The euro heroically survived 2012 but new dangers await next year December 20, 2012 NO REVIEW of the global economy in 2012 could fail to focus on Europe’s long-running and ever-changing debt crisis. The continent is emerging from its most difficult year since the birth of the euro. It’s in a better shape than many expected, but European policymakers still face formidable challenges in 2013. The year has been [...]
Three messages to warm your spirits during the hectic Christmas period December 20, 2012 AHECTIC round of after-work parties and shopping, interspersed with a few brief moments wondering where the year went. Then a frenzy of unwrapping, a battle in the kitchen with a recalcitrant turkey, the family lunch, a silly game, a surreptitious snooze in the middle of Pirates of the Caribbean. Christmas has its routines, but every [...]
Don’t be a misery: Festive decadence has a fine heritage December 20, 2012 EVERY December, eco-miserabilists and anti-consumerist curmudgeons attack people for indulging in Christmas-time debauchery. Fancying themselves as experts on Christian festivals, these killjoys inform the moronic masses that boozing, overeating and splashing out on pressies is not what Christmas is supposed to be about. Christmas, they declare, is meant to be a time of reflection and [...]
Will 2012 be remembered by the public as a good year for the coalition government? December 20, 2012 YES David Skelton It’s been a tough year for so many people – the cost of living continues to rise and the economy continues to flat-line at best. Given that background, it might seem odd to argue that 2012 has been a good year for the coalition. But it has. Indeed, I would argue that [...]
Rapid responses December 20, 2012 The Russian way [Re: Russian business stereotypes need to be consigned to the distant past, yesterday] For hundreds of years, Russia was part of Europe and the wider international community. Communism was a short diversion and, since 1991, the country’s integration has become more and more obvious. On the one hand, this means the West [...]
Russian business stereotypes need to be consigned to the distant past December 19, 2012 BRITISH statesman Lord Curzon once famously said that every Englishman enters Russia a Russophobe, and leaves it a Russophile. Though time has passed since the Great Game of Rudyard Kipling, the saying is still relevant. According to a recent Economic Intelligence Unit survey of 200 international senior executives, less than 15 per cent would view [...]
Recent scandals are no excuse to break up universal banking in Britain December 19, 2012 BREAK up the banks!” goes up the rallying cry. It’s not coming from the mob, however, but from various pockets across Parliament. For those wanting to appear tough on banks, it has become almost obligatory: you’ll only be taken seriously if you push for the nuclear option. With banks as unpopular as they are, this [...]
The best Christmas gift can’t be found on the high street December 19, 2012 CHRISTMAS is a time of consumption and, this year, despite some conflicting statistics, central London seems heaving. The New West End company estimated that the first weekend of December saw 16 per cent more shoppers than in 2011, many from abroad. Retail sales in December are typically twice those of other months and, for many [...]
Has UBS’s £940m fine for manipulating Libor threatened the UK’s role in interbank lending? December 19, 2012 YES Avinash Persaud Does the UK financial sector serve the UK or international finance? The scandal surrounding Libor is a microcosm of that issue. If Libor is seen to be susceptible to the interests of UK financial stability, it cannot be credible as an international benchmark. In the past, many were comfortable with the idea [...]
Rapid responses December 19, 2012 The cost of green [Re: Green energy subsidies are failing to deliver cheap low carbon power, yesterday] Renewable energy, like all good things, costs money. That politicians like Dominic Raab allow the energy companies to pass the cost straight to the consumer is a symptom of political weakness, not that the intention is wrong. Decentralised [...]