UK manufacturing flirts with record
1 Mar 2011 [0 Comments | 101 views]
Well, most of the economic news is bad, but not for manufacturers. In fact, today’s report from CIPS/Markit is the stuff dreams are made of. If a sad economist who dreams economics at night had a wonderful fantasy, then it would resemble the latest PMI for UK manufacturing. The headline index stayed at 61.5, equalling [...]
WTO Rule In Favour Of Airbus
1 Feb 2011 [1 Comment | 27 views]
Yesterday the WTO (World Trade Organisation) announced that it had ruled in favour of Airbus against Boeing receiving unfair government subsidies for its 787 Dreamliner. Over the past few decades Boeing has received about $5bn (£3.1bn) in indirect subsidies which according to Airbus cost it $45bn in sales. In response to the findings Boeing said [...]
UK retail sales tumble
24 Jan 2011 [0 Comments | 5 views]
It was a bad, bad month for retail land in December. Sales at all retailers fell 0.8 per cent in December on the month before, and annual growth was a big fat nothing – or zero. Poor sales of fuel helped to distort the picture. It is not hard to see why. After all, when [...]
UK jobs market, the race heads down
20 Jan 2011 [0 Comments | 32 views]
As you probably know, the UK jobs market is in something of a race at the moment. The public sector is losing jobs, the private sector is putting jobs on. The fortunes of the UK jobs market this year will depend on which of the two will be the greater. The latest data from the [...]
Globalisation: How can the UK compete?
18 Jan 2011 [1 Comment | 288 views]
We are taking a sideways look at the economy today. China is rising, or is that risen? India is following in its wake. By 2050, PwC reckons the total GDP of the so-called E7, that’s Brazil, Russia, India, China, Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey, will be half as much again greater than the total GDP of [...]
The real story behind Brits using credit cards to pay for mortgages
10 Jan 2011 [0 Comments | 274 views]
And so it appears Brits are using their credit cards to pay for their mortgages. At least that[‘s what a survey from YouGov and commissioned by Shelter has found. Don’t do it, says Shelter. It’s right, but the question is, how can people stop? The YouGov survey polled 2,00 people and found 6 per cent [...]
Manufacturing booms, but services and construction pull us back
6 Jan 2011 [0 Comments | 212 views]
It seems the UK’s recovery is a one-trick pony – with absolutely no field of ponies in sight. According to CIPS/Markit, manufacturing is booming, with the latest PMI hitting a 16-year high in December, and the index tracking employment in the sector hitting an all-time high. Alas, services and construction did not look so good, [...]
2011: a year when business and consumer will diverge
5 Jan 2011 [0 Comments | 276 views]
Analysts have gone all bullish. A growing number of forecasters are predicting that this year the FTSE 100 will at last pass the all-time record it set on 30 December 1999. Economists are ripping up their growth predictions from a few months ago, and are making bold claims. And yet there is one rather uncomfortable [...]
Economic chestnuts on an open fire
24 Dec 2010 [0 Comments | 398 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 [...]
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 [...]
