Posen: “Joseph Stiglitz is wrong – the reality of Scottish independence is frightening” September 18, 2014 Following pro-independence assertions by economist Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, saying the debate around Scottish independence had been "fear mongering", and that currency was a "non-issue", last night Adam Posen, the former Monetary Policy Committee member who now heads up the Peterson Institute for International Economics, published an article criticising his view. Cracking out the [...]
Scottish independence: Police arrest man over alleged assault outside polling station September 18, 2014 Police have arrested a man after an alleged assault took place outside a polling station in West Dunbartonshire. The 44-year-old was taken into custody after police were called to Faifley Road, Clydebank, on the morning of the Scottish independence referendum. A spokeswoman said: "Police Scotland can confirm that a 44-year-old man has been [...]
When will the Scottish independence referendum vote be announced? Declaration times for local government areas September 18, 2014 Scots started going to the polls to vote on secession from 7am this morning – but they will have to wait 24 hours to hear the final result of the vote. How will it work? We all know how vote-counting goes at a general election – but an independence vote like this is unprecedented in [...]
Dixons Carphone agrees to hire 800 Phones 4u staff September 17, 2014 Dixons Carphone announced today it has agreed to take on the 800 staff employed at the 160 Phones 4u concessions in its stores. The company released a statement saying it was "pleased to confirm we have secured agreement to offer all Phones 4u colleagues in our curryspcworld stores roles". The move was hinted at on [...]
Apple iPhone 6: As the UK release date looms, we review what the reviewers are saying September 17, 2014 So the iPhone 6 finally launches in the UK in a couple of days, and the world's reviewers have just got their grubby paws on review units. Which means today's papers – not to mention tech blogs, gadget guides and anything else which could tenuously link itself to the iPhone are packed with reviews. The [...]
Relief for the eurozone as inflation stays stable at 0.4 per cent September 17, 2014 Finally, a bit of relief for eurozone watchers: figures published this morning show inflation in the 18-country bloc stayed at 0.4 per cent in August, rather than falling to 0.3 per cent as originally feared. The European Union's statistics agency revised its "flash" estimate upwards – but it remains the eurozone's lowest rate of inflation [...]
MPC split again as two Bank of England policymakers vote to raise interest rates September 17, 2014 Bank of England policymakers voted to hold interest rates at a record low of 0.5 per cent again in September, despite two members of the monetary policy committee arguing to raise rates for the second month in a row. Minutes of the MPC's monthly meeting, published this morning, showed the hawkish Ian McCafferty and Martin [...]
Sky Deutschland changes its mind on BSkyB deal as it encourages shareholders not to sell September 17, 2014 After two-and-a-bit months of rumination, the board of Sky Deutschland has today decided BSkyB's €6.75 (£5.37) a share takeover offer wasn't enough. After a fairness assessment by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Sky Deutschland's supervisory and management boards put out a joint statement today criticising the offer, which is two per cent above the three-month [...]
Yesterday’s deals frenzy means M&A this year is already worth more than during the whole of 2013 September 16, 2014 UK mergers and acquisitions may be looking shakier than usual – but across the rest of the world, M&A is already worth more this year than during the whole of 2013. According to data from Mergermarket, $18.1bn (£11.2bn) of deals took place yesterday (including Microsoft's $2.5bn agreement to buy Minecraft creator Mojang), the highest value [...]
Uber’s German ban just got overturned September 16, 2014 A judge in Germany has reversed a country-wide ban on Uber, the taxi app. The service had been told it could no longer operate in the country, but after an appeal Frankfurt Regional Court Judge Frowin Kurth decided the original complainants – other taxi companies in the country – had waited too long before they [...]
