How Bank of England heavyweights criticised their own policy, 20 years early January 17, 2014 It's taken the Bank of England four years to get inflation back to target – but many think the Monetary Policy Committee is looking in the wrong place entirely. In fact, the committee's own members seem to have agreed. A comment at the market monetarist blog Britmouse documents how members of the Bank of England's [...]
Goldman staff left in the dark as bank holds out on salary updates January 16, 2014 Goldman Sachs has deferred decisions on its European-based employees' salaries for 2014. The bank, which normally would have told employees their new salaries alongside the announcement of its financial results, will instead communicate this towards the end of the month. The bank has decided to change its pay structures ahead of new EU bonus rules [...]
Osborne threatens job growth with suggestion of minimum wage hike to as much as £7 January 16, 2014 Chancellor George Osborne has suggested that the national minimum wage could rise to £7 an hour. That'd be a hefty increase from the current rate of £6.31 an hour for workers aged 21 and over. It's also worrying for an economy that's only just started recovering. A hike of that magnitude – 69p per hour [...]
Michael Fallon welcomed as new minister for Portsmouth by local MP January 16, 2014 Business minister Michael Fallon has been announced as the new minister for Portsmouth, prompting calls from other towns and regions across the UK for their own dedicated member of the government. Fallon’s role will see him visit the area and work to lessen the impact of a recent decision by BAE Systems to close a [...]
Boris let loose on London in a green cab January 16, 2014 (Laura Lean/City A.M.) Boris Johnson took a spin in a new, green black cab this lunchtime as he announced plans to force new taxis to operate with zero-emissions by 2018. The mayor of London, who has admitted in the past that his driving skills are awful (see the video below), took the white Metrocab for [...]
Warnings that London property is over-priced as investors battle for assets January 16, 2014 The war is on to get hold of the best property assets in London and for many investors that means moving up the risk curve and taking on more development projects than before, according to research by PwC and the Urban Land Institute. The survey of 500 property professionals revealed that 71 per cent of [...]
The US jobs market is steadily improving, again January 16, 2014 Some good news in the US. Initial jobless claims have dropped/risen from 330,000 last week to 326,000 in the week to 10 January. We got a slightly stronger number than that analysts had been expecting – consensus estimates suggested a fall to 328,000. The general improvements in the US labour market are starting to get [...]
Former US defence secretary Gates weighs in on UK cuts January 16, 2014 The Ministry of Defence is not having the best week. Following on from a damning report from the Commons defence committee and exposure of an IT fiasco, now former US defence secretary Robert Gates has stuck his oar in. Gates, who served under presidents Obama and Bush, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that cuts [...]
Why you shouldn’t trust oil price predictions in 1 chart January 16, 2014 City forecasters are well paid for their advice – colleagues and clients rely on their predictions and make big bets and investment decisions on their word. But this shocking chart from the European Central Bank shows how wrong the forecasters are, pretty much all the time. The light dotted line shows the oil price which [...]
Everything you’ve ever been afraid of in 2 handy maps January 16, 2014 Fiscal crises and the potential for a “fatal spiral” in some of the world’s most important economies are the most concerning risks for the world in the year ahead, according to a major yearly survey released today. The World Economic Forum's annual report on the biggest risks in 2014 is now out, based on a [...]
