The Brexit vote has wiped £26,000 off your wealth – and done away with 406,000 UK millionaires November 22, 2016 The Brexit vote has wiped $1.5 trillion (£1.2 trillion) off the wealth of UK households this year, a report published today has suggested. The Global Wealth Report, by the Credit Suisse Research Institute, found the wealth of each adult in the UK has fallen by $33,000, or £26,442, since the beginning of June. That puts [...]
Oil prices rally more than four per cent as Opec deal optimism and weaker dollar buoy the market November 21, 2016 Oil prices rallied to their highest levels in three weeks today as a weaker dollar and hopes that Opec will seal an output deal next Wednesday boosted the market. Global benchmark Brent crude was edging closer to $50, trading up 4.7 per cent, or $2.20, to $49.06 yesterday evening. US sweet crude was up 4.6 [...]
Autumn Statement 2016: Looming dangers demand an urgent rethink of monetary policy in Britain November 21, 2016 A widely-held, but erroneous, view is that low interest rates act invariably as a welcome, unambiguous boost to business, consumers and the economy. Nonetheless, it seems almost incredible that the Bank of England has maintained an emergency rate since March 2009. The granting of (notional) independence over monetary policy to this institution has allowed politicians [...]
Ending discrimination against families in the tax and benefits system would mark chancellor Philip Hammond as a true radical November 21, 2016 Every now and again we have a radical government that changes the way things are done. Lots of governments try to give the impression of being radical by implementing swathes of new legislation. But really radical governments that change the course of history are rare. In the post-war period, we have only had the 1945 [...]
ECB president Mario Draghi maintains central bank’s stance on ultra-low interest rates November 21, 2016 European Central Bank president Mario Draghi has given a firm statement in favour of maintaining interest rates at zero per cent to continue to boost Eurozone inflation towards its two per cent target rate. In a statement to the European Parliament, he said: “We remain committed to preserving the very substantial degree of monetary accommodation [...]
Record highs on US stock exchanges driven by rising oil prices ahead of possible Opec production cut November 21, 2016 US equities moved upwards as the Nasdaq stock exchange hit a fresh all-time record high on intraday trading while the Russell 2000 also broke records on the back of expectations of an oil price rise. The Nasdaq Composite index gained over 0.5 per cent to break the previous all-time high of 5,359.90 points at 5,362.48. The [...]
The pound reaches $1.25 against the dollar on yen trading as May announces desire for business-friendly Brexit November 21, 2016 The pound gained in value in Monday afternoon trading, reversing some of the losses inflicted over the past few weeks. The pound rose over one per cent from the previous close of $1.23 against the dollar, breaking the $1.25 mark. Sterling was up over 1.2 per cent against the yen, to over ¥138.65, while it gained [...]
A quarter of Brits think they can’t afford a dignified existence, while one fifth regularly can’t pay bills – although it’s better than France November 21, 2016 More than a quarter of Britons say that they “do not have enough money for a dignified existence” – although this was less than France, where 46 per cent of citizens thought they needed more for their dignity, a new survey says. A fifth of UK residents said that they are sometimes unable to pay their [...]
Oil continues upward moves despite dollar strength as Putin raises Opec cut hopes November 21, 2016 Oil prices continued their upward move since Friday on expectations that Opec would agree to a production cut at their next meeting. The rise came despite the US dollar’s continued move higher, which usually has a negative effect on commodities traded in dollars. Futures for West Texas Intermediate, the US oil benchmark, were up more [...]
We asked economists what they want from Philip Hammond’s first Autumn Statement November 21, 2016 During the rapid post-Brexit shuffle at the top of UK politics many a word was spoken in haste, and perhaps none more so than confident predictions that Philip Hammond would put paid to George Osborne’s austerity politics with a bold return to Keynesian government investment. That might have been a bit rash, but it demonstrates [...]