After China’s growth rate fell to 7.4 per cent last quarter, can we expect a hard landing? October 21, 2012 YES Detlev Schlichter The international consensus is not bearish enough on China. Its strong growth rates since 2008 have been the result of massive state intervention, particularly through huge money printing and state-sponsored investment spending, possible on this scale because China is still Communist. Its money supply has doubled since 2008 and is still growing [...]
Rapid responses October 21, 2012 Start-up nation [Re: Google’s awful day reminds us it is becoming less special, Friday] I was interested to read Allister Heath’s comments on Google settling down to mundane normality. I have started half a dozen tech businesses in my time, and I agree that turning a tech start-up into a successful company is a path [...]
Diversifying your holdings will protect you from blips October 21, 2012 IT IS an apt time for investors to revisit how they are managing risk within their portfolio; not only because of last week’s twenty-fifth anniversary of Black Monday, but also because of current risks, like the Eurozone crisis. Risk isn’t inherently bad. The more risk you take, the more return you might get. Of course, [...]
What Black Monday taught me about stock valuation October 21, 2012 TEN days after Black Monday a colleague returned from a holiday in central Africa, oblivious to what had been going on. He saw the ashen faces around him and exclaimed “at these valuations, why the hell aren’t you all buying?” He was right. The market crash had been a wonderful buying opportunity and the UK [...]
Cutting your energy bills is simpler than you think October 21, 2012 INCREASED strain is being put on household budgets after four of the “big six” energy providers announced plans to hike their prices in the upcoming months. Two weeks ago, British Gas said it plans to raise gas and electricity prices by an average of 6 per cent. A few hours later, Npower announced that its [...]
Indifference will leave you out of pocket October 21, 2012 THE Citizens Advice Bureau found that, in spite of widespread concern among homeowners over energy bills, a pitiful 25 per cent took action to see whether their supplier was providing them with the best deal. That is why the founder of MoneySavingExpert Martin Lewis has said that “there is a massive fine for apathy. If [...]
Making Mr Nice: Don’t cry all the way to the bank October 21, 2012 THE girl was clearly nervous as her job interview got underway. I asked her why Australia had such a high inflation rate and I was incredulous at her answer: “I believe it is mostly ‘imported inflation’”. I pulled a face. “Imported inflation? How could that be possible when our biggest trading partner, Japan, has a [...]
Entrepreneurs like Yu can let a thousand flowers bloom October 21, 2012 CAPITALISM is often defended on the basis that it’s the least bad system, that it’s the system that allocates scarce resources in the most efficient way. It’s little wonder that so many young people dabble with the more emotionally appealing – but catastrophic – ideas of Marx. Defenders of capitalism need a better sales pitch: [...]
Bosideng London founder Mr Gao is a man with a plan October 21, 2012 THE LAST time you walked on South Molton Street you would have gone past The Hog in the Pound, a not especially enticing-looking pub that sat at the top of the famous road where it meets with Oxford Street. Walk there today and it looks completely different. Let’s just say it’s had an upgrade; £25m [...]
Breathtaking beauty in Ecuador’s own paradise October 21, 2012 QUITO always seemed to me to be more of a stopover on the way to Ecuador’s Andean heights, Amazon forest, and the Galapagos, than a destination. Not so. This 9,000 ft high city, smack dab on the equator, has a spectacular setting of its own, surrounded by three glistening, glacier-topped volcanoes: Cotapaxi, Cayambe, and Antisana. [...]
