Working like it’s 2008: UK productivity finally passes pre-crisis level October 6, 2016 British productivity levels have finally hit their pre-crisis level in the latest milestone in the UK's recovery. However, Britain still lags behind its G7 counterparts by a significant amount, falling behind the likes of Germany, the US and France in terms of economic efficiency. Read more: Do these five charts explain the productivity crisis? Productivity [...]
Goldman Sachs warns ‘oversupplied’ market will curtail crude price rise October 6, 2016 Crude prices are unlikely to pass $55 in the near term, Goldman Sachs’s head of commodities research Jeff Currie has said in an interview with Bloomberg television. A recent rally in prices will be curbed by low-cost players such as Russia, combined with an upcoming ‘wall of supply’ from large-scale projects commissioned in the past 5-10 years, [...]
Misys: London’s biggest IPO of the year is on October 6, 2016 Tech company Misys will return to the markets with an IPO in early November, the firm said today, in what is expected to be one of the biggest floats of the year in London. The software company will list on the London Stock Exchange main market after a four year hiatus. Now Vista Equity Partners, which took the company [...]
Pound endures another rough rollercoaster ride amid mixed signals October 6, 2016 Sterling was sent on another rollercoaster ride yesterday as traders scrambled to digest fresh economic data alongside the latest messages emerging from Theresa May’s ruling Conservative party. The pound plummeted below $1.27 for the first time since 1985 as foreign exchange investors brushed off a relatively positive survey of economic activity in the UK’s dominant services [...]
Well, now we know what Mayism looks like October 5, 2016 Come back George Osborne, all is forgiven. Yes, he may have ramped up the fear factor ahead of the referendum and yes, he may have missed his own targets and tinkered too often with the tax code but after Theresa May's speech yesterday there will be plenty in business who look back with affection on [...]
May’s big concessions to the Left risk returning the UK to the corporatist mess of the 70s October 5, 2016 Theresa May is an accidental Prime Minister. She is in Downing Street because David Cameron broke his word to the electorate and ducked out, while her rivals totally misjudged the situation. But she is certainly making the most of her position to attempt to reengineer the Conservative brand. Yesterday’s conference speech set out the stall. A [...]
The IMF is wrong to be so gloomy: The British economy is strengthening not weakening post-Brexit October 5, 2016 I have two problems with the latest analysis of UK economic prospects in the IMF World Economic Outlook released this week. First, it is slightly dated and doesn’t take on board some important recent releases. The IMF is behind the curve. Second, the UK forecasts for next year appear to be based more on assumption [...]
IMF warns global debt has hit a record $152 trillion October 5, 2016 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned today that global debt has hit a record $152 trillion (£119.2 trillion). The figure, more than twice the size of the global economy, was released in the Washington-based organisation's latest Fiscal Monitor. The IMF added about $100 trillion, or two thirds of global debt, belongs to companies or households which "can carry great [...]
Look to Twitter for why Britain’s economy proved Project Fear wrong October 5, 2016 The economic data on post-Brexit Britain is beginning to emerge. We discovered last month that employment in May to July grew by 174,000 compared to the previous three months. Last week, the Office for National Statistics published its estimate for the output of the service sector of the economy in July. This showed a 0.4 per [...]
Few signs of hope for the Brexit-battered pound October 5, 2016 Sterling could fall further if the UK looks on course for a rocky divorce with the EU, currency analysts have warned. Forecasters currently expect the pound to move sideways against both the dollar and the euro between now and the end of the year, but after a dramatic few days of trading, speculation over the terms [...]