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 [...]
Economic malaise reveals itself behind a global surge in nationalist violence September 20, 2012 ONE of the most extraordinary images of the week was a display of militarised toothpaste tubes at a Nanjing supermarket. Beneath the Chinese flag, the green boxes were artfully arranged into the shape of an artillery gun, with an uncompromising slogan – “The Daioyu islands belong to China!” – between its wheels. The combination of [...]
Ten golden rules of investing September 20, 2012 The efficient market hypothesis is nonsense. Markets are driven by humans, humans are irrational, thus markets are irrational. Occasionally, something happens and investors panic. You should take advantage of these instances, not join the stampede (or, if you are going to rush for the exit, be the first.) Think of a 20 per cent fall [...]
Are there signs that mergers and acquisitions activity might rise over the coming months? September 20, 2012 YES Alexis de Rosnay There have been tentative signs that the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market has picked up over the last few weeks. The key ingredients for a sustained pick up in M&A is the performance of the equity markets in general – it is no coincidence that the bumper years for transactions have [...]
Rapid Responses September 20, 2012 Clegg’s apology [Re: How one ticking economic timebomb is being slowly defused, yesterday] Nick Clegg’s apology wasn’t just confused. It’s another step in the quiet unravelling of the coalition. You can see how Clegg and David Cameron are slowly beginning to reposition their parties in preparation for the next election. Whether either will still be [...]