Here’s what economists and central bankers would make of Christmas December 23, 2013 Lombard Street Research's daily note has taken a turn for festive today. Below is their (excellent) guide to the macroeconomics of Christmas. The Schools Keynesians Place a lot of emphasis on the "macro stabilisation" properties of Christmas. Ideally, they would vary the number of Christmases each year according to the state of the economy. This [...]
Royal Mail shares drop on FTSE 100 debut December 23, 2013 On its first day in the FTSE 100, Royal Mail shares are failing to deliver. After hitting a fresh record high of 605p on Friday, Royal Mail is today the FTSE 100's biggest faller. Sunny Dhanjal, senior trader at Accendo Markets, says that "could be the result of profit taking ahead of the Christmas break." [...]
Italian consumer confidence is slipping this Christmas December 23, 2013 Italian consumer confidence has fallen from 98.2 (revised from 98.3) to 96.2 in December, according to Istat. Analysts had forecast a slight increase to 98.8. Statisticians said that the decreased can be explained by personal and current components that decreased from 101.1 to 97.3 and from 99.2 to 95.0 respectively. "@minefornothing: Italian Consumer Confidence drops [...]
Here’s why cutting net migration to “tens of thousands” would make us much worse off December 23, 2013 Of the economically destructive policies currently championed by the coalition government, a target to reduce the level of net migration to the UK from "hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands" certainly ranks as one of the worst. The case for the free movement of people is not just a moral one, but economic. As [...]
What you need to know before the open – 23/12 December 23, 2013 The FTSE 100 is expected to open higher on the last full day of trading before Christmas. Volumes will however be thinner than usual with many investors enjoying the festive season and limited news releases to trade on. Last Friday saw the best week for European stocks in eight months. They're now expected to get [...]
The Bank has put the brakes on Funding for Lending – Why not on Help to Buy? December 21, 2013 Threats of an overheating housing market have reached Threadneedle Street, and they’re cutting out the mortgage incentives from the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS). This morning Bank of England governor Mark Carney said that “risks to financial stability may grow if there are further substantial and rapid increases in house prices”. FLS was launched at [...]
Miliband goes to war with gamblers over betting machines December 20, 2013 Labour leader Ed Miliband has promised that a Labour government would give local councils the power to crack down on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs). The betting machines allow players to bet on a variety of games and place a stake of up to £500. Ed Miliband told the Daily Mirror that FOBTs were "dangerously [...]
EU rejects Google’s antitrust offer December 20, 2013 Google's second offer to settle the antitrust probe into its search business has not sufficiently salved EU regulators' concerns, and has been rejected by Brussels. Joaquin Almunia, the European Commission's head of competition, has said that the latest proposals from Google to remedy the skewing of results to its own advantage were "not acceptable". The [...]
European Commissioner lashes out after S&P downgrade December 20, 2013 Economic and monetary affairs commissioner, Olli Rehn has slammed Standard & Poor's (S&P) credit downgrade of the European Union branding the decision "inconsistent." He said: The Commission's view is that the EU credit rating should be essentially assessed on its own merits, due to the very strong budget revenues and the treaty obligation from the 28 Member [...]
Pictures: Hachette bags new Victoria Embankment office December 20, 2013 Publisher Hachette has landed the lease for an impressive new office on Victoria Embankment. Designed by Fletcher Priest Architects, 50 Carmelite Riverside comes with a grand 7,600 sq ft roof terrace overlooking the Thames (pictured). Hachette will occupy most of the 135,000 sq ft building, sub-letting out 40,000 sq ft in the new year. View [...]