Britain is beating France, Germany, Italy and Spain in these 5 key tech metrics March 12, 2014 Britain has marched ahead of its European tech rivals with its internet connectivity with the lowest number of non-internet users and the highest take up of broadband, according to Ofcom’s European Broadband Scorecard. 1. Lowest proportion of people who have never used the internet, at just eight per centA drop from the 11 per cent [...]
Government on track to miss its own R&D target March 12, 2014 Governments and targets, eh? They love ‘em, can’t get enough of ‘em – yet aren’t very good at actually hitting ‘em. A bit like me and deadlines. Take research & development, more widely-known as R&D. Over five years ago the government decided that R&D investment should amount to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2014. [...]
Opec raises oil demand outlook for 2014 March 12, 2014 The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) has today raised its forecast for oil demand growth in 2014 for the second month in a row. Opec, which accounts for 40 per cent of the world’s oil supply and represents 12 countries, has revised its forecast by 50,000 barrels per day to 1.14m bopd. Total [...]
Bank of England appoints Lord Grabiner QC to lead forex probe March 12, 2014 The UK's central bank has appointed Lord Grabiner QC, the man who oversaw News Corp's internal hacking investigation, to lead an investigation into "conduct issues in the foreign exchange market." Grabiner is a commercial lawyer, with over 40 years of experience working on commercial litigation cases in London. The investigation, which is supported by Travers [...]
Here’s what the Bank of England has to say on Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ripple March 12, 2014 In a new primer on the nature of money, the UK's central bank has waded into the world of sterling-alternatives. Seeing "a wave of innovation" in the recent past, the Bank says in "Money in the modern economy" that alternative currencies are not widely accepted as a medium of exchange. Or at least, not as [...]
Copper prices are getting slammed. Here’s what you need to know March 12, 2014 Copper values are down for a fifth straight day, as global economic worries see the red metal trade near its lowest level since July 2010. Societe Generale's Kit Juckes identifies tensions in Ukraine and ongoing Chinese growth fears as responsible for the downturn in prices. This weekend saw Chinese exports sharply lower, and a potential [...]
Why the government will need to cut more “green crap” to save British industry March 11, 2014 The pressure for the government to cut more green levies is growing, ahead of next week’s Budget. Major trade bodies such as the Confederation of British Industry, the manufacturers’ organisation EEF and the Institute of Directors have already warned that charges such as the carbon price floor – that taxes fossil fuel emissions – are making [...]
Why a sales tax might see the Bank of Japan pump up markets March 11, 2014 Despite having the most expansionary monetary policy of any advanced economy, Japan is set for further easing in the next few months, according to one bank. Societe Generale’s Takuji Aida reckons that the Bank of Japan could enact new measures as soon as April. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is currently committed to increasing the monetary base [...]
£260,000 to save financial markets as we know them March 11, 2014 Financial markets are broken, dominated by a small clique of corrupt bankers who have subverted the whole meaning of capitalism for their own ends, Bank of England governor Mark Carney indicated this afternoon. The solution: a new Bank of England deputy governor to reform the way the Bank interacts with markets, make sure key benchmarks [...]
Meet the Co-op traditionalists’ top dog March 11, 2014 Ben Reid, the chief executive of the Midcounties Co-operative, is seen as the likely flag-bearer for the traditionalists in a battle for control of the Co-operative Group. The traditionalists have been opposed to many of the measures the departed chief executive Euan Sutherland has been trying to impose, such as restructuring, the selling off of [...]
