QE or not QE? Mario Draghi’s policy dilemma – CNBC Comment September 29, 2014 It seems as if the European Central Bank (ECB) has been debating whether to head down the QE path forever. ECB-watchers have been reduced to pondering what the shade of Mario Draghi’s (usually blue) tie might mean for future asset purchases. But no matter how reluctant Draghi might be to label it as such, this [...]
Gutsy Osborne was right to gamble on a promise of further spending cuts September 29, 2014 ED MILIBAND made a pitch for office that was so forgettable that he forgot it himself.” That line was the key message chancellor George Osborne wanted us to take away from his party conference speech yesterday. While the Conservatives have a plan to continue to eliminate the budget deficit and create the conditions for prosperous [...]
Mark Zuckerberg is now richer than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin September 29, 2014 Mark Zuckerberg is now richer than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has overtaken the three biggest billionaires in technology by accruing an additional $15bn in wealth since last year- more than any other billionaire this year. That's not bad for a yearly paycheque [...]
George Osborne would cap family benefits at £23,000 to tackle “culture of welfare dependency” September 29, 2014 The Conservatives would freeze working age benefits for the next two years if the party secures the public vote next year, chancellor George Osborne has said. Speaking today at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, he warned of a growing “culture of welfare dependency” among young people, which the state could no longer fund. [...]
Conservative Party Conference 2014: George Osborne outlines plans to freeze working-age benefits, abolish pension death tax and cut benefit cap September 29, 2014 Chancellor George Osborne has delivered a host of policy pledges to the Tory faithful at the party's conference in Birmingham today. The chancellor began his speech highlighting the UK's success in reducing unemployment and the deficit. However, Osborne told the conference hall that there was still much to be done, and the recovery faced [...]
Boris Johnson: Conservative MPs defecting to Ukip must be “utterly nuts” September 29, 2014 London Mayor Boris Johnson has blasted Tory MPs thinking about defecting to Ukip as "utterly nuts". Writing in the Telegraph, Johnson warned Conservative defectors could help the country "sleepwalk into a Labour government". The comments came after two Conservative MPs crossed the floor to Nigel Farage's eurosceptic party. The first was MP for Clacton Douglas [...]
Osborne to axe pension death taxes September 29, 2014 CHANCELLOR George Osborne will today continue his pensions revolution, announcing a radical new promise to abolish the 55 per cent pension tax paid at death. It comes as his party seeks to bounce back after Conservative MP Mark Reckless defected to Ukip and Brooks Newmark resigned his post as minister for civil society following a [...]
Dave Lewis might be tempted to dodge crisis at Tesco, but he’d do better facing up to the truth September 28, 2014 Dave Lewis found himself face to face with some wicked problems last week. Tesco’s new chief executive had only been in the job for a matter of days when he was confronted with an accounting scandal, dire growth forecasts, unhappy investors and irate politicians. The kind of wicked problems Lewis faces are common in business. [...]
George Osborne to abolish 55pc inheritance “death tax” on pensions September 28, 2014 A so-called “death tax” on pensions will be scrapped from next April, George Osborne is set to announce at the Tory party conference. The 55 per cent rate applied to inheritances of defined contribution pensions will be abolished at a cost of £150m a year the Treasury predicts. The policy, first floated in July, was [...]
Vince Cable calls for skilled migrant cap to be scrapped or risk economic recovery in letter to Theresa May September 28, 2014 The cap on skilled migrant workers is damaging the UK's economic recovery according to Business Secretary Vince Cable. Cable has written to the Home Secretary Theresa May urging her to scrap the cap on skilled migrants coming to work in the UK from outside the European Union because it’s a “barrier to British growth”. The [...]