Labour’s City man gets real over green belt October 26, 2016 Building in Britain is not always easy, as the debacle over airport expansion shows. The government satisfied business groups yesterday by revealing its intention to allow a third runway at Heathrow – but even though Theresa May has acted reasonably quickly, the verdict follows years of dawdling, and arrives nearly half a century after Harold Wilson [...]
Why everyone called Brexit wrong: Analysts have become too close to the elites they’re meant to analyse October 26, 2016 I have long held heretical views about political risk analysis, which cluster around what I call the “plumber’s test”. However bejeweled or slick at marketing a political risk firm may be, what matters in the end is that they are analytically correct. Just as I don’t invite back my local plumber if he fails to [...]
UK missing out on £45bn millennials dividend October 26, 2016 The UK could be £45bn richer if more young people were in work or education, a new report has claimed. Consultants at PwC also found the UK lags most of the world’s major economies in terms of the opportunities available to young people, which could be stifling economic growth. Britain comes in 21st out of [...]
Mark Carney says political attacks on Bank of England knock the pound October 25, 2016 Mark Carney has warned that threats to the Bank of England’s independence could see sterling slump even further and cause investors to flee UK assets. The Threadneedle Street governor told Lords on the economic affairs committee this afternoon that central bank independence had “stood the test of time” and could not be “called into question” [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open October 25, 2016 Apple sales are expected to fall sharply and Twitter is planning another round of job cuts. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. US futures are pointing higher ahead of the open, though only slightly. The S&P is up by 0.09 per cent, the Nasdaq is 0.14 per [...]
The devil you know, the devil you don’t: How to protect your investments whoever wins the US election October 25, 2016 As polling day draws near, it is regrettable that the contest to become the 45th President of the United States has been more about personality than policy. The campaign has been distinguished on one side by preposterous promises to suspend the entry of Muslims into the country and build a hard border with Mexico, and [...]
Resurgent protectionism threatens both the US economy and share prices – and not just if Trump wins October 24, 2016 Protectionism – the practice of shielding a country’s industry from foreign competition – and the prospect of a descent into a beggar-thy-neighbour global trade war is one of the biggest risks to investment returns over the next decade. Indeed, politicians are already succumbing: according to the Global Trade Alert initiative, the number of protectionist measures enacted [...]
No deal: Belgium shuts down EU-Canada trade agreement over Wallonia concerns October 24, 2016 A landmark EU-Canada trade pact was thrown into chaos last night after Belgium failed to strike a deal with its rogue Wallonia region, prompting one of the country’s leading politicians to brand it a “laughing stock”. The impasse left the EU scrambling to save the ambitious trade agreement which had been seven years in the making. Last [...]
Manufacturing exports surge on weak sterling but higher costs are on the horizon October 24, 2016 Manufacturing exports have jumped to their highest level in two and a half years in a Brexit boost for the sector following the dramatic slide in the value of sterling. The CBI's Industrial Trends survey also found UK firms were the most competitive they have ever been up against their European counterparts since the introduction [...]
Banks, law firms and accountants to be ranked on social mobility success October 24, 2016 Top City employers will be ranked on their progress in boosting social mobility and recruiting candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds, in a new government-backed scheme. The Social Mobility Commission, a government body, and the Social Mobility Foundation, a charity, have teamed up to produce a new index of the country's biggest employers to assess their efforts [...]