Thatcher saved UK from slow decline April 12, 2013 When Margaret Thatcher won the 1979 election, Britain was a country on its knees, a discredited, impoverished post-imperial nation in seemingly terminal decline, with ruthless union bosses imposing their will on a gutless establishment, cripplingly high inflation, a tax regime that forbade entrepreneurship and ambition, and an antiquated class system still in full sway. Dozens [...]
Study Italy’s election: It is the shape of things to come in UK February 25, 2013 ITALY has spoken. Few in the City like what they are hearing, but they should listen carefully. Bond yields, which had fallen when it was thought the centre-left was cruising to victory, shot back up when it emerged that Silvio Berlusconi and a new, populist protest party were doing well. This bitterly divided vote is [...]
Letters to the editor February 24, 2013 Rising inflation [Re: Britain: a case study in low-growth economic mediocrity, Friday] Historically, inflation has followed an economic recovery – but not this time. British manufacturing (secondary sector) may be helped by a lower pound, but our economy now operates more in the tertiary sector. The real concern is not the manufacturing industry, but the [...]
Letters to the Editor February 17, 2013 Fiscal failure [RE: High inflation is denting recovery: The Bank of England must act now, Thursday] Andrew Sentance makes some very good points. Quantitative easing (QE) has resulted in inflation. As an importer of wine, buying mainly in euros, weaker sterling affects my prices directly and we have no choice but to pass these on [...]
City maverick David Buik slams Sir Mervyn King’s BoE speech February 13, 2013 CITY stalwart David Buik of Cantor, who is known for his poetic City commentary – often quoting the likes of Whitman, Shakespeare, Poe and Housman – was left unimpressed with the Bank of England governor yesterday. “I would hardly describe myself as the sharpest pin in the box” opened Buik. “However having looked at the [...]
Care reforms will drag thousands more into inheritance tax February 10, 2013 INHERITANCE tax allowances will be held back from keeping pace with inflation for three more years to fund changes to elderly care, the government will announce today. Thousands more people will be forced to pay the 40 per cent rate because the amount that can be bequeathed tax-free will be pegged at £325,000 for individuals [...]
Analysts predict another missed inflation target in January data February 10, 2013 INFLATION will come in above target for the 38th straight month when data for January is released tomorrow, analysts have predicted. The consumer price index (CPI) will show inflation of 2.6 to 2.7 per cent, City economists said, marking yet another month above the Bank of England’s two per cent target, with aggressive discounting in [...]
City A.M. shadow MPC votes 7-2 against more QE February 6, 2013 ALLISTER HEATH | CITY A.M. “No change. There is no longer any lack of money supply, and the services sector purchasing managers’ index business survey suggests we may just about escape a triple-dip, if we are lucky. The real problem in the UK is that ultra-loose monetary policy is keeping zombie firms alive, slowing the [...]
Shop price inflation droops to 38-month low in January 2013 February 5, 2013 PRICE rises in shops were recorded at their slowest rate in over three years in January, according to data out this morning. Shop inflation ran at just 0.6 per cent over the year to last month, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the lowest rate since November 2009. This impressively low number [...]
The failure of QE isn’t an excuse for further Bank of England experiments January 28, 2013 QUANTITATIVE easing (QE) is like macroeconomic doping. America is like Lance Armstrong.” Or so a British journalist overheard at Davos. Relative to the size of the economy, of course, the UK is a more likely Armstrong than the US. Central bank asset purchases here have been about 25 per cent of GDP, compared to less [...]