Schaeuble drops debt goals October 28, 2013 Germany’s finance minister appears to have dropped his insistence on starting to pay back the country’s debt from 2015, focusing instead on not borrowing more and not raising taxes. In an advance copy of an interview with Focus magazine, Wolfgang Schaeuble said the aim was to issue no new debt from 2015 and to cut [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 28 October 2013 October 28, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Big Six face challenge over bills Britain’s energy regulator is on course to clash with the “Big Six” power companies this week over the importance of wholesale gas and electricity prices in rising customer bills. Data from energy regulator Ofgem show wholesale prices have been almost flat over the past year, rising by [...]
Growth fears as credit cards drive recovery October 28, 2013 HOUSEHOLD borrowing is set to grow this year for the first time since the credit crunch struck, according to forecasts out today from the Ernst and Young ITEM Club. But business borrowing and investment remains weak, raising concerns over an imbalanced, consumer-credit fuelled recovery. The economists predict consumer credit will gradually pick up pace, growing [...]
New York Stock Exchange runs trial as Twitter flotation nears October 28, 2013 TWITTER took part in a test run of its highly anticipated market debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) over the weekend, ahead of the real event which is expected to take place on 7 November. The simulated initial public offering (IPO) – the first trial of its kind on the NYSE – was [...]
Grand Theft Auto V accelerates games market back into growth October 28, 2013 THE RELEASE of Grand Theft Auto V helped push the video games market back into growth for the first time in five years last month, according to data out today. Kantar Worldpanel figures for the 12 weeks to 29 September show that the games market grew by 29 per cent compared with the same period [...]
Canary Wharf’s Canadian backer October 28, 2013 CANARY WHARF was the biggest development in the world when work officially began in 1988. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher praised the level of foreign investment in the project – having personally arranged that Olympia & York, run by Paul Reichmann, would finance it. It had taken almost seven years to secure the commercial backer for [...]
Bottom Line: The right rules keep Docklands growing October 28, 2013 THE TRIUMPHANT transformation of Canary Wharf is an object lesson in the power of visionary funders, able to see the long-term potential in neglected sites. But it also shows the benefits of the right regulatory environment, founded as it was on an enterprise zone. Thanks to the recent Royal Docks enterprise zone, established in 2012, [...]
Budget for High Speed 2 to face fresh questions October 28, 2013 THE BUDGET for the controversial High Speed 2 railway is under the spotlight this week as a new business case for the scheme is published and MPs vote on a bill that allows the project to proceed. Danny Alexander, the Treasury minister, said yesterday he is “very confident” that HS2 will be delivered within its [...]
Milton Keynes to trial driverless cars on town pavements by 2015 October 28, 2013 A HUNDRED driverless cars will join pedestrians on the pavements of Milton Keynes in 2015 as part of a trial by a joint industry and government panel exploring the future of UK transport. The self-driving pods will operate on a separate lane on pavements at speeds of up to 12mph as part of the Automotive [...]
More passengers set to feel the squeeze on London’s busy buses October 28, 2013 THE CITY’S buses will become more crowded unless Transport for London adds more services to meet soaring demand, a report out today from the London Assembly claims. The assembly has called on the Mayor of London and TfL to pinpoint which routes they would improve in the coming years. The number of bus trips rose [...]
