Greek debt crisis: Fears resurface over bailout deal as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras resigns August 21, 2015 Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras resigned last night, triggering another round of elections in Greece and calling into question the stability of the country’s latest bailout. Tsipras stepped down after just seven months in office, in which he battled with Greece’s creditors – including their Eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – [...]
UK house prices: No respite in sight for the housing market August 21, 2015 The housing market shows no sign of easing up this summer with prices climbing and mortgage lending seeing its strongest month for seven years. City level house prices are seeing their fastest growth for over a decade, property market analysts Hometrack said today. It said asking prices had increased 4.3 per cent in the [...]
Isis fight sends Iraq to debt markets August 21, 2015 Baghdad plans to raise $6bn as ongoing battles with militants have decimated infrastructure. Iraq is heading to the bond markets with hopes of raising billions, as low oil prices and the fight against Isis eat into state finances. Deputy governor of Iraq’s central bank, Zuhair Ali Akbar, confirmed the country will issue $6bn [...]
Global markets have had an awful day: FTSE, Dow, S&P and others close down on economic growth worries August 20, 2015 It's been an awful day for markets around the world. US stocks suffered their worst losses of 2015 while the FTSE 100 entered official correction territory caused by fears surrounding economic growth, particularly a slowdown in China, the world's second-largest economy. Markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen were down more than three per cent, while in [...]
Manufacturers and home sales buoy US outlook August 20, 2015 Manufacturers in the Philadelphia region are growing strongly this month, according to survey figures released yesterday, easing fears over the sector’s health. Meanwhile, US existing house purchases rose to an eight-year high last month, showing that consumer spending was in fine fettle. The Philadelphia Federal Index ticked up to a score of 8.3 this month from [...]
CBI industrial trends survey: Manufacturing orders unexpectedly improve in August August 20, 2015 A widely watched industry survey has shown manufacturer's order books unexpectedly improved this month. The CBI's industrial trends survey showed monthly total order book balance increased to -1 from -10 in July. Economists had expected it to remain stagnant. Output continued to grow at a steady pace in the three months to August, and this should continue [...]
Why we are still only building half the homes we need? August 20, 2015 Today’s release of the latest figures for homebuilding by the Department for Communities and Local Government make for interesting reading for all those interested in ending our nation’s housing crisis. Read more: The number of new homes being built has actually fallen Ultimately, they are a mixed bag. On a positive note, housing [...]
The number of young people not in education, employment, or training is going down August 20, 2015 The job prospects for young people are improving, despite the fact unemployment overall has stopped declining. There were 922,000 young people who were not in education, employment or training (Neets) from April to June, the Office for National Statistics said this morning. It marks a drop of 21,000 from the first quarter of this year. The [...]
Students are more right-wing than the general public on key economic matters like tax rates, nationalisation and redistribution August 20, 2015 Students may have a reputation for being a bunch of radical left-wing activists, but it turns out when it comes to economic issues, they’re actually more right-wing than the general public. From anti-apartheid sit-ins to tuition fee protests, students sure do like to get involved in politics. But don’t be surprised if the next time [...]
UK house prices: The number of new houses being built has actually fallen August 20, 2015 Given we're in the midst of a housing crisis, and the government has made all manner of promises to increase the number of homes being built, this is hardly encouraging: new figures have shown the number of new housing starts actually fell to 33,280 in the second quarter, six per cent lower than the same [...]