We have paved the way for the next financial crisis December 6, 2018 Optimists believe that the last decade of roiling financial crisis and austerity is behind us, and that current fears of trade war, Brexit, populism, and market crashes are overblown. They hope for a global economy poised for many years of growth, increasing personal wealth and prosperity, and political stability. Sadly, hope is never a strategy. Realists, [...]
Tariff man Trump is the most economically illiterate President in US history December 6, 2018 America and China may have called a truce in the trade war, but nobody seems to have told the President. On Tuesday, Donald Trump tweeted: “I am a tariff man. When countries come in to raid the great wealth of our nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so.” I don’t have [...]
Sir Martin Sorrell fights hard to remain king of adland December 6, 2018 Sir Martin Sorrell channelled his inner Frank Sinatra recently and proclaimed that the success of his new venture S4 Capital would be “the best form of revenge” against WPP. “I want to build the best,” the businessman said of his new advertising outfit, which he previously called a “peanut” in comparison to the global scale [...]
Sadiq Khan slams Westminster Council for pulling out of £80m TfL Oxford Street redevelopment plans December 6, 2018 Sadiq Khan has slashed £80m of funding from Westminster City Council (WCC) for redeveloping Oxford Street, after finding out the council had ditched joint plans with Transport for London for the project in favour of its own £150m proposal. In a letter seen by City A.M., addressed to council leader Nickie Allen, the mayor of [...]
How businesses are busy hedging Brexit risk December 6, 2018 Philippos Kassimatis explains some of the hedging strategies on offer as businesses prepare for March 2019 It was was only last week that Mark Carney said fewer than half the UK’s businesses have initiated contingency plans for a no-deal Brexit, causing alarm throughout Britain’s business and investment community. Looking at the headlines, there is a [...]
Philip Hammond confirms he will borrow more and look at tax changes in ‘no deal’ December 5, 2018 Philip Hammond has confirmed the government would be forced to borrow billions more and consider tax changes to counter the economic impact of no deal. Appearing before the Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday, the Chancellor said the onus would be on the government to keep blood in the veins of the economy as the Bank of [...]
Crossrail boss Terry Morgan resigns after Sadiq Khan spat December 5, 2018 The chairman of Crossrail and HS2 has resigned from both roles following a dispute with mayor Sadiq Khan over delays and spiralling costs. Terry Morgan admitted last week he expected to be sacked amid rising costs and opening delays to both the Crossrail and HS2 projects. Morgan, who has led Crossrail for almost a decade, [...]
Bank of England delays cyber stress test as it focuses on Brexit December 5, 2018 The Bank of England (BoE) will delay work on a cyber stress test for banks as it focuses on Brexit preparations, according to minutes published today. The BoE’s financial policy committee (FPC) said it will put off a scheme to test how banks react to cyber attacks, which was due to launch early next year. [...]
Facebook documents: Four things we learned from 250 pages of confidential emails December 5, 2018 Parliament today published a tranche of confidential Facebook documents it seized as part of an inquiry into fake news. The release of nearly 250 pages of internal documents, seized from a tech firm suing the tech giant, includes emails sent between chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg. Damian Collins, chair of the Digital, [...]
Housebuilders lead the FTSE risers as no-deal Brexit risk fades December 5, 2018 Britain's largest housebuilders saw the value of their shares jump this afternoon as the prospect of a no-deal Brexit began to recede. Property heavyweights such as Berkeley Group, Persimmon and Redrow were among the top 10 FTSE risers today as a frantic 24 hours of political tussling in Westminster fuelled the possibility of a “softer” Brexit [...]