A tactical speech laced with many contradictions October 3, 2011 IN MANCHESTER FORGET the Eurozone crisis. George Osborne is already fighting the 2015 general election. He used yesterday’s speech to talk over the heads of the Tory faithful to the electorate at large, often sounding more like a Prime Minister than a chancellor. Ever the master tactician, he couldn’t resist taking several swipes at the [...]
The monetary system needs to be reformed October 3, 2011 IT IS encouraging to see political debate start moving from monetary policy towards monetary regimes. Tinkering with the present system is a necessary but ultimately futile way to ensure a more stable economy, because it is the system itself that is the problem. Douglas Carswell MP is confronting these issues with a ten minute rule [...]
RAPID RESPONSES October 3, 2011 Osborne’s speech George Osborne’s announcement that he will focus on supporting small businesses is clearly good news, but recent research carried out by RSM Tenon shows that nearly a quarter of all entrepreneurs in the south say that the coalition government has had a negative impact on their business. The chancellor says that he recognises [...]
Readying for another round with the King October 3, 2011 AS the markets look to Thursday’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting and the possibility of Mervyn King giving the orders to fire up the printing presses once again, George Osborne voiced his support of monetary manipulation in a speech to the Conservative party conference. Saying that both he and David Cameron were “fiscal conservatives and [...]
IT’S NOT EASY TO BE BULLISH THIS QUARTER October 3, 2011 THE third quarter proved to be pretty grim for stock investors. Over the past three months the Dow lost 14 per cent, the NASDAQ fell 10 per cent, while the S&P 500 ended 16 per cent lower. It wasn’t just the US indices that took a hit. The UK’s FTSE 100 dropped 16 per cent, [...]
The devil’s in the detail of positive data October 3, 2011 GIVEN the rarity of positive data gracing the markets these days, yesterday’s Markit/CIPS manufacturing PMI headline activity statistics for September came as a welcome surprise – the forecast was for 48.6, which would have indicated further contraction, but the results pointed to an expansionary 51.1. However, champagne corks should remain firmly in bottles, as this [...]
THE TIPSTER October 3, 2011 FASHION retailer Ted Baker is reporting figures to the market on Thursday, and the expectations are good. Despite the high street gloom and the UK retail sales index being at a 16-month low, Ted Baker has supposedly bucked the trend, and will show a 15 per cent increase in sales. Global expansion is also being [...]
Surviving British Military Fitness October 3, 2011 W E’VE had our hottest October ever (well, since 1985), and – with more sun forecast before winter sets in – there’s just no excuse to avoid that park. And so it was with this in mind this weekend that I decide my occasional determination to dip into a trim trail should be put to [...]
FIT IN THE CITY October 3, 2011 FITNESS & DIET EXPERT Australian researchers recently found that watching an hour of TV can shorten your life by 22 minutes. This got me thinking. What are the best ways are to counteract lazy habits (especially if you’re time-poor and highly stressed)? Here’s what I came up with… TRY A DIFFERENT SANDWICH BAR: Going to [...]
Episode 30: The twins have arrived October 3, 2011 5.18am. I sit at the kitchen table. Alone. Exhausted and elated. Undergraduate philosophy comes back to me. Wittgenstein’s Tractatus. “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must pass over in silence.” And what can one say of the birth of one’s children? Born either side of midnight, twins with different birthdays. A daughter born at 23.57 [...]
