Bernie Sanders: It’s not just the elite who should fear America’s leading socialist radical January 22, 2016 Brothers Larry and Bernie Sanders claim to be very close. Bernie (who is running to be the Democratic nominee for the US presidency) told the Daily Telegraph last year that he learned many of his views from his older brother. But Larry isn’t some US political luminary. Back in May, running as a member of the [...]
Will oil prices fall below zero? Fear more than fundamentals is driving markets lower January 22, 2016 Reporting by Clive Crude… How low can it go? This is the question every oil analyst is asking. First they thought $100 was the floor, then $70, then it was $50, then $25 and even $10 has been mooted. Yesterday, we read that “petrol is to be cheaper than water”. Today, leading energy expert Oli [...]
Are Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan doing more harm than good by donating towards the EU In campaign? January 22, 2016 Richard Stone, chief executive of The Share Centre, says Yes. The EU referendum should be decided by voters informed by a balanced debate of the key issues. That debate risks becoming emotive, for example, about immigration, or skewed by the weight of the political machinery of the state. By contributing to the In campaign, big business [...]
New rankings show US democracy on the edge January 21, 2016 The Economist Intelligence Unit today releases its 2015 Democracy Index, ranking countries on a range of criteria including political participation, pluralism, civil liberties and political culture. One of the central conclusions of the EIU’s analysis is that “in many democracies, political elites worry about their inability to relate to the electorate and fear the challenge [...]
Restricting skilled worker visas will hit the economy and harm UK-Commonwealth relations January 21, 2016 The government risks further alienating skilled Commonwealth nationals who work in the UK with proposed changes to the Tier 2 skilled worker visa regime, which, if put into practice, will undermine Britain’s future economic prosperity. Currently, it is policy to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands; however, under EU law, the UK is [...]
Abolish bank deposit protection to make the banking system safer January 21, 2016 Deposit insurance has been the most sacrosanct component of the regulatory regime for banks since it was widely introduced during the 1970s following the collapse of the Bretton Woods regime. However, while it seeks to protect consumers against the undercapitalisation of banks and their tendency to collapse in times of stress, it has also encouraged [...]
Crashing markets don’t herald a descent into global recession January 21, 2016 So the FTSE 100 has joined a wide range of global equity indices now in a bear market. Having peaked in excess of 7,100 in April 2015, the rout in commodities has dragged the index of the UK’s 100 leading shares steadily down over the last nine months. To date there have been three notable [...]
With Sarah Palin backing him and the polls tightening, will Donald Trump win the Republican nomination? January 21, 2016 Ed Bowsher, senior analyst and joint output editor at Share Radio, says Yes. Donald Trump will probably win the Republican nomination. He’s leading nearly all opinion polls, with 37 per cent support among Republican voters, according to HuffPost Pollster. Granted, the mainstream Republican party will eventually coalesce behind one relatively moderate candidate, most likely Marco Rubio. [...]
Brics foundations are proving to be shaky January 20, 2016 In the world of macro-economics, a good rule of thumb is as follows: whenever you read the word “forecast”, replace it with the word “guess”. This advice came to mind yesterday when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published the latest update to its world economic outlook, a document that contains some astonishing revisions. Brazil is [...]
Davos: Businesses will wither and die if they ignore the coming technological paradigm shift January 20, 2016 It might be tempting to think that the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos this week is a talking shop where nothing meaningful happens. You have 2,500 people in the mountains going from presentation to reception to dinner for three days. But the event is a vital way for business, policy-makers and civil society to [...]