Are the markets blindfolded masochists?
23 Nov 2011 [0 Comments | 37 views]
The Blindfolded Masochist: A new book about networks, about the economy and how we can create our own doom, by Michael Baxter Crisis and opportunity sums it up. Yes the economy is in a mess; yes it could get a whole lot worse, and yet there is a reason to be optimistic. Very optimistic. The [...]
UK manufacturing flirts with record
1 Mar 2011 [0 Comments | 97 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 [...]
The Bank of England is not impotent, just mostly impotent
1 Mar 2011 [2 Comments | 75 views]
And so the Bank of E frets. The hawks increase, flying in formation and tormenting the doves at the Bank of England, not to mention the UK’s households. And yet, if you look at the bank’s very own data you can only conclude one thing: the bank’s ability to control inflation is almost non-existent. Whatever [...]
Is Western dominance near its end?
1 Mar 2011 [0 Comments | 100 views]
A new TV series, The West and the Rest, narrated by Niall Ferguson and based on his book of the same name, will be getting its airing soon. But Ferguson’s book is not alone. The last couple of months have also seen the release of ‘Why the West rules for now’ and ‘Why the West [...]
China prepares to save the world, or at least the West’s grocers
1 Mar 2011 [0 Comments | 56 views]
The ‘great bubble of China’ theory is gaining momentum. More are signing up to the view that China’s economy is set to crash, or at the very least go the way of Japan 20 years ago. Here are some reasons why we don’t think this will happen, and here is one example of a British [...]
WTO Rule In Favour Of Airbus
1 Feb 2011 [1 Comment | 25 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 [...]
Sarkozy calls for Tobin tax
26 Jan 2011 [1 Comment | 25 views]
Nicholas Sarkozy’s rise to power seems to have reached a new peak, for now our Nick is the most powerful man in the world – or sort of, anyway. He is the chairman of the G20. And he has a cunning plan to curb the power of banks. Nearly headless Nick Sarkozy wants to see [...]
Scientists give food warning
26 Jan 2011 [1 Comment | 11 views]
A new report compiled by taking the views of 400 people apparently in the know and from across the world, should be enough to scare the willies out of you. The report is called The Future of Food and Farming, and was put together by the Government Office for Science in London. It pretty much [...]
Money illusion, myths, inflation and interest rates
24 Jan 2011 [0 Comments | 23 views]
The pound has been creeping up. Talk that interest rates will soon be rising is hitting a crescendo. They are connected, but the real danger right now lies with an illusion about money. Back in October there were 1.13 euros to the pound. Over the last few day the exchange rate has been rotating around [...]
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 [...]
