Chickens come home to roost for Mike Coupe as Sainsbury-Asda deal dies February 22, 2019 | City Talk Mike Coupe was a happy chappy back in April. Notably he was caught on camera humming the lyrics to the gold digger's song – 'we're in the money' etc, after announcing a supermarket mega merger like no other. This week however the companies' complete lack of understanding of the Competition and Markets Authority has come [...]
Eurozone inflation falls in January as energy prices continue to drop February 22, 2019 Eurozone inflation has fallen to 1.4 per cent as energy prices continue to drop across the single currency bloc but core inflation rose slightly. The euro area consumer price index (CPI) fell to 1.4 per cent year-on-year in January from 1.5 per cent the previous month, and significantly down on its 2.3 per cent October high. [...]
A lesson for investors from the true life of Carlos Ghosn February 22, 2019 | City Talk Investors’ fondness for a good story is a theme we have often touched upon, here on The Value Perspective – though never in so literal a way as fortnightly Japanese manga magazine Big Comic Superior once managed. Back in 2001, it ran a comic strip chronicling the life of Carlos Ghosn, who rescued Nissan from [...]
The emergence of the Independent Group offers a ray of hope for economic liberals February 22, 2019 As a free market liberal, I’m becoming more cynical by the day. After all, there seems to be something close to universal agreement across the major political parties for state interference (i.e. energy price caps), the nanny state (i.e. the sugar tax), and increasing the tax burden (admittedly by varying degrees), which is already at an [...]
Finally, the Tories have tackled the UK’s deficit February 22, 2019 Credit where it’s due, Philip Hammond has finally conquered the deficit – albeit several years after his predecessor George Osborne originally promised to have done so. While the government is still spending more money than it generates, the UK’s rate of borrowing is considerably below pre-crisis levels. In its analysis of yesterday’s borrowing figures the [...]
Elon Musk denies claims Tesla is getting involved in bitcoin February 21, 2019 Elon Musk has said Tesla has no plans to get involved with bitcoin at the moment, believing that the cryptocurrency is not an efficient use of the company’s resources. The Tesla chief executive praised cryptocurrency as a potential replacement for paper money in an interview on FYI, a podcast by ARK Investment published today. “Crypto is [...]
FCA hands £415k in fines to investment groups over float collusion February 21, 2019 The UK’s financial watchdog has slapped two investment management groups with fines for breaking competition rules by sharing information ahead of an initial public offering (IPO). The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined Hargreave Hale £306,300 and River and Mercantile Asset Management (Raman) £108,600. It said the firms had shared “strategic information”, including their intentions on pricing [...]
Government borrowing falls to lowest yearly level since 2001 with record January surplus February 21, 2019 Government borrowing has fallen to its lowest year-to-date level since 2001 and recorded the largest January surplus since records began. Public sector borrowing from April 2018 through to January was £21.2bn, the lowest at this point in the financial year since 2001, and £18.5bn less than in the previous year. Net borrowing in January itself [...]
A Brexit-induced price drop won’t fix the housing crisis February 21, 2019 The last 30 years have seen house prices in London soar to dizzying heights. The average home has leapt from £81,536 in 1988 to £473,882 in 2018 – that’s a 481 per cent increase. If the cost of a pint of milk (26p in 1988) had jumped up at the same pace, it would now [...]
DEBATE: Should we slash post-Brexit tariffs on food imports to offer consumers cheaper goods? February 21, 2019 Should we slash post-Brexit tariffs on food imports to offer consumers cheaper goods? Bill Wirtz, policy analyst at the Consumer Choice Center, says YES. Contrary what the protectionists will tell you, tariffs don’t only hurt the country upon which they are imposed. If the government decides to maintain import tariffs on food post-Brexit, it is [...]