China is not in trouble: Its economic potential is only just being realised April 16, 2015 The question of whether China will experience a hard or soft slowdown from the towering growth figures it has become accustomed to crashed back into the news this week. The latest official figures showed that GDP grew at its slowest pace for six years in the first quarter of 2015, at an annualised rate of [...]
As Greece comes close to defaulting on its debt, is a Grexit now more likely than not? April 16, 2015 George Efstathopoulos, co-portfolio manager at Fidelity Solutions, says Yes As liquidity constraints in Greece become more real, a Grexit is growing more likely by the day. While a possible Greek default on its payments to the IMF (recently suggested by Greek officials) may not directly result in Grexit, such an event could be perceived as [...]
Japan Inc remains a man’s world – but that might finally be changing April 15, 2015 Learners of Japanese soon run into the phrase “shou ga nai”. Roughly translated as “it can’t be helped”, it neatly sums up a fatalistic philosophy in tune with a nation beset by earthquakes, tsunami, volcanoes and typhoons. Until recently, Japan’s record on gender equality also fell into the “shou ga nai” category. Even with a [...]
A new type of company is emerging – and it’s time our politicians noticed April 15, 2015 Business is changing. The predominance of companies for which profit is everything – and everything else is nothing – is waning, and a new wave of entrepreneurs and socially-minded individuals is on the rise. If I could give one piece of advice to the next government, it would be this: don’t just do what’s best [...]
Jean-Claude Juncker must wake up: Only Treaty change will keep Britain in the EU April 15, 2015 A common theme in all the party manifestos this week has been a commitment to EU reform – aside from Ukip, which would like Britain to leave immediately. And many of the reforms proposed are familiar: overhauling the disastrous Common Agricultural Policy, ending the EU Parliament’s travelling circus, and completing the Single Market have been [...]
As the EU files an antitrust complaint against Google, is its dominance actually dangerous? April 15, 2015 Steve Kuncewicz, a media lawyer at Bermans, says Yes Much as the public may not really care about how their search results are presented to them, Google’s ubiquity may be about more than it just being the best at what it does. This case turns on how Google presents search results relating to its competitors, [...]
After core inflation fell to a nine-year low of 1 per cent in March, should we be worried? April 15, 2015 Ashraf Laidi is chief global strategist at City Index, says Yes As UK inflation extends its hold in zero territory, it may only be a matter of time before core inflation (stripping out volatile factors like food) creeps closer to zero. A continuation of this trend may imply that disinflationary pressures coming into the production [...]
Conservative manifesto: Extending right-to-buy will transform the prospects of low income families April 14, 2015 The centrepiece of the Conservative Party manifesto, unveiled yesterday, was a significant expansion of the right-to-buy scheme. Giving families the ability to own their own home is a wonderful thing, and extending the scheme to housing associations, as the Conservatives propose, will certainly do that. The broad economic benefits of home ownership are well established, [...]
The 38 per cent rule: There’s a limit to how much the state can tax the people April 14, 2015 Ed Miliband’s proposal to tax non-doms more harshly may be good, populist politics. But does it make economic sense? At most, the yield will be around £1bn, even if people do not alter their behaviour in response to the change in policy. The actual amount generated could even be negative if enough non-doms leave the [...]
Hillary Clinton will make it to the White House if the Republicans remain divided April 13, 2015 Hillary Clinton announced on Sunday her intention to run to become the first female President in US history. She is the overwhelming favourite to win the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, despite recent controversies over her personal email use when she was US secretary of state between 2009 and 2013. Although general election day remains [...]