, having eaten a gorgeous gateau, with fresh cream oozing from all over, complains that their plate doesn’t look so nice now that it is [...]
Obama wears flares to latest G20 fashion parade, but he may be ahead of his time
28 Jun 2010 [0 Comments | 317 views]
David Cameron reckons these G20 jaunts are a waste of time. Judging by the latest attempt to present unity when actually there is profound disagreement, you can understand our PM’s reservations. The reason why this column is a fan of the G20 meetings has little to do with economics. Churchill, a man whose economic judgement [...]
Do we really face an impending food crisis?
18 Jun 2010 [0 Comments | 316 views]
According to the annual joint report from the OECD and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the cost of food is set to soar over the next decade. Okay, soar is a bit extreme. The report says that wheat and coarse grain prices will rise by between 15 and 40 per cent over the next [...]
Gurus warn that deflation and fiscal hysteria could lead to depression
10 Jun 2010 [0 Comments | 422 views]
Yesterday saw two economic gurus make sense. No, that is not meant to be sarcastic. First you have David Blanchflower, also called Danny Blanchflower (although we can exclusively reveal he is not the same Danny Blanchflower who was the Captain of Spurs during the 1960s), was, if you recall, the Bank of England’s arch dove [...]
Inflation stirs
3 Jun 2010 [0 Comments | 348 views]
As you know, this column doesn’t pitch its tent in the inflation scare camp. For some time now it has been argued here that globally there is surplus capacity, and the real challenge facing the global economy is getting demand to match potential supply. We have also argued there are much stronger parallels between the [...]
Rift opens in heart of Bank of England as US inflation falls to 44-year low
20 May 2010 [0 Comments | 431 views]
The release of the latest minutes from the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee revealed the emergence of a new Rift Valley at the heart of the bank’s rate setting committee. On one side sit the doves, on the other the hawks, and the gap between them is growing. Meanwhile, economists and the blogosphere greet [...]
If the UK is set to follow Spain, then explain this
17 May 2010 [0 Comments | 560 views]
It’s been another busy few days. Quelle surprise – government finances are worse than we thought. News has emerged that during talks between the Lib Dems and the other two to form a coalition government, labour seemed unenthusiastic about the idea. Can’t think why, can you? And then there’s the French president, our good friend [...]
Inflation dips; mortgages see double dip; US house prices drip; and Japan’s exports follow trajectory of big dipper
24 Mar 2010 [1 Comment | 442 views]
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 inflation, and worrisome news on [...]
Food inflation falls to three-year low
3 Mar 2010 [0 Comments | 256 views]
At last some good news on our affordability. The annual rate of food inflation dropped from 2.9 per cent in January to just 1.3 per cent last month. That’s the lowest annual rate in three years, or so says data from the British Retail Consortium. A year ago, the annual rate was seven times higher. [...]
Inflation soars, as business and consumers roar at banks for credit
16 Feb 2010 [2 Comments | 433 views]
And so inflation hits 3.5 per cent, the highest level in 14 months, apparently putting the complete kybosh on talk of deflation. And from too much money fuelling inflation, to not enough. According to the IoD, banks are simply not lending enough to business. According to an article in the Telegraph, mortgage lending is set [...]
