Bank of England and Mark Carney set out vision for a “less Libor-centric world” July 17, 2017 The Bank of England (BoE) has set out its vision for a “less Libor-centric world”. Governor Mark Carney wants interest rates used to price financial contracts to be based on market transactions, creating “near risk-free rates”, rather than the judgements of banks. The BoE and other central banks have been seeking alternatives to the London [...]
Chinese economy delivers pleasant second-quarter growth surprise at 6.9 per cent annual GDP expansion July 17, 2017 The Chinese economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter of the year, sustaining its momentum to shrug off investor fears of an impending slowdown. Output from the world’s second largest economy remained at an annual rate of 6.9 per cent growth, the same as the first quarter, according to the Chinese National Bureau [...]
Average graduate salaries by university and subject: Where to go and what to study to earn top dollar July 14, 2017 Going to university at Oxford or Cambridge pays. But it doesn’t pay as much as the London School of Economics or City University London. But it pays a lot more than going to Cardiff Metropolitan University. And if you want to earn top dollar as a graduate it’s also worth aiming for an economics degree [...]
Budget watchdogs warn another financial crisis would destroy government deficit plans July 13, 2017 The government will miss its targets for reducing the spending deficit by “wide margins” if there is another big financial shock, the Treasury’s independent budget watchdog has warned. In a report on the risks facing the UK economy, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) today said a scenario similar to the financial crisis a decade [...]
Pound slides on Bank of England deputy governor Ben Broadbent saying he’s ‘not ready’ to raise interest rates July 12, 2017 The pound dipped this morning after the deputy governor of the Bank of England said he’s “not ready” to raise interest rates yet. In an interview with the Scottish Press and Journal paper, Broadbent gave the first signal of where his thoughts are after three members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted in favour of [...]
Why interest rates predictions have suddenly shifted July 11, 2017 Pressure is building for interest rates to be raised in the UK following a surge in inflation to a five-year high. Why are there fresh calls for rate rise? The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) is tasked with keeping inflation at around 2% in the years ahead. But the consumer prices index (CPI) [...]
Editor’s Notes: If politicians want to win back trust they should start by ditching the lies, plus: Downing Street’s new BBC hire, measuring GDP and innovative Estonia July 7, 2017 This afternoon I’m hosting a discussion on the theme of experts and how to earn trust in a post-truth world. On the panel will be Andy Haldane of the Bank of England, Hetan Shah of the Royal Statistical Society and Julia Grant of Pro Bono Economics. Our host is the consultancy giant FTI, which has [...]
Seven investment charts that caught our eye in June July 6, 2017 Schroders Investment Communications team highlights charts they found interesting this month. Mid-year markets Schroders' team of economists put together a handy summary of how various asset classes and markets have performed as we reach the middle of the year. Looking at broad asset classes, equities have been the best to be invested in, while commodities [...]
Blockchain is warming up: Asset manager Natixis says it has made the industry’s first ‘real’ transaction using the technology on the FundsDLT platform July 6, 2017 France’s Natixis Asset Management claims it has made the first “real” blockchain transaction completed in fund distribution, as investors purchased shares in its funds via the technology. Natixis announced last month that it would be the first asset manager to use the FundsDLT platform, a blockchain-powered fund distribution platform. Read more: Blockchain wallet business raises [...]
How many of Amazon’s peers from the dotcom boom exist today? July 4, 2017 In March 2000, a US financial magazine listed Amazon among 207 unprofitable listed internet businesses, most of whom had worryingly small cash reserves. More than four-fifths no longer exist. “Investors must never forget that for every tech start-up success story, hundreds of other such businesses will have failed.” So we wrote on our Value Perspective [...]