The euro hits three-week highs against the dollar ahead of the ECB’s interest rate and quantitative easing decision December 8, 2016 The European Central Bank (ECB) is the only game in town today, as stocks rise across Europe and the euro hits a three-week high in anticipation of this afternoon’s announcement of monetary policy. Against the dollar the euro had broken through $1.08 at the time of publication, after hitting lows in the last month of [...]
The Gulf States see great opportunities in Britain’s bright post-Brexit future December 8, 2016 Prime Minister Theresa May is in Bahrain, meeting with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), spearheading the UK government’s plans to “turbo-charge” trade with this important trading bloc. In doing so Mrs May has gone into the history books as the first British Prime Minister to attend the annual GCC Summit, and also the [...]
Undermining property rights and individual liberty is economic suicide – as Europe’s former communist states are finding out December 8, 2016 The absence of corruption and the presence of the rule of law and property rights (for all forms of assets, physical and financial) are taken for granted in the UK. We tend to think that the protection of property rights is only a problem in countries such as Zimbabwe or Venezuela. As a result, we [...]
London’s jobs market is improving for the first time in six months according to recruiters December 8, 2016 The London jobs market is improving after six months of downturn as demand for permanent staff hits a 10-month high, a new study says. London recruiters reported a net increase in permanent job placements for the first time since April, according to the report by IHS Markit and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). However, [...]
Australia GDP growth goes down under zero for the first time in five years December 7, 2016 Australia’s economy contracted for the first time in more than five years in the third quarter, as investment in housing and by businesses dropped steeply. The quarterly growth rate of Australian gross domestic product (GDP) fell from 0.5 per cent in the second quarter to a contraction of 0.5 per cent from July to September. [...]
UK GDP growth stayed steady at 0.4 per cent while fall in migration would harm economy, says Niesr December 7, 2016 Migration controls could leave the UK economy up to 1.19 per cent poorer by the end of this Parliament, says an influential think tank, as it estimates that growth in the last three months was unchanged at 0.4 per cent. The growth rate of UK gross domestic product (GDP) for the three months ending in [...]
Sterling falls sharply as UK production falls at its fastest rate in four years December 7, 2016 The pound has fallen sharply against the dollar as a big fall in manufacturing production contributed to the biggest fall in UK production for more than four years. The decrease surprised analysts and could deal a blow to the nation's GDP growth expectations. Reduced output in the UK’s oil and gas industries also contributed to [...]
An ONS blunder means the trade deficit is £6bn bigger than we realised December 7, 2016 A blunder by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) means the UK's trade deficit was £6bn bigger than we realised, it admitted last night. The so-called processing error by the ONS means the trade deficit was £17bn in the third quarter of the year, up from the £11bn it had originally mooted. Read more: The [...]
UK house price growth slows as affordability concerns start to mount December 7, 2016 UK house price growth slowed in November to 0.2 per cent, as consumers start to feel the squeeze of prices rising faster than wages. Prices had increased by 1.5 per cent in October, which helped drive the annual rate of growth to six per cent, up from 5.2 per cent in the year recorded last [...]
City A.M. Unregulated podcast: Caution – do not listen to this podcast if you are of a nervous disposition December 7, 2016 Economist Jim Rickards correctly predicted the last financial crisis, the outcome of the Brexit vote and Donald Trump's election. Now he is predicting an economic downturn of massive proportions. Here, Rickards talks his new book, Road to Ruin, explains when we can expect the next global economic shock – and details why the global elite [...]