Two of the ECB’s most hawkish members just hinted at QE March 25, 2014 The heads of both the German and Finnish central banks, two of the most hawkish in the Eurozone, talked with relative ease about negative rates and quantitative easing (QE) today. According to Reuters, Germany and Finland’s governing council members are among the most hawkish in the currency union. Finland’s Erkki Liikanen told the Wall Street [...]
Energy customers who don’t switch are getting charged more March 25, 2014 Looks like energy firms are set for another bashing. New research by think tank IPPR shows that customers who haven’t switched energy suppliers are getting charged substantially more. The analysis, which comes ahead of the regulators’ decision on competition in the energy market later this week, shows that electricity bills in 2013 for customers [...]
HTC unveils new One phone with depth capturing duo camera March 25, 2014 Taiwanese company HTC has unveiled its latest version of the One device. It's another phone on the Android platform, and seems to be longer and curvier than the original. The design removes the sharp edges from the device's predecessor with a metal and glass sidewall. With a gunmental grey hairline finish, it features dual front [...]
5 tech IPOs to watch out for in 2014 March 25, 2014 Box’s $250m initial public offering (IPO) is far smaller than the Twitter’s, Alibaba’s and King’s of the world, but it marks the first in a long line of mid-sized tech firms who could be planning a float in the near future. DropboxOnline storage services Dropbox and Box were reported to be neck and neck in [...]
US consumer confidence jumps to January 2008 high March 25, 2014 Good economic spirits returning in the US. Consumer confidence has surged to 82.3, from 78.3 prior. Last month's figure was itself revised up, from 78.1. Analysts had predicted a smaller rise, to just 78.6 this month. Simultaneously housing data revealed that new home sales fell by 3.3 per cent in February, less than the 4.9 [...]
This is how people will look at you when you wear Google Glass March 25, 2014 Bryan Foster likes wearing Google Glass. He lives in LA and is the kind of guy that calls himself a technology evangelist. On Twitter. And we’d wager on his business card. He also calls himself a Google Glass Explorer, he’s not the only one of course – there are plenty of these people out there [...]
Britain has learned nothing from the credit crunch says top economist March 25, 2014 Britain could be mired in another crash in five years’ time if heavily indebted households and firms are crushed by higher rates, a top economist warned this morning. Interest rates stand at 0.5 per cent, and the Bank of England does not expect to increase this for another year or so. That will mean rock-bottom [...]
Gatwick states the obvious in the fight for a new runway March 25, 2014 Gatwick Airport has made its latest pitch for permission to build a second runway, claiming it will regenerate South London and offer better links for the city than expansion at Heathrow. Sir Terry Farrell, the architect planning the new runway for the airport, said a larger Gatwick could produce the same sort of economic boost [...]
How the big three central banks are dealing with falling inflation March 25, 2014 The last few months have seen inflation trend downwards in the Eurozone, US, and UK. Today's news that UK inflation has fallen to a 52-month low has stirred concerns among some quarters that central banks aren't reacting to falling price pressures. The latest Office for National Statistics data shows inflation falling to 1.7 per cent [...]
Inflation falls for fifth consecutive month March 25, 2014 Annual inflation has fallen from 1.9 per cent to 1.7 per cent in February, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. That's a 52-month low, and a dramatic fall from 2.9 per cent last June. The latest figure "is now clearly below the Bank of England's two per cent target rate", [...]
