Black Monday 2015: Don’t panic, the outlook after the stock market crash remains positive – despite volatility August 24, 2015 Yesterday’s dramatic moves in stock markets around the world, coming on top of the pronounced market volatility of recent weeks, will have concerned investors, with the lack of a single clear trigger making it harder to assess the potential for this volatility to be sustained. While the fluctuations we’ve seen over the last few [...]
No, leading economists are not supporting Jeremy Corbyn’s far-left agenda August 24, 2015 CORBYN wins economists’ backing for radical plan” thundered the Observer’s front page on Sunday. As I meandered around the supermarket, I did a double-take. Would distinguished economists really back printing money to fund government investment, rent controls, widespread renationalisation (in some cases without compensation), a “maximum wage”, huge tax hikes and greater powers for Trade [...]
Banking pay-outs: Forex rate-rigging scandal will be bigger than Libor August 24, 2015 The foreign exchange market is the largest financial market in the world, with transactions worth $5.4 trillion taking place every day. The revelation that banks colluded to attempt to manipulate the forex market over many years makes it likely that forex claims will cost the banks more in compensation, as well as regulatory fines, than [...]
As the CBI upgrades its forecasts, is stronger UK growth sustainable amid global turmoil? August 24, 2015 Vicky Pryce, chief economic adviser at CEBR, says Yes After three per cent growth last year, the UK is continuing to perform better than many other Western economies. The CBI’s upgrade of its growth forecast from 2.4 per cent to 2.6 per cent for the whole of 2015 builds on a couple of quarters of [...]
Putin is about to win his cynical bet in Ukraine: The West is truly dead August 23, 2015 I am becoming worryingly convinced that Vladimir Putin must be a big fan of this column. Just a few days on from me revealing that he is odds-on favourite to become the super-villain in the next Bond caper, the Russian President confirmed my worst suspicions. Falling back on one of his late-Roger-Moore-era stunts, Putin piloted [...]
City Matters: The five key commitments the City wants from the next mayor of London August 23, 2015 We only have to wait until the end of September before we know who is going to represent the two main political parties in the race to become the next mayor of London. These aspiring London politicians with ambitions to succeed Boris Johnson are gearing themselves up for a busy few months. From now until [...]
Will Greece’s snap general election put the country’s third bailout deal at risk? August 23, 2015 Simon French, chief economist at Panmure Gordon, says Yes. Having just parted with €23bn to start the recapitalisation of Greek banks and to cover debt repayments, it’s inconceivable that Greece’s creditors will release the further €18bn due by 15 November. The key to receiving this money is a successful first review of progress on structural [...]
COP21 talks: Why action on climate change has become an economic imperative August 20, 2015 In just 100 days, world leaders will gather in Paris for the COP21 climate change talks. The urgent need for action to reduce CO2 emissions and stop global warming was recently described by both Barack Obama and Pope Francis as a “moral imperative” and summed up by President Obama who said: “We are the first [...]
GCSE results 2015: Six ways Britain’s world-beating education system could be better still August 20, 2015 With the publication of GCSE results, education is in the spotlight once again. Despite inevitable criticisms of our schools, colleges and universities, we should remind ourselves occasionally that what we have is, in world terms, a pretty good set-up. Young people get access to free schooling up to 18 and to higher education effectively free [...]
Political meddling threatens London City Airport’s future: It’s a depressingly familiar story August 20, 2015 The latest twist in the London City Airport saga was laid out in these pages yesterday, with the news that a number of international parties are looking to bid for the site. But any sale, and the future of the airport, is heavily dependent on its prospects for growth. Those growth prospects ought to [...]