BAE must show that tie-up won’t damage national security September 12, 2012 GOVERNMENTS and defence companies are inextricably linked. There is no free market in military equipment, of course, as governments are the buyers; there is less – but still lots of – political intervention in civil aviation, where governments often lobby on behalf of planes produced by companies or factories located in their country. So the [...]
The Eurozone is becoming less important for UK exporters September 11, 2012 ONE of Britain’s biggest problems is that its trade is unbalanced: UK companies still rely too much on European markets, which will be sluggish at the best of times, and insufficiently on emerging markets, which will continue to grow at a very fast rate over the next few years, China’s current slowdown notwithstanding. The crisis [...]
Three reasons why the UK economy will eventually improve September 10, 2012 GLASSES can be half-empty – but they can also be half-full. Amid all the gloom, and the latest useless proposals for an industrial policy from Vince Cable, the business secretary, here are, for once, three reasons for moderate optimism about the state of our post-Olympic nation. The first is that the UK has become a [...]
Britain’s productivity crisis is real – here are the six reasons why we have done so badly September 9, 2012 THERE is one, overriding reason why so few economists have a clue about what is happening to the British economy. If the official statistics are to be believed, output – measured by GDP – is falling, while employment is increasing. It is the implications of this unusual combination that have baffled so many economists. As [...]
Draghi’s plan will merely buy a bit of time for the Eurozone September 6, 2012 THERE is nothing markets love more than a good dose of monetary activism, especially when they detect a hidden bailout, so it is no wonder that traders and investors reacted so positively to Mario Draghi’s bond buying plan. But the extent of the enthusiasm on the other side of the Atlantic was almost touching in [...]
At last, a genuine supply-side reform from David Cameron September 5, 2012 JUST when I had almost completely written off this government, it has suddenly decided to announce a genuine, albeit limited, pro-growth policy. Speaking today, the Prime Minister will announce an emergency but time-limited partial liberalisation of planning rules. For one year only, there will be a doubling of Permitted Development Rights – what businesses and [...]
An underwhelming reshuffle which did not go far enough September 4, 2012 COALITION 2.0: that is our front page headline today, and it sums up what this reshuffle is all about. This was an incremental, almost minor reshuffle, not the revolutionary shift that this government really needed, with most of the most important, cabinet-level jobs still controlled by the same people and economic policy changing not one [...]
Clegg’s veto of fairer seats more important than reshuffle September 3, 2012 IT took a long while coming but David Cameron has at last swung his axe. His ministerial reshuffle, which began last night, will only be fully completed this morning, when all of the details of the personnel changes become clear. There will be some substantial moves though crucially George Osborne remains Chancellor and Vince Cable [...]
Coalition’s new growth plan another damp squib September 3, 2012 FOR those of us returning to work after a summer break, it feels as if not very much has changed. The City is still subdued, reeling from tough conditions and the regulatory onslaught; the Eurozone remains in crisis, endlessly debating the latest variant of its latest plan to delay its demise; and the British government [...]
Most countries are responsible for the crisis – not just the UK August 7, 2012 REMEMBER sub-prime lending? Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s absurd backing of mortgages for those who couldn’t afford to pay the money back? The US government’s decision to promote sub-prime lending? The Federal Reserve’s crazy decision to inflate endless bubbles via excessively loose monetary policy during the good times, and its destructive commitment to step in [...]