World Cup delivers consumer spending boost as pubs rake in 10 per cent more cash July 10, 2018 The World Cup prompted the biggest spike in non-essential consumer spending in June since October 2016, as Britons spent 33 per cent more in pubs during England’s first match. Non-essential spending jumped by 5.5 per cent in June compared to the previous year, the strongest year-on-year growth since October 2016, according to data to be [...]
Bank of England’s rate hike rush criticised by British Chambers of Commerce as growth outlook drags July 9, 2018 The Bank of England’s hawkish talk on a potential interest rate hike is “ill judged”, according to an influential business group, as new data points to continued sluggish growth in the UK economy. A poll of more than 6,000 firms from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) showed that the balance of firms enjoying increased [...]
World Cup win to boost business confidence as England edge closer to final July 7, 2018 The UK will be hoping for an economic boost from consumer spending as England moves on to the semi-finals of the World Cup, beating Sweden in a comfortable 2-0 win this afternoon. Goals from Harry Maguire and Deli Alli pushed England into the last four of the Fifa World Cup for the first time in [...]
The productivity puzzle is being solved as we speak… in Sheffield July 6, 2018 The latest official productivity statistics for the first quarter of 2018 are out today, and they’re expected to show the UK’s “lost decade” of productivity growth since the financial crisis has extended into its eleventh year. Figuring out how to tackle the UK’s flagging productivity has become a priority for the Bank of England. Monetary [...]
Last Week in the City: Trade wars begin July 6, 2018 Garry White, chief investment commentator, looks at the market-moving events that have shaped the UK equity markets this week (2 to 6 July 2018). The World Cup is “distracting” for participants in global markets, according to Citigroup. "We find that football is indeed distracting, subtly impacting market depth, traded volumes and execution cost,” the US [...]
DEBATE: Forget the Brexit dividend, should we pin our economic hopes on an England World Cup victory? July 6, 2018 Forget the Brexit dividend, should we pin our economic hopes on an England World Cup victory? Alastair Benn, news editor of Reaction, says YES. When Eric Dier swept home that penalty against Colombia, the whole pub erupted in joy. And I fell into a strange reverie. It seemed as if the dull present had been [...]
Watchdogs push City to plan for failure amid ‘increasingly hostile’ cyber environment July 5, 2018 The City’s watchdogs have banded together to push senior managers to plan for failure amid a surge in IT incidents. The Bank of England (BoE), the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today published a discussion paper inviting responses from firms and consumers as they prepare to shape future regulations across [...]
A new era in bank regulation will allow the City to focus on the future July 5, 2018 Bankers have had to learn a new humility since the financial crisis and its many related scandals. They (not to mention their investors) have had to pay for it too through higher capital requirements, higher personal accountability for managers – no more floating off into the sunset if your bank crashes – and caps on [...]
Growth in Britain’s services sector rises to eight-month high in June says closely followed survey, IHS Markit purchasing managers’ index (PMI) July 4, 2018 Britain’s services sector continued a run of improving performance in June as activity hit its highest level since October 2017, boosting hawks at the Bank of England who believe a rate hike in August is necessary. The services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted reading of 55.1 in June, up from 54 [...]
Will Bitcoin Make or Break the internet? July 3, 2018 News in the last week included a report called, ironically, 'Beyond the Hype' from the global central bank (BIS, the Bank of International Settlements) which contains more than its own share of hype, including a headline stating ‘Bitcoin Could Break the Internet'. Together with the same obvious errors that the Bank of England's Mark Carney [...]