ECB policymaker joins chorus against upping inflation target January 29, 2013 INCREASING central banks’ inflation targets might stimulate growth in the very short run, but would lead to a dangerously volatile economy in future, the European Central Bank’s (ECB) top economist Peter Praet warned yesterday. He joins policymakers including Sir Mervyn King and Adam Posen in opposing suggestions made by incoming Bank of England governor Mark [...]
City Moves for 30 January 2013 | Who’s switching jobs January 29, 2013 Pinsent Masons Michael Isaacs has been appointed partner in the law firm’s financial sector disputes practice. He is a banking litigation specialist, and joins from Addleshaw Goddard. Issacs has over 20 years’ experience in the sector. Mizuho International The London-based securities and investment banking arm of Mizuho Financial Group has appointed Antony Slotboom as head [...]
Best of the Brokers January 29, 2013 HYDER CONSULTING The engineering consultancy’s trading update yesterday said that trading had improved in key Asia Pacific and Middle East areas, but analysts at Panmure Gordon warned against buying the stock, claiming that although they are fans of the business, growth is already priced into Hyder’s Shares after “a strong show of late”. Analyst Mike [...]
FTSE rally tops fresh peaks yet UK banks slip January 29, 2013 BRITAIN’S top share index hit new four and a half year peaks yesterday, with a strong rally in miners outweighing concerns about continuing problems in the banking sector. Data from the US offered fresh proof of improvement in the world’s biggest economy, with a strong pick-up in housing prices following above-forecast durable goods data the [...]
US investors buy defensive sectors’ stock January 29, 2013 US stocks advanced yesterday, led by defensive sectors, in a sign the cash piles recently moving into the market are being put to use by cautious investors to pick up more gains. S&P 500 is on track to post its best monthly performance since October 2011 and its best January since 1997 as investors poured [...]
Fewer fiddly rules will help make childcare more affordable for all January 29, 2013 HOW much would it cost the government to raise spending on childcare subsidies to the average level in Scandinavia? Your guess is probably wrong. As a proportion of GDP, the UK government spends more on childcare subsidies than Finland, Norway and Iceland, and about as much as Sweden. The only country ahead of us on [...]
Government didn’t rescue the US from Depression – it was corporate cash January 29, 2013 IS AMERICA heading for a boom? Real GDP has risen for 13 successive quarters and now stands 3 per cent above its peak level. A net total of 4.8m jobs has been created over the past three years, with a fall of 500,000 in the public sector massively outweighed by a 5.3m rise in the [...]
Political risk could still derail a better Eurozone outlook January 29, 2013 THIS year could be a watershed for the Eurozone. There is now a real chance the region can overcome the market volatility and fragmentation of the past few years, and that countries like Greece could actively return to capital markets. European leaders have laid much of the groundwork towards restoring credibility to Eurozone policy. But [...]
The Debate: Should the government introduce a tax on sugary drinks to encourage a healthy diet? January 29, 2013 YES Charlie Powell More often than not, sugary drinks offer no nutritional benefits other than “empty calories” to a nation already suffering high levels of obesity-related diseases and dental decay. So it would be good for our health and the environment if we drank less of them. A 20p per litre sugary drinks duty would [...]
Letters to the editor January 29, 2013 Spending restraint [Re: Austerity can’t have hurt UK growth because austerity hasn’t yet begun, yesterday] I’m surprised that commentators continue to suggest that austerity is a policy, not an outcome. It is the latter. No sane leader would wish to impose austerity on his or her people. But, as in the immediate aftermath of the [...]
