EU migrant crisis: Advanced countries need to take more migrants, says International Monetary Fund boss Christine Lagarde November 11, 2015 The head of the influential International Monetary Fund has thrown in her two cents on the EU’s migrant crisis with a two-page blog post published today. Lagarde said those who had accepted large numbers of refugees should be commended, but that “others, especially among the advanced countries, should look at how they might increase their [...]
Six things we were not expecting to learn from today’s ONS labour market figures November 11, 2015 The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed its latest Labour Market Statistics, showing that employment is on the up, with 31.21m people in work for July to September. So far, so good. But we’ve dug a little deeper into the statistics to discover six things we weren’t expecting to learn from this morning’s announcement: [...]
Bitcoin has no future, says UBS chairman Axel Weber at Bank of England’s Open Forum November 11, 2015 The chairman of investment bank UBS, Axel Weber, has played down the potential of crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin. During a discussion at the Bank of England’s Open Forum, he said private currencies will fail to take off “because there is no lender of last resort – there will always be boom and bust”. During a [...]
European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi hammers home need for closer Eurozone financial integration at the Bank of England’s Open Forum November 11, 2015 Mario Draghi has used his speech at the Bank of England's Open Forum to underscore the need for the Eurozone to fully push on with its banking and capital market union. He argues: First, as the vast majority of money is issued by private banks – bank deposits – there can only be a single currency if [...]
Bank of England’s Open Forum: Osborne warns big bank fines aren’t a thing of the past November 11, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne has warned the huge fines levied on some of the world's biggest banks aren't a thing of the past, and will still serve to deter bad behaviour by bankers in the future. "If anyone thinks being unethical in the financial services industry is a good way to make money, I'd suggest they take [...]
UK house prices: “Just move out of London” – one mortgage site’s solution to Generation Rent’s affordability crisis November 11, 2015 Nowhere has the UK's housing crisis been more potent than in the capital, where a generation of people – dubbed "Generation Rent" – has been priced out of the property market. Now one mortgage site has a solution: go somewhere else. MyLocalMortgage.co.uk reckons if Generation Rent wants "cheaper housing and higher life satisfaction, it should just move out [...]
London house prices: Is the property supply crisis on the rebound? Here’s the top five spots for homes on the market with Wandsworth and Westminster top of the list November 11, 2015 When it comes to London house prices, you have to throw out your notions of supply and demand: it’s all about location, location, location. That’s no huge surprise of course, but what is surprising is the extent to which that’s the case. Wandsworth, the most expensive borough in the capital, actually had the largest number [...]
UK employment rate hits new record high for July to September as wage growth tails off November 11, 2015 The UK's employment rate soared to a new record high in the third quarter of this year, although wage growth appears to be tailing off slightly. There were 31.21m people in work for July to September, pushing the employment rate to 73.7 per cent, the highest since comparable records began in 1971. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 5.3 per [...]
Far from being unlucky, home insurance claims actually go down on Friday 13th November 11, 2015 Friday the 13th may have a reputation for being unlucky – but it turns out that doesn't ring true when it comes to household mishaps. Home insurance provider Policy Expert has discovered that claims on home insurance actually go down on the traditional day for bad luck, with claims on some of the most recent Friday 13ths coming [...]
Rising rents mean that by 2020 over 25 per cent of consumer spending will be on household and utility bills November 11, 2015 Housing and utility bills will account for over a quarter of total UK consumer spending by 2020. Household expenses is the fastest-growing category of consumer spending, increasing at a rate of 3.5 per cent a year, compared to spending on food, which will drop 0.4 per cent a year by 2020. Higher spending reflects rising rent [...]