Frustrating UK tax quirks can easily mean missed mortgage payments September 24, 2012 WHEN HMRC wrongly changed my tax code last October, I was paying 40 per cent of my total income as tax for six months. It had a huge impact on my finances – my take home pay went below my mortgage costs. And HMRC couldn’t correct it, despite admitting its error. In the end I [...]
Ten golden rules of investing September 24, 2012 Some industries produce more economic profit than others. How much economic profit a sector or industry tends to produce is often a function of how difficult it is to enter. High entry barriers can therefore provide a sustainable competitive advantage for incumbents. Take banking. Unlike retailing or steel manufacturing, there are all sorts of obstacles [...]
After German business confidence fell for the fifth month, is the euro crisis about to return? September 24, 2012 YES Ferdinand Fichtner The Eurozone is already in the middle of a recession. Production has declined since the summer of 2011 and unemployment rates are increasing in almost all euro members. In the last quarter, Germany was the only country that had a relatively solid growth record. But, looking forward, the picture remains gloomy. Growth [...]
Rapid Responses September 24, 2012 Shale gas potential [Re: Britain needs to embrace the global shale gas revolution, Friday] Allister Heath is right that shale gas has had a huge impact on the US energy sector, with a resultant impact on the economy. However, he fails to stress the adverse environmental impact of certain hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”. The Royal [...]
London will find it hard to benefit from Chinese currency ambitions September 23, 2012 IT is meant to be the great new market that will transform the City’s prospects. In April, London hosted the launch of the first renminbi (RMB) bond to be issued outside Chinese sovereign territories. George Osborne hailed it a “significant moment”, as he declared his ambition to see London play a key role in the [...]
The City should put its financial expertise at the service of infrastructure September 23, 2012 INFRASTRUCTURE hit the headlines once again last week, as the Confederation of British Industry urged quicker progress on delivering major transport and energy projects. This is a contentious subject, and calls to fast-track spending in this area are nothing new. In fact, the government has already taken steps to underwrite up to £40bn of investment, [...]
Ten golden rules of investing September 23, 2012 IN THE case of the medical or engineering professions, there is usually a precise standard for a given procedure. In the investment industry, while this may be true with respect to ethics, not following others is the key to success when it comes to investment decisions. Indeed, you want to be ahead of the herd, [...]
Is Sir Mervyn King right to excuse failure to meet deficit targets on economic problems? September 23, 2012 YES Philip Shaw August’s borrowing figures were a little better than expected, but the seriousness of the UK’s public finances remains plain to see. Stripping out one-off factors shows that, so far in 2012-13, the deficit is running at £2.6bn per month higher than last year, leaving George Osborne struggling to achieve his aim of [...]
Rapid responses September 23, 2012 Good regulation [Re: Regulator: I’ll shoot first, ask questions later, Wednesday] I am disappointed by your paper’s coverage of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) likely new stance. Your coverage seems to confuse two quite different things: first, the expected new approach to dealing with any retail products that are likely to cause significant consumer detriment; [...]
Government must think fast and big to make Britain a tech haven September 20, 2012 THE Prime Minister says he wants the UK to be the best place in the world to start, run and grow a high-tech company. As a strategy for rebalancing the economy, this makes a lot of sense. The internet is where the growth is. It accounts for a greater share of UK GDP than in [...]