There will be more Putins – and more Flight MH17s – if Europe fails to act now July 21, 2014 “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain” – The Wizard in L Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz In her able, forthright way, Hillary Clinton has just painfully called Europe’s bluff. Speaking just after the horrific details of the Malaysian plane disaster became clear – where it looks increasingly likely that murderously clueless [...]
Scottish independence: Commission declines to comment on reports Juncker “sympathetic” to Scotland joining EU July 20, 2014 The European Commission has declined to comment on reports that its new president Jean-Claude Juncker would be "sympathetic" to an independent Scotland joining the European Union. An article in Scotland on Sunday published today included comments from an unnamed "high-ranking EU official", who was quoted as saying that former Luxembourg Prime Minister Juncker "would not want [...]
Have Cameron and Juncker buried the hatchet? Not if this high five fail is anything to go by July 17, 2014 They tried to put their differences behind them – David Cameron insisted they could work together after saying rather uncomplementary things about him. But the photo doing the rounds of new European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the Prime Minister failing spectacularly at a high five this morning seems to suggest otherwise. The awkward encounter [...]
ECB will give Eurozone banks just two weeks to devise plan to get their houses in order July 17, 2014 The European Central Bank (ECB) will give Eurozone lenders just two weeks to come up with plans to deal with any capital shortfalls after it completes a review of the currency union's most important banks this autumn. In an update of its plans as it prepares to conduct stress tests of the Eurozone's 128 largest [...]
Fed chair Janet Yellen defends low interest rates amid concern over frothy prices July 16, 2014 Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen held the line during a grilling from US politicians yesterday, arguing that the economic climate meant that very low interest rates were still appropriate. “If the Fed [and Yellen] is going make a change in rhetoric, it is likelier to come at the September meeting, because that is the next [...]
MEPs elect Jean-Claude Juncker head of European Commission July 16, 2014 Jean-Claude Juncker has been officially elected as the new European Commission president by members of the European parliament. The vote to elect Juncker, whom UK Prime Minister David Cameron has publicly opposed, took place in Brussels yesterday where he won 422 of the 729 ballots cast. There were just 250 votes against him and 47 [...]
Mike Ashley waives Sports Direct bonus July 16, 2014 Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley will not take up his bonus despite the controversial scheme gaining approval from shareholders. The retailer announced Ashley will not take up the share-based bonus in 2015 ahead of its financial results, due out tomorrow, and would not approach shareholders about any bonus until 2019. The collective £200m bonus, approved [...]
Fed’s Janet Yellen: US recovery is incomplete and uncertainty remains July 15, 2014 The US recovery is far from complete. That's the message from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, who in written testimony has said that "too many Americans remain unemployed" and inflation remains below the central bank's objective. Yellen has also highlighted "considerable uncertainty" surrounding the Fed's projections for economic growth. Central bank watchers will be trying [...]
Jean-Claude Juncker wants to “reindustrialise” Europe as new Commission boss July 15, 2014 No surprise here, but Brussels veteran Jean-Claude Juncker, the man who became David Cameron's public enemy number one last month, has officially been elected president of the European Commission. Former Luxembourg Prime Minister Juncker received 442 votes in favour and 250 against in today's secret ballot among MEPs, which rubber stamped his election to the [...]
Mark Carney: My Mansion House speech was designed to shake up markets July 15, 2014 Remember that Mansion House speech when Bank of England governor Mark Carney shocked markets by saying that interest rates could come sooner than expected? Well that was exactly the point. Replying to a question from MPs on the Treasury Select Committee about whether the surprise statement made in the Mansion House speech was to "shake [...]