2013 Christmas quiz – The Answers December 20, 2013 1. Between spring and autumn 2013, which of these countries received the largest upgrade to its 2013 GDP growth forecast from the IMF? a. Indiab. United Statesc. United Kingdom ANSWER – United Kingdom. In April, the IMF forecast the UK would grow by 0.7 per cent in 2013. By October, the IMF had raised this [...]
The pair taking peer-to-peer to property December 15, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks with lending platform founders Anthony Fane and Graham Wellesley THE BURGEONING peer-to-peer (P2P) lending industry could transform the personal loans market. It is currently worth £550m in the UK, but some experts expect that to increase to as much as £1bn by 2016. One of its newest entrants is Wellesley & Co, [...]
The chancellor did nothing to reverse the decline in long-term savings December 5, 2013 THE AUTUMN Statement confirmed what we already knew. The UK recovery is on track and is set to strengthen. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) now expects growth of 1.4 per cent in 2013 and 2.4 per cent in 2014. In fact, these forecasts will likely be exceeded. And together with the astute announcements of [...]
Reactions to the chancellor’s statement December 5, 2013 THE BUSINESS GROUPDirector general of the CBIJohn Cridland The CBI had lobbied the government to cap business rates at two per cent and support business finance. “We have always advocated the dual approach of tackling the deficit and driving growth – the OBR forecasts confirm it is working. Let’s stick with what works. “The pressure [...]
Taxes and pension contributions are squeezing workers’ pay December 4, 2013 IT WAS meant to be one of the most basic rules of economics: the more people produce, the more they get paid. It is a long-standing, near-universal relationship that helps to explain why some jobs are so much more lucrative than others. But in recent years many have argued that the link has broken down, [...]
City A.M.’s bumper Autumn Statement preview December 3, 2013 As chancellor George Osborne gets set to unveil this year's Autumn statement on Thursday, we've pulled together all the expected announcements, and what others are hoping for. Ladbrokes have 11/5 odds on the speech to run for 45 to 50 minutes (it's scheduled to start at 11.15am). You'll get 6/4 odds on the speech running [...]
Taxes and pension contributions are squeezing workers’ pay December 2, 2013 IT WAS meant to be one of the most basic rules of economics: the more people produce, the more they get paid. It is a long-standing, near-universal relationship that helps to explain why some jobs are so much more lucrative than others. But in recent years many have argued that the link has broken down, [...]
Treasury insists Britons benefiting from growth December 2, 2013 THE TREASURY insisted yesterday that compensation for workers in the UK is still closely linked to output, adding to debate over the cost of living in the lead up to the Autumn Statement. A new paper seen by City A.M. yesterday suggests that in the years since the crisis, the share of output going to [...]
Read my lips: Why the chancellor should commit to a lower tax burden December 2, 2013 TWO CAMPS exist in the Conservative Party on tax cuts. One thinks they should happen now to ease living costs, the other that it’s fiscally premature and imprudent to do them. There is logic in both. The purpose of taxation should be to finance state expenditures in the least distortionary way possible. Since spending is [...]
Letters to the Editor – 03/12 – Heathrow noise, Autumn Statement, Best of Twitter December 2, 2013 Heathrow noise [Re: Our innovative Heathrow plan could expand capacity without huge costs, Friday] It’s not clear to me that the author’s suggestions would limit the number of additional residents affected by Heathrow expansion, or merely dump even more noise on to those of us who already suffer. When the inspector gave the go-ahead for [...]