After a split Monetary Policy Committee vote, has forward guidance now lost all credibility? August 20, 2014 Sam Alderson, an economist at the Centre for Economic and Business Research, says Yes. A credible forward guidance policy would allow markets to roughly forecast the timings of future rate rises, avoiding the twitchiness we’ve seen this week. The goalposts which the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is working to need to be stuck to. They [...]
Stalled career syndrome: What to do when your job’s going nowhere August 20, 2014 Are you bored at work? Passed over for that promotion? Find yourself procrastinating or spending time surfing the net to make up office face time? Feel like you’re not getting anywhere? Then you may be suffering from stalled career syndrome. Symptoms include boredom, lack of progression and unused skills. Staring at the screen while you [...]
Forget “normal” monetary policy: There is no longer such a thing August 19, 2014 AS THE great and the good of central banking gather to prophesise in Jackson Hole this week, they have good reason to reflect on Bob Dylan’s famous song. The times are indeed a changin’. Change has been a recurring theme in monetary policy over the past few years: in the intellectual understanding, in the operational [...]
Employment is rising because labour is cheap – especially in the private sector August 19, 2014 The latest employment figures confirm the buoyancy of the UK labour market. In the April to June quarter of this year, employment rose by 167,000 on the previous quarter, to an all-time high of 30.6m. Unemployment also fell, by no less than 132,000. Taking a somewhat longer perspective, the low point for employment was reached [...]
With regulated rail fares in England set to rise by 3.5 per cent in 2015, is it justifiable? August 19, 2014 Colin Stanbridge, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce, says Yes. A reliable and expansive transport system is vital for London’s reputation as a leading global city. It’s essential that we handle the demands of major population growth in order to secure the capital's future. London’s success is dependent on the quality of its [...]
Forward guidance: A political gambit that has retarded true capitalism August 18, 2014 IT’S A mistake to try and get too precise,” suggested Stanley Fischer last September, shortly before he was appointed vice chairman of the Federal Reserve. “You can’t expect the Fed to spell out what it’s going to do. Why? Because it doesn’t know.” Bank of England governor Mark Carney may now be wishing he had [...]
How cyber attacks could derail the fragile M&A boom August 18, 2014 IT WAS one of the darkest days for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Wall Street history. The collapse of five mega-deals earlier this month, for reasons ranging from a lack of board engagement to excessive regulatory interference, demonstrates the fragility of the current M&A boom. Already this year, 339 deals worth $428bn (£256bn) have collapsed [...]
Can the Islamic State be defeated without the West ramping up military intervention? August 18, 2014 Professor Michael Kerr, director of the Middle East & Mediterranean studies programme at King’s College London, says Yes. Islamic State (IS) can be contained without Western ground troops playing a central role in the present crisis. Following the West’s withdrawal from Iraq, Arab uprisings, and the outbreak of civil war in Syria and Iraq, a [...]
What is the internet of things? August 18, 2014 There’s a new wave of technology entering our daily lives and its impact will turn them upside down. The internet of things is predicted to cause the same disruption to society as the transformational impact of the printing press in the 15th Century and the internet-induced information revolution in the late 20th Century. [...]
A free market case for independence: Let’s make Scotland like Hong Kong August 17, 2014 In September, Scottish residents will vote in the independence referendum, following months of intense political debate between the Yes and No campaigns. Even statements presented as purely financial or economic in nature have not been based on proper facts or sound analysis. The Scottish National Party is pursuing an inherently emotional case, while the Westminster [...]