Looking the other way on the lip of the abyss December 1, 2011 WE ARE approaching an economic event horizon. “Almost anything could happen in the next few months,” says Paul Tucker, deputy governor of the Bank of England, advising banks to prepare to withstand the worst. The exceptional coordinated action of central banks on Wednesday has been widely seen not just as offering temporary relief to the [...]
Next calls for Sunday boost as sales jump March 22, 2012 NEXT CHIEF executive Lord Simon Wolfson said a permanent relaxation of Britain’s Sunday trading hours could add £40-£50m to the fashion retailer’s annual turnover. In Wednesday’s Budget chancellor George Osborne said he will introduce legislation lifting the six-hour limit on opening hours for larger stores over eight weekends from 22 July covering the Olympics. Wolfson [...]
Cuts to deficit will calm Moody’s nerves March 21, 2012 CHIEF GLOBAL STRATEGIST, CITY INDEX THE UK Budget has the basic requirements to keep credit agencies at bay – for now. The plan is to enact a 7 per cent stamp duty on property worth more than £2m, slash the main corporate tax rate to 24 per cent, lift the personal allowance by £1,100 to [...]
Osborne misses a great opportunity November 30, 2011 AS ever, it was Lewis Carroll who put it best in Alice Through the Looking Glass: “The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday – but never jam today.” Even that could be too optimistic: reading between the lines of yesterday’s mini-Budget, it is clear that the UK is out of money to an even [...]
Osborne misses a great opportunity November 29, 2011 AS ever, it was Lewis Carroll who put it best in Alice Through the Looking Glass: “The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday – but never jam today.” Even that could be too optimistic: reading between the lines of yesterday’s mini-Budget, it is clear that the UK is out of money to an even [...]
Osborne misses a great opportunity November 29, 2011 AS ever, it was Lewis Carroll who put it best in Alice Through the Looking Glass: “The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday – but never jam today.” Even that could be too optimistic: reading between the lines of yesterday’s mini-Budget, it is clear that the UK is out of money to an even [...]
Good tax cuts drowned out by a series of silly errors March 21, 2012 SOMEBODY like me – a believer in lower taxes and less government intervention – ought to love this Budget. I certainly like the fact that the top rate of tax will fall by five percentage points (even if this will only happen in 13 months’ time), and that corporation tax is being cut to 24 [...]
George Osborne’s plans for government-backed credit will be a terrible mistake March 20, 2012 TODAY is Budget day and I fear the chancellor is about to announce some really bad proposals to offer extra credit to house-buyers, small business owners and school-leavers. These are based on ideas spawned from the financial crisis’s original sin: the fallacy that what ails the economy is too much free-market capitalism, rather than too [...]
George Osborne’s plans for government-backed credit will be a terrible mistake March 20, 2012 TODAY is Budget day and I fear the chancellor is about to announce some really bad proposals to offer extra credit to house-buyers, small business owners and school-leavers. These are based on ideas spawned from the financial crisis’s original sin: the fallacy that what ails the economy is too much free-market capitalism, rather than too [...]
THE TIPSTER January 23, 2012 THERE is a lot of speculation surrounding oil explorer Rockhopper. With takeover talks lingering, it could only be a matter of time before an announcement is made. However, we have seen this stock rally from 30p to over 500p, and then drop like a stone to 150p, so the only thing we know for sure [...]