Bank of England rate-setter thinks sterling could fall further October 11, 2016 The newest member of the monetary policy committee (MPC) has said the pound could continue to fall given inherent weaknesses in the UK economy. Michael Saunders, who joined the Bank of England's rate-setting committee over the summer, told MPs today: "Given the scale and persistence of the UK's current account deficit, I would not be [...]
Business rates that hit London need reform October 11, 2016 Business rates are a blunt instrument, one which is set to deliver a heavy blow to London’s retailers, offices and hotels. Rates are due to rise from next April after a revaluation of rateable values for England’s 1.85m commercial properties by the Valuation Office Agency. It is the first such revaluation since 2010. Analysis by [...]
Is the tumbling pound providing a correction, or are we losers now? October 11, 2016 A strong currency can be a sign of a country’s economic success. When a currency rises against another, those earning income in it have greater spending power. Equally, a weaker currency is considered by some to be a source of national embarrassment. Last week’s sterling crash was rather embarrassing for Britain – the pound fell 4.2 [...]
Done right, fiscal policy can act as a channel to direct monetary stimulus into the real economy, not asset prices October 11, 2016 It's scarcely possible to read about global economic policy these days without hearing that central banks have run out of ammunition and a call to open the fiscal floodgates. But is fiscal policy really the answer to whatever is ailing the global economy? And has the great monetary experiment really reached the end of the road? [...]
Oil price gush lifts FTSE close to a record high October 11, 2016 Oil prices hit a 14-month high and the FTSE 100 recorded its second-highest close on record yesterday after Vladimir Putin suggested Russia would take part in a production cut alongside the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec). The Russian President told the World Energy Congress in Istanbul he supported the agreement reached by Opec [...]
Theresa May should use Nobel-winning insights – not anecdote – to guide executive pay reform October 10, 2016 The 2016 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics was awarded yesterday to Harvard’s Oliver Hart and MIT’s Bengt Holmstrom for their ground-breaking work on contract theory. Their work has profound implications for contracts in many fields: financing contracts between investors and firms, business contracts between customers and suppliers, and – most topically – employment contracts between [...]
The Single Market battle is the Remainers’ last stand in the Brexit war October 10, 2016 It has all the hallmarks of a last stand. Having abandoned resistance to the referendum result itself, Remainers are rallying to the cause of staying in the Single Market. Re-using the referendum hymn sheet, the same politicians, businesses and pressure groups who predicted doom and gloom from the decision to vote Brexit are now forecasting postponed doom [...]
Greek bailout stumbles forward but disagreements remain October 10, 2016 Greece has been given the green light to get its hands on €1.1bn from the European authorities as part of its multi-billion euro bailout programme after it successfully implemented a full package of reforms over the summer. Eurozone finance ministers agreed today the Greek Syriza government had met all of its requirements to implement "important reforms on [...]
Trump follies should make Britain count its Brexit blessings October 10, 2016 Investors can breathe a sigh of relief that the biggest Black Swan is treading water. Thanks to one lewd recording – dating back a decade – Donald J Trump’s race to the White House could be in serious jeopardy. The diminishing chances of a Trump presidency have put Europe back in the market’s crosshairs, as [...]
Bonds losing appeal as inflation set to pounce October 10, 2016 Yields on UK government debt have hit their highest level since the EU referendum as inflation fears grow and the pound remains under pressure. The benchmark 10-year bond now comes with a yield of more than one per cent in the UK, after hitting a record low of 0.52 per cent over the summer as [...]