Italian industrial production plunges as malaise continues February 10, 2020 Italy’s industrial output plunged at its fastest rate in almost two years in December, data has shown, in a worrying sign for the Eurozone economy. Production fell 2.7 per cent month on month, the biggest fall since January 2018 and far below the 0.5 per cent predicted by analysts in a Reuters poll. The data [...]
Top economist Sir Charlie Bean warns UK productivity crisis threatens capitalism February 8, 2020 The threat of Brexit to the economy is “small beer” compared to the UK’s decade-long productivity crisis, which could undermine consent for British capitalism, one of the country’s top economists has warned. In an interview with City A.M., former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Charlie Bean said the failure of productivity to meaningfully grow [...]
Sir Charlie Bean: Forget Brexit – the UK productivity crisis is a threat to capitalism February 8, 2020 Brexit has dominated conversations about the UK economy in recent years, just as it has hung over almost everything else. But over the last week or so, the country’s festering productivity crisis has come to the fore, with the Bank of England downgrading its growth predictions and studies describing the worst decade for productivity expansion [...]
Global stocks fall as coronavirus fears grip investors February 7, 2020 Global stock markets have fallen as fears resurface about the impact of coronavirus on the global economy. China’s central bank warned last night that its economy will be hit by the outbreak, and Japan reported a jump in the number of cases on board a cruise liner off of Tokyo. US markets opened lower despite [...]
Non-farm payrolls: Donald Trump bolstered by booming US jobs market February 7, 2020 US employment surged in January despite political chaos, handing President Donald Trump a weapon in his fight for reelection this year. The world’s largest economy added 225,000 jobs in January, non-farm payrolls data showed today, well above the 160,000 predicted by economists. Unemployment rose marginally to 3.6 per cent, close to record lows, as labour [...]
Credit Suisse chief executive Tidjane Thiam ousted in wake of spying scandal February 7, 2020 Credit Suisse chief executive Tidjane Thiam has stepped down from his role following a bitter power struggle which was sparked by a lurid spying scandal that erupted in September. Thiam’s departure – the board said it had “unanimously accepted” his resignation today – came despite powerful investors only this week backing the chief executive and [...]
Admiral foresees higher profit on motor claims February 7, 2020 UK insurer Admiral has predicted it will post higher-than-expected profit in its 2019 full-year results, after a change to personal injury insurance rules led to higher reserve releases and commission revenue. Admiral said in a trading update it expects to post a group profit before tax for 2019 in the range of £510m to £540m, [...]
FTSE 100 rises after China cuts US tariffs amid coronavirus outbreak February 6, 2020 The FTSE 100 and global stock markets have risen after China cut tariffs on US goods in a bid to boost market sentiment amid the coronavirus outbreak, with an all-Europe index hitting a record high. The FTSE 100 was 0.3 per cent higher by 3pm, despite the third case of coronavirus being reported in the [...]
Brits became less happy amid Brexit deadlock, figures show February 6, 2020 Brits became significantly less satisfied with their lives in the third quarter of 2019 for the first time since official records began, figures showed today, as people became gloomy about their future job prospects. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has measured personal and economic well-being in the UK since 2011 in an effort not [...]
Sajid Javid’s growth plan unlikely to succeed, says think tank February 6, 2020 Sajid Javid’s plan to double the UK’s economic growth rate has little chance of success, according to a major think tank, as Britain pays the price for weak productivity. Javid has said he wants to boost UK economic growth to around 2.75 per cent by “levelling up” spending across the country. Yet the National Institute [...]
