The Festival of Words: From Gyles Brandreth to Anthony Scaramucci – all you need to know about the Fleet Street Quarter festival
Asian markets make gains after Chinese inflation data June 10, 2014 Asian markets have made moderate gains after data showed China's annual consumer inflation climbed 2.5 per cent in May, faster than the median estimate of 2.4 per cent. "Today's inflation data confirm our view that broader price pressures are stable and that concerns about deflation, sparked by a short-lived fall in headline inflation in April, were overplayed", [...]
The labour squeeze: How slow reform threatens Abenomics June 9, 2014 More QE cannot be a substitute for labour market reform JAPANESE shares hit a three-month high yesterday, boosted by an upward revision to first quarter GDP and Friday’s strong US jobs report. The Japanese government announced that the economy grew at an annualised 6.7 per cent in the first quarter, up sharply on the initial [...]
Upbeat reserve report boosts shale gas stock June 2, 2014 SHALE gas explorers made gains on the London Stock Exchange yesterday, on the back of an encouraging reserve assessment and hopes that the next licensing round may be imminent after the government entered into talks with interested companies. Aim-listed Union Jack Oil’s shares soared over 30 per cent in early trading and closed 19 per [...]
The fallout from the Scottish referendum will affect all of us June 2, 2014 REGARDLESS of how Scotland votes on 18 September, change is in the air. Even if the Scots vote no to independence, the status quo is no longer sustainable. All the political parties are promising significantly greater devolution for Scotland within the UK – and in particular, the Scottish parliament would gain greater tax raising powers. [...]
Asian markets mixed ahead of Chinese data release May 30, 2014 Asian markets swung between gains and losses as investors await the release of Chinese manufacturing data. China's official manufacturing purchasing manager's index (PMI) for May will be published on Sunday. Analysts are forecasting a slight rise from April's 50.4 to 50.6. The Nikkei is down 0.3 per cent after data showed a slowdown in industrial [...]
Letters to the Editor – 23/05 – Debating Europe, Best of Twitter May 22, 2014 Debating Europe [Re: European Parliament election: Could a victory for Ukip help it secure a domestic foothold?, yesterday] It was interesting to hear Charles Lewington OBE’s views that Nigel Farage’s party is one of “eccentrics”. It might be also interesting to note that one such “eccentric” worked as a non-executive director for Charles’s business for [...]
Thomas Piketty and the great inequality debate: The Ayn Rand response May 20, 2014 After weeks of debates and reviews Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty First Century is still a subject of fierce controversy and currently ranks 17 on the Amazon bestseller list. Piketty’s argument that the rate of return on capital in capitalist economies tends to be higher than the growth rate, leading to a concentration of [...]
Thomas Piketty and the great inequality debate: The Ayn Rand response May 20, 2014 After weeks of debates and reviews Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty First Century is still a subject of fierce controversy and currently ranks 17 on the Amazon bestseller list. Piketty's argument that the rate of return on capital in capitalist economies tends to be higher than the growth rate, leading to a concentration of [...]
London is booming. We must allow it to fulfil its true potential May 15, 2014 WE all know that London emerged from the crisis remarkably unscathed. But few realise just how well our great city has performed over the past 15 years, and how we have grown faster than almost all comparable metropolises since the recession. In 1997, London boasted 1.59m employee jobs in office-based sectors. Today, the number is [...]
City Matters: The EU financial transaction tax will hurt the prudent – not the reckless May 12, 2014 THE IMPORTANT debate between the City and 11 EU governments on whether or not to introduce a tax on derivatives and shares continued last week. Both sides have scored victories, but now a more conciliatory tone is emerging, and this should be welcomed. With the European Court of Justice rejecting a pre-emptive challenge to this [...]