London Report: FTSE chases record after rallying to an eight month high January 21, 2014 THE UK’S top shares consolidated near an eight-month high yesterday as reassuring news about economic conditions in emerging markets boosted consumer staples and financials, although miners weakened. The FTSE 100 touched its highest since May 2013, before pulling back in the afternoon, with traders citing caution on Wall Street as US markets reopened after a [...]
New York Report: Bad earnings drag on Dow January 21, 2014 US STOCKS mostly rose yesterday, with the S&P 500 snapping a two-session decline as the materials sector rallied, though the Dow fell on disappointing earnings by three of its components. The Dow fell as Travelers Cos, Verizon Communications and Johnson & Johnson – all bellwethers for their sectors – tumbled following results. Travelers fell 1.7 [...]
The entrepreneurial economy is taking off but we’re yet to realise its potential January 21, 2014 AT THE launch of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2013, Vince Cable announced that “10 per cent of the UK workforce is engaged in entrepreneurship activity.” Then he ploughed on with his speech, leaving the audience wondering precisely what this was supposed to mean. After decades of being politely sidelined, entrepreneurship is political and economic orthodoxy. Few [...]
Against the Grain: Google and the output gap: Why it’s time to ditch this outdated concept January 21, 2014 THE CONCEPT of the “output gap” is central to mainstream macroeconomics. It is not merely of academic interest, however. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has a specific requirement to estimate this gap, which it defines formally as “the difference between the current level of activity in the economy and the potential level it could [...]
The grandees of Davos 2014 may finally have a theme worth discussing January 21, 2014 I’VE LEARNED a new word: heterarchy. I came across it buried in this year’s Davos theme. Apparently it means multiple structures, overlapping, interacting, connecting and networking. Am I really climbing a Swiss mountain to learn about an arcane corner of the dictionary? The theme is set each year by the World Economic Forum (WEF), which [...]
Letters to the editor – 22/01 – Banking IT crisis, False optimism, Best of Twitter January 21, 2014 Banking IT crisis [Re: UK banks risk financial meltdown if the long-term IT crisis remains unresolved, yesterday] I agree with the identification of the problem, though not necessarily with the solution (“to create a national programme of IT transformation”). It’s not clear that a centralised approach to solving systemic problems is required. An alternative would be to agree [...]
Restaurant review: Andina, Shoreditch January 21, 2014 @steve_dinneen 1 Redchurch Street, E2 7DJ Tel: 020 7920 6499 FOOD Four Stars VALUE Four Stars ATMOSPHERE Three Stars Cost for two with a fair bit of booze: £150 IF I could go back five years and give myself one foodie tip, it would be “never set foot in Trader Vic’s”. If I could give [...]
Why Madeira deserves to be saved from obscurity January 21, 2014 Bottle.opener@cityam.com Call it a busman’s holiday but I have just had a sunny week in Madeira, sampling the delights of… Madeira. I was lucky enough to meet Chris Blandy, the seventh generation of the Blandy family to run the Madeira Wine Company (MWC), the mainstay of the island’s remaining wine industry. Madeira is the most [...]
Lukaku speaks out as Anelka charged by FA January 21, 2014 CHELSEA striker Romelu Lukaku became embroiled in the growing row over Nicolas Anelka’s controversial “quenelle” gesture yesterday, after the West Brom player was formally charged by the Football Association. Lukaku, 20, who is on a season-long loan at Everton, defended Anelka’s use of the gesture, which has been called anti-Semitic, and said the Frenchman, who [...]
Murray braced for Federer’s fresh game plan January 21, 2014 BRITAIN’S Andy Murray is anticipating a fresh set of problems from old adversary Roger Federer in this morning’s Australian Open quarter-final. Federer has been in decline since reaching all four grand slam finals in 2009, having triumphed just once in the last 15 major tennis tournaments. But the 32-year-old joined forces with two-time Wimbledon champion [...]
