Doubts that Greece economy has reached a turning point despite higher GDP in second quarter September 9, 2013 Despite improvements to Greek GDP last Friday showing that the economy contracted by just 3.8 per cent compared to a year earlier (down from a previous estimate of a 4.6 per cent contraction), the country may have not have reached a turning point. Ben May, European economist, Capital Economics: No seasonally adjusted data are published, [...]
Political backing for army’s general Sisi fuels speculation for Egypt’s head of state September 9, 2013 Chief General Abdei Fattah al-Sisi has received public support from former Mubarak Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq and former Arab League chief Amr Moussa. Despite the country's ongoing turmoil, the diverse support for Sisi signals an emergence of a public and popular figure. Shafiq, speaking in an interview with Dream 2 television, said he would back [...]
OECD sees growth firming in the UK September 9, 2013 The OECD has announced that it sees growth firming in the United Kingdom, as the UK's composite leading indicators (CLIs) move above their long term average (shown by 100 in the figure above). Stronger data saw the UK's CLIs increase to 101.0 in July, from 100.8 in the month before. Only the United States and [...]
Google goes further on concessions in a bid to end European Commission probe September 9, 2013 EU antitrust regulators have received further commitments from the technology giant after a three-year investigation highlighted concerns that it was working to block competitors. Anticipation of such a move began back in May: Joaquin Almunia, the European Commission’s competition commissioner, said he was “almost 100 per cent” certain that the search engine will have [...]
TSB launch could perform poorly unless Lloyds can convince customers of bank’s reputation September 9, 2013 Newly launched TSB branches could fail to impress unless marketing can convince customers of their trustworthiness, analysts warn. 632 branches have been launched, with 100,000 of its 4.6m customers logging on yesterday. TSB's website is already struggling, with technical issues emerging both yesterday and today. Unlikely to do the new project's brand image any favours. [...]
Osborne’s hair cut too far and too fast September 9, 2013 that new Osborne haircut in full: The parting has gone. pic.twitter.com/BvM9TTiEi1 — Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) September 9, 2013 Chancellor George Osborne seems to have gone for a very austere haircut (we're all in it together?) Quite a contrast to the mop of his Bullingdon Club days. And while Osborne elected to give his speech [...]
Osborne seems confused on bond market movements September 9, 2013 Chancellor George Osborne seems unsure about how to interpret movements in the bonds market. Now, rising yields are supposed to signal the success of the Bank of England's adoption of forward guidance, and confidence in the UK economy. In fact, yields on 10 year gilts are up since the chancellor started his talk; implying a [...]
Analysts expect limited support for US strikes on Syria September 9, 2013 White House efforts to convince the US Congress of Syrian strike appear to be stalling. With voting on the proposed military strike due to take place as early as Wednesday; enthusiasm is predicted minimal: Only about a quarter of the Senate's 100 members and fewer than 25 members of the 435-seat House have been willing [...]
Osborne keeps mentioning living standards, but not our record real wage squeeze September 9, 2013 Chancellor George Osborne has mentioned living standards repeatedly (you can watch him here), but he doesn't appear to have mentioned the prolonged real wage squeeze currently gripping the UK. Osborne has attacked the previous Labour government, saying that the fall in living standards is the result of a "failure of economic policy in the last [...]
Regulator fines Deloitte £14m over MG Rover fiasco September 9, 2013 Regulators have issued Deloitte a £14m fine and a severe reprimand for matters relating to their role as advisers to MG Rover during its collapse in 2005 (release). The accountancy firm advised four of Rover's directors – the Phoenix Four – who had taken over the company for £10m five years before its collapse. Mr [...]