Finance is inevitably complex but its regulators can stop chasing their tails November 27, 2013 FINANCIAL regulation becomes ever more onerous, as it chases its own tail. More and more, regulation mandates “best advice”, codes of ethics, legal punishment for directors if businesses go bust, mandatory offering of simple products, fines for companies if financial products decline in value instead of rise, and caps on charges and interest rates. This [...]
The bank leverage ratio is sensible – but we should be wary of Balkanisation November 27, 2013 MARK Carney and George Osborne, the two most powerful men in the British economy, swapped letters on Tuesday about the tools they needed to create a stable banking sector. They agreed that the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee will consider whether the Bank should be able to set the amount of money UK banks [...]
Germany’s new coalition will make little change to Merkel’s euro policies November 27, 2013 MONTHS after elections were held, Germany’s coalition talks have finally resulted in a deal – a grand coalition between Angela Merkel’s centre-right CDU/CSU and the centre-left SPD. Already, it is clear that Merkel will remain Europe’s most important player. Following an election that saw her party win a landslide victory that left it only few [...]
Letters to the Editor – 28/11 – Scots referendum, Bank ringfence, Best of Twitter November 27, 2013 Scots referendum [Re: Financial and economic flaws in the SNP’s plan make the case for Union, yesterday] I agree with Alistair Darling. Currency union requires political union, as demonstrated by the euro experience. It would be foolish to repeat the same mistake here. Meanwhile, Scotland having its own currency would increase the cost of selling [...]
How to stay sane in the workplace November 27, 2013 Jonathan Trott’s dramatic surprise departure from the Ashes tour reminds us that stress is a serious problem TEST cricket, the gentleman’s game with emphasis on the gentle, is the last sport you’d envisage being a rigorous mental challenge. But just one test into the Ashes tour, the out-of-form batsman Jonathan Trott followed Marcus Trescothick and [...]
Get-fit Diary: Learning to cook well proves an unexpected pleasure in week six November 27, 2013 I’m six weeks through an intensive get-fit programme, which involves not only hitting the gym four times a week, but completely overhauling the way I eat. It’s the latter aspect of the challenge that has proven most interesting, especially given my prior fondness for fast food and aversion to home cooking. For some reason the [...]
Xbox One: know your console November 27, 2013 Everything you need to know about the long-awaited sequel to the Xbox 360 LIVE TV TV and video signals from set top boxes such as Sky, Freeview and Virgin can be fed through the console so you don’t have to switch inputs between gaming and watching TV. But British users have experienced compatibility problems, complaining [...]
New Legend of Zelda game is a nostalgic hit for fans of the franchise November 27, 2013 REVIEW LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK BETWEEN WORLDS | by Steve Dinneen Four Stars ASK any gamer of a certain age – between around 25 and 45 – what their favourite title is, and I reckon you have about a 30 per cent chance of them naming one of the Legend of Zelda series. Nintendo [...]
Brazil World Cup 2014 plan in crisis after fatal accident November 27, 2013 BRAZIL’S troubled preparations for next summer’s football World Cup plunged into crisis yesterday when two men died and a partially built stadium was seriously damaged in a construction accident in Sao Paulo. A crane lifting a section of roof into place toppled over, damaging the 65,000-capacity Arena Corinthians, which is due to host the tournament’s [...]
Spurs board still believe in me, says Villas-Boas November 27, 2013 UNDER-FIRE Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas has denied his job is in jeopardy. Spurs lost 6-0 at Manchester City on Sunday and in their last three Premier League games have failed to score and taken just a point. But, ahead of tonight’s trip to the Arctic Circle to take on Tromso in the Europa League, Villas-Boas [...]
