Osborne faces Commons rating humiliation February 25, 2013 During an urgent question on the government's economic policy George Osborne was asked whether he agreed with himself that the UK downgrade is "humiliating". While he rightly pointed out that markets didn't react to the downgrade, that doesn't absolve him of responsibility for the economic conditions that led to it. Despite having set the AAA [...]
Berlusconi projected to seize Senate win February 25, 2013 Senate projections are in: Rai: Berlusconi 31 per cent, Bersani 29.5 per cent, Grillo 25.1 per cent, Monti 9.6 per cent Sky: Berlusconi 31 per cent, Bersani 29.7 per cent, Grillo 26 per cent, Monti 8.2 per cent The euro heads back down against the dollar: (Source: Yahoo! Finance) The [...]
Italian markets positive as voting closes February 25, 2013 Voting has closed in Italy, and Sky has released instant polls (not exit polls) that show the centre-left clearly in the lead as we predicted earlier: Bersani 34.5 per centBerlusconi 29 per centGrillo 19 per centMonti 9.5 per cent While the outcome is not yet certain and will largely depend on voting in Lombardy, markets [...]
Berlusconi set for defeat in Italian elections February 25, 2013 There are reports of a low turnout in Silvio Berlusconi's key areas as voter numbers fall by 8% in the north west and 9.6% in the south and the islands. Berlusconi also lagged in recently leaked polls. A victory for the centre-left Democratic party is looking likely. While voting for both the Senate and lower [...]
Osborne’s AAA obsession February 25, 2013 The folks over at LabourList have produced a nice summary of the comments Osborne has made on maintaining AAA as an objective of Coalition policy. There are a few gems, but this comment from August 2009 illustrates just how attached Osborne was to the top-grade rating: “I have argued it with my opponents in difficult [...]
Ikea latest in horsemeat scandal February 25, 2013 A Czech veterinary authority has found that the meatballs of Swedish home products company Ikea are contaminated with horse. Ikea is the latest to be implicated in a scandal that has been a public relations blow to other including Tesco, Iceland, Aldi and Lidl. Horse found in IKEA meatballs – not like them to include [...]
Shocking scale of Greek contraction revealed February 25, 2013 Bank of Greece Governor George Provopoulos has revealed that the country's economy has shrunk by some 20% from 2008 to 2012, and expects to see GDP fall by a further 4.5% in 2013. Average joblessness stood at 24.5% in 2012 and is also expected to rise this year. While Provopoulos claims that he expects recovery to [...]
Markets brush off UK downgrade February 25, 2013 Despite a drop in the pound after downgrade news on Friday, markets appear not to care that much about the UK losing its AAA rating. ESCP Europe Business School's Anthony Evans had this after the news on Friday: the Moody's downgrade is political news masquerading as economic news. — Anthony J. Evans (@anthonyjevans) February 23, 2013 [...]
Italian elections set to grip European bond markets February 25, 2013 Italy's two day elections are due to close today at 14:00, with leaked polls showing the centre-left coalition leading slightly ahead of Berlusconi's centre-right alliance (Financial Times). Our reporter Marion Dakers writes: Meanwhile, markets are awaiting the outcome a fiercely-fought Italian election that could foster more financial instability if the polls bring an unstable government. [...]
Sterling slides to 16-month low February 25, 2013 Following Moody's action on Friday, downgrading the UK's AAA-rating, sterling has fallen to a 16-month low against the dollar this morning. (Source: Yahoo!Finance) From the Editor's column: The real problem, as HSBC’s currency team, led by David Bloom, noted last night, is that markets “expected [Osborne’s] plan to succeed and sterling [...]